Egypt
This is the place to eat out in style. Rossini is a sophisticated Italian seafood restaurant in Heliopolis with a piano bar upstairs and a garden at the back. It has great food, excellent cocktails (which are difficult to find in Cairo outside five-star hotels) and top service.
Rossini, 66 Omar Ibn el-Khattab Street.
Tel : +20 2 291 8282
I remember that in the eighties our host directed us to a fish restaurant which was unknown to tourists, somewhere in the centre and (inside) entirely built in alabaster - wall panels, uplighters, counters ... everything.
The fish was incredibly fresh and the service exquisitely polite (and very formal) - the waiters were in tails and spoke only French and Arabic. We paid a ridiculously small amount for a wonderful meal. I have long since lost the address, but if anyone knows whether this restaurant still exists, I would love to know.
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