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

Japanese cuisine has been a worldwide craze for the past few years because, aside from sensational flavours, Japanese restaurants are well-known to provide top-notch service with skilful chefs and well-trained waiters. That’s why people automatically associate a fine-dining experience with Japanese concepts. Much like many upscale restaurants and lounges around our capital now, diners always expect high standard service from Kazoku and all Asian-fusion fancy spots alike. 

After their grand opening almost six years ago, Kazoku was the talk of the town, an exclusive spot, the must-go-to place every weekend. Maintaining a hotspot such as that might be challenging, especially since Japanese culture is a deep-rooted tradition of paying attention to detail and doing things to perfection. So we headed over to New Cairo’s Swan Lake to check out how’s Kazoku fairing nowadays. We went there without reserving ahead and, luckily for us, they had room; however, that is not recommended if you want to secure your spot. As we walked in the early evening, we noticed the calming space they created, mixing natural materials like wood and greenery with a minimalist aesthetic. The atmosphere was elegant and subtle, with few eye-catching elements here and there. After taking a tour around the spacious venue, we got a high table in the indoors area right in front of the bar.

We took our seats and ordered two cocktails; the Metro Government (415 LE) – a gin-based cocktail with matcha fortified wine, caramelised pineapple, and nutmeg whey. We also got the Modern Manhattan (575 LE) – a modern twist on the classic digestif made with whiskey, bitters, and sweet vermouth. Both cocktails were boozy yet sweetly delectable, and with every sip, you get the various herbaceous undertones in each drink. As we slowly enjoyed our drinks, we ordered one Kale Salad (205 LE) to share – kale mixed with wakame, green apple, and candied walnuts. The salad was simply out of this world; the kale was perfectly seasoned, while the flavour combination worked well together, especially the wakame and green apples.

We then decided to jump into the mains; we got one Glazed Salmon (425 LE) – salmon steak with teriyaki and pickled cucumber, as well as one Shrimp Hot Pot (340 LE) – grilled shrimp with noodles and lemon dashi broth. The salmon was cooked and seasoned on-point, but the dish was in deep need of another side. Even though the hot pot shrimp was satisfyingly spicy and tasty, the heat from the hot pot might have made the noodles’ texture a bit too mushy to our liking. But other than those tiny comments, we were delighted with the food and cocktails. We decided to finish our meal with the second round of cocktails; we ordered the Shinjuku Gardens cocktail and the Centennial Grasshopper (425 LE) – a Tokyo-inspired cocktail with crème de cacao and crème de menthe. However, our waiter must have misheard us, so we ended up with two Centennial Grasshoppers; we took one and returned the other, but the staff didn’t bring us the replacement, so we just let it go. The drink was rather sweet and too minty for our taste, so go for something else if you don’t like overly sweet drinks.

As the night came to an end, we were going to skip dessert, but the staff decided to surprise us with a complimentary Hot and Cold Chocolate Dome (180 LE) – a chocolate dome stuffed with ice cream served with hot chocolate to melt away the dome.  We were pretty happy with our refreshing and chocolaty dessert and our pleasant visit to Kazoku. However, even though the experience was enjoyable, the prices felt a tad on the expensive side, given the portion sizes.