Restaurants, Cafes and Street Food
Restaurants, cafes and street food comprise a culinary spectrum rather than distinctly separate categories. Restaurants run the gamut from nouvelle cuisine salons to backstreet kebab houses, while cafes range from air-conditioned bourgeois havens to open-fronted tiled diners. The ones devoted to kushari (GBPE1-2 a bowl) or fuul and taamiya (GBPE1.50 with salad and pickles) provide the cheapest nutritious meals going. A third type of outlet purveys fatir or Egyptian pizzas, which are tastier and cheaper (GBPE6-10 depending on size and ingredients) than most Western-style pizzas in Cairo. Despite the blurred line between hole-in-the-wall eateries and outright street food , running water remains a crucial factor - anywhere without it is risky. Markets and terminals offer the best outlets; a number of places off Ramses, Orabi, Ataba, Falaki, Lazoghli and Giza squares, and midway down Sharia Qalaa function all night . At the other end of the gastro-cultural spectrum, every hotel rated three stars or above has at least one restaurant and coffee shop (maybe 24hr) that's accessible to non-residents. If familiar food and no hassle are top priority, hotel dining is usually a safe bet. For those who need them, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and KFC have also arrived (with branches on Sharia Mohammed Mahmoud, opposite the north entrance to the American University). Wimpy have been here longer (their main downtown branch is at 8 Sharia Talaat Harb). All of them have several outlets around the centre as well as in Mohandiseen and Heliopolis. Perhaps surprisingly to Westerners, these fast-food chains are considered posh eating places by Cairenes, who may even dress up to go to them. Between these extremes there's a huge variation in standards of cleanliness and presentation, and whether somewhere seems okay or grotty depends partly on your own values. We've tried to present a cross section of what's available in various parts of the city. The majority of places listed have menus in English or French and staff who understand both, but others deal only in Arabic; fortunately, many of them display what's on offer, so you only have to point. In the listings, we've given the following guide to cost: inexpensive means that you can get a full meal (starter, main course and soft drink) for GBPE20 or less, moderate means that a full meal costs GBPE20-40, and expensive will set you back over GBPE40 for a full meal. Many restaurants sell seafood and kofta and kebab by weight: a quarter of a kilo is one portion; a full kilo is usually enough for three to four people. Note that telephone numbers have been included for all restaurants where reservations are a good idea. At others, there's no need to bother - assuming you could get through and make yourself understood.
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