The Lantern

The Lantern used to be round the corner, where Pals is now, and could be difficult to find. Now it is opposite the Lotus hotel, in the same road as Snobs, Casablanca, Deans and Joan's as well as travel agents and an internet cafe, so it is difficult to miss.

The Lantern has gone upmarket since moving round the corner. The light decor of the old premises has given way to dark blue walls with matching chairs and table cloths, offset by a bright white ceiling with ornate roses surrounding chandeliers. It is the sort of environment you would expect to dress up to go to, although not all diners appeared to agree, wearing all varieties of formal and informal dress.

The waiters are dressed in smart casual black short-sleeve shirt and ties and the owners, especially Debbie, are evident much of the time, chatting to guests.

The Lantern is a very popular restaurant. It is frequently recommended with high praise. We visited several times with open minds and high expectations.

The menu is varied. In addition, there are daily specials which are written on a blackboard, although, as in the old Lantern, the blackboard specials were not priced. Menu prices are at the higher end for this part of Luxor. Typical main courses, including tajine and goulash are around LE45: a steak just a little higher from LE50. There are cheaper main courses such as pastas from around LE35 and desserts are reasonably priced from about LE15. Overall, the prices are higher than Snobs, just across the road, which may be considered as the main competition and about on a par with Pals.

Bread rolls with the first course were allocated - one each. Perhaps more would have been available on request, but none were volunteered and you shouldn't have to ask. Most other restaurants even approaching these prices provide a bread basket. A disappointing start.

Most of the first courses we tried have been fine, although LE20 for soups is really rather expensive for Luxor. In fact while we were there we paid more for Lentil soup at the Lantern than we did at the Maritim Jolie Ville hotel. That pricing really doesn't seem quite right. There are some good main course choices but frequently the vegetables we have had with ours have not been good. On one occasion we returned peas and carrots because they were cold and the peas were very hard indeed. The waiter shrugged. One of the ways a good restaurant proves itself is by the way it responds when things don't go quite right. That wasn't the response we would expect.

Once the crumble was very dry. We told Debbie. She agreed. She said they usually put something with it but they didn't this time! Not really good enough when you go to a restaurant for which many superlatives are claimed.

We do not say this is a bad restaurant. But in all honesty we think the praise is oversung. Overall, a nice environment and some excellent meals, but we don't think the top-flight prices are matched by top-flight quality. The Lantern seems to benefit from recommendations and repeat visits from an obviously loyal following, encouraged by friendly management and staff. What wasn't clear was whether the loyal guests had tried nearby competition. Nice place, friendly and popular, but in our experience, not faultless by any means.