Old Winter Palace - La Corniche and 1886
 Old Winter palace
The Old Winter Palace has two restaurants, both of which are open to non-residents.
Both restaurants are open from 7pm until about 11pm.
The smaller restaurant, called the 1886, is French
and Silver Service. Smart dress, including a tie or jacket for gents
is required. It is necessary to book (at the hotel's reception desk).
Prices are relatively high by Egyptian standards, but you can still
eat very well, in surroundings unmatched in Luxor, for the same price
as a meal in an English Steak House. A bottle of an imported wine
will double the outlay. Service is not as good as in the smartest
restaurants in European capitals but the ambience encourages a little
tolerance of the imperfections.
The larger main restaurant is called "La Corniche".
Here there is a more traditional, international, menu and the prices
are a little lower. Soups are between LE25 and LE33, a steak is about
LE60 and desserts are mostly under LE40. With a soft drink or water,
two can eat for under LE300.
Smart dress is required. Although tie or jacket
are not compulsory, admission will be refused if dress is too casual.
The hotel's reception have told us that it is not necessary to book.
Our experience is that, if you are resident at the Old Winter Palace,
a table will be found easily, but if you arrive from another hotel
the head waiter will study his reservations diary, and look carefully
around the restaurant, before condescending to find a table for you
amongst the several empty ones, with an air that demands gratitude.
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The standard of service used to be as high as you
would expect from the grandeur of the surroundings. However, in our
experience, standards appear to have fallen in recent years. No longer
do the waiters remember the protocols about serving and clearing from
opposite sides. No longer is the plate squared so that the logo is
positioned at 12 o'clock. Little points, perhaps, but symptomatic
of the standard of service which is now, frankly, a little sloppy
and just slightly begrudging.
As you expect from a 'high class' restaurant,
portions are small, so it has never been the place to
come if you are hungry. You will not achieve your five
daily portions of vegetables here. Two slices of carrot
and a thimble of potato will accompany your steak. But
it will look pretty. The quantity of the food always
been so, but recently the quality has also become disappointing.
Flavours are usually excellent, but don't necessarily
expect the steak to be cooked as you asked and other
meats can be dry. You just can't help feeling that the
meal and its service could easily be so much better.
One advantage these restaurants both have over the
competition is their location, within the most famous and ostentatious
hotel in Luxor, with access to the very grand Victoria Lounge and
the impressive bar. Arrive at least an hour before your meal, use
those facilities and soak in the ambience.
Unless you are resident at the Winter Palace, you
would probably not go to the Old Winter Palace restaurants regularly,
but it is a place to come once or twice during a Luxor holiday to
celebrate a special occasion or for a last night farewell meal. If
you do not expect perfection, if you take advantage of the lounge
and the bar, and if you set out to enjoy the occasion rather than
just the eating, then you will be pleased with the evening.
The Winter Palace restaurants are easy to find within
the Old Winter Palace hotel on the Nile in the centre of town. |
