Fairmont Heliopolis & Towers is known for having a huge variety of restaurants. With more than sixteen restaurants to choose from, you will definitely find your favorite cuisine there. What also makes Fairmont Heliopolis & Towers dining experience special is how they pay too much attention to everything. Dining at Fairmont Heliopolis will give you a tour around the world; as every restaurant has an expat authentic chef bringing the secret of the taste of their country to Cairo. We decided to go on a journey discovering Fairmont Heliopolis & Towers. Our first stop is Lan Tania, an authentic Thai restaurant located in the heart of Fairmont Heliopolis & Towers.
In a time when the Asian culture is taking so much recognition in Cairo, starting from Egyptian couples travelling all the way to Thailand for their honeymoon to the Asian food that became one of Cairo’s newest favorite cuisines, we started to find many “takeaway-style” food outlets that claim that they are bringing the Asian taste to us, but we were misled people; we couldn’t find a real authentic Asian restaurant, but times have changed now the real Thai taste was brought to us here at Fairmont Heliopolis & Towers at Lan Tania.
When you first enter Lan Tania, you will be welcomed by their friendly staff. Lan Tania has a cozy Asian atmosphere with the mixture of warm colors and the wooden chairs. From the glass kitchen, we could see Chef Pitchaphat Duangkhum and her team cooking; we couldn’t wait to get to try their food. Chef Pitchaphat is a friendly authentic Thai Chef. She is passionate about what she does and her kitchen. Chef Pitchaphat Duangkhum has been an expert chef for the past eighteen years, as she worked as a professional chef in world-class hotels from all around the world. “Everything has to be fresh; I am looking for the fresh and healthy things. This is what I am always looking for. We only cook on the spot. So when you order we cook it on spot in order for you have it fresh. Even our sauces, we make them here from scratch. It’s made in house” Chef Pitchaphat Duangkhum told us about her secret recipe.
We started with a variety of different appetizers; we have tried the crispy shrimp wonton also known as (Kiew Thod) but our favorite is Satay Rhum, the grilled beef & grilled chicken with the peanut sauce.
For the salad, we went for the Yum Nuea Yeang, while it’s probably hard to pronounce the name. It’s a famous Thai beef salad with a salty, sour and sweet taste all combined in each bite. We remembered how Chef Pitchaphat Duangkhum told us about the uniqueness of the Thai cuisine saying “The Thai cuisine is unique, for example, if you eat a salad you will enjoy different flavors in one bite, combining the hot, sour, salty and sweet.” The Yum Nuea Yeang is the best example of that; Yum Nuea Yeang salad contains cucumber, onion, tomato and grilled beef, but there was something about its dressing that gave it such a special taste. It was sweet but not too sweet sour but again not too sour, it was delicious.
Seeing how delicious the food was, we weren’t sure what our next dish should be, so we asked the expert, Chef Pitchaphat Duangkhum, recommend it for us “If I am going to eat at a Thai restaurant the first thing I am going to have is the Tom Yum Goong soup or the Tom Kha Gai soup, a chicken soup with coconut milk.” so that’s what we had.
Lan Tania’s signature dish is the Phad Thai Kung Sod. Chef Pitchaphat Duangkhum developed her technique through the years to come up with her special Phad Thai Kung Sod. This is the most famous Thai dish there is, but It tasted like nothing we have ever eaten before. We were surprised of how this dish was reintroduced to us. It was sugary and the shrimps were very fresh, the best shrimps in town we would say. We were off to the moment with our delicious special noodles, we are thankful that we didn’t make any eye contact though when we were having this dish, it would have definitely been a bit awkward we were just indulging.
The second dish we had is the Gai Phad Med Mamuang. Translated: stir fried chicken with cashews. Thailand is actually popular for having the finest type of cashews. “We use the finest ingredients. We import some ingredients from my country, Thailand, to maintain the true Thai taste” Chef Pitchaphat Duangkhum told us about the secrets inside Lan Tania’s kitchen for the fresh taste. “Everything here is healthy! For example, everything I use here is fresh; nothing is canned. The coconut, the herbs, the shrimps, everything we try to use fresh” she added.
Lan Tania focuses on delivering a taste that will fit its audience. “We adapt the food to fit with the people and the country. For instance, here (in Egypt) they love sea food, so we can put more seafood. While Spicy food here is spicy that you can have. If in Thai the spicy scale is 5 or 7, in Egypt we make it 3. If we make spicy food but the people can’t enjoy then they can’t absorb the real taste” this was rather reassuring to us “While yes, we do adjust the taste but we still maintain the unique taste from Thai” chef Duangkhum elaborated.
During our visit, we shared two main dishes, had a soup and a salad but it wasn’t too much. We were still active feeling fresh and healthy after finishing our lunch something that usually doesn’t happen. The food was healthy and delicious; it was definitely completely totally a guilt free meal that we even had some room for dessert. We ended the night with some fried ice cream and delightful fried bananas with ice cream.
The verdict: Lan Tania will change your definition of Thai food. Lan Tania offers a very authentic real Thai food. It will give you a special moment and a special taste not just another take away, fast food style Asian food, but a real authentic Thai taste. Everything tastes so fresh. And with the combination of herbs and different flavors in each bite, Lan Tania will take you on a ride to Thailand. If you really want to taste authentic Thai food, Lan Tania should be your destination.