nikkib

I went for a wander in Gemmayze, typically undecided about where to eat - pizza ay Olios/Margarita or Aliacci? The Cafe Gemmayze replacement branch of Leila? Le Chef? Walk all the way to Tawlet? Indecision got the best of me so i ended up stopping when i got too hungry and went for a glass of wine and omelette at couqley. Used to be one of my favourite haunts but theyve removed the 5 bar stools to squeeze in 3 more tables of 2 which whilst make good business sense, kind of kills the vibe and asthetic. Anyway, the bacon, basil & tomato omelette was fine - the pain perdu was divine. I would like to tell you i left half/shared it but i would be lying

i love the saj but after manoushe at breakfast felt it might take even my carb loving self to the limits of what is acceptable.. will be making a return visit for sure. The fact that it is 24 hours is just heavenly, we saw many a sunrise there (if not after seeing it at B018)The guesthouse is next to bashir gemmeyl house just as you walk down the side street fom ABC down towards st joseph - we are right above Frida restaurant which opened last year if you know that - or slightly up from bread republic if not..

oh my kayb - just yum. that is all...

Souk el tayab is a farmers market - Beiruts "first" although essentially there are plenty of street vendours selling farm goods too - this is however unmissable in my opinion. It has moved to a new sight near the Beirut souks (every saturday morning) so is hopefully thriving, it certainly deserves to be. I bought a freshly squeezed (while i waited) pomegranate juice $2 which was delicious and also a small silver charm to replace one i lost in the move to singapore so it was a successful trip, i was only disappointed not to be hungry so i could buy some of the lovely goods on sale...

So i'm here! I must say this time i have scored an absolute blinder in not booking a hotel and instead booking hayete guesthouse http://www.hayete-guesthouse.com/ in ashrafieh - it is so "old beirut", really beautifully done up, in a great location and the owners are lovely - highly recommend you look it up if you do ever make the trip here. On the first night we got delivery from babars, a zesty tabbouleh, hummus and pickles, surprisingly good cheese rakakat (fried foods dont normally stand up to being delivered as they need to be eaten immediately i always find) and a mixed grill which included some very nice chicken koftes as well as shish taouk, lamb kofte and marinated steak pieces. For breakfast the first morning we had manouche from the bakery across the road and labneh with some olives - a great start to my day! Next up i went to check out the marina development at Zaitunay Bay which opened just before Christmas, its a nice outdoor space thats for sure but the outlets are a bit "bland" for me, nevertheless i had an outstanding and quite beautiful Cappucino at "CAPPUCINO" a Spanish owned outlet that is open from breakfast through to dinner and had a very good looking cocktail list too. Lunch was at Falamankis as i had some time to kill and sitting with a shisha is one of the best ways to kill an hour or so - thought i would show any of you who were follwing Chefcrash's KISHK posts what the "country style" kishk looks like - i had it with the hindbe (dandelion in oil) and arabic bread to dip into it along with carrots with cumin and of course a Mexican Almaza.

Yum!

Yes :-) I love abdel wahab, will definitely be going there and falamankis too!

a recent meal at "Kopi tiam" a sort of chain hawker centre i think (Kopi tiam is the name for a coffee house so may places are just called this including differnt chains etc. This was a vegetarian outlet - i forget the name something with 8 in it. Brown rice, stirfried green veggies and a couple of tofu and mock meat dishes i think - i just pointed at what i liked the look of. Smothered with the chopped red chilli soy sauce you can see top right of the image it was very satisfying indeed, not bad for $5.

they are great in cocktails and i am sure if you made this recipe for umeshu you could use it in baking somehow too which would be delicious! http://www.justhungry.com/homemade-japanese-umeshu-plum-wine-honey-sour

ahhh olios - yes i have been many a time, actually alliaci replaced it in my affections though - slightly furter up in gemmayze away from martyrs square and on teh other side of the road, there and margarita were my favourites (3 awesome pizza restaurants all on the same road - thats actually pretty impressive when you think about it!)Paradox sounds good - will do my best to get there, my boyfriend is in the midst of opening a restaurant in sin el fil so have a feeling i may spend rather more of the week on my own than i would like so will make up for it by eating/drinking and smoking as much arguileh as possible :-) cannot wait! Tawlet is definitely on the list as i loved it there and i will check out Zaitunay Bay, possibly just for coffee but i am excited to see the marina space finally open, may hit up the restaurant owned by couqley, we'll see. Dont suppose you have any recommendations for places in sin el fil? Not an area i have been to often apart from to habtoor....

Franci - where are you moving to? Yes, i can imagine you would miss all that!!

You can pre cook some puff pastry spread with tomato puree and then slice raw tomatoes on the top and bake it again for about 15 minutes, very tasty and might be better than suggesting pizza if he is against cheese. Also you could do a sort of melanzane parmigiana with only a little added cheese, likewise an adapted ratatouille with some crusty bread or rice if he'll eat that is good too. Hope everything goes ok - at the end of it I'm sure he'll just be pleased to spend time with you.

Franci - am I right in thinking you are in Monaco or Nice? The salad and fritters scream "riveria chic" at me and are the exact sort of dishes I would be hoping to eat when holidaying in the south of France..

Ok so I am off to Beirut for a week from Friday- will do my best to blog as much as possible so if anyone has any requests do let me know and I will try to accommodate them! Sahtein!

Mm84231that is stunning! Prawncrackers what a delicious looking meal! Rro- I agree with dcarch! Piccies please!

What is underneath the turkey on the shot of it on your plate? Looks delicious!

I assume selfridges have stopped selling fur, leather, anything made by underage children in sweatshops and know the provenance of all the diamonds and gem stones sold throughout the store?

shabbat shalom! loving the blog so far - thanks!

those are the most beautiful mendiants i have ever seen...When i was living at home i would always get a box of them for christmas - this year your images will have to suffice!

welcome back Franci - looks great!

Not intended as a comment on your review Man, certainly seems fair and you make valid points, more a general comment on asking a bunch of egulleters for advice on this sort of thing - it's often hard to hear the responses!

I love how you get so many vegetables into breakfast - sure beats a bowl of coco pops!

And that, ladies and gentlemen is why you never ask for advice like this on egullet...

I'm simultaneously jealous and impressed

Lior what a great start to the blog, and oh how i miss my labneh breakfasts... this is going to be wonderful!