Coffee houses, patisseries and juice bars
Cairene males have socialized in coffee houses or tearooms ( ahwa) ever since the beverage was introduced from Yemen in the early Middle Ages (for a rundown on coffee and tea drinking and preparation). Although professional qasas (storytellers) have largely been supplanted by broadcast or taped music, other traditional diversions such as backgammon and dominoes are still popular, and smokers remain loyal to their waterpipes. Most ahwas are shabby hole-in-the-wall places, with chairs overlooking the street, while a few - such as Fishawi's and Al-Shataranji - are large and more sophisticated, often with high ceilings and tall mirrors (these often also sell pastries). Certain ahwas are the haunt of hobbyists - chess players at Al-Shataranj in Saiyida Zeinab, literati at the Ali Baba on Midan Tahrir (where Mahfouz takes coffee) or rural migrants (oasis folk frequent Al-Wahia on Sharia Qadry, off Sharia Bur Said), but most have an eclectic clientele. All-night awhas can be found around Bab al-Luq, Midan Ramses and Sharia Qalaa; those around the Saiyida Zeinab end of Sharia Mohammed Farid and Sharia el-Nasireya show videos (sometimes in English) throughout the night. There are also modern all-night coffee shops in the Intercontinental, Meridien and other deluxe hotels.

For daytime snacks, the upmarket coffee houses and tearooms (more akin to Western cafés than traditional ahwas) serve selections of pastries, rice pudding, creme caramel and suchlike - the most famous are the branches of Groppi's). As well as being great places to stop off during the day, they also provide a welcome alternative to the monotony of standard hotel breakfasts (rolls and jam and/or cheese spread). Another option is to try one of the breakfast buffets offered by a range of deluxe hotels and open to non-residents.

To take away or consume on the spot, however, it's cheaper to buy at patisseries like Haroun al-Rashid on Talaat Harb, El-Sarkia on Sharia Alfy Bey, or branches of the city-wide chain La Poire , where pastries are normally sold by weight with the price per kilo posted. The original and most central branch, at 1 Sharia Amerika Latina (near the British Embassy in Garden City), offers home-made baklava (£E25 per kilo) and éclairs (£E2.40); other branches are in Mohandiseen (opposite the Atlas Hotel), Giza (Sharia el-Nil, 100m south of the Gama'a Bridge), Heliopolis (92 Sharia al-Higaz, near Midan Heliopolis), the Ramses Hilton and elsewhere.

Every main street has a couple of tiled stand-up juice bars (usually open 8am-10pm), recognizable by their displays of fruit, where you can pick up a glass of freshly squeezed juice - a great way to get the appetite going before breakfast. The ones near the Café Riche and Felfela charge more than most, but they're never expensive. The best one in Cairo is Fraghly Fruits, 71 Arab League Street, in Mohandiseen. Normally, you order and pay at the cash desk before exchanging a plastic token for your drink at the counter (where customers leave a 5-15pt tip). You'll also see a number of nut shops ( ma'la) on the main thoroughfares, offering all kinds of peanuts ( fuul sudani), edible seeds, and often candies and mineral water, too. See Basics for more on the various types of juices and nuts.

Ice cream in Cairo is usually not very good, though you may find interesting flavours like guava and mango. A cut above the rest are the Dairy King outlets (in Zamalek, Mohandiseen and Heliopolis), but traditionally Rigoletto, in Zamalek's Yamaha Centre (3 Sharia Taha Hussein), is considered the best, serving delicious ice cream (£E1.75 a scoop) and cheesecake (daily 9am-11.30pm; £E3 minimum charge to eat in). If you're desperate for the real thing, Baskin & Robbins (branches in Modandiseen, Heliopolis and Pyramids Road) has ice cream for the connoisseur, but at a comparatively high price (£E3.50 a scoop).

Restaurants, cafés and street food
Restaurants, cafés and street food comprise a culinary spectrum rather than distinctly separate categories. Restaurants run the gamut from nouvelle cuisine salons to backstreet kebab houses, while cafés range from air-conditioned bourgeois havens to open-fronted tiled diners. The ones devoted to kushari (£E1-2 a bowl) or fuul and taamiya (£E1.50 with salad and pickles) provide the cheapest nutritious meals going. A third type of outlet purveys fatir or Egyptian pizzas, which are tastier and cheaper (£E6-10 depending on size and ingredients) than most Western-style pizzas in Cairo.

