Deans Bistro

Deans Bistro

Luxor has plenty of restaurants competing for 'evening out' clients, amongst which the well known Snobs, Puddleduck and Lantern are not many paces away. There are also plenty of economy restaurants, such as Ritz, Maxime, Castello and King Tut. There are Egyptian restaurants, Chinese restaurants and fast food restaurants. There are fewer casual eating places where you can eat a full English meal but don't have to be too worried about dressing up or minding your etiquette. Deans describes itself as a bistro rather than a restaurant and fits in that group.

Deans is in El Rawda El Sherila Street, opposite the Lotus hotel, where you will also find Lantern (next door), Snobs and Casablanca, amongst others. It is a reincarnation of Tramps, once part of much-respected Snobs but now British-run by Dean (who used to run Queens Coffee down the road). The mixture of the Snobs cooking legacy and the British casualness works if this is what you want.

When we first visited Deans it was lunchtime. The small 24 seat bistro was laid out much the same as it was in the pre-Dean days, with wooden tables dressed in green checker cloths and paper napkins. On the right as you enter is the counter beyond which is the open cooking area. It all seemed to suit lunchtime.

Evening meals are generally a little more formal, so we wondered how it would appear for the evening clients. Exactly the same. The casual regime continues throughout the day, so you can eat at lunchtime, in the evening, or both, and be equally informal. This will suit clients who are happy to be addressed across the room from behind the counter, checking on their order or offering more chili with the sauce. In other restaurants the query would be raised a little more discretely at the table, but no ceremony here.

Whenever we visited we had the impression that many clients were loyal regulars, to the extent that the room often had the atmosphere of a English family kitchen-diner where friends and neighbours had popped in for lunch.

But what about the food? Fine. A fair variety of mostly British fare including burgers, baked potatoes, pies and excellent steaks and curries, all well cooked and well presented. The steaks are good, and at LE63 with sauce, only a pound or two above the typical Maxime prices. Soups are LE17, which is a bit steep for a restaurant of this kind; LE8 - LE12 is more like it nearby. Most desserts are LE21 - LE25, although ice cream is LE17 - again, a bit more than the competition, but there are some choices you don;t see much elsewhere, such as sherry trifle. Otherwise, prices were on a par with the more formal restaurants that provide the competition - no discount for the relaxed setting.

If white table cloths, waiters with bow ties and attention to etiquette are too pompous for you, and you just want honest to goodness British-type food without the ceremony, Deans is worth a try. On the other hand, if Dean's individual personality doesn't suit or if you think that at these prices you should have a little more sophistication, there are plenty of better-value options within a few metres.

Review updated October 2011
Prices at May 2011