Rangoli Restaurant Sharm El-Sheikh

By Daniel Lanier

I love excellent Indian food and I love restaurants with a very special atmosphere. To find both at the same time isn’t easy at all, since most of the Indian restaurants in the Western world as well as in Egypt are just some kitshy and uninspired places, decorated with lots of pseudo-Indian and pseudo-oriental stuff. Not to speak about the food.

Recently I found both, delightful Indian food in a memorable location, in the Sofitel Sharm El-Sheikh Hotel’s »Rangoli Restaurant«. It is part, of course, of the hotel and accessible only through the hotel’s main entrance and that unfortunately is better by car. The hotel is around 2 km (1.2 miles) away from Naama Bay’s downtown, which doesn’t make it very suitable for a spontaneous visit of its »Rangoli Restaurant«. But if you once decided to go, or better, to drive there, you won’t regret it.

The view alone is worth a visit! The restaurant’s small terrace looks down upon the Red Sea from a hill and the whole Naama Bay opens up in front of your eyes! Yes, the service was poor and slow the last time we spent an evening there, but we enjoyed watching the lights of the other hotels and the ships passing through the Gulf of Aqaba. I can’t imagine a more romantic dining spot in Sharm El-Sheikh than that terrace. Our dishes, the lamb in curry as well as the lamb in spinach were very delicious. Our bill for two was around LE 170 (USD 38), including soft drinks, coffee and soup, which made this evening rather expensive.

»Rangoli Restaurant« at the Sofitel Sharm El-Sheikh Coralia Hotel, Naama Bay, Sharm El-Sheikh, South Sinai, Egypt. Open daily from 7:00 pm to 11:30 pm. Reservation recommended.

Telephone: +20–69–600081.