Mat i Egypten - och restauranger i Sharm el Sheikh

Food in Egypt - what comes to mind? We didn't have any particular food expectations when we travelled to Sharm el Sheikh, but were surprised by tasty scrambles and grilled seafood. We also visited a restaurant serving Egyptian specialities and tried something we had never tried before.

Table of contents

Food in Egypt

Egyptian cuisine offers many of its own specialities, while recognising dishes and flavours from Turkey, Greece and Lebanon, among others. Of course, there are also restaurants serving European and Asian food.

Food in Egypt - good scrambles

Our favourite food item during our trip to Sharm el Sheikh was all the delicious scrambles. In most of the restaurants where we ate, pita bread was served before the meal, along with small bowls of hummus, baba ganoush (aubergine scrambled eggs) and other spicy mixtures and sauces. Just as good every time!

Food in Egypt - seafood

If you find yourself in one of the tourist resorts, such as Hurghada or Sharm el Sheikh, it means you are also close to the Red Sea. It is quite natural that there is plenty of fish and seafood! In Sharm el Sheikh we saw lots of fish restaurants, often with large beds of ice filled with large shrimps, small crabs, squid, seabream and lots of other fish. You can point to what you want, and for example get it grilled or in soup.

Mat i Egypten - fisk och skaldjur — Fish and seafood at Fares in Sharm el Sheikh

Grillad fisk och grillade räkor — Grilled fish and seafood at Fares in Sharm el Sheikh.

Grillad fisk — Grilled fish at the Soukh of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Sharm el Sheikh

Food in Egypt - in hotels

In the tourist resorts there are lots of both large and small hotels, and these of course partly adapt to the tourists. We tried two different hotels in Sharm el Sheikh and both served a buffet for lunch and dinner, and there were also additional restaurant or restaurants. On the buffets we found everything from rice and potatoes to various stews and gratins, fish, chicken, salads and of course desserts.

Buffet lunch at the Hyatt Regency in Sharm el Sheikh

Mat i Egypten - hotellbuffé — Dinner at Il Mercato

The breakfast at our main hotel, Il Mercato, was large and included everything from Western breakfast favourites to more exotic bean scrambles, as well as lots of fruit and pastries. We ordered an omelette every day and supplemented it with falafel, aubergine, tomato, bread and fruit.

READ MORE: Facts about dates - 15 things you (perhaps) didn't know
READ MORE: Two good hotels in Sharm el Sheikh - in different price ranges

Food in Egypt - in restaurants

There are of course all kinds of restaurants in Egypt. In Sharm el Sheikh there are plenty of seafood restaurants, but also restaurants serving traditional Egyptian food, Italian food, barbecue, sushi, Chinese food and more.

Restaurants in Sharm el Sheikh

We managed to try a few different restaurants in Sharm el Sheikh. Among other things, we tried local Egyptian food at the restaurant. El Masrien at the Old Market, the old city centre. You can read more about ourpecial experience further down.

We also visited the seafood restaurant. Fares. This is a small chain, and we went to the restaurant next to the hotel Il Mercato. Here you could ask for a "salad" before the meal, and then they came in with all those tasty mixes. Yum! Then you can enjoy grilled fish and seafood, or why not a fish soup?

We also tried some of the different restaurants in the hotels. At the Il Mercato we tried the Italian restaurant on the roof. Here we had a seafood dinner - very good, but so lots of food. Very cosy in the warm evening on the roof!

Grillade skaldjur på Il Mercato — Main course at Il Mercato

At the five-star Hyatt Regency hotel, where we stayed on our last day, we tried the food court restaurant. Souk. This was a bit of a fun concept actually! You start with a wallet of silver coins, which you can then spend in any way you want in a number of different small restaurants. What it was for us? Good scrambles and grilled fish of course!

READ MORE: Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt - 13 things to do
READ MORE: Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula - Excursion from Sharm el Sheikh

Egyptian specialities - we tried stuffed pigeon

We were having lunch one day and asked our guide to take us to a restaurant serving Egyptian food - that's how we ended up at Elmasrien. For starters, we had good Egyptian bread and tasty scrambled eggs.

Then a large platter of wine bottles, minced meat steaks and - each - a stuffed pigeon came in. This was an experience, we can tell you! The pigeon, which was stuffed with rice, was to be eaten with the hands. Not easy! The guide also told us that you can eat the bones. He himself devoured the whole pigeon, legs and all, in a few minutes. For us it took much longer (and we chose to taste only the legs, which were indeed relatively soft). The flavour was spicy and delicious!

