Restaurant review: Come Cakewalk Gamal Nkrumah steps out of his role as connoisseur in Rithmo and is driven by the Black Bottom knockabout Run the knife tight down the chunky beef fillet marinated in heavenly herbs. Stop in your tracks when you reach the crisp bed of lettuce. Cut the leaves away into ribbons and sandwich the tender flesh, gently cooked to medium rare, with the sappy foliage colouring into a verdant green on the lively heat of the meat and reach for your mouth. I am twiddling my thumbs in a trendy discotheque in Garden City's Simon Bolivar Square trying my best not to go for "Temptation". I have already succumbed to "The Deep Sin". Sinfully delicious, the mouthwatering prawn yakitori with a captivating pineapple chili dip, is as enticing as the "Carnivore", the meaty dish described above. My dance partner and I stretch before we get grooving. Spotting. Savour the succulent beef with the greens doused in sauce before you move to the dance floor. Rithmo is no gastro-pub. It is a curious mélange of intimacy, indulgence, opulence, pandemonium and state-of-the art musical technology braised in intellectual nourishment that distinguishes this sophisticated Cairene nightclub. Temptation, chocolate moelleux drenched in bitter-sweet dark chocolate sauce, sounds too tempting for my companion. Playfulness is not proving to be a problem tonight. "The portions are tiny," she grumbles irritably, brushing aside my looks of disapproval. "Plus, we'll soon burn the extra calories away." I am twiddling my thumbs in anticipation of luxuriating in the pulsating sounds of Makoto Kuryia and his Tokyo Freedom Soul who are performing at Rithmo this evening. "Hawaiian Blue", she exclaims excitedly. The Blue of Hawaii are delicious deep-fried stuffed pancakes saturated with calorific cream and vitamin-rich dried fruit served with the creamiest ice cream imaginable. Our dilemma of what to have before we dance tickles the waiters. They seem to instinctively understand that life is messier albeit richer than the antics of a couple of food-obsessed dancers. But what a fascinating dinner, and an even funnier take on our gastronomical feud. The gym-hewn figures of waiters bedecked in black T- shirts, cargo pants and heavy army boots, flouting the business dress code of full-blown pin-stripped suits associated with plush five-star hotels approach you with a friendly smirk. "Samurai? Nigiri sushi," one particularly beefy one enthuses. It turns out that Samurai is black ink sushi with marinated salmon. Nigiri sushi -- crab and tempura prawns. Then there is sea scallop sushi with Danish caviar, a redoubtable combination, and sea bass risotto sushi with eggplant. My companion and I play out a silent tug-of-war at Rithmo. She stares at the wood-panel ceiling, the awe-inspiring lamps and the resplendent décor. We delight in a shared meal before a dance together, but she has a sweet tooth and I avoid the carbohydrate-rich diet at all costs. I don't even go for the delicately balanced sushi -- I am partial to sashimi. Rithmo is famous for its vocal "Trans" artists and explosive displays of touching ethnic music from different parts of the Arab world (jesting contemporary Egyptian, ostentatious Lebanese and earthy Gulf jingles) and even Indian and Turkish tunes, and of course, the entire range of Western pop. "Tasting the Star", foie gras brulee and toasted finger bread, is the perfect starter to a night out at Rithmo. It somehow quells the dizzying effect of executing turns such as the pirouettes and the fouettés. The Carnivore is more suited to the Cakewalk. "This is just about the happiest jazz performance I have ever attended," my companion raves as we boogie woogie to the bar. At Rithmo there are no culinary predicaments. This, after all, is a place to dance and not exactly to eat. At any rate, it is not advisable to stuff yourself silly before you hop onto the dance floor. You may find yourself a little peckish after the Black Bottom, but devour whatever you can well before the breakdance. Rithmo Semiramis InterContinental Hotel Garden City, Cairo, Egypt Tel: 2795 7171 Night out for two: LE750
