Grounds of the Egyptian Museum of Cairo

After a full morning and into the afternoon of touring this famous museum, we walked out onto the grounds to look for a place to eat.

We’re both dog lovers and couldn’t help but notice the many dogs taking a nap in the warm sands that decorated the grounds of the museum.

We looked across the grounds of the museum and started walking that way in search of a restaurant.

Lots of Open Shops – No Open Restaurants

Michael and I crossed over to a maze of streets in search of food. We walked and walked and walked. There were lots of shops, but all the restaurants we did find were closed.

The shops offered a variety of designer knock off items including leather bags for an incredibly low price reminding me of the Orchard Street shopping district in New York City. There, like downtown Cairo, the labyrinth of streets are lined with shops selling fake designer purses, watches, shoes, leather jackets, and the like.

Koshary El Tahrir Restaurant

Hungry and tired, we finally stumbled upon what had got be the only open restaurant in town!

This restaurant was non-stop busy. People were standing, waiting for take-out or a table.

The main floor served take out, dining was upstairs.

We followed the crowd to the second floor dining area.

Menus

We finally nabbed a seat. Menus were dropped on the table. Not a word of English on them.

Only one server in the entire restaurant spoke English, just barely.

She spoke enough to understand that we’ll have what everyone is having – because it looks the same – with a large bottle of water.

As we waited for our mystery food, we wondered if the menu offered you different sizes of the one entree everyone seemed to be eating, with extra side dishes of the ingredients that made it.

Michael posed for this picture as he put his finger on one item, joking that whatever it said, it was all the same – because everyone appeared to be eating the same thing!

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Looking Around

Each table housed two bottles of sauces.

I tried both.

One a very hot sauce. The other a garlic juice that was absolutely delicious.

Locals continually filled the busy restaurant, waiting for a table.

When we received our food, we gobbled it up – it was delicious!

Egyptian Koshary

Later, Michael and I did some research and discovered the restaurant serves Koshary.  

Koshary, kushari or koshari is Egypt’s national dish and a widely popular street food.

It is a traditional Egyptian staple, mixing pasta, Egyptian fried rice, vermicelli, brown lentils, topped with a zesty tomato sauce, garlic vinegar and garnished with chickpeas and crispy fried onions.

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Opera Square & Statue of Ibrahim Pasha

I’d have a lot more pictures, but my camera battery ran out of juice.

Tired and happily full, we hailed a taxi.

The taxi ride back to our hotel in Giza took almost two hours as a result of traffic.

S, 🇪🇬

Nazlet El-Samman, Egypt – Christmas Eve – A Few Photos After We Leave The Giza Pyramid Complex

Nazlet El-Samman, Egypt – Christmas Eve Excitement – End Of A Work Day

Sahara Desert, Egypt – Christmas Eve Excitement – Locals Come Out To Play

Sahara Desert, Egypt – Christmas Eve Excitement – Sunset Glow On The Giza Pyramids

Nazlet El-Samman, Egypt – Christmas Eve Excitement – The Village At Night

Giza, Egypt – Christmas Eve Dinner – Cheristo Seafood Restaurant

Giza, Egypt – Christmas Eve – Le Meridien Pyramids Hotel – Final Night In Giza

Cairo, Egypt – Christmas Day – Cairo International Airport – Converse Sneaker Fun