I was not very fond of sushi until two years back, but since then i’ve tried almost every place in town and i must say it is very hard to tell if one place is that much better than another. One thing is for sure is that sushi is very expensive in Lebanon.
Sushi restaurants are divided into two categories in Lebanon:
– The classy and expensive ones (WokWok, Salmontini, Ybar, Le Sushi bar, and to a certain extent Le Yen and Maki.)
– The affordable and popular ones (Sushi Ko, Scuzi, Tsunami, Oceanus, Sushi Bento, Ichiban, Sushi Mooda, Kaiten etc …)
Most of the expensive places are good but it’s way too overpriced. WokWok has the most uncomfortable chairs too. Maki is a great place too but as Michelle pointed out earlier, it’s a very complex menu which i found annoying. Le Yen on the other hand is one of my favourite places.
As for the less expensive places, Oceanus is the most highly recommended by most people i know.
All my friends who come from abroad tell me sushi is way too expensive here and not that good. But all food is relatively expensive in Lebanon specially the non-Lebanese one, so that’s not something new. As for being not that good, i can’t be the judge of that but i don’t find it that hard to believe. Afterall, we do import most of our sushi and the food control here is “laisse a desirer”.
I’ve been similarly on a quest to find Lebanon’s best sushi, and I pretty much reached the same conclusions as you: Sushi in Lebanon not only is expensive, but too complicated.
I live in a country that catches its own fresh tuna (we’re on the atlantic ocean) and the Sushi here is just fantastic. The menu is simple and offerings are straight to the point.
I think Lebanon will never have really good sushi because it imports all the fish (frozen). But they could at least work on those hair-pulling menus..
Thanks Najib. It seems the sushi food culture has been spreading like crazy in Lebanon. Coming from Vancouver the quality of the fish is what i care about the most…Several friends told me that Maki has some of the best quality fish and that they import most of their products from Japan!?. I will definitely swing by it and some of the other places you recommended. I will keep you posted.
Thanks
I like Soto’s, Noodles and Monk’s too as well as Osaka
sushi in lebanon is not bad at all! i ate sushi way more there than i do now in europe. favorites were le sushi bar, osaka and tsunami, though there are so many great places!
my main problem was that i don’t like mayonnaise or imitation crab (“crazy” thus being the most unappetizing thing i can imagine), and lebanon loves to put one or both of these in every roll if possible. blech. oceanus was pretty much out for me for this reason alone!
Sushi in Lebanon has some very good standards;however, a few of them have a speciality dish…
One of my favorites is Salmontini, if you haven’t tried the Dynamite Maki, then you’ve missed out on a lot.