GUEST BOOK
These are comments left by guests in
our guest book, sent by email or comments made on other web-sites. Please
send us your opinions also.
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"dinner was ultra-special. Her son oversees the evening kitchen, and most
evenings they serve an Egyptian feast in their dedicated restaurant (about
10 - 15 dishes) - easily the best food we had our whole time in Egypt, and
thoroughly to be recommended. I'm vegetarian (my boyfriend is not!) and
neither of us had any difficulties whatsoever in selecting from amongst the
15 dishes." Nov - 2009
The resteraunt is, again, excellent. It does not open every day, but most
days when the house is busy. The only food provided is a mini banquet of a
variety of Egyptian dishes: 2 soups, 9-11 various dishes of meat and
vegetarian, a desert (these all changed each day). All brought to your table
and the staff exlpain what each dish is, how it's made and what from. And
one cannot, physically, eat all of it. There was loads, and very fresh and
tasty. -Oct 2009
"The food was superb, with lots of dishes served at once. If you go to Luxor
and aren't staying at the Mara House make sure you try and book as I feel
you wil not get this type of experience of traditional Egyptian food in many
other places (where you can safely eat without fear of stomach upsets)" Oct
2009
What an amazing meal. As vegetarians, we were served two different kinds of
soup, ELEVEN sampler entrees, and an absolutely delicious desert. If you're
fortunate enough to visit when the restaurant is open full time, don't even
think about eating anywhere else. It was the best meal we had in Egypt.
11-Sept-2009
I had the privilege of dining at Salahadeen with a
friend on October 19th. We ended up having another lovely couple from
London ask to join us at our table which made for a fun and festive
evening. The food and atmosphere was divine! I highly recommend this
authentic Egyptian feast of a meal. Mara House is worth finding. It is
clean and welcoming. I will definitely be back the next time I'm in
Luxor.
Janis Bane - Oct. 2008
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Last night we
went with Marvin, Carrie and Lindiana to the Salahadeen Restaurant. This is
a new establishment buried in the district behind the railway station. I
know "the wrong side of the tracks" comes to mind but this is a peaceful
area not frequented by tourists so has that added, real Luxor, feeling.
Booking is essential because all food is prepared freshly on the day and the
large number of dishes presented need to be organised with numbers in mind.
They offer a courtesy taxi to collect you from hotel or wherever and return
at the end of the evening. I think this is a shrewd move on the part of the
owner because it is quite a long way to walk through some area's of
re-development.
You are welcomed at the door and go into the tastfully decorated bar for
complimentary Karkade and then pre-dinner drinks. You then move through to
the dinning room which has a beautiful Moorish fountain as a centrepiece.
The furniture and decor reminded me of the AlHambra in Spain.
The meal itself consists of 4 sequential trays each loaded with 4 or 5
dishes for communal eating.
The first course consisted of dips and salads and bread being used to scoop
up your portions.
The second course was a very tasty chickpea soup followed by a second tray
of fried aubergine and various pulses.
The third tray contained beef, liver and chicken dishes as well as the
delicious potato dish which is so popular. This was served with roasted
sweet potato as well. Its all about choice. Needless to say we just had to
try everything.
The final course was a delicious fruit sourbet with pomegranate. Finally the
meal was rounded off by a cup of chai.
All the food presented to us was superbly cooked and presented with smooth
but unobtrusive service.
Our host was a delightful lady and we left saying we would definitely
return.
The meal was a fixed price of LE100 per head so not necessarily the cheapest
you will find but the quantity and quality make it good value for money.
Oct. 2008 Barry
on Luxor4u.com
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This restaurant offers a unique dining experience in Egypt
because it offers genuine Egyptian food.
I have been to Egypt on a number of occasions and have found a lot of
restaurants offer a far blander, westernised equivalent of Egyptian foods.
The restaurant offers a set menu of 14 -16 different dishes over four
courses; with the offer of a break between if it is needed!
The price for the meal comes in at 100LE a person and the restaurant has a
bar with a large range of lagers and spirits including Heineken available at
10LE and spirits such as Smirnoff vodka and Gordons Gin.
Salahadeen restaurant is located in a suburban part of Luxor a short taxi
journey away from the fuss and constant interruption of the tourist section,
something that the restaurant is happy to arrange for you.
This restaurant is definitely worth a visit for people looking for the real
Egyptian experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal here, the food, the
excellent and friendly service and the peace away from the tourist quarter.
TDPO5 tripadvisior October 17
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We wanted to try Egyptain Food and decided to visit Salahadeen
on the recommendation of 'our flat at luxor'. It was easy to
book a reservation via email before going on hoilday and the
complementary taxis arrived on time as promised. Although you
can phone and book while you are there - best do it in advance
as the food is slow cooked so they need a bit of notice.
We wanted a bit of an adventure and we got one. As some of you
are aware there is lots of regeneration and lots of building
works going on in Luxor. Once the taxi crossed the very basic
level crossing, we entered the real Luxor and for just a few
minutes I did wonder whether this was going to be a good idea.
Amidst all the chaos appeared a beautiful white building that
looked out of place with its surroundings. At that point I
realised that this was going to be a really good adventure.
This was a superb dinning experience. After pre-dinner drinks in
the bar, we were escorted to the dining room which was
wonderfully decorated with hand crafted egyptian furniture and
art works.
Mara (the owner) describes the meal as a feast and that it
certainly was.
