Before I begin my review, you should know that Tannoura Maxi has been banned officially from theaters following a request by the Lebanese Catholic Information Center. I am of course against this ban because 1) it’s cultural terrorism and 2) the movie didn’t disrespect the Church nor Christianity in anyway.

Moving on to the review, let me just say in few words that Tannoura Maxi is like a badly prepared Tabbouleh. It has all the basic ingredients for a fine Lebanese Tabbouleh but some ingredients are put in excess, while others are missing and inappropriate ingredients are added. I personally found the movie long and boring, the plot a bit silly and unrealistic (despite being inspired from a true story), the characters dull, and the whole sex and religion themes very badly expressed.

Despite all that, I can understand why some people might like it from an artistic and poetic point of view. Indeed, the movie is very nicely filmed and has special features unseen before in a Lebanese production. The visuals and art direction are beautiful, especially the close-ups on pretty things and nostalgic items. I particularly loved the part where they play the old Ray-o-Vac ad. Nevertheless, all those positive aspects are not really appealing to the average or non-artistic viewer which pretty much explains the overwhelming negative feedbacks Tannoura Maxi received so far.

Digging deeper into the movie, and given that it’s inspired from a true story on how the director’s parents met, here are few things that I thought were inaccurate or did not like:

1- No one wears high heels to go to the well or “3al 3ein” as they say in Lebanese villages.
2- Women were way too overdressed for masses in the movie. That’s not accurate specially that most of them live in the village and are not coming for a visit and we are at war.
3- The music played in parties and on weddings is weird and has almost nothing to do with old traditional Lebanese songs. Unless I am missing something, this music is new to me.
4- I’ve been to masses in many villages and never heard women talk loudly and in such an offensive way about others. It was way too exaggerated and offending to Lebanese women and Lebanese in general.
5- Public signs of affection were not common in villages, even during war time. They are not even that common in the cities in Lebanon. Oh and Priests didn’t dirty dance and kiss at the time.
6- The scene where the priest is cutting some wood and showing off his muscles is really bad.
7- There’s at least 10 minutes of footage where the main character is walking towards the church, her house or to the well and you only hear the clacking noise of high heels. That’s where I felt like walking out of the theater.
8- I didn’t really understand the role the mentally challenged characters played in that movie. They are given way too much importance but it’s like the director focused more on how good they were playing their part rather than make it a significant one.
9- There’s a whorehouse in the village. Show me one village in Lebanon that has a whorehouse or had one back in 1982.
10- I did not sense a real connection between the various scenes of the movie. It’s like you jump from one scene to the other.
11- The monologues are confusing and seem out of place. There’s way too many as well.

In regards to the movie themes and controversial scenes:
1- Director Joe Bou Eid is portraying the Lebanese Forces as being thugs and criminals while Leftists are the good guys. I don’t care who’s wrong or right historically but taking sides does not send out the right message to younger generations.
2- The scene where the LF guy is the only one dancing with an Arak glass in one hand and a cigarette in the other is pure cliché and unoriginal. Leave those clichés to Comedy shows ya Joe!
3- The two key characters in the movie barely talk to each other and all of a sudden have sex and get married. When I first heard him talking about the movie on TV, and saying that it depicts how his parents met, I thought I was in for an original story. However, the movie makes it look as a one night stand where the girl got pregnant and had to marry the guy.
4- The sex scene did not occur in the Church but in a convent. It’s still a holy place but I still don’t think that’s a valid reason to ban the movie.
5- The movie shows the priest as a weak and vulnerable person, one not worthy of becoming a man of God, and does not really insult the Church or Christianity. There’s nothing wrong with falling in love with a girl and stirring away from priesthood, but going against your own beliefs by sleeping with the girl and then marrying her the next day is not something I would go out and tell, or at least not tell in the way Joe Bou Eid did.

There’s one review on IMDb by Sarah Zebian which I agree with and pretty much says it:

Poor story-line, poor scenario, poor performances.

The movie is full of eye-candy. Very little else, except quick-wins like the Rayovac commercial, the traditional dough-making scene, etc, obviously added in to trigger nostalgia without having any real role. Close-ups of the main characters and colorful scenic shots, despite their beauty, are excessive and quickly turn into a nuisance – a failed attempt to overshadow the lack of substance in the movie.

