cairo restaurant recommendations?
 

I'm looking for some recommendations from recent visitors. Both high end and 'local ' suggestions welcome.
thanks

??

Abu as-Sid in Zamalek

Sequoia-lovely restaurant at one of Zamalek on the Nile; decent food and shisha, excellent ambiance

Taboulah's-in Garden City-food is amazing, very fun atmosphere

Both of these are 'upper class'

There are lots of interesting 'local' places near downtown around Medaan Tahrir, but these are a bit overwhelming to the visitor.

Laura

thanks to everyone for their response! i will be travelling in egypt and jordan from 3/11 through 3/19. I will be sure to post my experiences.

Le Pasha 1900 is a stationery riverboat moored in Zamalek which houses several very good restaurants. My favourite is Le Steak, a cosy steakhouse on the lower deck, but there is also a very good Lebanese restaurant on the top deck and an Italian restaurant next door to Le Steak, also good except that it caters primarily to large tour groups. If you book a table by the window in any of the above, you get a great view of the passing traffic on the Nile. These restaurants have top quality mezzes (selection of Middle Eastern appetizers) as well as a variety of Middle Eastern and European main dishes. Le Pasha is patronized by locals and visitors alike.

thanks, phinn. that sounds great!

My favorite local place is the Port Said restaurant in the Arabic souk across the street from Khan al Khalili. Expect to spend about $15 for a feast for four.

Cross Al Azhar towards the south on the footbridge and just west locate the Mosque-Madrassa of al-Ghouri. ON the east side of that mosque is a busy entryway/alley into the souk. Go down there and take either the first or second street on the left (I cannot remember exactly which as I navigate by site). But about 25 to 50 meters up on the right is the Port Said. I usually just say "feed us please." Don't be put off by the, uh, lack of cleanliness and only drink bottled water or hot tea. Everything else is as authentic as you can get.

Uh, I navigate by SIGHT. And it may be the third street on the left...

There's a great fancy Italian restaurant in the Four Seasons on the Cairo side of the Nile, an even more fabulous Thai restaurant in the Semiramis Both are expensive for Cairo. The outdoor restaurant at the Grand Park Hilton (lobby level-ish) right by the Nile.

There's a nice place named Crave on Zamalek. It could be a fancy neighborhood restaurant in the US. Serves steak, pasta, burgers, etc. It's filled with well dressed Cairenes.

By and large the very best restaurants in Cairo are in the hotels.

when we say a restaurant is expensive in cairo, what are we talking about in dollars?

sunshine - is that good Thai restaurant still in the "old" Four Seasons? I ate there a couple of times and it was great.

dperry - I really can't say what "expensive" means in Cairo -I just don't remember. But I know that our bills were usually obnoxious because we would order good (imported) wine and those prices were crazy.

Many of the better restaurants in Cairo are in the international hotels, frequented by locals as well as visitors. Food in Egypt is cheap, so you will rarely have to pay more than US$35 for a three-course meal (without wine). Imported drinks are considerably more expensive than the local version. Tax and tips are added to the prices listed on the restaurant and can bump the bill up by 20-25%.

The restaurants below have been classed in four different pricing categories:
$$$$ (over US$30)
$$$ (US$20 to US$30)
$$ (US$15 to US$20)
$ (under US$15)
These prices include a three-course meal for one, excluding drinks and tip.