The Ritz

The Ritz is next to a bicycle repair shop, down a short cul-de-sac on the Nile side of the main hotel road, past the Nile Palace on the south side of Luxor. It is well signed from the main road and just a short walk away from the passing tourist trade.

The restaurant is well lit, freshly painted in two tones of green and not as cramped as some of the smaller eating places. Some of the furniture is a bit old so you may want to change your chair if you get one of the ones with loose joints or a seat pad that needs restuffing. The tables, though, are steady enough and covered in alternating red and blue over white cloths. Unlike some value restaurants, napkins are linen.

The Ritz offers good ingredients, well cooked and good value. Daily specials are added to the soups, starters, fish, meat and poultry dishes listed in the menu. There is a good selection of vegetarian choices at LE24. Soups are between LE7 and LE9, most poultry main courses are LE41, a fillet steak with sauce LE56 and most desserts are LE10 - LE13. So two can have a good choice of three courses with a soft drink for around LE150.

Meals seem to be cooked to order, so you will need to wait a while, but allowing for that the meals come quite quickly. There are usually only one or two people, casually dressed, performing all roles except cooking but including waiting. They offer a largely unsmiling but efficient, matter of fact service, where food is brought to table rather than served. You wonder whether they are training for the speed delivery championships but they do find time to ask if everything is OK.

This is not a place to go if you want to be cosseted on a special evening out. It is the place to go for plentiful, no-fuss eating. There is none of the dimmed lighting atmosphere of other restaurants, nor attention to fine etiquette, just easily recognisable dishes that will satisfy your appetite.

We used to have this restaurant on our 'good value' list and for that reason we thought it was worth a try. However, in the middle of 2010 prices rose quite substantially - around 25% on some parts of the menu - although they have been steady since then. Nevertheless, prices are up to the level of better small restaurants. Of course, restaurants don't synchronise their price changes, so perhaps Ritz is just ahead of the ir competition at the moment, but based on the last comparisons we made, Ritz has lost its 'good value' rating, and as it is mediocre in other respects we would suggest trying an alternative, better, small restaurant instead, such as King Tut, or spend a little more and go for a much, much better meal, better service and altogether better experience at Snobs or Puddleduck.

 

Review updated January 2012
Prices at January 2012