The love story fails to come across as genuine – as the rest of this movie. The two main characters never utter a word as far as I noticed! Generally, presumptuous and a waste of time!

On a last note, I understand that we should be supportive when it comes to Lebanese movies but I think we should point out a bad movie when we see one. Moreover, I strongly believe Lebanese directors need to come out with original ideas and stop digging old civil war stories.

IMDb Rating: 7/10 (From 56 users only)
My Rating: 4.5/10

A a friend of mine contacted me around two weeks back asking me if I wanted to review his McLaren and of course I said yes. After spending the day with it this weekend I can easily review the car with 3 words… “I want one”. Seriously I want one. I can’t afford to buy it but that doesn’t change the fact I really really want it.

There are a lot of reviews of the McLaren online and Top Gear have a great one which you can watch on YouTube. So, not wanting to come about this review in the same way I decided to look at the car differently. It’s obviously a fast super car and everyone already knows that but I was curious to how the car would perform as a daily driver. I would hate to spend this much on a car and then only drive it on weekends. I’d want to drive the car to work, to the gym or even to TSC to pick up some groceries.

First thing I looked for after getting into the car was cup holders and I ended up finding two right behind the center console. Cup holders are great for holding your drinks but they’re also more useful for storing items like your phone or sunglasses. The McLaren not only has two easy to access cup holders but there is also a 12v socket inside one of them which means you can plug in your phone charger as well. That’s practical. Another practical feature is the AC, both the driver and passenger have separate control panels which is a feature you usually find in large cars but not super cars.

The seats are also fully electric and have 3 memory positions which is convenient if the car is being shared between say a couple or family members. The sound system is naturally located in the center console and is made by the high end audio guru’s Meridian. The sound system control panel is a large touch screen that is more than double the size of the iPhone and is 100% iPhone/iPod compatible. Once you connect your iPhone or iPod to the car you can then navigate your music by touch and even view album art beautifully all on the center console screen. I think it has the best iPod integrated system I’ve seen so far. The car boot is a lot bigger than I expected. I wouldn’t take the car to Khoury Home if I need to get a 50inch screen, but it’s definitely supermarket friendly.

The McLaren is very comfortable to drive. I actually found it more comfortable and forgiving on worn out roads when compared to say my old Z4. I’m also pretty tall (6’1) and I didn’t feel claustrophobic or cramped in the car neither did I have problems finding my correct seating position (the seats are incredibly adjustable). Driving the car I was actually impressed by the fact I could cruise in it at 80km/h and not feel like I should be driving it a lot faster. Of course once you step on the gas the car is breathtakingly fast but as a daily driver you want to be able to drive on regular roads at regular speeds and the McLaren does that really well. Even the car’s gas mileage is pretty good at 15mpg which is similar to my FJ Cruiser. I did find the brake peddle a bit too stiff to press but it’s something you would get used to after a few hours in the car.

The only two things that hurt the car as a daily driver is the ride height and the doors. It’s a pretty low ride since it’s a sports car which means the majority of the speed bumps you’ll need to take sideways. The second issue is the doors, they swing open upwards which means you can’t park in very tight spots. If the parking spot is tight you won’t be able to open the doors so you always need to make sure you have ample room on the sides. But again if you’ve paid this much for the car, I doubt you’re going to be squeezing it anywhere. Valet wouldn’t be an issue on weekends since it’s a car that every club would love to have parked right at the main entrance. Just drive up and point to the valet where you want to park and they’ll move whatever car is in that spot for you.

I love the car but then again who wouldn’t? The thing is I don’t only love it because it’s a super car, I love it because it’s a super car you can actually use every day. I wasn’t kidding when I said I want one, I do I just can’t afford it. But, if anyone from McLaren is reading this, give me a fat discount (like 75%) and you’ve got yourself another customer.

I went to visit February 30 yesterday and it is by far Hamra’s funkiest and most original venue. The chairs, tables, toilets, bar, roof, walls are all unusual and the whole place feels like it’s upside down. There’s an indoor space which could fit up to 50 people, maybe more, and a small outdoor space in an adjacent alleyway. I can’t be a judge of the drinks being served there as I always order Vodka (Russian Standard) on the rocks with a slice of lemon (you can’t really go wrong with that) but the Strawberry Margarita my fiancee ordered was fine. As for the food, we ordered Nachos and a goat cheese salad and both were good!

