The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

It’s been a strange and turbulent year in Cairo, and for many, 2014 can’t come fast enough. But in true Cairene style, the city’s bars, clubs and hotels have plenty in store for New Year’s Eve; from special gala dinners to live music and parties.

Dine

Fairmont Nile City

There’s plenty going on at the Fairmont Nile City, starting with Saigon Restaurant & Lounge, where you can see in 2014 with a lavish epicurean four-course dinner and live music from Ellie of London for 400LE++ per person. Napa Grill, meanwhile, hosts a New Year’s Eve Gala with a dinner buffet for 300LE++ and Onyx Lounge has live music for 250LE++.

InterContinental Semiramis 

Celebrating the festive season, the InterContinetal Semiramis’ restaurants have several special dining offers, starting at Birdcage, where a special New Year’s Eve set menu is on offer for 480LE. Elsewhere, Pane Vino hosts live music and wiggly-jiggly belly dancer and plenty of Italian nibbles for 750LE, while the Grill Restaurant & Lounge hosts a gala dinner with a specially crafted menu and a DJ for 650LE.

It doesn’t end there, however, with the Tea Garden also seeing in the New Year with a special spread of canapés & desserts for 250LE and the hotel’s Cleopatra Ballroom hosts a huge event featuring a multi-course dinner and music from pop star, Wael Gassar, for 1300LE while Esssam Karika performs at Harouna Al Rachid as guests dive into food for 1300LE.

Sofitel Cairo El Gezirah

The Sofitel’s Sud is offering open buffet dinners for 308LE on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, while Buddha Bar’s all-inclusive celebrations offers a set menu, open bar and DJ entertainment for 1900LE (or 900LE without dinner) and Moroccan restaurant, La Palmeraie, invites all for a set menu dinner for 355LE with Oriental entertainment to boot.

Conrad Cairo Hotel

Boasting some of the best restaurants in the city, the Conrad’s NYE options are few but great; pan-Asian restaurant, Kamala, is offering a special set menu dinner for 250LE+++, as does stunning steak house, Oak Grill, for 400LE+++.

Four Seasons First Residence

The Four Seasons’ newest restaurant, STRADA, will host a special New Year’s Eve dinner, offering either and Italian or Thai five course menu, with Tamarai favourite, DJ Lyon Avakian, charged with the music.

Four Seasons Nile Plaza

Across the other side of the Nile, the Four Seasons Nile Plaza’s restaurants are going all out; Lebanese restaurant, Zitouni, is offering a New Year’s buffet for 550LE+++ and Italian eatery, Bella, is offering a special menu and a DJ for 650LE+++, while Lobby Lounge boasts a fantastic sounding chocolate buffet for 105LE+++.

Dusit Thani Lakeview Cairo

Over in New Cairo, Dusit Thani’s stunning Thai restaurant, Ruen Thai, is offering diners a set menu for 500LE, while Blue Rose Bar hosts a trio of live singers with a rather steep 500LE++ minimum per person. The centerpiece of Dusit Thani’s New Year’s celebrations, however, comes via the hotel’s lavish ballroom, where a gala buffet dinner and live entertainment is on offer for 550LE++.

Dance

Sister venues, Alchemy and Cairo Jazz Club, are celebrating in typically extravagant fashion, with the former hosting Golden Age, before guests are invited to continue the party at CJC’s A New Dawn, where DJs, Omar Sherif and Karim Zalat, provide the entertainment.

In what could possibly be its last New Year’s party, Tamarai pays tribute to its most popular events over its five year existence with a huge night of music at Discreet: End of an Era. The Fairmont Nile City’s O Bar, meanwhile, is laying out the red carpet for a night of glitz and glam with This is Hollywood, as DJ’s Michael Gray and Jon Pearn take care of the music.

Elsewhere, both branches of Amici are celebrating in style, with Drunken Resolutions no less; Amici Heliopolis offers open bar, free mezzah and music courtesy of its resident DJ, while Amici Zamalek offers the same, but with DJ Simone and DJ Fabric.

Speaking of Heliopolis, the InterContinental Citystars hosts a special line-up entertainment with Black & Gold and Roof Bar welcomes Ministry of Sound’s Dennis Giulialo  at New Year’s Charm, while Cavallini celebrates with Lebanese pop star, Madeleine Matar, and Egyptian singer, Moustafa Amar.

Over in Zamalek, Nile-side club, Otium, hosts a New Year’s Eve party with hip-hop connoisseurs, DJs Feedo, Hook and Mobbz. Further along the Nile, Cairo Expats are hosting their own little shindig aboard a yacht that will set sail from the Giza Corniche.

Capping off a huge few months, Downtown bar/art-space, VENT, sees in 2014 with a special line-up of some of the city’s top underground musicians and DJs.

There’s more New Year’s festivities across Cairo – check out the Cairo 360 events calendar for more!