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

Located in El Gouna’s downtown area, Kiki’s is an Italian restaurant perched
on the second floor of a building on the edge of a lagoon, providing a stellar view of El Gouna at night. Open every evening from 6PM, Kiki’s is an old-time favourite among
residents and recurrent visitors for its simple Italian menu and comfortable
seating.

Dining space is
provided both inside and out. The outer terrace is extremely attractive with
its alabaster-hued candles, warm lanterns, striped cushions, sofas and wooden
tables. The decor is simple and relaxed, very much like the general ambience of
El Gouna.

While Kiki’s food is good, it’s nothing extraordinary. For an appetiser, the
bistro salad (45LE) consists of mixed greens topped with roasted almonds, blue
cheese and black olives. Although the combination sounds appetising after a
long day at the beach, the blue cheese pieces felt miniscule and the salad
dressing was barely detected, desperately needing a generous pouring of
balsamic vinegar and black pepper. Kiki’s also offers beef carpaccio or even
ostrich carpaccio if you’re feeling adventurous (65LE).

As a main course,
the ossobuco (85LE) hit the spot; juicy, tasty and blended with a delicious
tomato-based sauce. The pasta with pesto sauce (50LE) was filling though rather
bland; the pesto itself could have been much more powerful. The lasagne (65LE)
arrived in a generous portion, its layers mixed well with the béchamel cream
and tomato sauce. The chicken piaziola (65LE) consists of chicken fillet topped
with mozzarella, olives, capers and oregano. It’s a messy dish, but the
flavours blend well together, making it a satisfying meal.

Topping off our
meal with dessert, we sampled dishes including the crêpe à l’orange (45LE),
which came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and had a surprisingly tangy, zesty
flavour. A more traditional option is the apple crumble (42LE), which also came
with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The crumble itself was too sweet and sugary,
overpowering the flavour of the hot apple filling. Juices and soft drinks
average around 14LE, beers start at 28LE, while cocktails average
around 60LE.

Kiki’s food may
be filling and satisfying, but it definitely doesn’t match the restaurant’s
great atmosphere or reputation. None of the food we sampled had us blown away;
in fact, we could barely remember what we ate and how it tasted the following
day. Two drinks, two appetisers, one main course and one dessert came to 258LE,
not glaringly expensive but still not one of El Gouna’s best value-for-money
restaurants.