February 30 is located on Makdissi street in Hamra, close to Olio Pizzeria and Le Rouge Restaurant.

I tried to take as many pictures as possible to show you how original the venue is as it’s easier to look at pictures than describe it in words.

[YouTube]

I’ve been to MAD twice in the past 2 weeks and I must say it’s one of the best indoor clubs I’ve been to lately. It’s spacious and very nice from the inside, has good music and its location is adequate for all.

In fact, I used to worry about its location (Nahr el Mot seaside) as there’s no parking space and I hate giving my car to the Valet, but I was informed by a friend that I can park my car on the side of the road and pay the Valet 5000LL (There’s some agreement between MAD valet parking company and the police). Added to that, they opened a new parking lot next to MAD where anyone can park and it fits up to 600-700 cars if not more. Traffic-wise, there’s not much at the moment but things will get worse during the summer.

The club from the inside is divided into two main areas, with the bar in the middle surrounded by small tables and high chairs, and then on the left and right sides small lounges on a more elevated level. Once it gets crowded, you can barely stand though and it could get a bit uncomfortable but that’s how it is in all night clubs in Lebanon with few exceptions such as Buddha bar where you really have your own space.

I had a funny incident the first time I went there. It was around midnight and the place was already full. My friends’ table was on the left side overlooking the middle area, so I headed there and put my stuff on the small couch. As I was talking to some friends around the table facing the couch, I thought of pouring myself a drink, but then I saw a guy giving me the weird looks. Turns out I was pouring from someone else’s table even though all my friends were around it! I apologized to the other table but that’s just to tell you how crowded it could get. We were around 20-25 on a table that could barely fit 5 seated people.

The music is a mixture of house music, followed by commercial pop & RnB songs remixed, with old remixed songs in between. Things pick up around 12:30/1am up until 4/5am. Added to that, and similarly to White, sexy female dancers entertain the crowd for around half an hour by dancing on the bar. [See Video above]

Money-wise, you will end up paying between 75-100$ per person if you have a table and around 50$ or maybe less if you find a spot on the bar without reservation.

Mad club is located on Nahr El Mot-Seaside Road, right before Pier7 if you are heading towards Jounieh. You can reserve by calling this number: 03 060090.

If you don’t have an iPad = Yes
If you have the iPad 1 = Yes
If you have the iPad 2 = Depends

I got the new iPad last week and compared to the iPad 1 I was replacing it’s a world of a difference. The new iPad is a lot faster than the original iPad and the increase in memory is obvious while browsing the web with multiple tabs open or running multiple apps. Of course though the biggest difference everyone is talking about is the new retina display which I have to admit is ridiculously good. I didn’t think anything was wrong with my old iPad screen until I got the new iPad and now I can’t go abck. It’s really a big difference and one that’s easily noticeable right from the minute you turn the iPad on for the first time.

If you have an iPad 1 and actually use it then getting the new iPad is a no brainer. On the other hand if you have the iPad 2 the only difference you’ll notice is the new screen and as long as you don’t experience it in person then you don’t really need to get the new iPad. Just make sure you don’t see the new screen.

I finally went to visit Stone restaurant after hearing so much about it, and one thing’s for sure that looks can be deceiving. The place is beautiful from the outside but the food is average and the service is slow.

The place was almost empty when we got there, probably because it was a Sunday night, but still there was no one at the entrance to welcome us in. The restaurant is beautiful from the inside, with the chimney, stone walls and lighting, yet it’s not as big as it appears and barely fits 150 people.

The menu is international but not that rich, and has some spelling mistakes. I know it’s not a big deal but it’s a major turnoff for me especially when the restaurant is supposed to be a fancy one.

Nevertheless, we ordered an appetizer, a goat cheese sandwich, a chicken platter and two pizzas. The appetizer was tiny but ok, the goat cheese sandwich was good but the pizzas and the chicken platter were bad (Chicken tasted funny). Pizzas were supposedly made Italian-style but are crap when compared to Olio, La Piazza, Marguerita pizzas for example. Pizzas might not be Stone’s specialty, but salads and main dishes were also not appealing.

