What to eat in Cairo: a first-timer's guide to the real dishes

Egyptian food is generous and built on simple things: beans, rice, bread, vegetables and slow-cooked meat. Much of the best of it is sold at small counters and in family restaurants, rather than in hotel dining rooms. Here are the dishes worth looking for.

Koshari

A bowl of rice, lentils, macaroni and chickpeas topped with crisp fried onions, a tomato sauce and a splash of vinegar and chilli. It is vegetarian, cheap and eaten by nearly everyone in the city.

Ful and taameya

Ful is a slow-cooked broad bean dish, seasoned with oil, lemon and cumin. Taameya is the Egyptian version of falafel, made with broad beans rather than chickpeas, which gives it a green centre. Both are served in flatbread with salad and pickles.

Feteer, hawawshi and molokhia

Feteer is a flaky layered pastry, sweet or savoury. Hawawshi is a bread pocket stuffed with spiced minced meat and baked until crisp. Molokhia is a green soup or stew made from a leafy plant, served with rice or bread, and often with chicken or rabbit. Its texture is unusual, but many people grow to like it.

Sweets and drinks

Om ali is a warm pudding of pastry, milk, nuts and raisins. Sugar-cane juice is pressed fresh and tastes green and sweet. Mint tea is served everywhere, and hibiscus is a popular cold drink.

• Koshari for lunch.
• Ful and taameya for a quick snack.
• Feteer or hawawshi for a hot, filling treat.
• Molokhia at a family restaurant.
• Om ali and mint tea to finish.

Trying it with a guide

A local guide can help you choose where to eat and explain what you are ordering. Our private Cairo food tour runs in the evening, starting at about six. It stops at a koshari shop, a street counter for falafel and ful, a restaurant for grilled meats and a cafe for Egyptian sweets and mint tea. Every tasting and soft drink on the walk is covered. Alcohol is not part of the tour.

Eating well, and eating carefully

Choose busy places where food is cooked fresh and turned over quickly, which is a sound rule anywhere in the world. Drink bottled water, and be cautious with ice and salads washed in tap water if you have a sensitive stomach. Many British visitors find Egyptian food rich in oil and spice at first, so start gently and build up. Tell us about any allergies or dietary needs, such as vegetarian or gluten-free, and we will plan the evening around them.

Manners and timing

Lunch is often late, from two o'clock onwards, and dinner later still. Bread is eaten with the right hand, and sharing dishes is normal. Tipping is expected in restaurants, even when a service charge is added. Alcohol is not served in many local places, so mint tea and fresh juice are the usual drinks.

Where the locals eat

The best meals are often found at counters with no menu in English, where you point, order and eat standing up or at a small table. Prices are modest, queues are a good sign, and portions are generous. A guide makes this easier, because they know which counters keep the food fresh and which stalls to avoid. That is the main reason many visitors prefer a guided tasting walk on their first evening.

Open the trip page to see the stops and choose your evening.