Dahab Paradise

Eating

The restaurant/bar comes in Koh Samui-style: no walls, shady roof. It is built from old telegraph poles (as is the entrance), and smart tables and cushioned chairs are scattered about. It’s the hub of the hotel, a place to linger, so stop for a drink, sit with a book or, chat to staff and guests.

A buffet breakfast is served from 7am-10am and mixes western food with Egyptian dishes. You’ll get bread rolls and jam, fruit salad and yoghurt, scrambled eggs and cornflakes, plates of cucumber and tomato.

Lunch and dinner share the same menu, mostly western dishes. You can eat anything from a bowl of fries to seafood platters piled high with Red Sea shrimps and calamari. In between you’ll find excellent salads, tasty pizzas, a club sandwich, a cheese burger, grilled chicken, ravioli, even a steak. So don’t expect to go hungry.

Barbecues are held once a week, sometimes at lunch, sometimes in the evening. If you stay for a week, there’ll also be an Egyptian buffet dinner one night, too: green vegetable soup, oven-baked chicken, rice with noodles and lots of oriental salads.

You’ll probably want to eat in town at some time while you’re here. There are loads of restaurants on the seafront and it can be pretty hit-or-miss working out where to go, so ask the staff, who’ll happily advise. Ali Baba is good for big Egyptian grills and if you fancy a curry try Nirvana Indian Restaurant near the lighthouse, which is also a dive centre.