What is the food like on a Nile River Cruise? As we had sailed with AmaWaterways before on the Mekong, we expected a mix of local and Western dishes and on our Nile cruise, to our delight, that is what we got.
The restaurant onboard AmaLilia felt lovely and open with big full-length windows which we often gazed out of whilst enjoying a meal, marvelling at the scenery outside.
There is a range of tables so if you prefer a private dinner for two, a table for four or a group table for eight, there is an option for all.
One day they even made up a table for us by adding an extra seat at our request so we could enjoy a lovely dinner with a group of our new friends.
That is something which echoes throughout the ship, not just for dining. If there is anything you would like, simply ask. All the crew were extremely accommodating and will honestly try their hardest to make the guests happy and ensure they are having the best time on this special trip.
Breakfast
With some early mornings and long tours combined with being out in the heat, a good breakfast was always a must for Mr B and I to fuel us up for the day ahead.
For breakfast, guests had a choice from the buffet, which offered a variety of hot and cold options. Hot options included chicken and beef sausages, beans, beef bacon, tomatoes and a different variety of breakfast potato each day.
There was a range of cereals, fresh fruits, cheese, cut meats, yoghurts, nuts, breads, preserves and pastries.
Then as well as the buffet there is also a menu to order from and I have to admit I ordered from this most mornings.
The breakfasts Mr B and I enjoyed were the eggs benedict, with lovely poached eggs . . .
The fresh fluffy waffles . . .
and the made-to-order omelettes . . .
However, there is one breakfast I enjoyed above all others (I ordered it on three mornings!). It was the Egyptian breakfast.
It consisted of four mini-dishes. The first was the traditional Ful Mudammas, cooked fava beans with a mix of herbs and spices. Next is the homemade falafel, which in Egypt are made with fava beans not chickpeas.
Then the last two dishes are enjoyed together and made my sweet tooth very happy. Feteer meshaltet is a layered flaky pastry, which was served warm and came with a dish of tahini and molasses, the most wonderful combination to enjoy with the bread.
I thoroughly enjoyed this breakfast (hence why I ordered it three times). I always enjoy trying the local foods, and found each element very tasty.
To enjoy with your breakfast there is a range of teas, coffees and fresh juices. I always started my day with a latte or two.
Lunch
Pretty much every day I was ready for lunch! Is it normal to say the heat made me hungry? I’m pretty sure it did!
Lunch was always served buffet-style. A basket of fresh bread was always placed on the table after you sat down and, luckily for me, one of the fabulous waiters Anas soon realised my love for tahini, so each lunch time he would always bring me my own, very generously-sized dish of tahini. And each breakfast and dinner, he would ask me if I wanted my tahini. He was an absolute star!
At lunch there was a carving station, which each lunch time offered something different, from a cooked whole salmon, roast turkey and on two separate days a chicken and beef shawarma. Mr B and I enjoyed both of these and each was delicious. The meat was tender and extremely tasty, and it was served in a fresh soft bread roll with garlic sauce and tahini.
Next to the carving station was a live cooking station which again offered up a different dish each day. It had a few different pasta dishes, but my favourite was the traditional Egyptian koshary. It’s a dish which consists of three types of pasta, lentils, chickpeas, a garlic tomato sauce, garlic vinegar and crispy fried onions.
There was also a buffet station with a variety of hot options, which again changed daily.
A few of my favourites were the Egyptian braised beef with onions. The beef must have been cooking for a while as it fell apart.
Another Egyptian dish which had very similar flavour profiles to a lasagne was the Macaroni bil Bechamel. Egyption pasta, spiced ground beef and a thick layer of bechamel, for me it was a real comfort food dish.
I have to say my favourite part of lunch was the dessert buffet. It always looked outstanding and I have to admit it was always the first thing I eyed up when I walked into the dining room!
There was always a ‘centrepiece’ which as well as looking beautiful, tasted great. Trust me I tried pretty much every one one of them! My favourites were the Biscoff & Vanilla cake and the Chocolate & Macaron cake.
But each day, the ones I could not resist were the traditional Egyptian desserts. Oh my gosh, Egyptian desserts were a revelation to me, most of them pastry-based, with sweet syrups and generally they had either nuts or dates, but as well as the pastries there were cakes and some rice-based desserts which I also devoured. Whichever variety or form they took, I enjoyed them!
I did have some stand out favourites. Basbousa, a semolina cake soaked in syrup and topped with nuts, Balah el Sham, a fried batter (which kind of reminded me of small churro’s). They are crispy and again soaked in a lovely sweet syrup. As a fan of rice pudding, I enjoyed the Egyptian version which was creamy, not too sweet and topped with crushed nuts.
