Beirut’s Zaitunay Bay is one of the city’s latest development projects — a waterfront promenade dotted with high-end shops and restaurants.
So far the project has been a success but in Beirut, domestic and regional instability always looms. MME spoke to one of the developers about the fine line between business opportunity and high-risk investment.
Tag Archives | Lebanon
P.F. Chang’s ABC Achrafieh
P.F. Chang’s, the popular Chinese-American chain, opened in ABC Achrafieh around a month ago, and I decided to try it out last week because of all the positive feedback I heard from some friends who have tried it in Dubai.
The place has a really nice interior and is being almost always packed that you feel so lucky if you can get yourself a table, especially on weekends.
Anyway, back to food business, we were a group of 6 people and decided to share several dishes among which were Dynamite Shrimp, Chicken Lettuce Wrap, Crispy Honey Chicken, Mongolian Beef, Singapore Street Noodles, and a couple more seafood dishes.
The food tasted all great, and was much different that any other Chinese restaurant in town (especially Chopsticks). And best of all, the menu covers a variety of tastes from chicken to seafood to beef to vegetarian but is not dominated by the sauces you often encounter at other restaurants like sweet and sour, mushroom and others.
The appetizer I liked the most was the Dynamite Shrimp consisting of fried shrimp covered with yellow spicy sauce. It felt a bit too spicy for some, but it was really good! On the other hand, Mongolian Beef was my favorite main dish consisting of tender steak cooked with scallions.
And if you’ve got room for dessert at the end, try their Great Wall of Chocolate. It has 6 layers, and the below photo definitely doesn’t do justice to how big the portion is.
Overall, and even though it’s not the traditional Chinese cuisine we lack in Lebanon, P.F. Chang’s is definitely recommended to try at least once since it offers something totally new here.
Update:
Sareen brought to my attention that I forgot to mention how is the food priced at P.F. Chang’s. Here you go, starters vary between 9,000L.L and 21,000L.L (Dynamite Shrimp is for 21,000L.L), soups and salads are between 7,000L.L and 22,000L.L, while main dishes are almost all between 25,000L.L and 28,000L.L except for seafood dishes that are in the 30’s.
Funny headline of the day
It looks like some people are quite happy about the turbulent situation in Lebanon and the warnings that were issued by several Arab countries regarding visiting the country.
According to The National, some GCC wives are satisfied that their husbands won’t be able to visit Lebanon this year and peek at the beautiful women here!
“This is one of the best summers” in a long time, one of my Emirati friends told me recently. She, like many Arab women, would get annoyed at what she called “buddy bonding” – guys-only trips to places like Lebanon. “My husband will not be going with his male friends to Lebanon and I feel so happy about it.”
The husband was quick to reply: “Well, if you want mountains, Lebanon has them. If you want beach, Lebanon has it. And it doesn’t hurt that wherever you look, you see beautiful women. A bonus for the eyes.”
In retaliation, the wife said she will be heading to Sweden this summer. Source
And that would of course mean one thing, more “beautiful women” for us who live in Lebanon!
The article was originally shared by Jad Aoun, and the photo is via YaLibnan.com
30% off Zaatar W Zeit meals for everyone
If you’re a fan of Zaatar W Zeit then here’s your chance to get a 30% discount on their meals simply by visiting their Facebook page and getting the offer they’re currently posting. Once you click on “Get Offer”, you’ll instantly receive an e-mail from them that you’ll have to present at the restaurant to get your discount.
It’s actually the first time for me to see a Lebanese company making use of the Facebook Offers, expect more to start doing the same!
Fans will be allowed to attend Lebanon – Qatar game
AlJadeed News just reported a while ago that the government has decided to draw back its previous decision to ban people from attending the upcoming world cup qualifying game between Lebanon and Qatar.
We may now cheer out national team the way we should. All the luck to the players!
Lebanon – Qatar game to be played without fans!
Looks like the upcoming World Cup qualifying game between Lebanon and Qatar at Beirut Sports City is going to be played without fans. That’s what the government has announced today in fear that possible chants against Qatar might threaten the relation between the two countries!
As if banning fans from attending games between the local teams was not enough, not they’re banned from international games as well! Why do Lebanese politics have to mess up everything in this country?
Cheap advertising
And their food totally sucks by the way!
The Beirut Rose
Looks like Beirut just earned a rose after its name, and was announced today at the Garden Show 2012 in Beirut Hippodrome!
Beirut rose is from a French rose producer called “Meilland” and will be available in their catalogue all over the world. It will also be available for purchase at their Lebanese agent’s stand in the Garden show, Robinson Agri, till June 2nd. Not sure where can one get it from after the exhibition.
Photo via @arzleb
Footage of Sadd El-Bouchrieh murder yesterday
Real life Pac-Man in Hamra
Pretty cool!
The classic 80’s arcade game Pac-Man found its way to the streets of Hamra. The project was the senior graphic design project of AUST arts and design department student Ahmad Makary as he took an innovative approach to better understanding urban navigation and enhancing the cognitive mapping and urban knowledge of individual travelers.
The project consisted of 10 players, 5 dressed as Pac-Man and Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde – the 4 ghosts. The 5 other players, known as path-markers, are there to mark the trail of their Player as he or she runs through the streets. As Pac-Man moves from intersection to intersection, his position is being tracked, his points calculated and updated.
According to Mac, the creator of the project: “The goal is to give people the opportunity to make the city theirs by transforming it into a huge playground and harnessing the knowledge of its spatial elements. The choice was to focus on the social aspect of the game rather than the technological aspect: there is no use of any technological aid (GPS, Chats, Cell phones) each player has a partner running along his side, this allows more team play and an enhanced experience.” Source