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A Lebanese Blog

Tag: Beirut

  • Onno Restaurant – Bourj Hammoud

    Onno Bourj Hammoud (8)

    Back when I posted about Varouj, several people recommended that I go try Onno, another Armenian restaurant in Bourj Hammoud, and I totally regret not doing so until lately as I found it really fantastic!

    The restaurant is located right underneath the bridge that connects Achrafieh to Dekweneh facing Life Center, and it is quite small and cozy with a few tables that fit around 20 people I guess. So don’t go there expecting something fancy, as the focus there is the food, which is cooked by the family who owns the place.

    Onno Bourj Hammoud (1) Onno Bourj Hammoud (2) Onno Bourj Hammoud (3)

    We ordered the following: Basterma with quail egg, two pieces of soubereg, cherry kebab, batata harra, mouhammara, soujouk, and two soft drinks.

    Onno Bourj Hammoud (4) Onno Bourj Hammoud (6) Onno Bourj Hammoud (5)

    The portions were pretty generous and tasted quite good as well, I especially loved the cherry kebab and basterma since it was the first time for me to try it with quail eggs. And the best part had to be the bill, which came at 55,000 L.L for everything we ordered,which is less than half what you would pay at other places like Mayrig or Mayas, for much more authentic Armenian food in my opinion.

    Onno Bourj Hammoud (7)

    Needless to say, Onno is totally recommended, and I’m planning to go again soon to try the other stuff they have like manti, quails, and frog legs. Check below what Alain Bourdain had to say about it in his travel and food show No Reservations back in 2011.

    Update:

    For those who are interested, Onno’s phone number is 03 801 476.

  • Cabriolet Film Festival 2013

    Cabriolet Film Festival 2013 will be held on 24th, 25th, and 26th of May at 8 pm on Saint Nicolas Stairs in Gemmayzeh.

    A total of 47 short films from 21 different countries will be presented to the public during this three day event, with free entrance for everyone. The festival program is available here if you’re interested.

  • Solidere pissed at St George’s banner

    stop-solidere

    This banner draped over St. George Hotel must be pissing Solidere off so much. They now threaten legal actions against media people who publish photos showing “Stop Solidere” in them when covering some event at Zaitunay Bay!

    media waiver

    Fadi Khoury, owner of St. George, is probably the only man who dared to stand against Solidere and their malpractices on the waterfront, who in their turn blocked the hotel’s access to the sea.

    waiver form via Beirutiyat

  • New cinema opening soon in Bliss street

    bliss

    Looks like Hamra is soon getting a new cinema, “Prime on Bliss”, facing AUB in Bliss street. The website and Facebook page have no further details such as the numbers of screens that will be available, except that they’re opening this month.

  • Man base jumps off Beirut Four Seasons Hotel

    It would be cool to see more people jumping from taller buildings!

    via Blog Baladi

  • Lebanese journalist/blogger assaulted for taking photos

    district s

    Make sure to read Habib Battah’s story on how he got physically assaulted yesterday for trying to take photos of the ruins at District S construction site in Beirut downtown.

    My chest and wrists still hurt from the arms of the men who tackled me, twisted my hands behind my back, and tried to rip my phone out of my hands this afternoon.

    They were enraged because I refused to delete a photo of ancient ruins I shot on their construction site.

    “Lock the door,” one of the foreman said earlier today, and moments later the giant doors of the site were sealed. I was surrounded by 5 to 6 men looking at me menacingly–prepared it seemed–to do anything to shut me up.

    Unfortunately he was told to just forget about it when he tried to report the incident to the police station, so I hope his post reaches some good people who can take action about it!

  • On Fouad Boutros highway

    fouad boutros highway

    According to an article on Now Lebanon and another on Beirut Report, it seems like the post I wrote back in March on the new highway in Achrafieh connecting Hazmieh to Charles Helou is true, since the project has already been given a green light and works might start in a month or so.

