We spend between 30 and 45 minutes trying to cross the Marina Dbayye zigzag roads every morning. I was thinking someone should open up a small Kiosk and sell Zaatar and Jebneh Manakish, or maybe hot beverages and snacks. They would have two or three people passing between the cars selling stuff.

We are moving at 5 km/h so it’s not like it might cause more traffic.

I’ve been to Olio Pizzeria, The Chase restaurant and Empire theaters in Kaslik in the past week and I could not detect 3G in any of them. In fact, I didn’t get even get Edge. Weirdly enough, you get full 3G coverage if you go across the street from Olio to Casper & Gambini’s.

Talk about random stuff people come up with. The place is not even a sea food restaurant!

Krikita (Lebanon) by rogermazz

This may seem silly but there’s something that caught my attention from the first time I saw this ad. How the hell was the girl able to snatch a cricri from the guy’s bag while jogging? This calls for an experiment.

(To be continued)

An Internal Security Forces member was injured in a gunfight with robbers of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the southern city of Sidon at dawn Monday, the National News Agency reported. [Naharnet]

It just doesn’t get any better than this.

Thanks Joe!

A woman from Lebanon brought zatar with her which is prohibited in Australia. Her son in law who has lived in Australia for 25 years is determined to bring the food whith him because it’s a typical Lebanon delicacy.

This guy REALLY wants his zaatar! [YouTube]

Thanks Thoraiya

Aside from the traditional Galette des rois that we have on Epiphany, there’s also “Zlebieh” (زلابية) which is a deep fried dough that is mixed with sugar. They don’t look delicious (see pic below) but they are good specially when hot.

I’ve been hearing a lot about Stone restaurant which opened recently in the Old Souks in Zouk so I decided to pass by yesterday to see how it looks like. The first thing that caught my attention was how big and how beautiful this restaurant is. I don’t think I’ve seen bigger in Lebanon. It is also very nicely located and has a great view of the Jounieh bay and of Beirut.

Stone serves international food and its prices are affordable from what I hear. In fact, their Sunday lunch menu which includes Appetizers, Salad, Main Course, Dessert and Drinks is for 30$ only which is very reasonable.

They are also featuring Il Tenor Eliya Francis every Thursday starting December 22. This guy is amazing and performs at Mandaloun. He’s probably the only Tenor we have in Lebanon. They charge 10$ extra for the show.

I was told the food is excellent but I will have to try it and judge for myself, hopefully very soon. Also, I hope it will revive the old Zouk a bit because it’s a beautiful yet forgotten area.

You can check out its website [Here].

I thought the local authorities were going to shut down Sea Sweet after it poisoned over 100 people with its bad knefe. Instead, it opened another branch.

I am not sure how new this branch is but I pass by this area a lot and I didn’t notice it until yesterday, so it can’t possibly be that old. Also, there’s no mention of this branch on their website.

It looks like the Lebanese restaurant Republic has decided to go against Obama and democrats in the upcoming US elections.

If you go to City Mall anytime soon, make sure to pass by Chantilly’s Chocolate Christmas crib. It is really big and very nicely done.

Spotted by a friend in London.

I am not a big snails fan, but I occasionally enjoy them with Tarator or Lemon garlic sauce and of course a glass of Arak Baladi.

I found this place during the summer while walking around downtown Beirut. I think they’ve got the best ice cream in Lebanon easily. My favorite flavors are strawberry, pistachio and hazelnut. 3 scoops came in at around LL14,000 which isn’t bad when compared to placed like Coldstone Creamery and Marble Slab (two franchises I don’t think are available in Lebanon).

They’re located in the street behind Gucci.

So a new burger place opened in Lebanon and I’m not sure if the owner is aware or not but his logo is a blatant rip-off of Johnny Rockets. Johnny Rockets is a popular US franchise that’s available all over the Middle East and they were even open in Lebanon back in the late 90s before they closed down. I remember before they closed down they were having incredible offers on their burgers. If you were a student you could have a burger for LL1,500 which was ridiculously cheap considering Coke cost LL4,500.

Thanks Patrick