The Lebanese “Classic Burger Joint” now has a copycat in Jeddah called “Classic Burger” with a similar logo and very focused menu as well. The major difference however is that the Saudi restaurants apparently makes giant burgers like the one below!
You can find out more about the Saudi Classic burger on their Facebook page.
via @shmoops_
According to this article in The Daily Star today, there’s a new highway that is set to be constructed in the near future in Achrafieh linking Hazmieh to Charles Helou and passing by Mar Mkhayel. The project plan has been there since the 70’s but was delayed because some residential buildings have to be demolished, and the Council for Development and Reconstruction is now set to go forward with it starting this summer to help reduce the traffic in and out of Achrafieh.
Some activists however are opposing the project and trying to suggest some alternatives to avoid demolishing of old buildings and preserve the streets that might be affected by this highway. You can read more about it here.
This is definitely not an accurate drawing of the highway, but I’m trying to imagine how will it look like. I guess it will start somewehre in Alfred Naccache, passing by the small bridge in Charles Malek, and then straight to Charles Helou.
News websites yesterday were buzzing with information about gunmen who stormed Mohamad Al-Amine mosque in downtown Beirut, and forced Sheikh Hisham Khalifeh to step down from the podium while he was delivering a speech during prayer.
The truth however is that there was indeed a dispute between a few men and the sheikh, but unlike what was mentioned, no one got any guns inside the mosque. A friend was there at the time of the incident filming how the sheikh ended his speech and everything seemed quite normal. So why make people panic for nothing?
The accident happened a few days ago and fortunately only one employee was slightly injured.
Reminds me of the the guys who crashed into Wardieh pharmacy in Hamra 2 years ago.
via @KunHadi
Betroit is a new Lebanese movie by Adel Serhan that was filmed in Beirut and Detroit. It will start showing in Lebanese cinemas on March 3rd 2013.
Betroit, written and directed by Adel Serhan, is a portrayal of three couples as their lives become intertwined with one another. An act of violence disturbs the lives of the group and they come to realize how precious love and family can be. Leila (Darine Hamze) tries to escape from her abusive husband (Hassan Farhat) in hopes of fleeing to Detroit, where her sister Rola (Christine Solomon) lives. Lisa is desperately seeking a divorce from her husband Sam (Derek Kelly) in order to pursue a Hollywood career. She claims her husband physically abuses her in order to get Sam deported from the States. Rola, who is married to a successful lawyer Joe (Tamer Werfalli), both strives to help their friend Sam (Derek Kelly) and her sister’s marriage while struggling to have a baby of their own. Betroit addresses issues of domestic violence, culture, love and relationships between both the American and Middle Eastern culturet.
Spotted by one of my Facebook friends at Dora highway yesterday. The car was obviously heading to the demo near the Grand Serail.
The people behind Law 174’s page on Facebook are doing a good job by not just indicating which places are violating the smoking ban in Lebanon, but also naming the public figures who are breaking the law.
Among the people who made it to the page so far are Assi Hellani who owns “Assi” restaurant in Verdun, Dr. Joseph Azouri who owns “Le Maillon Cafe” along with 12 other doctors, Nathalie Fadlallah who owns “f by Nathalie”, Marlene Boutros Harb, and Nada Riad Salameh.
The number of violations people regularly report to the page definitely calls for increasing the number of tourist policemen in the country!
I was lucky to attend the press screening of the new Lebanese movie Ossit Sawani (Blind Intersections) at Sofil last week.
For a change, this movie doesn’t tell a story from the Lebanese civil war, nor does it suggest a solution for sectarianism in Lebanon. It actually follows three characters, Nour who loses her parents in a car accident and gets into financial problems, India, a rich woman who dreams of having a baby, and Marwan, a 12 year-old kid who lives with a violent alcoholic mother. These three characters obviously come from different backgrounds and never meet throughout the movie, but the effects of one incident will alter the lives of them all. Don’t expect any happy ending, since Ossit Sawani just portrays the daily struggles of Nour, India and Marwan.
I’m not sure how accurate my judgement about Ossit Sawani will be since I’m no movie expert. Anyway, I believe it’s good enough to watch even though the transition from one scene to another was not so smooth at the beginning of the movie but got better as the movie went forward, moreover, I believe some scenes could have been cut shorter. Still the movie is worth the ticket price and eventually supporting its producers.
Ossit Sawani is by the way directed by Lara Saba and produced by Nibal Arakji, and started showing in cinemas as of yesterday.
After blogging about their competition last week, The Hangout were kind enough to invite for a dinner two days ago.
The first thing you’ll notice when entering the place, is that unlike what its name tells, The Hangout is more of a fine dining restaurant than a place to really hangout at with your friends. It’s nicely decorated, spacious with indoor and outdoor areas unlike most of the places in the neighborhood, and the staff is quite friendly and welcoming.
We sampled the following items from their menu:
Given that The Hangout is still operating in soft opening stage, I found the food to be quite good. I totally loved the Foie gras, the chicken rolls, the fried mushroom, the grilled sojok, and their gourmet burger. I also overheard at an adjacent table that the salad bar is pretty good too. The other items were good as well, but I thought they could be improved a bit.
For example, I would have preferred the onion soup to be a little thicker, and the beef stroganoff meat a bit tender. The desserts on the other hand need to be re-worked, and don’t get me wrong, they’re seriously not bad, but I personally believe a great dessert can turn an average meal into a memorable event, and that’s what one would expect from a place like The Hangout.
Anyway, the overall experience was very pleasant, and the restaurant’s atmosphere alone can set you in a good mood even if you just went there for some drinks or wine at the bar. It’s definitely worth a try.
This photo by Marwan Tahtah was taken in Roumieh prison and made it to the cove page of Al-khbar’s issue for today. If only these muscles were put to good use to stop the chaos in Roumieh!
Check this article on how the prison is currently more like a command centers for some criminals on the run due to the lack of control over the Islamist prisoners.