New Spot Almaz Is Bringing Kebda & Sojouk to El Gouna

The little seaside town that is El Gouna has been known to exude elegance on every corner, so much so that a simple, casual meal would’ve been hard to come by. I mean, if you’re stuck in El Gouna, and were suddenly struck by the innately Egyptian need for a kebda sandwich - what would you do?

A couple of months ago, there would’ve been no solution, unless, of course, one of your friends volunteered to haul you to Cairo and back for a quick fix, but that’s too much of a hassle anyways. Today, kebda is the new it-girl on the El Gouna marina, all thanks to new restaurant Almaz.

“As someone who spends a lot of time in El Gouna, I was deeply impacted by the lack of authentic Egyptian street food in town,” stories Gehan Iskander, the co-founder of Almaz. “I mean, we have Lebanese, Italian, Asian - but where are we?”

Almaz is bringing traditional Middle Eastern, specifically Egyptian, cuisine to El Gouna in all its Glory with a capital ghee (pun intended). This means that, this summer, you need not succumb to the Italian-Asian limitedness of El Gouna’s cuisine, you can indulge in sojouk sandwiches, dip that in tahini, follow up with hawawshi and even sweeten your palate with a loaf of sakalans. Almost as if you’re in Sayeda Zeinab, but in your skimpy after-dark El Gouna attire.

“Some time last year, my friend and I reached the earth-shattering realisation that Egyptian cuisine, our cuisine, is immensely rich - we’re just not giving it enough credit. As someone who’s been in marketing for 24 years, I thought it was about time I brought our food to the light.”

Brought to you by Square Hospitality, Almaz is the lovechild of three culinary talents, Ramez Mounir, Ramy Doss, and Mina Rostom, and one marketing shark, Gehan Iskander. What they have in common is the irresistible need to showcase Egyptian cuisine in a way that has never been done before, via a brand identity as vibrant as the food.

“This is just the beginning of a long journey of elevating and polishing our favourite traditional dishes. I mean, now it’s kebda and sojouk, soon it will be koshary, and not long after we’ll even bring the humble foul cart to light.”

Almaz is now open in Downtown El Gouna, so make sure your Spring break plans are set.