Restaurants and takeaways in mainland Egypt are utilitarian. In Dahab, I enjoy eating again.

The shore is lined with restaurants, all with Bedouin-style floor cushions and low tables. Take off your shoes and plonk yourself down.

Standard price for breakfast is 10 to 12EP. You can choose Egyptian- or American-style breakfasts—well, only some restaurants call them American-style, but the idea is that it involves eggs. Egyptian breakfast consists of bread, butter, jam, and cheese with tea, but most of these restaurants will throw in some fresh fruit, yogurt, and maybe a piece of falafel. Christina Restaurant, where I am served for free by Yasser,has the best breads, very flaky and buttery, that are definitely not Egyptian-style. I don't know the price, but their breakfast is a buffet.

The seaside restaurants appeal to tourist tastes and can generally be relied on for good sandwiches and soups. Seafood dishes are probably decent. I wouldn't try the pizza. I stuff myself on tasty onion rings at the Jasmine Bar, next to the Christina. My friends enjoy giant veggie burgers.

But why concern yourself with solids when there are milkshakes to be had?

The milkshake is a beautiful thing. I would have one every day if they weren't so fattening and so costly (in New York anyway.) Dahab removes one of those factors. Thus, people happily expand themselves on a milkshake diet.

Here, they do not understand the concept of milkshake. What the Dahabians (Dahabites? Dahabines?) do is: Take fountain glass. Scoop out full pint of mango sorbet or banana ice cream. Somehow stuff straw in. Add decorative wafer. Charge 10EP.

As undrinkable as this actually is, it works out if you employ a spoon.

Both Al Capone and Aladdin near the bridge have excellent thick shakes. If I'd like to kick back with a shisha and creamy coconut shake, or possibly a chocolate shake with a beer, I can start here and work my way north. The Jasmine Bar's shakes are slightly less thick and more workable with a straw. They have more flavors, including a delicious strawberry. Do not get a milkshake at Christina! Non-thick. The horror. I am sorely disappointed, even if it IS free.

There is an undercurrent of milkshake love in Dahab; the waiters on restaurant row know they can pull you in by mentioning "thick shakes." Travelers compare and contrast shakes from different restaurants, and if in doubt, try, try again. Having a milkshake becomes an activity in and of itself. Do you want to go dancing? No, I want to have a milkshake. Never doubt the necessity of another milkshake.

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