Quick answer
Egyptian street food follows the clock: ful and ta'ameya from carts and counters in the morning, koshari and liver or sausage sandwiches at lunch and late at night, and seasonal snacks such as roasted sweet potato, grilled corn, lupin beans and hot chickpea broth in between. Most of it is vegetarian, very cheap and cooked to order, and the busiest stall on the street is almost always the right choice.
What street food should you try in Egypt?
Start with the big three, ful medames, ta'ameya and koshari, then work through liver sandwiches, hawawshi and whatever the seasonal carts are selling. Each of the classics has its own page, so here is the short version and where to read more:
- Ful medames: slow-cooked fava beans, mashed with oil, cumin and lemon. See ful medames.
- Ta'ameya: Egyptian falafel made with fava beans and green herbs, fried to order. See ta'ameya.
- Koshari: rice, lentils, pasta and chickpeas with tomato sauce, garlic vinegar and crisp onions. See koshari.
- Hawawshi: baladi bread stuffed with spiced mince and baked crisp. See hawawshi.
Beyond those, the sandwich counters are the heart of Egyptian street eating. Kebda is liver, cut into thin strips and stir-fried hard and fast with garlic, chilli, cumin and green capsicum, then stuffed into a fino roll with tahini and a squeeze of lemon. Sogo' is a spiced beef sausage cooked the same way. Mombar are sausages of casing stuffed with spiced rice and fried. Shawarma, chicken or beef shaved from a vertical spit, is everywhere, and the humble sandwich batates, chips in a roll, is a student favourite.
What do Egyptians eat on the street, hour by hour?
Street food in Egypt has a rhythm: beans in the morning, rice and sandwiches at lunch, a long quiet afternoon, then a second wave from sunset until well after midnight.
- 6am to 10am: the arabeyet ful, a wheeled cart with a big copper-bellied pot (idra) of beans, parks on street corners and outside offices. Workers stand around it eating ful from small bowls with bread, plus pickles and onion. Ta'ameya shops fry nonstop, and simit sellers sell sesame rings with boiled eggs and a twist of dukkah.
- Noon to 3pm: koshari halls fill up with office workers. Liver and sausage counters are busy, and fruit juice bars do a roaring trade in the heat.
- Afternoon: a quieter time. Look for termis (lupin beans soaked until edible, eaten with salt and lemon) and roasted seeds from nut and seed shops.
- Sunset to late: the main event. Families come out, sweet shops and sandwich counters overflow, and in Cairo many places run past midnight, especially on Thursday and Friday nights.
Friday mornings are slow until after midday prayers, and during Ramadan almost nothing is sold to eat in daylight, but the streets come alive after iftar.
Which street foods are seasonal?
Winter brings roasted sweet potatoes, hot chickpea broth and chestnuts; summer brings grilled corn on the cob, fruit sellers and Alexandria's beach snacks.
Winter, roughly December to February
- Batata: sweet potatoes roasted in wood-fired ovens built into wheeled carts, sold split open and steaming. The smoke from these carts is one of the smells of a Cairo winter evening.
- Hummus el-sham: a hot cup of chickpeas in their cooking liquid with cumin, lemon, salt and chilli, drunk and eaten with a spoon. Ideal on a cold desert night.
- Roasted chestnuts and corn: sold by the same carts in some areas.
Summer, roughly June to September
- Dorra mashwi: corn cobs grilled over charcoal along the Nile Corniche in Cairo and the seafront in Alexandria, a classic evening snack with a river breeze.
- Feska (freska): thin, crisp wafer sandwiches glued with honey, sesame or coconut, sold by sellers walking Alexandria's beaches with a tin box.
- Fruit: watermelon, prickly pears peeled for you on the spot, and mangoes in late summer.
How do you order and pay at an Egyptian street food shop?
At most busy counters you pay the cashier first, collect a paper ticket (bon), then hand it over the counter and wait for your food; at carts you simply point, eat and pay afterwards.
- Read the board or point. Menus are often in Arabic only, but the cooking is in full view. "Wahid ta'ameya" (one ta'ameya sandwich) or a raised finger gets you started.
- Say how you want it. Sandwiches come in baladi or fino bread; add tahina, salata (salad) or torshi (pickles). Har means spicy.
- Pay the cashier. Keep small notes; at the time of writing a ta'ameya sandwich or a small koshari costs a fraction of what a coffee costs in Australia, so a 200-pound note can be a nuisance.
- Eat standing, or grab a stool. Many places have a narrow counter along the wall or a few plastic stools on the pavement. Takeaway comes wrapped in paper.
Uber and Careem make hopping between neighbourhoods easy, but if you want someone else to choose the stalls and do the ordering, a guided Cairo food tour is the efficient way to taste ten things in one evening.
Is there street food outside Cairo?
Yes: Alexandria has its own specialities, Upper Egypt does simpler, heartier versions, and the Red Sea resorts have street food mainly in their old town centres.
Alexandria is famous for kebda Iskandarani, the liver sandwich in its home city, and for its ful and ta'ameya breakfast shops; seafood counters near the port fry fish to order.
In Luxor and Aswan, the souq streets have ta'ameya and ful shops, grills and juice bars, and food is a little cheaper than in Cairo. Sandwiches may come in sun bread rather than baladi. In Hurghada, the downtown district of El Dahar is where locals eat, away from the resort strip.
How do you eat street food without getting sick?
Choose busy stalls, eat food cooked hot in front of you, go easy on raw salads and dips, and leave the ice in basic places. The risk comes mostly from food that has been sitting, not from street food as such.
Fried ta'ameya, koshari ladled from hot pots and liver flash-fried in a pan are lower-risk choices. Be choosier about salads, herbs and pickles at the edge of the plate, and do not eat feseekh, the fermented fish of the spring festival, from an unknown source. Ease into it: save your most adventurous eating for after your first few days, and not the night before an early balloon flight or a long drive. Our guide to avoiding stomach upsets has the detail, and vegetarians will be pleased to know most Egyptian street food is meat-free by default.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most popular street food in Egypt?
Ful medames and ta'ameya are eaten by millions every morning, and koshari is the best-known lunch. Liver sandwiches and shawarma are the favourite meaty options.
Is Egyptian street food cheap?
Very. At the time of writing, a ta'ameya or ful sandwich costs small change, usually well under a dollar in Australian terms, and a large koshari is still only a few dollars. Prices rise with inflation, so treat these as indicative.
Is Egyptian street food vegetarian?
Much of it is: ful, ta'ameya, koshari, sweet potatoes, corn, termis and hummus el-sham are all meat-free. Ask whether ghee or meat stock has been used in cooked dishes.
What is kebda?
Kebda is beef liver sliced thinly and fried fast with garlic, chilli, cumin and capsicum, served in a soft roll. The Alexandrian version, kebda Iskandarani, is the most famous.
Can you eat street food during Ramadan?
Not in daylight: most stalls close or serve only takeaway until sunset. After iftar, street food is at its liveliest, with special Ramadan sweets and drinks.
