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Abou Shakra
Abou Shakra is where to come for a skewer or two. It's been serving up its kebab-and-kofta plates and shwarma sandwiches at this main branch since 1947 and locals love it to bits. There's a takeaway at the front and a dining room behind it. Believe it or not, on Fridays an Imam reading from the Quran is posted next to the toilets. No alcohol is served.
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Abu al-Hassan al-Haty
With its foggy mirrors, dusty chandeliers and waiters who look older than the building itself, this is a beautiful relic of Downtown - it's often used as a set for period TV shows. The food (all grilled items) is a bit secondary, but perfectly palatable.
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Abu Aly Café
Popular with locals: an upscale sheesha experience, with live music, traditional food (entrees around £E12 to around £E15 , mains around £E46 to E£82) and waiters in gallabiya s.
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Abu el-Sid
A sumptuous Orientalist fantasy of a restaurant/bar, Abu el-Sid serves traditional Egyptian food to wannabe pashas amid hanging lamps, large cushions and brass tables. This is a great place to try famous Egyptian dishes such as chicken with molokhiyya or stuffed pigeon, followed by a sheesha and coffee.
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Abu Samra
The Felfela takeaway ( M05A2; Sharia Talaat Harb) and Abu Samra ( M0771; Tawfiqiyya Souq) sell excellent ta'amiyya sandwiches.
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Abu Tarek
This phenomenally popular kushari ,(traditional Egyptian favourite made from lentils, rice and pasta) joint has been serving up the noodly stuff to locals for nearly as long as touts have been working the Ramses train station. Though you may have to queue, it's worth it.
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Akher Sa'a
A frantically busy fuul and ta'amiyya takeaway joint with a no-frills cafeteria next door, Akher Sa'a has a limited menu but its food is fresh and good. The ta'amiyya is particularly tasty.
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Al-Halwagy
Just along from the Pancake House, this good ta'amiyya , fuul and salad place has been around for nearly a century. You can eat at pavement tables or secrete yourself upstairs.
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Alfy Bey
In business since 1938, Alfi Bey describes itself as a 'traditional restaurant' and offers a rare Downtown dining experience: old-fashioned décor, age-old waiters and basic, somewhat stodgy food. The plat du jour usually includes dolma, mixed vegetables, rice and some type of roast or grilled meat. Other dishes include kebabs, grilled chicken and stuffed pigeon. No alcohol is serve.
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Andrea's
This garden restaurant 1.5km north of Pyramids Rd is justly famous for its spit-roasted chicken served with salad, hummus and freshly baked bread - there's little else on the menu. Weather permitting, seating is in a large garden with playground equipment and a swimming pool - kids love it to bits and parents inevitably enjoy relaxing over the excellent food and cold Stella. Be warned that mosquitoes can be vicious.
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At-Tabie ad-Dumyati
About 200m north of Midan Orabi, this highly recommended place offers the best cheap meals in Cairo. Your choice of four salads from a large array and a small plate of shwarma costs nix. A fresh juice is also super cheap. You can sit down or take away. There's also a branch in the food court of the Talaat Harb Complex.
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Cedars
This chic Lebanese restaurant is a favourite with Mohandiseen's lunching ladies, then with a younger crowd later in the evening. Rattan chairs dot the spacious terrace, where there's sheesha along with the better-than-average food: peppery muhammara (red-pepper salad), fresh and salty ayran (yogurt drink) and big sandwiches stuffed with French fries. You can also get full meals from the grill.
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Citadel View
Eating at this gorgeous restaurant - on a vast multilevel terrace, with Cairo's elite seated around you and the whole city sprawled below - feels almost like visiting a luxury resort. Fortunately, though, the prices are not so stratospheric, and the food, all traditional Egyptian grill items, is quite good. Reservations are recommended, particularly on the weekend. If you're not up for a full meal, you can have a coffee (around £E12 ) at the Alain Le Notre Café upstairs.
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Dar El Amar
The challenge at this popular Lebanese floating restaurant is to draw your eyes away from the Nile views long enough to make a choice from the 53 mezze on offer. Unlike many other eateries on the river, prices are reasonable and you don't have to be wearing designer glad rags to score a table. A Stella costs.
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Egyptian Pancake House
This popular place serves up made-to-order fiteer topped with your choice of cheese, egg, tomato, olives and ground meat. For dessert, choose your toppings from raisins, coconut and icing sugar.
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El Shabrawy
This extremely cheap and popular fuul and ta'amiyya place is one of the best cheap restaurants in the city. It serves up unusual dishes such as egg-fried cauliflower and agah (a cross between a puffed-up omelette and a giant ta'amiyya ), and is almost totally vegetarian. It's signed in Arabic only - look for the red awning. The ta'amiyya stand on the opposite side of the street is also very popular.
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El-Mashrabia
Excellent Egyptian food is served at this intimate eatery. Meat lovers will be in seventh heaven (the kofta and tagine s are particularly good), but vegetarians should steer clear. It's opposite the Orman Gardens. No alcohol is served.
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Emara Hati al-Gish, Downtown
Carnivores will salivate instantly upon entering this grill palace, where the air is heavy with the smell of charcoal-cooked meat, from a quarter-kilo (around £E18 ) - up to a full stuffed, roasted sheep on request. The kastileeta (lamb chops) are particularly splendid, and the mouza (shins) good for gnawing. No alcohol.
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Estoril
Tucked down an alley next to the Amex office, this eatery has been serving up traditional Egyptian and French dishes since 1959. It claims to offer its diners an intro into 'the esoteric Cairene's world of art, literature, journalism and the rest' and though we're not sure it delivers on this, it's a great place to linger over a beer and a few mezze dishes.
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Fatatri at-Tahrir
Fatatri at-Tahrir ( M082F; 166 Sharia Tahrir; dishes Earound £E8 -16; ; - ). This small restaurant serves sweet or savoury fiteer s.
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Felfela
If you want a cheap but good-quality eatery within walking distance of the Pyramids, try the Giza branch of Felfela or the popular Peace II Seafood Restaurant. Both are beloved by tour groups but also patronised by locals. You'll find them on the main road off the roundabout in front of the Mena House Oberoi hotel (Cairo side).
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Felfela Restaurant
Perpetually packed with tourists, coach parties and locals, Felfela deserves its popularity. A bizarre jungle theme rules when it comes to the décor, but the food is straight-down-the-line Egyptian and consistently good, especially the mezze and grilled chicken. Cold Stella also available.
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Fish Market
After selecting some of the finest and freshest seafood in town from the large display counter here, most guests tuck into delicious mezze while their fish is simply but expertly cooked. With its wonderful Nile views (particularly at night), laid-back feel and efficient service, this place is a real gem.
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Fishawi's Coffeehouse
Probably the oldest ahwa in the city, and certainly the most celebrated, Fishawi's is a great place to watch the world go by. Despite being swamped by foreign tourists and equally wide-eyed out-of-town Egyptians, it is a regular ahwa, serving up shai (around £E3 ) and sheesha (around £E5 ) to stallholders and shoppers alike. It's especially alluring in the early hours of the morning. During Ramadan it closes from till about .
