twofortheroad

We're staying in Cairo at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza for 5 nights & looking for restaurant recomendations. Any feedback for the hotel's restaurants--Spice, Zitouni, Bella, or Aqua? Also for Abou El Seed in Zamelak, Taboula in Garden City, or Kandahar in Mohandissan? Any other suggestions would be much appreciated.

sunshine007

Loved Abou El Sid in Zamalak. Very old oriental feeling w/ great Egyptian food. The night I was there it was filled with wealthy Egyptians and not western tourists. Act accordingly. Limited bar. Don't expect western style service. Dinner will be served on Egyptian time. Save some time to wander around the neighborhood before you eat. There's a nice English bookstore on the other end of the block. They had picture books on Egypt that I hadn't seen in other bookstores. Well, the book and sundries store in the Ramses Hilton also was quite good.

Sherif

TwoForTheRoad:
Sunshine has accurately described Abou El Seed, one of my favourites for Egyptian food... it is to be 'found out' how your stomach and taste buds handle typical Egyptian cuisine. The place is rather dark, no views, and smoke filled due to smoking waterpipes (shisha)in one of its areas.

The Four Seasons Nile Plaza is a very nice hotel... have only eaten there at Zeitouni... good Lebanese / mediterannean options.

Kandahar so so in my opinion...

Le Pacha (a boat stationed in the Nile in Zamalek very close to the Marriott has 9 restaurants with a very pleasent view. One of them is Egytian Food (Akl Zaman / El Tarbouche). Also on that same strip of the nile in Zamalek (close to the opera house and the other side of the Nile from the Nile Hitlon ) there is another boat (both do not cruise) with a nice Lebanese restaurant (Deir El Kamar).

twofortheroad

Thanks Sunshine & Sherif--"smoke filled" doesn't sound to good. How bad is the smoke? We are so spoiled with no smoking restaurants that I completely forgot to consider this. Will this be true for most indoor restaurants in Egypt? We'll be in Cairo in early December, so will outdoors be cold?

Sherif

No, not really, this specific restaurant (Aboul Seed) is rather not that large and not well ventilated... and being 'turn of the century style' it has a wing/room for smoking waterpipes (shisha), which leaves a stronger smell than cigarettes. This however is more during dinner time... lunch time is not corwded, and I doubt there will be waterpipe smokers... it is fun if you try it

On a more general note: most decent restaurants in Cairo, have smoking and non smoking sections.

Outdoors in December for lunch is usually relatively warm and enjoyable on a sunny day (most days in December are sunny in Egypt).

Speaking of restaurants, we have not mentioned lunch or dinner on boat crusing the Nile for a couple of hours. Could be interesting. Also, having lunch in the outdoor restaurant of Mena House Oberoi in winter is really nice. You eat by the pool, surrounded by a garden and seeing the Pyramids from your table. Highly recommended...maybe after you finsih your visit to the Pyramids.

Also, if you cross the street from the Four Seasons Nile Plaza, slightly to your left there is the Grand Hyatt... they have a terrace restaurant.. where you can almost touch the water of the Nile... (while a road separates the Four Seasons from the Nile, the Grand Hyatt is on the Nile).