10 Best Eats in Dahab - Cuisines

10 best eats in Dahab by Cuisine

I love food from everywhere. Hence my many lists of the 10 best eats in Dahab and elsewhere. I’m always interested in trying new foods, new cuisines. But when it comes down to it, good food. I would no more expect authentic sushi in Morocco (where they have come up with pizza sushi and deep-fried sushi for a dish that is supposed to be fresh) than I would expect authentic Moroccan food with its exotically different range of spices in Australia.

But if it’s good, then it’s worth a try.

What about Dahab. With tourists from all over the world, it is nevertheless not a food mecca. But there are some decent places which offer food from around the world besides the wonderful dips and stuffed pigeons and kushary which are so very Egyptian.

Here are my 10 best eats in Dahab by cuisine – plus 2. Ok – so that’s 12. (But 10 has such a nice ring to it!)

1 - Italian

Athanor: I’ve been spoilt. I’ve spent time in Italy. I grew up on sloppy spaghetti Bolognese, which I hated. Then I travelled to Italy – and discovered that pasta is manna from heaven!

It is the same principle as noodles. Cook it just right, to the point where it seems not quite ready – and it is amazing. A shade more, and it’s ok. Another shade and it’s nothing. In 2019 I added to this by spending 2 months in an Italian homestay doing a Workaway in southern Italy.

Italy can cook pasta. For the Greeks, it is also a local dish, though not as well known. Asia, of course, knows the secret. Egypt I’ve found a bit of hit and miss – but less so than the rest of Europe.

But Athanor in Dahab passes the test. Great for pasta, pizza, and many other dishes. It’s also a good place for breakfast. It’s just around the corner at Lighthouse. Turn up the intersection, and go straight, past the juice shop, just across from the Chinese Kitchen.

Athanor also has an excellent breakfast.

2 Indian

Dahab is blessed with not just one, but 2 good Indian restaurants. The locals seem to be divided, swearing allegiance to either one or the other. Because they are both good. Both offer great authentic Indian food.

Nirvana is on the beach. I get caught here, starting my day with a cappuccino or an Indian chai. Their Indian breakfast is a definite recommend. And they have a great range of curries.

Namaste is around the corner in El Fanar St, past the German bakery, on the other side of the road.

Nirvana

3 Thai

Lemongrass is a definite contender in this list. It is run by 3 brothers. They have decided in the interests of their business (and perhaps with a love of travel and exploring food) that each of them gets 3 months holiday a year which they spend exploring Thailand and Vietnam and learning new recipes to bring home to add to the menu of this seriously delicious restaurant.

Lemongrass

4 Egyptian

King Chicken: I know I said this was all alternatives to Egyptian food, but it is hard to go past a good stuffed pigeon, some creamy humus, and vine leaves. Sometimes we indulge in the home cooked version, contacting a lady who cooks ahead on request, delivering our delicacies to wherever we choose to eat that night. But it is also hard to go past King Chicken.

Head down the beach road and across the bridge into Mashraba. Take the right fork at the supermarket. You will find King Chicken on your right before you leave the paved brick road. Order up some dips, BBQ chicken, soup, muloqia, salad… A feast shared here will leave you feeling satisfied and full with the great lingering flavours on your tastebuds.

With a spread like this, there can at times be no going past one of the great little spots with a local food spread.

5 Fish

Darwish Seafood has made a name for itself for excellent seafood. Choose your fish and tell them how you want it cooked – a slab of tuna over an inch thick, shrimp and calamari fried or dressed, salads and breads, grilled fish and a fish soup with shrimp big enough to talk to!

Darwish is found by heading along the main street of Dahab past the Asala shops. It’s a good walk, or a short taxi ride depending on your mood, and on your left.

Just before it on your right where gmart and the sina market are, there’s another called Miami. Some say it’s even better. All I can say is that is a challenge to find out for yourself.

In the Sina marketplace in Asalah, may outstrip any of the others!

6 Russian

Red Cat is run by a Russian lady. The food is guaranteed to be good. The flavours are excellent, though some quantities can be a little small. The pizza was excellent. A gret Stroganov – and what else would you try at a Russian restaurant, plus a range of pasta and dumpling dishes, soups and other Russian classics. The fact that it is always full is always a recommendation.

Red Cat dumplings

7 Chinese

The Kitchen in Lighthouse is the one to go, opposite Athanor and next to Red Cat. It is Chinese restaurant food – again, I have been spoilt by living in China. Chinese food is quite a different thing to the restaurant cuisine worldwide we think of as Chinese food, but to the point that I think of it as a cuisine of its own. Decently priced, it offers noodles, your classic sweet and sour of course, and a few other dishes. I quite enjoyed the Kung Pao with nuts.

8 Korean

The Kitchen on the main beach road is not far from the bridge. It is a Chinese restaurant, but I am told  you go there for the Korean food. This is something I will have to try.

Failing all else, they have wifi and power, and are right on the water, so you have water access and water views. It is rather calm and pleasing.

9 Japanese

Seaweed is a nice little restaurant in Lighthouse. Turn left at the intersection. Head towards El Fanar St. Seaweed is right next to the taxis on your right.

I’ve had the sushi there, which I thought was ok (I lived in Japan for several years and make my own sushi at home). The noodles were also good, and others have recommended it as well.

10 International

Ali Baba is on the beach road towards the bridge, just before The Kitchen. It is very classy, with prices to fit. But I think every person I have met recommends it. This may explain its certificate of excellence. It is the only restaurant in Dahab to have earnt this, the only I believe in the whole of the Sinai, which includes Sharm el Sheikh.

11 Vegetarian and Vegan

Vegan Lab is self-explanatory by name. But it is more than that. It is also an excellent restaurant, even if you’re not vegetarian or vegan. While there are many vegetarian options in the various restaurants – Lemongrass, Seaweed, Athanor, Egyptian… This one is exclusively vegan, as the name suggests, and also of excellent quality.

It is on el Fanar St. You turn at the Lighthouse intersection and head past the taxis. There are quite a few restaurants if you keep going along this street to the lighthouse statue on the main Blue Hole road.

12 Tota

Fairly new kid on the block, Tota offers vegetarian dishes as well as others, and often has open mic sessions. It is very chill upstairs, and coming recommended.

Tota, live music