Picture taken in a US shop

Do we have Falafel Chips in Lebanon? I never saw any in supermarkets.

Thanks Sophie!

Almost a year ago, I was having a talk with a restaurant owner that we need in Lebanon small shops that sell Shawarma the same way Kiosks are selling Hot Dogs and Crepes everywhere these days. He told me back then that it’s a good idea specially that there are very few decent Shawarma places but its only inconvenience is that you can’t keep the Shawarma “Sikh” for more than one or two days which could prove costly in the early stages if business doesn’t pick up.

Having said that, the people behind Shawarmanji seem to be confident that such a concept will pick up quickly and decided to open in 5 key areas in Lebanon as a start, in Hamra, Achrafieh, Sin el Fil, Zalka and Kaslik and are planning to expand later on in Lebanon and in the Arab world.

The idea behind Shawarmanji is simple: “Bringing The best Shawarma closer to you!”, but when it comes to Shawarma, I honestly don’t think anyone could compete with Boubouffe and after trying Shawarmanji for the first time last week, I still think Boubouffe is the best.

However, it’s really hard to compare both as one is a 30 year old restaurant in Achrafieh that sells very expensive Shawarma sandwiches among other things and with no plans to expand while Shawarmanji is only about Shawarma and is a new brand opening all over Lebanon. Aside from the convenience, Shawarmanji is very clean and the people working there are very professional from what I saw, and this is a very important feature specially when most Shawarma places in Lebanon are not that hygienic.

Picture taken from Shawarmanji’s Instagram

Price-wise, sandwiches range between 5500 and 6250 Liras (4$) for both meat and chicken while platters cost around 13,000 Liras (8$) which are very affordable prices in my opinion. There are other items on the menu, such as Sambousek and Rolls, Hummus, Salads and even desserts.
You can check out the whole menu [Here].

All in all, it’s a place worth trying and the best alternative to Boubouffe for me at the moment.

You can read more about Shawarmanji [Here].

I am not a big fan of Lala and I think its sandwiches are overrated but many believe Lala makes the best Chicken sandwich and the best garlic in Lebanon. Lala is opening instead of Hallmark on the Jounieh highway before Kozaily, and right next to Shawarmanji.

I went to LeMall Dbayyeh yesterday to have lunch at Marion only to find out it’s no longer there. Instead there’s a new place called Social House that looks exactly the same with the same decor and everything but with different colors. I am not sure what happened there but it looks more like the owner decided to change the name after a dispute with his partners or something.

I had reviewed Marion back in November. You can check it out [Here].

They should have opened there 6-7 years ago but it’s better late than never.

By doing so, Lebanon becomes the 7th country to ban Brazilian beef over mad cow fears. I have a question though: Does it really matter if the cow is mad or not when the meat is rotten? I am just asking because the rotten meat scandal was never closed nor anyone was jailed or penalized even though it occurred months ago.

Anyway, let’s hope we won’t have any cases in Lebanon.

Agriculture Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan banned on Wednesday the import of livestock from the southern Brazilian state of Parana where a case of atypical mad cow disease was confirmed last month.[Link]

I saw B.Balady on a van in Achrafieh yesterday so I googled it to see what it is about. [B.Balady] is a selection of natural products grown by families of war victims and landmine survivors members of the Development Cooperative in Jezzine. The families are supported and funded by the USAID and the World Rehabilitation Fund in Lebanon since 2001 and it’s been a success story so far.

In fact, the B.Balady egg is believed to be the number one brand selling premium natural eggs in major supermarkets and special stores all over Lebanon. Bayd Baladi is far better and tastier than the commercial eggs you buy in supermarkets.

This initiative truly shows that when there’s a will there’s a way. I recommend you read other success stories of members of the Development Cooperative in Jezzine, mainly the story of Naja, a landmine survivor, who succeeded in initiating and developing his own Herb Cultivation activity on a piece of land secured by him and his brothers near his house in Mrah El-Habbas and is now securing a monthly income for him and his family, as well as Bshara, a landmine survivor, who lost his left arm and had his other hand maimed as a result of a landmine explosion in 1987 yet kept on taking care of the beehives with the help of his 9 year old son Samuel and the WRF. [Read More]

PS: BlogBaladi and B.Balady are not related in anyway, except that they both provide fresh and “baladi” products/posts on a daily basis :)

[High-Res]

Nothing beats a cold Almaza beer even when it’s freezing in Faraya.

