The Ritz Restaurant , Luxor Egypt > Reviews (1)

Walk Like an Egyptian

We found this little gem of a restaurant one evening whilst wandering about trying to find some dinner close to our St Joseph Hotel in Luxor. We were tired and didn't want to make much of an effort. The restaurant is about 100 metres past the Hotel Sonesta on the Nile side of the street. It is at the end of a short and unprepossesing alleyway but don't let that put you off and don't let the fact that you have to negotiate quite a few randomly parked bicycles put you off either. (It's next to a bicycle repair shop!)

Looking more Bitsy than Ritzy

The outside of the restaurant is idiosyncratic to say the least! It is brightly painted in not very subtle shades of orange and green. Large flower displays abound and there is a distinct air of 'geometry run mad' in the design of the facade and patio area floor tiles! It put me in mind of Escher on speed. Black and white tiles in places that you never expected to see them!

We gazed in awe and amusement at this bizarre frontage and nearly decided not to go in but our minds were made up for us by the appearance of a chubby and affable young man who swept us in and seated us before we could change our minds. I am so glad he did, we had a wonderful evening.

If I were a Ritz man....

Inside the Ritz was spotless, painted in two tones of a definitely more restful green. The decor was a bit "Hollywood meets the Casbah." but it was exuberant and different and it gave us something to look at. (I am still trying to work out what the figure on the indoor water fountain represented.) Pictures and mirrors dotted the walls in an eclectic display. Plants chivvied for space on the windowledges and shelves.
It isn't a huge restaurant, at a guess I would say it seats around fifty diners. A party of eight came in when we were there and the seating was effortlessly rearranged to accomodate them. (They ordered an Egyptian type Meze and it looked fantastic!) We later found out that they were all local tour guides, so for me that was a good omen if the locals ate there.
The table linen was clean and crisp and the tableware was sparkling. The place looked as though it was tended with pride. A little posy adorned each table. It just felt like a happy and comforting place to be.
As it was all on one level I think that wheelchair access would not be a problem.

Ducking and diving?

Our waiter had almost perfect English and was delighted to spend time with us. He handed us the very varied menu and described each dish with patience and enthusiasm.
There was a mix of traditional Egyptian foods and some plainer English cuisine for the less adventurous. It was all inexpensive, costing between £2.00 - £5.00 for the main courses. The local beer cost about 60p a for slightly less than a
pint.
I ordered 'Nile Duck' and my husband ordered 'Roast fish'. The smells emanating from the kitchen were delicious, at one stage the cook wandered out to ask if we wanted rice or cheeps or salad, or all three, because as he said, pointing to the waiter, "He talk, talk, talk and not say me!"

They then had a bit of a play fight and he ran back to the kitchen with a cheeky grin thrown over his shoulder. We ordered two bottles of Egyptian Stella beer whilst we waited, it arrived promptly and was cool and refreshing. The waiter assured us that the beer was very good for us as long as we didn't have more than eleven in one night! Eleven, apparently, was very bad and not to be tried. I asked if he liked to drink it and he said he was a good Moslem and never touched the beer unless it was a sunny day. (As it hadn't rained there for six years he was on a safe bet!)
His wit and friendliness alone was worth visiting the Ritz for!
After about twenty minutes of entertainment from our waiter, a shout from the kitchen sent him running back there. He reappeared ceremoniously carrying our meals on big silver salvers. ,

He uncovered mine with a flourish and put it in front of me.
"One Nile duck for you Madam and one for you sir!" He stood with the second dish still covered.
"But I ordered fish!" my husband said in a disappointed way.
"No sir, it ees duck for you!"
"I'm sorry but I definitely ordered fish!"
"They are both from in the water so you will not notice, it was a very nice duck!" Our waiter ingenuously suggested.
"I wanted fish really, not duck!"
"I will make you a feesh then." He shrugged despondently. "It will only take about one hour!" He started to trudge back to the kitchens.
"An hour?? Okay, don't worry I will have the duck then!" Russ was a bit put out but he was too hungry to wait an extra hour.
"Okay sir." He lifted the cover off Russ' dinner. "Oh look sir! It is a miracle! It has changed into a feeshy feesh for you!"
His joke was a huge success and so was the 'feeshy feesh' and the duck! The food was delicious and helped down with large doses of chuckles from all of us. (And a few more Egyptian Stella Beers!)
After our main course, which came with rice, salad and cheeps! (All of which were nicely presented and delicious.) We had a dessert of Creme caramel which is very popular in Egypt, it was lovely and cooling, not too sweet and with a good helping of the runny caramel topping that I love.
We were offered coffee but declined beacause we wanted to sleep that night. Egyptian coffee is delicious but it takes no prisoners in the caffeine stakes!
Our waiter brought free liqueurs for us to try and fruit slices in a kind of syrup.
When our bill came it all added up to less than £7.50! Extraordinary value for well cooked food and an evening's entertainment and repartee!

At your own 'convenience'

During the course of the evening I needed the loo. I must tell you that the ladies toilet at the Ritz had to be seen to be believed. Every single surface was covered with pink lace! It was round the mirror, round the shelves, round the cistern, round the pictures, on the toilet seat, on the door frame and on the toilet lid! I can only assume that somebody wanted to marry the lace maker's daughter and had bought his entire stock to impress him! I have never seen anything like it!

It's a good job I was in the loo because I nearly wet myself laughing at it all! Do not go to Luxor without visiting these toilets! If you are a man, let me know what the 'Gents' is like! Blue lace perhaps?

Who will it please?

The Ritz is a great place to eat if you want value for money, attentive and humorous service and a good range of dishes to choose from. It is not somewhere to eat if you prefer more formal and exclusive dining but there are plenty of places in Luxor if that is what you prefer. It's not terribly posh, just a decent restaurant that is doing it's best to feed people well and cheerfully. Don't go here if you haven't got a sense of humour or an appreciation of the absurd. Do go if you want to meet some lovely people, have a pretty good meal and not take life too seriously.

I loved it and will make a point of returning next time I'm in Luxor.

The Ritz Restaurant.
Khaled Ibn El Walid St.
LUXOR, Luxor

Tel: 095-2370912, 010-1764565

Summary: A marvellous, quirky, friendly restaurant that you will want to return to.