Each couse, and there are four of them, was a wonderful
experience. It is a mezze style meal with a selection of
different things to try, salad and dips and bread to start,
followed by soup, followed by vegetable dishes, followed by meat
course that was wonderfully slow cooked beef and very tasty. The
liver which is a very traditional was beautifully cooked, and I
dont like liver!
On one hand it was dissapointing that dessert was missing due
the mangoes being too ripe to serve, but on the other we were
glad as we were so full we would have been unable to eat
anything else.
It was good to try egyptian food, new tastes, flavours and
ingredients, we didn't like all of it but that was due to our
personal taste, but we did try it all as it looked so good. Some
egyptian food is meant to be eaten in small quantities, which is
why each course has a selection of foods for you to dip in and
try.
It was worth every penny, and an absolute pleasure to drink nice
room temperature egyptian red wine (why do some hotels serve it
cold!)
we recommended it to friends we had made at our hotel and they
too enjoyed it.
Will we come again? - See you next time Mara - it was a
pleasure. - "Smudgejg" on
www.tripadvisor.com/
October 2008
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Dinner was an
experience we will never forget, true Egyptian Food. We
thank Mara and her staff for a wonderful stay and we
shall return again in the future. John, Julie and
Jason. 7 Oct. 2008
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After a few truly amazing days in Luxor with all
its intoxicating sounds, smells and sights we were
verging on the brink of sensory overload as we
stepped into the quiet refuge of Salahadeen
Restaurant situated in Mara House. I confess to
having inkling as to what we would find given that I
had read a review on Trip Advisor and had taken the
opportunity to visit the websitehttp://www.salahadeen.com.
My family and I were not disappointed. Mara House is
a tranquil oasis from the hustle and bustle of the
city situated on the outskirts somewhere behind the
train station – just ask any taxi driver to take you
there or Mara will arrange, with her compliments, a
taxi to collect you from your accommodation.
On entering Mara House we were greeted warmly by
Mara herself and as we sipped karkadeh in the
beautifully decorated bar area, it was interesting
to hear her story of how, once bitten by the Luxor
bug, (so many of us have been) she decided to move
from her native Ireland and build Mara House. The
house itself is a rather large, grand building which
comprises a number of apartments available to rent
together with the Salahadeen restaurant. Mara is
indeed a brave lady taking on such a huge project in
a foreign land but she has done a fantastic job. The
house is beautifully decorated in true sympathy with
its surroundings and Salahadeen restaurant is both
comfortable and sumptuous. A great deal of attention
to detail has been given to everything from the
alabaster wine goblets to the feature fountain which
is the focal point of the room.
Mara sensibly serves a fixed menu at 8pm each night
and ravenous after our day of adventures we eagerly
awaited what proved to be an enormous feast of
wonderfully flavoursome Egyptian food. The first
taste of Mara’s food was a selection of cold mezze
style starters with a plentiful supply of flatbreads
– delicious! Then arrived bowls of steaming soup
followed by another large assortment this time of
hot mezze style dishes and even more flatbreads.
Just when we thought we could eat no more the main
course arrived!!!! This was a homemade tagen with a
large baked sweet potato and enough rice to feed the
population of Cairo. Thankfully, pudding was no more
filling that a bowl of deliciously sweet mango. How
we managed to move from the table is beyond me but
with great difficulty we forced ourselves to leave -
with the promise that undoubtedly, one day soon, we
would return.
Salahadeen is a true gem. Go quickly whilst you can
book a table – the word will surely be out soon!!!
The
Stanmore family September 2008
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Sep 5, 2008
We arrived at the Salahadeen Restaurant and Bar,
at Mara House Luxor, at 7.30pm on 4th September 2008. Joining the other
diners in the bar, we were enchanted by the pleasent atmosphere which
the decoration and furnishings created. Although we stick to soft
drinks, there were wines, beers and spirits available. (I noticed that
Heiniken was LE 10 and most of the spirits were LE35,)
It wasn't too long before Mrs. Vaughan personally led us into the
lovely restaurant, where we were seated at a good solid table, on
matching meshrabeya chairs. A nice touch was the fountain in the middle
of the room, and the elegant drapes which served to partly divide the
dining areas
The meal is advertised as an "Egyptian Banquet," which it certainly was.
We worked our way through 5 courses, and 19 dishes!
The starter was a selection of 5 cold Mezzas with baladi bread,
followed by a delicious soup. Then came a selection of 7 hot Mezzas,
also with bread.
7 hot Mezzas
These were followed by the main course consisting of 5 dishes, which
were, rice, sweet potato, lamb tagen, moussaka, and lambs liver with
onions. The meal culminated in a selection of sweet Egyptian cakes,
washed down with black Egyptian tea and hot Karkadeh (hibiscus).
I would defy anyone to manage to eat everything placed in front of
them.
Although there were two dishes which I didn't try (simply because I
don't like them) everything else was a treat. Tastes which I hadn't
bargained for joined with well known and loved ones to further the
experience of my palate. Even though I've lived in Luxor for over 12
months, some of these tastes really took me by surprise!
I thought the cost, at £10 per head, was very reasonable, as it also
covered the cost of picking up the diners and returning them to their
lodgings when they had had their fill! We certainly had a taste of the
REAL EGYPT. Excellent!
Edward - www.ourluxor.co.uk review
written for www.tripadvisor.com