Mr B loved the Lokmet El Kadi, which are dough balls, fried and soaked in syrup. And last but not least, I never met a baklava I didn’t like and I enjoyed more than a few during the lunches onboard!
There wasn’t a menu at lunch as it was always served buffet-style, however, each day you were able to order a burger/cheeseburger if you wished. Mr B and I both enjoyed one and it was cooked to our request and really very tasty.
Dinner
After enjoying pre-dinner drinks in the lounge or on the top deck, Mr B and I always eagerly made our way to the dining room to enjoy a relaxing dinner.
Dinner was à la carte and each evening there was a ‘display’ at the end of the dining room showing each dish. I always eyed this up to see what took my fancy, often before I looked at the menu.
Each day there was a choice of starter, salad, soup, main course, vegetarian option and dessert. Some nights also had the option of a pasta dish, which on one eveneing, I opted to request as a small portion to enjoy as a starter. Requests such as this were always graciously handled and never an issue for the wonderful restaurant team.
Mr B and I really did enjoy many, many dishes onboard, but there were some particular highlights.
Some of our favourite starters we enjoyed were the ‘Shrimps Pistachio’, juicy plump shrimp with a crunchy nutty coating.
If I ever see a carpaccio on a menu, I can rarely resist ordering it and I thoroughly enjoyed this prime beef carpaccio.
Mr B commented on how fresh and tasty his stuffed aubergine starter was and we both enjoyed the Asian marinated beef Tataki.
I never opted for the salad course, however, a few which Mr B enjoyed were the avocado salad and the grilled asparagus salad.
We didn’t always opt for a soup course, but sometimes they were too nice to resist. Ones which we did order were the roasted pumpkin soup, the creamy artichoke soup and the local harira soup.
Two of the pasta courses I opted for were the rigatoni pasta with a four-cheese sauce and the classic linguine alfredo with chicken and mushrooms.
Mr B and I both enjoyed some lovely seafood dishes for our main courses throughout our sailing.
The citrus marinated grilled sea bass, grilled salmon fillet with mustard sauce and Egyptian spiced tiger prawns.
However, the two main courses which were my absolute favourite were actually both beef dishes. The roasted beef tenderloin which was served with a brandy sauce, mushrooms and mashed potato.
And on our last night, the surf and turf, filet mignon, shrimps and mustard mashed potatoes.
There was a different vegetarian option on the menu each night from homemade chickpea falafel to mixed vegetable pie.
Onto the final course, I could never say no to a dessert. There was one choice of dessert which changed each evening along with the always available options of a fruit plate, cheese and crackers or ice cream.
The smooth and creamy San Sebastian cheesecake was a lovely way to end the meal along with the Flan Parisian which I enjoyed another evening.
Mr B and I both had the honey cake and enjoyed this sweet ending to dinner.
My absolute favourite? It has to be the chocolate lava cake. It was perfectly molten in the middle and oozed delicious rich chocolate from its centre. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream it was a perfect dessert.
Chef’s Table
All guests can enjoy a meal at the Chef’s Table restaurant. You do need to pre-book this, but it can be easily done at reception on your first few days onboard.
It’s a set menu which is all local Egyptian dishes.
To start was a tasty lentil soup.
We also had a cold mezza of baba ghanoush, tahini and hummus with local breads. I could honestly just have sat eating those all night. I adore the homemade dips with the fresh bread.
Mains were served family-style, with the centrepiece being the Egyptian mixed grill mashawy, which consisted of grilled lamb, chicken shish tawook (grilled chicken skewers) and beef kofta.
It came with sharing sides of basmati rice, roasted vegetables, okra tagine with tomato sauce and a BBQ sauce.
Dessert was my idea of heaven! Each guest was presented with a plate of Egyptian oriental desserts. For me it was like a combination of all my favourite Egyptian sweet treats I had enjoyed during the lunches onboard, absolutely delicious!
Other little treats . . .
We never found ourselves hungry on this trip. As well as the meals onboard, there were always fresh cookies and biscuits at the coffee station, in the evening replaced with late night snacks.
When back onboard after an excursion we were all greeted with drinks and a small treat in reception, from little chocolates to cookies. And to end each evening when arriving back in your cabin after turndown service, there was an individually wrapped nut brittle waiting for us on our pillow.
Mr B and I enjoyed our meals onboard and trying new foods. Thank you to AmaWaterways for introducing us to some wonderful homemade local Egyptian food, a cuisine which we fell in love with thanks to you.
Want to know what life is like onboard the beautiful AmaLilia? Read my blog post below to see inside this AmaWaterways ship . . .
AmaWaterways AmaLilia Review: Life Onboard The Luxury River Ship
https://www.amawaterways.com/uk/river-cruises/africa/nile
