Cuisine of Beirut for gourmets. Places for dinner - best restaurants

Lebanese cuisine is often called one of the most popular culinary traditions of our days. In Beirut travellers are welcome to visit a great number of restaurants that serve delicious national cuisine. Each of them will certainly treat visitors with the most popular delicacies of amazing Lebanese cuisine. The locals love to eat well and devote much time to meals. For example, a lunch break during a working day can last approximately three hours. As a rule, it starts with a special national snack called "Meze", which can be served either hot or cold. The snack is a large beautifully decorated plate with various delicacies – meat cuts, seafood, vegetables and fruits. Local chefs cook several hundred types of meze. Sometimes more than several dozens of colorful dishes can be present on a table at the same time. Only people with very good appetite can eat so much food.

Restaurants of Beirut will be genuinely liked by vegetarian food adherents, because you can hardly find such a great selection of vegetable salads and stews in restaurants of other countries. Vegetarians are recommended to try the beans paste "hummus". If you cannot imagine a meal without meat, then "kibby" will become your favorite. The dish is cooked from small balls of minced meat, which is richly flavored with spices. Not only fresh but also pickled vegetables are often added as a side dish to the local meat delicacies. Most often the dishes made of meat and poultry make up the basis of menus of the majority of the local restaurants. Meat cooked on an open fire, as well as different kinds of barbeque meat are particularly popular among the local people and travellers.

Fans of seafood will also not have to make a long search in order to find a suitable dish. Local chefs prepare excellent gefilte fish on the coals. There are also specialized restaurants that offer visitors various rare delicacies. However, when it comes to first course dishes, the local restaurants have nothing to be proud of. Soups are not very common for Lebanese cuisine. As a rule, chefs simply add a small amount of broth to meat dishes. Bread remains one of the most important elements of any meal. In some cases a slice of bread can replace the cutlery, but in all modern restaurants visitors will certainly be served with a standard set of tableware. The menus of Beirut restaurants will surely please sweet tooth travellers. Honey baklava, semolina desserts, fresh and candied fruits and cakes with various fruit fillings – the local sweets are not only delicious, but also surprisingly healthy. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Em Sherif is one of the best restaurants serving Lebanese cuisine in Beirut. It also offers the most popular dishes of the national cuisine. Delicious meat dishes, liver pastes and vegetable salads, as well as traditional types of local bread, and gorgeous vintage wine – all these and many other gastronomic masterpieces await guests of the restaurant. It is also important to mention that Em Sherif has an incredibly attractive design. All food is served on beautiful tableware in the national style.

Continue your acquaintance with the national cuisine in a casual and welcoming atmosphere of Babel Bay. This restaurant offers many interesting dishes with seafood, traditional Lebanese pies, and interesting desserts with fresh and candied fruit. The restaurant is decorated in a modern European style, and its menu contains many dishes that are traditional for European countries. Visitors can always enjoy fresh salads, as well as classic dishes with potatoes and meat.

SUD Restobar restaurant and bar is specializing in cooking classic Italian and European cuisines. It offers mouthwatering paella with seafood, fine mussels, and various types of pasta. This restaurant is a true treasure for all fans of seafood as its menu features many interesting dishes with prawns, mussels, and various fish types.

Jai is one more wonderful restaurant that mostly targets fans of Asian and Thai cuisines. It will please its guests with a variety of exotic dishes and interesting delicacies. In its menu, visitors will find many interesting hot dishes with rice, all kinds of food with chicken, and traditional rolls. The choice of interesting noodle dishes is simply fantastic. It is also important to mention that all food looks incredible and is served in accordance with Asian traditions.

Despite the fact that Mayrig restaurant has a fabulous oriental design, it specializes not only in Middle Eastern but also in Mediterranean cuisines. Besides traditional oriental food, visitors are welcome to choose from a great range of vegetable salads and signature fish dishes. Mayrig also offers incredibly appealing oriental desserts and even bakes its own traditional bread.

Beirut is also not deprived of restaurants specializing in French cuisine, and Couqley remains the leader in this category. Chefs at Couqley cook excellent steaks and other original meat dishes. Despite its everlasting popularity, the restaurant has a very casual atmosphere and affordable prices. In addition to meat dishes, guests of this restaurant can order real French wine.