After ascending 40 floors of the towering Grand Hyatt hotel, it is almost symbolic that you must take a separate elevator to reach the 41st. The Revolving Restaurant is higher than everything else. Perched at the apex of Cairo s skyline, tall windows running right around the restaurant s circular body open up magnificent panoramic views of the city. Over 75 minutes it rotates a full 360 degrees, meaning the duration of a meal will take in the whole of Cairo. As we enjoyed an aperitif myself and my guest were treated to a spectacular view of where the Nile parts at the southern tip of Zamalek, and by the time our main course had arrived, we were looking over the bright lights of Giza. On a clear day, apparently, there is an amazing view of the pyramids. The Revolving Restaurant offers French cuisine and the selection is quite reasonable. We both ordered salads to start, asparagus in balsamic and poached egg vinaigrette with Parmesan chips for myself, and Tuna tataki with a julienne of mango and papaya for my guest. I had never encountered poached egg vinaigrette before, but it tasted fairly ordinary to me. The tuna tataki was a far more interesting proposal, if not very French. By the time we had finished our starters, we had rotated as far as Tahrir Square. Our waiter, who had been so helpful when we were deciding what to order, was barely noticeable as he cleared the table. It must be said that the service throughout the meal was outstanding. For main course, I had the Sirloin steak with Cafe de Paris sauce, which is butter mixed with veal stock and herbs. As fancy as it sounds, a pepper sauce would have been much better. The steak itself was nice, though fell some way short of the quality its LE 255 price tag promised. My guest had the sea bass and grilled vegetables with wasabi sauce (French?) and granita of iced tomatoes. It was certainly tasty, but lacked the zest that can make a sea bass dish great. In fact, the highlight of the meal was the dessert. The chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, and the fruit salad with sorbet might sound conventional, but both were exquisite. We lingered long after we were finished. It is not every day you are treated to a spectacle like the one you find at the Revolving Restaurant. It also settles you nicely before the heart-stopping encounter with the bill. Coming in at a whopping LE 970 - alcoholic drinks not included - this is perhaps somewhere for special occasions only. There are cheaper options available with main courses starting at LE 80 (vegetarian dishes) pre-tax, though most will need side dishes like French fries or rice, all priced at LE 25. Desserts are mostly LE 60 before tax and service and are highly recommended. The drinks menu, both alcoholic and non, is comprehensive, offering a wide range of juices, soft drinks, cocktails, beers and wines; Sipping a Pimms whilst looking out over Zamalek is a delight, by the way. The food, though enjoyable, could have been better considering what we paid. But the view ... well you can t put a price on that. The Revolving Restaurant Opening hours: 7 pm to 1 am every dayReservations requiredTelephone: (02) 365 1234
