A relatively new restaurant in the city, Koshari Time provides the perfect opportunity to spend a relaxed Friday meal with friends sampling traditional Egyptian cuisine. The restaurant becomes especially lively at night, when it is bedecked with fairy lights and Arab music pours softly from overhead speakers. Lacking WiFi, Koshari Time indirectly encourages unplugging — instead plugging in to enjoy a pleasant, uninterrupted meal.

Photograph by Simran Motiani

Living up to its name, this one-year old eatery serves six different kinds of koshari, an Egyptian dish made with rice, macaroni and lentils and topped with spiced tomato sauce, garlic vinegar, chickpeas and crispy fried onions. All types of koshari are reasonably priced under 30 AED. Customers can choose to add eggs, meat, sausages, liver or shrimp as desired for a slightly higher price.

Aside from koshari, an extensive range of budget-friendly appetizers, spanning from soups to fattoush to falafel, are available, all for under 20 AED. For the main course, one also has the option to order from a variety of vegetable, meat and pasta tagines, sandwiches, fattah platters and nine kinds of manakish. If you’re feeling adventurous, try Koshari Time’s more exotic dishes like stuffed pigeon and meat-stuffed grape leaves. For those with more conservative taste buds, there is also an array of pizza and pasta dishes. Every dish can be ordered in small, medium or large portions.

Photograph by Simran Motiani

Finally, to sweeten the palate, choose from a selection of fresh fruit juices and milks and Egyptian desserts such as mahalabia, a kind of milk pudding, and om ali, a traditional bread pudding.

Friday night is the best time to visit Koshari Time as the restaurant serves a free knafeh cake at the end of your meal, which is just the right amount of sweet and cheesy and may possibly be the best of its kind in the city. Make sure to enjoy this Middle Eastern pastry with a glass of hot tea — only five dirhams extra — for the ultimate finishing touch to your meal.

Photograph by Simran Motiani

To visit Koshari Time, take the shuttle to Al Wahda Mall from campus. From there, you can choose to catch a taxi or take a 10-minute walk toward the Union National Bank in the Al Dhafrah area. The restaurant is beside the bank on Defence Road, alongside Hazaa Bin Zayed The First Street.