The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

It’s not easy to find an authentic Japanese restaurant in Egypt. Makino happens to be one of the very few venues that serve Japanese food, and last time we paid it a visit was a very long time ago, which made it perfect for a review.

Located at Hilton Zamalek, Makino’s menu has to be one of the most confusing menus of all time, as some descriptions are quite vague and depend on waiters to explain it. The variety, on the other hand, was very impressive; whether it’s the appetisers, sushi, stir fry dishes, or ramen!

After minutes of wondering what to order, we went with two, half-portion, Tanmen Beef Ramen (234 LE), Makino Roll (225 LE), Tsuki Sashimi (200 LE), Spider Roll (170 LE), and Tempura Roll (125 LE).

Starting with the ramen, the seasoning of the soup was on point, the ramen noodles were perfectly cooked and had a flawless texture, the amount of veggies and thinly sliced beef was quite generous, and the portion overall was huge! Definitely a fulfilling dish.

As for the sushi, the Tsuki sashimi platter is basically the chef’s choice of the three freshest kinds of sashimi. These three kinds served were salmon, tuna, and sea bass. Our personal favourite would definitely have to be the salmon since it was the freshest of them all and had a fantastic texture. Meanwhile, the tuna was just like every other sushi place in Egypt, and the sea bass lacked that sweet flavour and meaty texture we were looking for, and it was also too fishy – not in a good way.

Moving to Makino roll, it came in the form of 8 rolls that were filled with avocado, shrimp, and salmon, four were topped with more fresh salmon, and the other four were topped with chopped scallion. As for the quality and texture of rice, it was out of this world, and the stickiness was spot-on. Easily the best sushi rice we’ve had in town.

Fried sushi was definitely not their strongest point based on the spider roll and the tempura roll we tried. The spider roll was filled with deep fried crab and avocado, but the crab meat was extremely dry and bland. The tempura roll, on the other hand, was filled with perfectly crispy tempura shrimp but had nothing special about it.

All in all, we had mixed feelings about our Makino experience. We really enjoyed the ramen, the salmon sashimi, and the great service. But then, the rest of the items were quite average for a 1300LE cheque!