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

Last
year, it was one of Cairo’s favourite venues during Ramadan and this year Le
Deck will probably end up high on the list again. Located on the
Nile docks of Sofitel Gezirah Hotel, Le Deck has a view to die for. While most venues offer buffet-style
fetar and sohour meals, Le Deck delivers straight to your table; a perk that we
appreciate in Ramadan, not because we’re lazy; but after having stood in line every
fetar and filled our own plates, this is a nice alternative.

As soon
as you arrive your table is promptly filled up with platters of bread, pickles,
salad, tehina and baba ghanough as well as tarama salata. Amar el din, karkadeh
and water are also presented immediately; so you have everything ready to break
your fast with.  

After that, all the food
is handed out in perfectly timed stages. The first dish was chicken vegetable
soup, which thankfully wasn’t wasted with loads of cream; instead, it was clear
bouillon. After that, we received two crockery pots; one with okra and the
other one with liver. The portions were extremely generous.

We were almost
full after all this, but the piece de résistance had yet to come. A grill was
brought to the table filled with grilled chicken, steak and kofta provided for by
neighbouring restaurant El Kebabgy. In the mean time, our drinks were
filled continuously. All the food is of good quality, but it is the grilled
meat that you should come to Le Deck for.

After a
short break we received a plate of basbousa, konafa, baa’lawa and other sweets,
in addition to a pot of tea. After your
meal, you can relax and enjoy the view: Le Deck doesn’t have TV screens on high
volume; instead, the background music is a pleasant, smooth mix of French music
with an Arabic twist.

This is the
perfect time to have your shisha (26LE). We sampled the grape flavour, which
was very good and the lay is changed regularly. Add to this the extremely
friendly and helpful staff; and you have a perfect Ramadan night out in Cairo.

However,
Le Deck doesn’t come cheap. Fetar costs 200LE per person excluding service and
tax. Before you order a bottle of water, note that a bottle costs 25LE; far too
high a price in our opinion. We ended up paying nearly 600LE for two fetars, a
shisha, coke and water. However, it is worth every cent and you will find
yourself reluctant to leave Le Deck after your heavenly fetar.