Despite the blurred line between hole-in-the-wall eateries and outright street food , running water remains a crucial factor - anywhere without it is risky. Markets and terminals offer the best outlets; a number of places off Ramses, Orabi, Ataba, Falaki, Lazoghli and Giza squares, and midway down Sharia Qalaa function all night .

At the other end of the gastro-cultural spectrum, every hotel rated three stars or above has at least one restaurant and coffee shop (maybe 24hr) that's accessible to non-residents. If familiar food and no hassle are top priority, hotel dining is usually a safe bet. For those who need them, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and KFC have also arrived (with branches on Sharia Mohammed Mahmoud, opposite the north entrance to the American University). Wimpy have been here longer (their main downtown branch is at 8 Sharia Talaat Harb). All of them have several outlets around the centre as well as in Mohandiseen and Heliopolis. Perhaps surprisingly to Westerners, these fast-food chains are considered posh eating places by Cairenes, who may even dress up to go to them.

Between these extremes there's a huge variation in standards of cleanliness and presentation, and whether somewhere seems okay or grotty depends partly on your own values. We've tried to present a cross section of what's available in various parts of the city. The majority of places listed have menus in English or French and staff who understand both, but others deal only in Arabic; fortunately, many of them display what's on offer, so you only have to point.

In the listings, we've given the following guide to cost: inexpensive means that you can get a full meal (starter, main course and soft drink) for £E20 or less, moderate means that a full meal costs £E20-40, and expensive will set you back over £E40 for a full meal. Many restaurants sell seafood and kofta and kebab by weight: a quarter of a kilo is one portion; a full kilo is usually enough for three to four people. Note that telephone numbers have been included for all restaurants where reservations are a good idea. At others, there's no need to bother - assuming you could get through and make yourself understood.

Floating restaurants
Floating restaurants can be an agreeable way to enjoy the Nile, but business has been badly hit by the slump in tourism. As cruise schedules change, it is wise to phone and check, and, with trade now recovering somewhat, make a booking, too. The price quoted is per person.

Nile Maxim (tel 340-8888 ext 8383). Docked in front of and managed by the Marriott, runs lunch (2.30-4.30pm; £E45) and dinner (8-10pm & 11pm-1am; £E95-135) cruises with live Egyptian music; dinner show features belly dancing.

The Nile Pharaoh & Golden Pharaoh (tel 570-1000). Pair of mock-pharaonic barges complete with scarab friezes, picture windows, and golden lotus flower or figures of Horus mounted on the stern and prow. Moored 1km south of the El-Gama'a Bridge and operated by Oberoi Hotels, they cruise for lunch (2.30-4.30pm; £E72), sunset (Fri only 5-6.30pm; £E45) and dinner (8-10pm, 8.45-10.45pm, 10.30pm-12.30am & 11.30pm-1.30am; £E95). You should check in half an hour before sailing. The dinner cruises feature music and a belly dancer, the lunch cruises have live "oriental" music.

Scarabee (34) (tel 355-4481). Docked on the Corniche near Helnan Shepheard's Hotel. Sails four times daily: 2.30-4pm (£E50 including lunch); 6-7.30pm ("sunset cruise"; minimum charge £E21); 8-10pm & 10.30pm-12.30am (both £E85 including dinner). The last features an "oriental" floor show, belly dancer and a dance band.

Drinking
As throughout Egypt, the sale of alcohol is banned during Ramadan and other major Muslim festivals, and drinking is limited to indoor locations at all times. Besides restaurants and hotels, there are various bars . The cheapest of these are rather rough male-only hard-drinking dens. Others are chiefly meeting places for men and prostitutes (the only Egyptian women found there). The more upmarket bars often have a minimum charge, often unadvertised (usually around £E10-20).

Inevitably, there's also some overlap between bars and nightclubs (covered under "Nightlife and the arts")