King Tut

There is another, unrelated, King Tut restaurant in the Savoy Centre closer to Luxor centre. This King Tut restaurant is on the main road almost opposite the Isis hotel, on the same side of the road as the Gaddis. There is a huge backlit menu on the pavement that you have to navigate round if you walk by, but even so, it is still surprisingly easy to miss. Try not to miss it. It is a gem.

The restaurant is in the basement beneath a travel agency. To get to it you have to go down a flight of external steps. But if you expect it to be dark and basement-like, you will be pleasantly surprised. Inside, it is brightly decorated in neutral colours and very well lit. The air is kept fresh with two conditioning units. There is a slightly separate area for three tables on a low platform. In the middle of the room is a decorative stone feature. This all helps to give the feeling of spaciousness and interest in contrast to the cram-them-in approach of some.

The tables, covered in burgundy over white cloths, are mostly arranged for four people, but they are moved as necessary to suit larger groups. They have sturdy chairs in a classic Egyptian style.

Several of the better restaurants greet you with a complimentary dip or some other aperitif. King Tut's welcome gives a hint of the excellent food and presentation to come.

And it is not a false expectation. Before you come to the restaurant there is a picture gallery on a menu board outside, illustrating most of the dishes. You learn to take these illustrations with a pinch of salt. In King Tut's case they are spot on. Every course of every meal is artistically presented. Don't worry that this implies that the meals are boutique minimalist style. At King Tut you get not only get an excellent presentation you also get a full meal.

The choice is not massive, but reasonably varied with a good selection for vegetarians, including a vegetable curry at LE21. There are one or two meat-based main course choices from most continents, so you can have an Egyptian Tagen (LE37 with meat), an international steak (LE46 with sauce) or an Italian pasta (from LE23 with meat - vegetarian less) but the selection is not wide within each type. Main courses vary widely in price, between about LE34 (for a fish tagen or chicken tandoori) and LE55 (for a mixed grill) our benchmark beef steak with sauce coming in at LE46. With a choice of soups around LE8 and a fair selection of desserts from LE11 - LE14, prices are on the better side of average. Not as good as some low-cost, no frills restaurants, but below many of this quality, especially good when you bear in mind that not only tax but also service charges are included. There is also a fair snack menu with omelettes and burgers from LE23. Pizzas start at LE18 and cheese on toast is LE18.

Overall, slightly limited choice but an excellent quality meal, extremely well presented and definitely recommended.

 

Review updated March 2010
Prices at March 2010