Luxor Egyptian Cuisine
Sharm el Sheikh is blessed with a vast variety of restaurants offering us countless cuisines to choose from. In a relatively small resort , you can sample sushi, taste Thai, indulge in Indian and Italian, feast on fusion and even mangé Mongolian. With this array of eateries it is easy to forget about trying authentic Middle Eastern or Egyptian cuisine. As they say ‘When in Rome…..’ so we should definitely indulge our taste buds in the delights of the country’s cuisine.
With this in mind we decided to try the Luxor restaurant in Soho Square. There are lots of small ‘local’ restaurants offering traditional food but sometimes especially when you are on holiday you want to have a more sophisticated dining experience – the Luxor fills this gap perfectly. The restaurant is located on the top floor, alongside the other Soho Square restaurants the Bombay and Mandarin. There is a shared Maitre’d area where we were greeted and escorted to our table by the large window, which gives panoramic views over the busy Soho street.
As we walked into the restaurant we were immediately transported back to an era of bygone Egypt, the atmosphere was magically set by the young man playing the traditional Oud. This was a beautiful and just added the finishing touch to the authentic décor of mosaic terracotta floor tiles, a wall to wall mural depicting a classic scene of a lady collecting water and various ornamental pieces.
Our waiter lit the arabesque lantern, poured us mineral water and presented us with the menus. He politely made some recommendations which all sounded delicious. For an appetizer you can choose from a selection of cold mezza (various dips), hot mezza and soups. We decided to have the cold mezza platter for two.
The main menu offers authentic Egyptian dishes and has classics such as Lamb Fatta; a rich casserole of layered spiced lamb, flat bread and rice, Lamb and Orka, Prawn Tagine and Fish Sayadia – Sea Bass served with a special sauce. Alternatively there is another menu from the Charcoal grill. We took our waiters recommendation and chose the half grilled organic chicken and the grilled lamb chops.
The mixed mezza platter was served with warm flat bread and was an assortment of tahini, hummus, mixed salad, yogurt with cucumber, cold mashi (stuffed aubergine & tomato) and spiced pickles. It was the perfect start to our meal, although for someone with a heartier appetite it might seem a little small for two.
Our mains were served with rice and grilled vegetables. The lamb chops were cooked to my order; the perfect medium rare. They were lightly spiced, succulent and delicious. I found the portion size an appropriate serving for me; however for heartier appetites I would recommend the half chicken as this was a larger portion. Each dish was nicely presented in a sophisticated way, a nice touch was the waiter left our mezza plate, suggesting that the tahini was a nice condiment for the grilled meat.
Every Egyptian meal needs to be finished with something sweet. Although we were full our excellent waiter suggested we should share the ‘Om Ali’ a sweet milk pudding with nuts, raisins and small pieces of bread. It was delicious and complimented the meal. I would recommend the Luxor as a very pleasurable dining experience perfect for those who wish to sample traditional cuisine but in a more sophisticated atmosphere than a souk. The service was impeccable and the food delicious.
Tags:fish, sea, Soho Square, water
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