Best Street Food in Cairo 2026 — Koshari, Ful Medames and Koshk Street Snacks in Cairo

Cairo's Best Street Food 2026

Cairo has one of the world's great street food cultures and one of the most affordable — Egyptian street food is built on a foundation of pulses, bread, and intense flavour, and for a few Egyptian pounds you can eat extraordinarily well from the city's koshks (small street-side stalls), koshari shops, and foul and falafel sellers. Cairo street food is also genuinely beloved by Cairenes themselves: the city's affluent middle class eats koshari and ful medames from street stalls just as the working class does. This guide covers the best street food in Cairo in 2026.

Must-Try Cairo Street Food

• Koshari: Cairo's definitive street food and Egypt's unofficial national dish — a layered bowl of rice, lentils, macaroni, and chickpeas topped with crispy fried onion, tomato-vinegar sauce, and garlic-chilli oil; from dedicated koshari restaurants across the city; EGP 30-60 (AUD 1-2); Abu Tarek (Maarouf, Downtown) is the most famous; Ful Medames: slow-cooked fava beans seasoned with lemon, cumin, and olive oil — the quintessential Egyptian breakfast street food; from koshks (small stalls) across the city from dawn; EGP 15-30 (AUD 0.50-1); served with fresh baladi bread; Taameya (Falafel): Egyptian falafel made from fava beans rather than chickpeas — greener, denser, and different from Middle Eastern falafel; from street stalls and koshks; EGP 5-10 per piece; Hawawshi: spiced minced meat baked in baladi bread — a Cairene comfort food from bakeries and street stalls; Fiteer: layered Egyptian pancake/pastry with sweet or savoury fillings from fiteer shops; Om Ali: a warm Egyptian bread pudding with cream and nuts, widely available at street dessert counters

Best Street Food Areas in Cairo

• Downtown Cairo (Wust el-Balad) for the most accessible concentration of traditional Cairo street food; Khan el-Khalili bazaar area (Islamic Cairo) for street snacks and tea in a historic setting; Heliopolis neighbourhood for a middle-class residential area with excellent everyday Cairo street food; Imbaba for a working-class neighbourhood street food experience far removed from the tourist circuit

Street Food Prices in Cairo

• Cairo street food is among the world's most affordable: koshari EGP 30-60 (AUD 1-2); ful medames EGP 15-30 (AUD 0.50-1); taameya EGP 5-10 each (AUD 0.15-0.35); hawawshi EGP 30-60 (AUD 1-2); fresh juice EGP 30-50 (AUD 1-1.70)

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