Egyptian dishes

We did not have time to taste many of the traditional Egyptian specialities, but here is a small list. We tried Molokhia several times, as it was sometimes served with mixtures like hummus and baba ganoush.

Ugly Medames consists of mashed broad beans. The dish is flavoured with salt, lemon and olive oil, and is eaten with pita bread.
Koshari contains both rice and pasta as well as lentils and beans or chickpeas. The dish is served with tomato sauce and fried onions.
Rozz Me'ammar is a traditional rice dish consisting of rice, milk, butter or cream and chicken stock. The dish is baked in the oven.
Fattah consists of rice, pieces of dried pita bread and the juices of cooked lamb, and is served with tomato sauce.
Kebab can be served with or without skewers, along with bread, vegetables and tahini sauce.
Ta'meya is an Egyptian version of falafel made with fava beans.
Molokhia is a dark green sauce or soup made from a leafy vegetable, similar to spinach. Sometimes it can also contain meat or fish, and is eaten by dipping bread in it.

Grillat — Barbecue is also popular - here on a trip to the desert

What do you drink in Egypt?

The majority of Egyptians are Muslim and do not drink alcohol. Beer and wine are therefore often not served in regular restaurants, but both beer and wine (and stronger drinks) are readily available in hotels and in restaurants and bars in hotel areas. Tourist resorts such as Sharm el Sheikh also have shops selling alcohol.

A popular drink is tea, but of course you can also get coffee and soft drinks and all sorts of other drinks. One particular drink we tried is the "sugar cane drink", which is very popular and served in many places. Sweet and really good!

Vin i Egypten — Wine at the Italian restaurant on the roof of Il Mercato

Sweets and fruit in Egypt

It seems that Egyptians (or tourists) like sweets. In any case, all the hotel buffets were filled with all kinds of pastries and cakes.

Fruit also seems to be popular. We often picked banana and melon. We didn't realise at first what the oblong little light coloured fruits were, until the staff explained that they were dates. However, we have to say that the black dates (which we were also served) were tastier!

Fares i Sharm el Sheikh — Fish carved on a honeydew melon at Fares restaurant

We end with a photo of Peter trying to learn how to bake bread in the Egyptian desert...

Baking bread among the Bedouins in the desert during an excursion

READ MORE: Travelling to Egypt - your guide to Egypt's best destinations

10 Comments

Add yours →

Lena - good for the soul says:

Wow, so much good food. I stopped at the beginning of the post and thought about what I was thinking about when it comes to food and Egypt. Spices, was what came to mind. It seems to be much more than that 🙂

Hug Lena

13 October 2019 - 10:44

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  I didn't know much about Egyptian food before either, even though we were in Hurghada a long time ago. I was pleasantly surprised by the scrambled eggs, love that stuff 🙂.
  
  13 October 2019 - 22:06
  
Joseph says:

Nicely written

13 October 2019 - 14:02

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Thank you 🙂
  
  13 October 2019 - 22:06
  
BP says:

Dregel, dregel, dregel! My God, such good food and a lot of it! Scrambled eggs - yummy. I have indeed eaten pigeon (with my fingers, easier than with a knife and fork), but never a stuffed version. Didn't know you could eat the legs either.

13 October 2019 - 19:03

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Yes, both good and much! 🙂 Just the legs of the pigeon were not a favourite (although they could be chewed on), but otherwise it was good taste!
  
  13 October 2019 - 22:07
  
Ann says:

Oh how good it looks, hope you have a wonderful time!

13 October 2019 - 19:34

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Yes, very good! We are home again now, but we are dreaming of going back 🙂 .
  
  13 October 2019 - 22:07
  
snort says:

So many good things you managed to enjoy during your trip!

14 October 2019 - 20:09

Ama de casa says:

I left a comment, but I guess the computer ate it or something... 😀.

14 October 2019 - 22:31

Food in Egypt - and restaurants in Sharm el Sheikh

Food in Egypt

Food in Egypt - good scrambles

Food in Egypt - seafood

Food in Egypt - in hotels

Food in Egypt - in restaurants

Restaurants in Sharm el Sheikh

Egyptian specialities - we tried stuffed pigeon

Egyptian dishes

What do you drink in Egypt?

Sweets and fruit in Egypt

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10 Comments

Lena - good for the soul says:

Helena says:

Joseph says:

Helena says:

BP says:

Helena says:

Ann says:

Helena says:

snort says:

Ama de casa says:

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