Spotted an interesting and detailed article about hot spots to eat and drinks in Beirut published by Petter Bäcklund from Stockholm. Peter recommended 13 places. Check out his review.
Beirut has a vivid food scene and there are tons of great restaurants and bars. You can easily walk around town safely – all the way from the Armenian neighborhoods with fruit markets and small stores to the more Brooklyn-style bar alley at Mar Mikhael.
In the muslim neighborhood of Hamra you’ll find some of the best shawarma and falafel and you should definitely pay a visit to the bar February 30 which turns into a nightclub with great Arabic music.
The food scene is dominated by Lebanese and Armenian cuisine with influences from France and other parts of Europe. The meze in general is very good, whether you go to high-end places like Lizas or a family-run Armenian restaurant, you’ll rarely be disappointed.
I’ve narrowed it down to a selection of restaurants and bars you definitely should visit while in Beirut.
Restaurants to visit in Beirut:
- Liza
- Barbar
- Falafel Bars
- Tawlet Souk el Tayeb
- The city of Byblos
- Tusk
- Seza
- Torino Express
- L'Appartement
- February 30
- Internazional
- Centrale
- B018
Don’t miss:
Rent a car and make a roadtrip to the mountains – skiing available during winter/spring season (important to ask for snow chains in advance). Make a visit to the art gallery PlanBEY in Mar Mikhael and make sure to check out their outdoor cafe and artisan shop on the second floor. The great Mosque and to check out all the cool buildings and great variety of architecture is also a must. For a foodie all the fruit and vegetable markets will be a given stop but I can highly recommend everyone to browse these small stores and taste the local specialities.
PRACTICAL INFO:
PRICING: They use Lebanese Pounds (LBP) and cash is to prefer. €10 is about 16 000 LBP. Prices are almost the same as in any large European city.
FLY TO BEIRUT: Frankfurt is a great hub with daily departures. We flew with one of my favorites, Lufthansa (one of few that still values free beer in cabin). Our roundtrip from Stockholm were priced at €230, but if you are a planning kind of person you should be able to find a lot cheaper tickets.
GET AROUND: You can pretty much walk around town safely at all hours and that’s the best way to discover the city. For longer distances or bad weather taxi is however cheap. You either go for something they call service which is like UBER pool in the U.S. -you share a cab with others on the way and that costs about €1.2/person (2000 LBP) A regular taxi would be about 10 000 LPB) within the city. UBER is also available but a little bit more expensive. Works great as an airport transfer but be sure to use the free wifi inside the terminal and book your UBER from there (roaming prices are a nightmare in Lebanon).
LANGUAGE: English, French & Arabic. People are well educated and getting around with english is not a problem in general.
Read the full review on Petter's blog
