Week 17: Love from Beirut

In this week of my #52breakfasts challenge, I will take you on a journey to Beirut, Lebanon. Instead of a Turkish breakfast culture, let’s indulge into a Lebanese breakfast culture. This has been my first visit to Beirut and I’ve spent there just a few days, so I didn’t really have much time to discover breakfast places, but I was lucky to visit some very nice restaurants around the city.

A typical Lebanese breakfast is made of labneh cheese sprinkled with some olive oil, za’atar (there actually exist different mixes of za’atar. I prefer the one which looks a bit more green), mankouche, eggs, veggies and fresh mint, fateh, pit bread, eggs, falafel & hummus. You can add some other types of cheese, yoghurt, etc. Breakfast can be accompanied by tea, coffee or a fruit juice. It has almost nothing in common with a typical Turkish breakfast, except that is huge and will keep you full for a long time.

Now that you know what to eat, let’s check where to eat.

I was really happy with the breakfast served in my hotel – The Grand Meshmosh Hotel. You can book it here and even get a discount.

Another place, that I would suggest you is located in Mar Mikhail neighbourhood. The restaurant is called Enab. They have a nice garden where you can enjoy traditional Lebanese food. You can try delicious cheeses, tabbuleh and refresh yourself with minty lemonade.

The third option is breakfast with the sea view. As Beirut lies by the sea, there are plenty of restaurants where you can enjoy a nice view while eating delicious Lebanese food. The local running crew, Beirun, invited me to a delicious breakfast with a sea view – Beit Ward. The restaurant is not located in a city centre, but not very far either.