King Tut

There used to be another, unrelated, King Tut restaurant on the third floor of the Savoy Centre, close to the El Luxor hotel. That King Tut is now closed. The King Tut to which this review refers is the King Tut on the main road almost opposite the Isis hotel, on the same side of the road as the St. Joseph hotel and the Gaddis. There is a huge backlit menu on the pavement that you have to navigate round if you walk by, but even so, King Tut 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. It takes courage to go to a restaurant when you can't see inside. There is no doubt that it would be far busier if it were at ground level. But do take courage and go down. 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 raised platform. On the main, lower level is a decorative stone water feature. This all helps to give the feeling of spaciousness and interest, in contrast to the cram-them-in approach of some other restaurants.

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, usually toasted garlic bread with tomatoe.

And it is not a false expectation. Before you come to the restaurant there is a picture gallery on a menu board outside, illustrating a selection of the dishes. With some restaurants 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. But that doesn't mean the meals are boutique minimalist style. At King Tut your meal is not only excellently presented, prepared by an executive chef with experience at the Sonesta and Sheraton hotels, but also full and filling.

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), duck à l'orange (LE43) 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. One of our favourite meals in Luxor is Fish Carrtaccio (sea bass presented in foil with seasoning), at LE38 a bargain that is not to be missed. With a choice of soups around LE8 - LE9 and a fair selection of desserts from LE11 - LE14, prices are on the better side of average. There may be other lower-cost, no frills restaurants, but this quality for this price is very hard to beat, especially 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 also LE18. Beer and wine are not on the menu, but they are available - just ask.

Unusually these days, smoking is permitted at all tables and all the time. In many, many visits, we have only once actually seen somebody smoke, and the two air conditioning units coped fairly well. Nevertheless, it is something that may put non-smokers off a restaurant that has everything else going for it.

Overall, slightly limited depth of choice within each meal type, but a wide range of meal types, an excellent quality meal, extremely well presented, brialliant prices and definitely recommended.

 

 

Review updated January 2012
Prices at January 2012
email: thekingtutrestaurant@yahoo.com
mobile: (002) 016 456 8990