The restaurant at Cairo’s renowned Dusit Thani previously rotated between two cuisines: Italian and Egyptian. Recently, the restaurant launched a new Lebanese night held every Monday evening.
Run by Lebanese Chef Fares Shahine, who jokingly refers to himself as “the lion of the kitchen”, his food certainly lives up to his namesake. Chef Shahine credits the authentic taste of his cooking to the fact that all of the ingredients used in his dishes are imported from Lebanon.
Beautiful platters of food are displayed in sections around the large dining room, divided by appetizers, salads, main dishes, BBQ (located outside), breads, fruit and desserts.
Cooked and spiced to perfection, there was plenty to love about the Dusit’s new Lebanese night.
Salads and Appetizers
We could have easily gotten full just from the salads and appetizers alone. According to Chef Shahine, he makes about 30 salad options, including three raw dishes, and I would have gone back for seconds for most items if I hadn’t been trying to save room for the main dishes.
The tabouleh was one of the best I’ve ever had and I fell in love with the vegetarian fattah. Also try the loubneh bel zeit. The dawood basha was a favorite as well, although frankly, you can’t really go wrong with any of the salad choices.
Main Dishes
The entire back wall was lined with various mains, from lamb kofta with pineapple and tomato to Lebanese-style chicken and fish to potato and vegetarian dishes. Overall, we loved the flavors and spicing, but we found the potatoes to be a little soft for our taste and the rice on the dry side – a typical occurrence with buffets.
However, Chef Shahine offers an option for those of us who like things as fresh as possible: a station in the back corner that serves lamb straight off the bone and a whole cooked fish. The juicy, tender, flavorful lamb is a fantastic must-try, and we were unanimous in picking it as our favorite main dish. The fish was also tasty, well-cooked and of prime quality. You can’t go wrong with either.
Just outside, there’s a BBQ station with kofta, kebab, prawns and shish tawook. All were delicious, and we were sad we hadn’t discovered that section sooner.
Desserts
And finally, dessert. Our favorite was the Hot Ossmalleya. We were ridiculously stuffed before we even had our first serving and we still went back for seconds. Everything else – and there was a varied spread – was delectable, but the Hot Ossmalleya was the clear standout.
WE SAID THIS: We’re confident that Chef Shahine will make many foodie friends with his cooking!