One last thing that caught my attention was the spot dedicated to the Tenor Eliya Francis who performs there every Thursday. It’s right next to the chimney and very close to the tables which is pretty inconvenient for the audience.

In all, the restaurant has a great location, a great interior and a beautiful view, but average food. I think they should make better pizzas, enhance their menu by adding some Cheese & Wine formula, or maybe Fondue For Two and a salad bar.

I pass next to this place almost every night yet I never thought about trying it out until last week. The place is called “3al Baladi” and is located in Jeita right before Frulatte and Starbucks.

The place is a wooden house with wooden chairs and is decorated with some old tools used in fields and in Lebanese villages. Some walls and lights are also covered with lamb skins which I did not like.

Moving on to the food, this place serves authentic Lebanese dishes and I liked almost everything that I ordered. Fattoush was really good, Cheese Chanklish and Labne were great, and their Saj was also decent. Added to that, they serve Arak Baladé, which is stronger and better than the regular Arak and is rare to find in restaurants.

The best thing about this place though is that it’s located in Jeita, which is 5-10 minutes from the highway. I used to drive all the way to Ajaltoun or Faraya to go to similar restaurants (such as Erzel), so it’s good to have a place this close specially in winter.

Price-wise, the restaurant is really cheap and its portions are relatively big. For instance, Arak comes in a full glass not a small shot glass and their Fattoush platter can feed up to 4 people.

One last thing, they have singers and entertainers on Friday and Saturday nights, so if you don’t like a crowded place full of arguiles, go on week days or Sundays.

I finally went to see Nadine Labaki’s movie yesterday and I absolutely loved it!

It is by far the best movie I’ve seen this year and the best Lebanese movie ever produced. The characters, the plot, the music, the locations chosen, everything was just perfect!

There are a lot of funny scenes despite the drama involved, and I felt the movie was short despite being 110 minutes long.

Nevertheless, there are two things I did not appreciate in the movie:

- All men are portrayed as being irrational and impulsive and sometimes dumb while all women are wise and intelligent and can easily manipulate and trick their men.

- Lebanese Muslim & Christian women, living in distant villages, will NEVER go down to the city to bring back Ukrainian strippers/hookers to keep their husbands and the villages’ men entertained.

Still, those are minor details when we look at the whole movie which is simply brilliant!

I highly recommend it to all and I will definitely be watching it a second time soon.

PS: The movie scored a well deserved 7.4 on imdb and there are some nice reviews which you can read [Here].

One of my favorites places to eat while I’m in Lebanon is Mother. It’s a small restaurant located in the old souk of Byblos and I actually first found out about them after reading about them in the New York Times.

It’s not just one thing about the place thats good but it’s a combination of many things. First they have a pretty good variety of dishes on their menu without it being huge. It’s also the kind of menu where if you shut your eyes and randomly pointed at a dish you couldn’t go wrong with. They also have this amazing goat cheese salad which is by far one of the best salads I’ve ever had anywhere. For the main course depending what day of the week you visit they usually have a special being grilled. I always end up with a steak cooked either medium or medium well depending on if anyone is going to be sharing with me.

What sets them apart from all the other places in the old souk is the service. The waiters and waitresses are knowledgeable, friendly and the best I’ve had in Byblos. Price wise they’re not cheap but they’re also not over priced. Appetizers are generally under 20,000LL while main courses are around 35,000-60,000LL. They supposedly have the most incredible Tiramisu as well but since I hate Tiramisu I never got to try it. It’s a good place to take visitors and tourists but if you’re going to pass by on a weekend it’s probably a good idea to reserve a table since they do get pretty busy. For more information you can check out their Facebook page [Here]

I love burgers and I love apple pies which is why I was excited to pass by Cow & Apple in Hamra today. It wasn’t hard finding the place since they’re located right in front of Crepaway so I didn’t get lost although I was expecting to. The place is located inside the entrance of a building and it’s pretty spacious with a bit of a school cafeteria meets burger joint look going for it. I thought the benches were pretty tight and claustrophobic but I really liked their lights and the menu scribbled on the kitchen window.

