28 cents for lunch.....really, we are not making this stuff up but things are really that cheap here in Egypt.
Here we are in El Gouna, the premier, luxury resort on the Red Sea near the city of Hurghada. We are surrounded by huge, custom built homes many of which cost over a million US dollars, enjoying the lavish lifestyle for free as house and pet sitters.
We noticed on the kitchen countertop of the house a few brochures including restaurants, and touristy things to do nearby so we had to sneak a peek. One in particular caught our eye....a restaurant called, "Zomba," who's slogan is, "Egyptian food made right," so we browsed through the menu.
The first section on the menu features Egyptian plates as follows: Classic fool (also spelled ful) is a local dish of fava beans, spices and vegetables for 05.00 LE (Egyptian pounds) translated to US dollars that is 28 cents.
Wow....we thought so we kept on looking down the menu. Another Egyptian staple is something called Koshari (also spelled kushari and various other ways). This typical meal consists of pasta (usually two types), rice, chick peas (or garbanzo beans), brown lentils and is served with tomato sauce or a garlic sauce. Classic koshari at this restaurant goes for 10.00 LE (which translates to 56 cents). Over the past month we have sampled Koshari at several restaurants and it's really tasty, always served with hot, Egyptian flat bread and is always cheap.
So yesterday Clyde, my big spender of a husband took me out to lunch at Zomba. Since I had not tried "fool" yet I ordered a plate of fool with spicy sausage added for a total cost of $1.24. Clyde ordered koshari with shawarma chicken (shawarma is a way of slow cooking meat) for a total cost of just $1.98. We added a side order of hummus for just $1.13 and a liter and a half bottle of water for 68 cents. We were given a basket of HOT, freshly, baked flat bread to dip into our hummus....yum! The total for this splurge of lunch came to a whopping $5.04!
Fresh Baked Bread And Hummus
Everything that this restaurant sells is cheap and they even offer home delivery for FREE. But it's NOT just this restaurant that is cheap, they all are here. Even the famous Nathan's hot dog chain is here in El Gouna where one can buy a hot dog for around $1.40 or a burger for $1.70 for that good old American food fix. But for us we'll stay with the local food since it's cheap, tasty and healthy.
We have been in Egypt for a full month today and are still loving this place. However, we entered the country on a 30 day tourist visa that expires today, so yesterday we made the trek into Hurghada to the visa office to request an extension. An interesting experience that is not over yet. We had to leave our passports behind and go pick them up this afternoon with our new visas, so full story to follow later. Another day of heat, sunshine, sand, furry friends and loving life in Egypt.....along the gringo trail.
Here we are in El Gouna, the premier, luxury resort on the Red Sea near the city of Hurghada. We are surrounded by huge, custom built homes many of which cost over a million US dollars, enjoying the lavish lifestyle for free as house and pet sitters.
Will The Big Boy
Sights Around El Gouna
Tuk Tuk Taxi's Are Cheap
We noticed on the kitchen countertop of the house a few brochures including restaurants, and touristy things to do nearby so we had to sneak a peek. One in particular caught our eye....a restaurant called, "Zomba," who's slogan is, "Egyptian food made right," so we browsed through the menu.
The first section on the menu features Egyptian plates as follows: Classic fool (also spelled ful) is a local dish of fava beans, spices and vegetables for 05.00 LE (Egyptian pounds) translated to US dollars that is 28 cents.
Fool With Spicy Sausage
A Heaping Pile Of Koshari For Clyde
So yesterday Clyde, my big spender of a husband took me out to lunch at Zomba. Since I had not tried "fool" yet I ordered a plate of fool with spicy sausage added for a total cost of $1.24. Clyde ordered koshari with shawarma chicken (shawarma is a way of slow cooking meat) for a total cost of just $1.98. We added a side order of hummus for just $1.13 and a liter and a half bottle of water for 68 cents. We were given a basket of HOT, freshly, baked flat bread to dip into our hummus....yum! The total for this splurge of lunch came to a whopping $5.04!
Fresh Baked Bread And Hummus
Everything that this restaurant sells is cheap and they even offer home delivery for FREE. But it's NOT just this restaurant that is cheap, they all are here. Even the famous Nathan's hot dog chain is here in El Gouna where one can buy a hot dog for around $1.40 or a burger for $1.70 for that good old American food fix. But for us we'll stay with the local food since it's cheap, tasty and healthy.
Here's Clyde Hard At Work House Sitting
We have been in Egypt for a full month today and are still loving this place. However, we entered the country on a 30 day tourist visa that expires today, so yesterday we made the trek into Hurghada to the visa office to request an extension. An interesting experience that is not over yet. We had to leave our passports behind and go pick them up this afternoon with our new visas, so full story to follow later. Another day of heat, sunshine, sand, furry friends and loving life in Egypt.....along the gringo trail.
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