Indecision, limited local options and not wanting to take an Uber (which are really really cheap) meant we ended up with finer dining Italian at the InterContinental hotel overlooking the Nile. There had been many recommendations to stay in a tourist 5 star hotel in Cairo but instead I decided to go with the cheaper (more local) option in what I thought was a nice area called Garden City, but really wasn't that nice after all (made more local though than Zamalek which was clearly better otherwise). In any case I suppose people might call it nice simply because they did stay in the 5 star resort part of Garden City rather than the block between these, the Nile, and the many embassies and their armed security outside.
Pane Vino meant walking through the lovely hotel and thinking although there are many restaurants, the ones that don't have the Nile must really suffer comparably.
- bread basket with olive dip (complimentary)
- Insalata mista (lettuce, arugula, mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, and carrots in a vinaigrette sauce) EGP135 - after feteer for lunch, the salad was needed to balance out that heaviness and the pasta/carbohydrates to follow;
- Linguine al frutti di mare (pasta with calamari, shrimp, salmon, sea bass, garlic & tomato sauce) EGP245 - thick pasta, cooked thoroughly rather than al dente with a nice sauce and pieces of seafood;
- Misto di mare alla griglia (garlic flavoured sea bass, shrimps, salmon and calamari grilled, served with white rice and vegetables) EGP350 - reasonable dish with ok elements although I don't recall any particularly standing out for good or bad (forgot to take notes at the time).
Overall adequate with a nice view of the sunsetting Nile. Wouldn't particularly go back there or want to have Italian food in Egypt again though.