I got the menu and went through it and kinda got lost so I asked the waiter which burger was popular and he told me the #5 which included cheese, mayo, grilled onions, home made bbq sauce, lettuce, mustard and a 250 gram beef patty. He asked me if I wanted it cooked medium or well done, I chose medium.

The burger took around 15 to 20 minutes to arrive and I thought the presentation was good. The bun looked delicious and the patty was pretty thick so I couldn’t wait to devour it. I took my first bite and realized my burger was more well done than medium which was disappointing. Why do places bother to ask you how you want your burger if they’re going to cook it their way? The bun as I had assumed was really good, it managed to soak up the bbq and mayo/mustard sauce without getting soaked and it also had a slightly sweet flavor to it. The beef patty definitely wasn’t as good as Brgr Co nor as juicy but it was better than the very thin patty I had at CBJ two days back.

Now there is a slight twist with the ending since I ran into a bit of an issue with my burger. I was around 80% through my burger when I spotted what looked like a small hair. I decided to pull it out with my fork when I realized the small hair was actually not that small so I called the waiter and the manager came as well. They apologized and offered to make me another burger but I told them not to since I already had eaten practically all of it and I was pretty full. They told me then they wouldn’t charge me for it which I also refused since mistakes do happen and an apology was all I needed. They then insisted dessert would be on the house which I thought was ok since I wanted to try their apple pie anyway. I kinda felt bad for them since from all the people that could have gotten a hair in the burger it had to be me while I’m on my burger quest!

Over all though I was kinda disappointed and not because I found a hair in my burger but because I was expecting their burger to be better than this. If you’re in the neighborhood it’s not a bad burger to have but it’s not one I would crave or one that’s worth getting stuck in traffic for. One thing I think local burger joints should invest in is a good meat thermometer. Seriously if you can’t get that right then you should really hire a new cook.

I tried Lebanese Brew awhile ago and I didn’t like it. If you’re a fan of Laziza you’ll probably like this. Personally, I’m sticking to my Almaza.

As I previously mentioned I’m going to be reviewing all the burger places while I am here in Lebanon on my vacation. I know other blogs have already reviewed most of the burger places here but I believe I bring a different view and that is one of a true burger lover.

I decided to pass by and try Classic Burger Joint today after reading a lot of positive feedback. I figured I would start with the favorite to set the bar for the rest but after trying Classic Burger Joint I don’t think I am going to do that.

I went to the new CBJ branch that opened up in downtown Beirut. The menu isn’t big, it’s got a few burgers, 2 desserts, 2 salads and that’s basically it. You can’t choose the thickness of the patty and when I placed my order the waiter didn’t even ask me how I wanted my burger. So far not a good sign. I decided to go with the Classic Cheese which according to the waiter is their most popular burger and I honestly have no idea why.

When the burger arrived I couldn’t see the beef patty. The bun was just too big and the patty was very thin. I read gourmet on the menu and I read authentic but the burger I had was nothing close. The patty tasted frozen and was very dry while the bun was just too big and overpowered the whole burger. The burger actually reminded me of the Crepaway and Roadster burgers which isn’t a good thing.

Overall I was really disappointed since I had high hopes and now not sure what to expect with the other burger places. The waiter asked me what I thought of my burger and I told him, I also left my feedback on their comments card so hopefully they’ll do something about it. Not a good start to my best burger in Lebanon hunt.

Every time my brother or my cousins from the States are here on vacation, we have to go have lunch at least once at Manarit el Khalij in Maameltein. The place has been there for years and is consistently good and generous. It has been redecorated and renovated few times and looks as if it’s brand new everytime we go there. It also has a great view of the Mediterranean and the Jounieh bay.

We are first greeted with a large bowl of iced almonds along with some carrots and crackers. Very few places still get you the iced almonds bowl even though they are great.

Afterwards, we are served each a large sliced piece of tomato with sumac (سمّاق) on top and you can add to it garlic and even Arak.

Then we are asked whether we want fish or Machawi. If you choose fish, you have the option to pick the fish by yourself and whether you want it as grilled or fried. They usually have Sultan Ibrahim, Lo2oss and Mallifa among others.

