Get your lips smacking, your taste buds tingling and earn the gratitude of your stomach by pointing your toes toward Cairo best restaurants. There are plenty of fabulous eateries to choose from that cater for budgets big and small so here’s our selection of the top five to whet your appetite.

1) Lai Tai – there is a citywide craze for Asian cuisine and Lai Thai is one of the most well established and the best. The food is authentic and diners can request the level of spiciness of their dishes. The pad thai noodles are a house speciality.

2) Mojo’s Lounge and Grill – any list of Cairo best restaurants must include Mojo’s somewhere. This cool Mediterranean lounge with its moderately priced menu has fabulous steaks and grilled platters and revels in a relaxed atmosphere. It’s a beautiful little spot surrounded by rock gardens and palm trees.

3) Abou Shakra – tuck into delicately spiced skewers or kebab and kofta plates that have been on the menu since 1947. Abou Shakra is a hot favourite with the locals and customers can eat in the dining room at the back or take advantage of the take-away service at the front.

4) La Bodega – this is an immensely popular restaurant, lounge and bar, and your best bet of getting a table is to book well in advance. If you haven’t made a booking you can try your luck by turning up early. But there are no guarantees that you’ll be seated. The interior is a mix of designs from colonial times and funkier modern interpretations and the menu is equally rich and diverse, drawing on regional and European flavours.

5) Abu al-Hassan al-Haty – this restaurant is something of a TV star as it’s often used as a setting for period shows. The ornate chandeliers and large mirrors hark back to a period of downtown decadence. The food is all grilled and though it won’t blow you away is nonetheless enjoyable and well cooked and presented.