Pizza Roma.it

Of course some will ask "why go to Luxor and eat Italian?". But then why eat English, and there are plenty of English and international restaurants in Luxor. Or why eat Indian or Chinese? In practice, lots of tourists are happy to eat Egyptian sometimes, but if you enjoy Italian, Chinese or Indian food at home, then why not on holiday, too?

Quite a few places in Luxor sell Italian food. The one with the highest reputation is probably the Sheraton's La Mamma. The El Luxor hotel also has its Italian restaurant beside the pool and, not far from Roma.it, is Castello. There are pizza houses along several of the tourist and non-tourists roads such as Television Street and Station Road. There are also fast-food outlets selling pizza, such as Pizza Hut, Snacktime and McDonald's. Plenty of international restaurants also sell Italian food.

What sets Pizza Roma.it apart is that it is an Italian restaurant jointly run by an Italian couple with a local man, and selling freshly made Italian pizza and pasta, the way the Italians do it. This is not a restaurant selling Italian food. This is a real Italian restaurant.

The restaurant is a little dark. The decoration is based on two shades of a burnt orange colour and dark wood. The dark wooden tables are covered variously in floral-patterned runners or cloths and the chairs and counter-top are dark, too. Photographs of Italian landmarks and personalities punctuate the otherwise plain painted walls.

The menu is as you would expect from an Italian restaurant. A wide range of nearly 30 pizzas start at just LE16 for a base or LE30 for one with a simple topping, rising to LE55 for something more exotic. There are also the normal pastas between LE28 and LE45 and just one soup (minestrone of course) at LE16. A small selection of non-pasta meals are priced between LE50 and LE70. A steak is LE55. Dessert choices are limited to cakes and fruit.

The whole pizza is made fresh on the premises to order. You can see what is going on through a large window to the kitchen area. The chef starts with the raw ingredients: not a pizza base on which he puts your choice of topping, but the flour, oil, salt, water and expertise it takes to make an Italian pizza. At first the Italian joint-owner tried to teach local chefs how to make the perfect pizza, but although they could learn the process he was not happy that they had the instinct for perfection, so now all pizzas are prepared by him or his Italian partner, or under their direct supervision.

Pizza Roma.it is one of a growing number of restaurants in the road known as St Joseph Street, which runs beside the St Joseph hotel at the southern end of the town. If you like pizza or pasta there is no need to put up with a bought-in or frozen base. Come here for the real thing.

 

Review updated January 2012
Prices at January 2012
Web site: www.pizzaroma-it.com
Tel: (002) 011 8799 559