جربت ساندوتش السمك، وكان احسن من ساندوتش اللحمة.

A natural pronunciation is:

garrabt sandoš es-samak, w kān aḥsan min sandoš el-laḥma.

A few notes:

• ج in Egyptian Arabic is usually pronounced like g in go.
  • So جربت = garrabt
• ش sounds like sh.
  • So ساندوتش = sandoš / sandawich depending on the speaker
• السمك is often pronounced es-samak
• اللحمة is often pronounced el-laḥma
• احسن = aḥsan, with ḥ being a stronger, breathier h

So the flow is roughly:

garrabt sandoš es-samak, w kān aḥsan min sandoš el-laḥma

جربت means I tried.

It comes from the verb جرّب = to try / test.

In Egyptian Arabic, the past tense often includes the subject inside the verb itself.
So:

• جربت = I tried
• The -ت ending marks I in the past tense

That is why you do not need a separate word for I here.

Because Arabic verbs usually show the subject.

In English, you say:

• I tried

But in Arabic, جربت already includes I.

If you wanted, you could add أنا for emphasis:

• أنا جربت ساندوتش السمك

But in normal speech, it is usually unnecessary unless you want contrast or emphasis, like:

• I tried it, not him

وكان is made of two parts:

• و = and
• كان = was

So وكان احسن... means:

• and it was better...

In Arabic, the word it is often not stated separately when the meaning is obvious from context.
So after mentioning the fish sandwich, وكان احسن naturally means and it was better.

In Egyptian Arabic, احسن is very common in everyday speech for better / nicer.

So:

• احسن من = better than

In Modern Standard Arabic, learners often see أفضل من, but in Egyptian conversation, احسن من is usually more natural.

Examples:

• ده احسن = This is better
• احسن من ده = better than this

So this sentence sounds colloquial and natural for Egyptian Arabic.

من here means than in a comparison.

So:

• احسن من = better than

In the sentence:

• وكان احسن من ساندوتش اللحمة
• and it was better than the meat sandwich

This is a very common pattern:

• أكبر من = bigger than
• أحلى من = nicer/sweeter than
• أرخص من = cheaper than

So whenever you compare two things, من often corresponds to English than.

الـ is the definite article, like the in English.

So:

• السمك = the fish
• اللحمة = the meat

In this sentence, ساندوتش السمك literally looks like the fish sandwich or sandwich of the fish, but in natural English we usually just say the fish sandwich.

Likewise:

• ساندوتش اللحمة = the meat sandwich

Arabic often uses this kind of structure when one noun describes another.

Both can be possible, but they can feel slightly different depending on context and style.

• ساندوتش السمك often sounds like the fish sandwich / a specific fish sandwich type already understood in context
• ساندوتش سمك can sound more like a fish sandwich or the category fish sandwich

In everyday Egyptian speech, people may use either one.
The version in your sentence sounds very natural if the speaker is talking about specific menu items or known options.

Similarly, you might hear:

• بيتزا الفراخ = chicken pizza
• عصير المانجا = mango juice

لحمة literally means meat, but in Egyptian Arabic it often refers especially to red meat or beef in everyday usage.

So:

• ساندوتش اللحمة usually means something like the meat sandwich, often understood as a beef/meat filling rather than chicken or fish

This is one of those words where the exact meaning depends on context.

For example:

• فراخ = chicken
• سمك = fish
• لحمة = meat, often red meat

Yes, and that is exactly what is happening.

ساندوتش is treated as a singular noun, and it is commonly treated as masculine in usage.
So:

• كان = it was for a singular masculine subject

The implied subject is ساندوتش السمك.

If the thing being described were feminine, you might expect كانت instead.

So the grammar is:

• ساندوتش السمك ... وكان احسن
• The fish sandwich ... and it was better

It is a borrowed word, ultimately from English sandwich, but it is very common in Egyptian Arabic.

Loanwords like this are normal in spoken Arabic.
You will often hear food words like:

• ساندوتش = sandwich
• بيتزا = pizza
• برجر = burger

Even though the word came from another language, it behaves like a normal noun in everyday Egyptian speech.

The sentence is built very naturally for conversation:

• جربت ساندوتش السمك
  • I tried the fish sandwich
• وكان احسن من ساندوتش اللحمة
  • and it was better than the meat sandwich

This order makes sense because:

1. the speaker first says what they tried
2. then gives an opinion about it

That is very common in both Arabic and English conversation.

You could translate the feeling as:

• I tried the fish sandwich, and it was better than the meat sandwich.

Yes, somewhat.

This sentence is clearly colloquial Egyptian because of features like:

• احسن instead of the more formal أفضل
• everyday spoken style overall

A more formal/Standard Arabic version might look different, for example using:

• جرّبتُ شطيرة السمك، وكانت أفضل من شطيرة اللحم.

But that would sound much more formal and less like everyday Egyptian speech.

So the sentence you have is useful for real spoken Egyptian Arabic.