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

We can’t
embrace Italian restaurants enough. We love Italian food and with every new
Italian restaurant opening we get that little spark of hope that maybe this time, this
venue understands the art of Italian cuisine. Newly opened Altissimo is
located on the Trianon Boat in Giza just behind the Four Seasons First
Residence. The restaurant is situated on the boat’s second floor with a nice view of the Nile river.  

Altissimo’s
decor is stylish and bright with a lot of white and grey. As soon as we were seated
on the comfy chairs we were presented with a welcoming drink. The virgin fruit
cocktail was tasty but a bit too sweet for our liking. Altissimo is still
putting its menu together, and so a temporary 120LE three-course set menu is
available with a range of dishes offered. After placing our orders, we received
a basket of fresh baked bread and a platter of green pesto, red pesto and
herbed butter dips. The pesto dips were quite good but the butter was a bit too cold
and therefore difficult to spread.

For starters, we sampled the Caesar salad and the risotto with asparagus. The
risotto was quite disappointing and basically just rice with sauce. The asparagus
resembled chives in their shape and the dish lacked any discernible taste. However,
the presentation was very nice. The same goes for the Caesar salad; it looked
nice but that was it. The grilled chicken was juicy but the lettuce itself had
a bitter taste to it that not even the shaved parmesan could make up for.

Our main
courses arrived looking impeccable and had us impressed for a while. However,
the dishes completely lacked flavour. Our beef stuffed with foie gras was
rather dry and the foie gras had no taste whatsoever. The meat was drenched in
a heavy pesto sauce that overpowered all the other ingredients. Our chicken
stuffed with turkey and cheese was a bit better, although the chicken itself
was pretty bland. However, the turkey had a strong flavour and the cheese was
nice and gooey and flowed over the chicken.

After our disappointing main courses, our desserts
were very pleasant. The tiramisu had a strong coffee flavour and good texture. The
apple tart was delicious but the apples were a bit bitter. The scoop of ice
cream on the side was a bit thick and too creamy for our liking. Again, the
presentation was wonderful with chocolate bows decorated over the tiramisu.

The
service is splendid. The waiters are polite, professional and very friendly. Although
we want to love Altissimo because of its service and terrific food
presentation, we were very disappointed with the food. However, seeing as Altissimo just opened recently,
we hope that the kitchen will improve in the coming months.