My friend tweeted this picture to Prime Minister Najib Mikati but didn’t get any reply yet. It’s Thai food for those of you who are interested in knowing.

[YouTube]

Ever since that place opened in Zaitunay Bay, people were pronouncing it the wrong way. Even I didn’t think it was wrong because everyone was saying it the same way. Well at least now we know.

I think it’s funny but also smart that they decided to come up with a video on how to pronounce ‘Amarres’.

Spotted near Cotton Mall in Adonis – Yassou3 el Malak

Next time you find Furn el Chebbak in Adonis, don’t blame Apple maps.

Top 10 pictures of 2012. Picture taken by Goran Tomasevic. Azaz, Syria. Aug. 15, 2012.

I always enjoy reading Time’s Top 10 lists from year to year. Check out the 55 wide-ranging lists [Here].

The HuffingtonPost has a bigger album of 2012′s best pictures that you can check [Here].

I usually go to Roadster for late breakfasts on Sunday but I decided to give LVD Diner a try yesterday. LVD (Latest Version Diner) is an American diner located in Dbayeh next to Chopsticks and Shtrumpf that serves breakfast, burgers and steaks. It’s been open since February 2012 and is doing well from what I’ve been heard from some friends.

The good thing about LVD is that it opens at 6am from Monday to Sunday, so if you’re ever stuck in traffic on your way to Beirut, you can pass by, have breakfast wait for the traffic to end and then go to work (I did it a few times already at Zaatar w Zeit). Anyway, I ordered the Morning Harvest Eggs (Sunny side up) and my friend the same with extra bacon. The eggs come with toasts and a mixed salad while the add-ons cost you around 3000 each but they’re pretty generous with them. Also, Orange Juice or Coffee are on the house and you can ask for as many refills as you want.

After the eggs, we ordered Banana & Chocolate pancakes and they were surprisingly better than the ones I have at Roadster usually but I still prefer crepes over pancakes anytime. All in all, breakfast was great and service was good and I recommend you give the place a try.

As far as burgers and steaks are concerned, I only went there once for a quick lunch and the burger I had wasn’t that great and a bit too overpriced but like I said, it was a quick lunch so I need to visit again.

Onlivery is a new Lebanese app developed by ELIXIR that allows you to order food online from over 55 restaurants. I was a bit skeptical about trying the service at first but it turned out to be real easy and practical. Upon downloading it, you get both an email and an SMS (Since SMSes can take forever to come in Lebanon) with a code to activate your account. Once registered, you have to enter a valid mailing address and a list of restaurants that deliver to this address will automatically show under “Restaurants”. Of course you can enter as many addresses as you want and every time you select one, you are redirected to the corresponding restaurants based on the location.

Upon placing your order, there’s a cool feature that allows you to customize your dish/salad/sandwich/burger or whatever you are having. For example if you don’t like onions or pickles in your sandwiches, you can tick them off. You can also specify before submitting your order if you need cash change. I noticed there’s a delivery charge of 1500LL for most of the restaurants I chose but I am not sure if it applies to all. The only drawback I found was that you can’t place many orders from different restaurants at once but I am sure they’ll work on improving it if the app picks up and the list of restaurants grows bigger.

Onlivery is free of charge and available for iOS and Android devices. [iOS] [Android]

I went and visited the newly open Magnolia Bakery at the ABC Mall in Dbayyeh two days ago and picked up a selection of cupcakes and cake slices. The Hummingbird cake was a bit too sweet but good, the Red Velvet was great however the Blueberry cake was too sweet and I didn’t like it.

As for cupcakes, I am not a big fan of cupcakes so I can’t really judge but I liked the chocolate ones. I recommend though that you try the banana pudding, it’s really good. Price-wise, the cupcake costs on average 5000 LL and the cake slice 8000 LL but the cake portions are pretty big.