    And ever since the news was spread, “Save Beirut Heritage” has been opposing the project as it requires destroying 28 old buildings. But how true is that?

    fouad boutros highway 1

    I mean let’s assume each building has only 3 to 4 families living in it, then the government should currently be in the process of buying a minimum of 90 apartments in order to later destroy them and be able to go forward with the project. But 90 isn’t a small number, that’s 90 families who can easily coordinate a protest or at least appear on TV to oppose being evacuated from their apartments, which is not the case right now.

    That means the number of buildings is either much lower than 28, and therefore a large chunk of the highway will be underground, or the government is offering a really large sum of money for the families and they’re simply happy with it.

    fouad boutros highway 2

    And let’s be real for a moment, the highway might be seriously endangering Beirut’s heritage, but old buildings in the areas of Achrafieh and Mar Mkhayel are rapidly disappearing anyway to make way for high rise towers! So are we over-reacting a little bit here..?

    Anyway, I personally don’t really see the need to connect Charles Helou with Hazmieh through a highway passing by Achrafieh, since there’s already another highway connecting Hazmieh to Karantina which is pretty close to Charles Helou!

  • Gibran Bassil’s new comic book – A nation’s dream

    This is hilarious! I’ve been searching for some PDF version of this book ever since Bassam Abou Zaid tweeted about it a few days ago, and just last night, he made a news report about it. The Lebanese ministry of energy and water published a comic book called “A nation’s dream” starring minister Gibran Bassil and his son, telling a story that takes place in 2020 after we became an oil-producing country.

    The story starts with Gibran Bassil and his son boarding a metro from Batroun towards Beirut passing by all the projects that Bassil has started, from dams to gas pipes and Beirut’s solar snake, then shows how Zouk became much less polluted and how the public dump in Dora turned into some touristic destination. The story then ends with Gibran Bassil telling how proud he feels to be among the few people who actually contributed into realizing the dreams of this country!

    I’m not sure who advises minister Gibran Bassil on such things, but is he/she effing serious?! Morever, I wish the story has started by telling how exactly did Bassil accepted handing over the ministry of energy to someone else.

    I totally loved the sarcastic comment by Bassam Abou Zaid at the end of the report by the way.

  • Amarres shuts down at Zaitunay Bay

    ZaitunayBay-2-cQ

    Back in 2012, several websites started posting about a possible closure of Zaitunay Bay closing down due to the slow economy and the low numbers of tourists visiting Lebanon. This however was denied by the people behind Zaitunay through twitter and the media.

    Yet just today, Ziad Kamel, the co-founder of The Alleyway, confirmed on twitter that Amarres in Zaitounay Bay will be shutting down due to the instability the whole country is currently going through, which is eventually causing tourists and Lebanese expats to abstain from visiting the country, whereas Zaitunay heavily relies on them.

    So while Zaitunay Bay might be staying, one this is for sure, which is that restaurants owners there are definitely struggling to make ends meet, except for Classic Burger Joint probably which always seems to be full! (khamseh bi 3youneh)

    Anyway, back to Ziad Kamel, he claimed a second branch of Couqley will soon be opening in Dbayeh on May 15th, which is great news to all those who live north of Beirut. I’ve been once to Couqley in Gemmayze by the way and totally enjoyed their French menu.

  • Fatburger at Beirut City Centre

    fatburger sign

    Fatburger is the new burger joint in town and was among the places I’ve been waiting for to open at Beirut City Centre since I enjoyed trying it in Dubai last year.

    Their menu is quite simple as they offer burgers, hot dogs, and chicken strips along with some other side items.

    fatburger

    Ordering is quite fun by the way since the cashier relays back everything to the rest of the team and they all end up shouting whatever you have ordered. Anyway, I ordered a single Fatburger and it tasted good as everything in it was fresh but I felt the patty was a bit overcooked.

    Price-wise, Fatburger serves single, double, triple, and quad patty burger, at 9,500L.L, 12,500L.L, 15,500L.L, and 19,500L.L respectively, plus an additional 6,500L.L to make a meal.