Aside from the main platters, you get to choose from a large variety of cold and hot dishes, basically the regular Lebanese mezza. Portions are relatively big and are all good. Added to that and while you are eating, a waiter with a large basket of hot bread visits the table every 15-20 minutes.

The service is quick and impeccable and the manager is always around to see if there’s any complaint. Once done with the food, you are given rolled hot towels to take out the fish smell.

After the table is cleared, Turkish coffee is served for free for those who want to and dessert is also on the house. You’d think it’s a small dessert but it consists of over 6 types of fruits, Ghandour Biscuits with “Ra7a” and Achta w Assal.

Price-wise, you pay between 30 and 40$ per person alcohol included which I find is very reasonable.

After Chahe posted his Margherita review I decided to pass by and try it out. I’m a huge pizza fan and love the fact we have a lot of good pizza in Lebanon so I was curious to see how Margherita compared with the rest. Location isn’t Margherita’s strong point, I mean it’s located on the main Gemmayze street which is great except for the fact parking is impossible to find both during the day and night. I ended up going there for lunch but still had to park on another street and a few blocks down. Luckily the weather was great so I didn’t mind walking.

I loved the interior of the place. When you first walk in you have a large bar on the left side of the shop with a pizza oven at the end, on the right hand side you have three tall square tables with two bar stools each. At the end of this room are a few steps that take you into another large squarish room that is filled with regular tables and chairs. Because the restaurant isn’t that big the tables are pretty close together which is fine but like Chahe mentioned, smoking is allowed inside the restaurant and if you’re not a smoker it would be extremely annoying sitting that close to someone that’s smoking. There were maybe only two tables occupied but I decided I would rather sit on the tall square tables opposite the pizza oven since I would have more natural daylight to light up my shots.

I ordered a bottle of ice cold Corona, a large bottle of water, an argula with mushroom and balsamic salad for starters and a mushroom pizza with ham for my main course. The waiter was very friendly and social. We asked him a bunch of questions about the place and he never seemed annoyed or unhelpful, if anything he was actually very entertaining. I had to ask him if they had ketchup which I know is a sin to put on a pizza but I love ketchup on pizza. Of course they didn’t allow ketchup which was a bit disappointing but at least it made me feel the place was trying to be authentic. The owner it turns out is Italian which again adds more authenticity to the place.

Once the food arrived I quickly dug in. The salad was great although truthfully it’s a simple salad and very hard to get wrong. The pizza was good but I thought there was too much ham which overpowered all the other flavors. If I was to base my review on that pizza alone I would say it was fairly decent but that wouldn’t be fair since they might have better pizzas. Personally I would go back there again and order the same pizza next time but without the ham and more mushrooms. I had a positive experience overall it’s just that I was expecting my pizza to be better so might update this post in the future once I go back and try something else. My bill came out to be around $28.

Margherita is a pizzeria located in the middle of Gemmayze. Since it’s close to where I work, I eat there with some colleagues on a regular basis. I’ve tried enough pizza places in restaurant and I have to admit the pizzas in this place are amazing! I usually order a Pizza Diavola, which comes with tomato sauce, cheese, and spicy salami. It’s sooooooo good! I always start by eating really really fast, but slow down when I get to the final two pieces and secretly wish that one of my colleagues won’t be able to finish his / her food so that I can have some :) lame, i know.

One cool thing about this restaurant is the fact that they give you the opportunity to eat for free. The waiter asks you to pick a number between 1 & 90. He then mixes a container (see below) and pulls out a number, if you guessed correctly, the bill is on the house.

I had dinner the other night with a friend and for whatever reason, he picked the number 65 in the end, and we ate for free!

I asked the waiter what number was most commonly picked, he said guys usually go for 69, girls are more random. I then figured out why he chose 65… Initially he wanted to say 69, but switched to 65 in half sentence

Positives:
- Great food
- Opportunity to eat for free
- Location, right in the middle of Gemmayze

Negatives:
- The place is a bit tight
- Does not accept reservations
- Smokey as hell! While you are eating your food, people from other tables, which happen to be 10 centimeters away, start blowing smoke in your face
- You kinda smell like an oven / ashtray when you leave the place

They recently updated their menus and have a couple of blank pages for customers to leave comments.