Cheap Eats in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
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Where to eat cheap in Sharm El Sheikh
Sharm’s resort buffets will happily take your whole daily budget in one sitting, but the Old Market and the Egyptian eateries scattered through Sharm el-Maya and Hadaba run genuinely cheap by comparison, and the food is better for it. Below are the real staples worth ordering, cheapest first, plus where a splurge on fresh Red Sea seafood is worth the extra EGP.
What’s the cheapest real meal in Sharm El Sheikh?
Ful medames, a stewed fava-bean breakfast dish with olive oil, garlic, and cumin, scooped up with bread rather than eaten with cutlery. It’s a genuine national staple, sold from small street stalls for a handful of EGP (verify current price), and it’s filling enough to carry you to lunch. Koshari, rice, macaroni, and lentils under a spiced tomato sauce with crispy fried onions, is Egypt’s other national dish and just as cheap; look for stalls specializing in it rather than a general café menu.
| Pick | What to get | Where | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ful medames | Stewed fava beans, bread | Street stalls, Old Market and Hadaba | Breakfast staple, cheap and filling |
| Koshari | Rice, lentils, macaroni, tomato sauce | Old Market stalls | Egypt’s national dish |
| Ta’meya | Fava-bean falafel, pita, tahini | Street stands | The Egyptian version, fava not chickpea |
| Old Market fish cafés | Grilled Red Sea seafood | Sharm el-Maya | Fresh catch, cheaper than a resort seafood menu |
| Shawarma | Beef, lamb, or chicken wrap | Anywhere in town | Ubiquitous, fast, cheap |
| Om Ali | Warm bread-and-milk pudding | Old Market and resort menus alike | The classic dessert to look for |
- Ful medames from a street stall. Cheap, everywhere, and the honest local breakfast rather than a resort continental spread.
- Koshari at an Old Market stall. Look for a stall specializing in it rather than a general menu; a genuinely full meal for a small fraction of a resort main course.
- Ta’meya (Egyptian falafel). Made from fava beans rather than chickpeas, served plain or stuffed into pita with tahini and greens, a solid cheap lunch on the move.
- Grilled seafood at an Old Market fish café. Sharm el-Maya’s fish cafés serve the day’s Red Sea catch grilled to order, genuinely fresher and cheaper than the same fish on a Naama Bay resort menu.
- Shawarma from any street counter. Fast, filling, and consistent across the city, a safe cheap-eats default when you’re not sure what else is open.
- Om Ali for dessert. A warm bread pudding with milk, coconut, and raisins, on Old Market menus and resort buffets alike, order it once regardless of where you’re eating.
Is the resort buffet worth the extra cost?
Only if it’s already included in your room rate. Paid separately, an all-inclusive resort buffet costs many times an Old Market meal for broadly the same quality of Egyptian dishes plus an international spread you may not need. If your hotel isn’t all-inclusive, a taxi into the Old Market or Hadaba for dinner is the single easiest way to cut a day’s food cost without cutting quality.
Do Old Market cafés take cards, or is it cash-only?
Mostly cash. Street stalls and small cafés in the Old Market skew EGP cash-only, so carry small notes; resort restaurants and the larger Naama Bay venues take cards without issue. Note that pork isn’t actually sold in Sharm even when a menu lists it, that’s typically salted beef, worth knowing before you order expecting the real thing.
Pair a cheap-eats evening with a walk through the Old Market itself , and check our Sharm El Sheikh travel tips for the current EGP exchange rate before you decide anything on a menu is expensive.