Built in the late 1980s as a Japanese development project, the new opera house in Zamalek replaced the 19th-century facility downtown that burned down in 1971. The Japanese government paid for an overhaul in 2003 that upgraded the sound system, and the building now hosts visiting international companies and its own Cairo Opera company. Performances are patchy, but it's a fun and reasonably priced night out. Reservations are taken 9 to 11am.