Masaad has a reputation of being the BEST taouk place in Lebanon.
The place isn’t really very posh, in fact it’s the complete opposite, it’s a bigger version of a regular “snack”. Maybe that’s what gives the place a charming atmosphere?
I was there with a friend and we took a table on the second floor. We ordered 3 taouks and it took them 45 minutes to get us the food!
There are 2 waiters serving the 2nd floor, but only one of them is allowed to take your order, and he disappeared for 20 minutes. I was asking the other guy to get me a Mirinda or a Fanta while waiting for the food to arrive, he told me “ta yerja3 el m3allem”.
When the m3allem finally came back, I asked him where the food was, he told me that we’ll get it in 1 minute. 24 – 1 minutes later the food arrived.
The concept is basically a regular taouk sandwich with some fries and lots of garlic, rolled and put over the fire to make it crispy, then zaatar with olive oil smeared on top. It’s served with some hommos, pickles and coleslaw.
To be honest, I found the sandwich to be a bit dry and hard to swallow (that’s what she said).
All in all it was an average experience, between the food being late and the dry sandwiches.
I told Najib about this and he told a friend of his who wasn’t really happy with the comments I had made about this restaurant. He said that you shouldn’t go on a weekend and that the sandwich tastes better when you have a ze7lewi with you. mmm, really? having a person from Zahle sitting with me at the table would make the sandwich taste better?
“That’s what she said”
Ahahahahahaha
Indeed the Massaad experience is a special one! Here’s my version of it 😉
http://mayazankoul.com/2010/03/16/visiting-zahle-1/
But you did not say whether you like the Taouk or not ya Maya …
Well, there are 4 Masaads in Zahle, each of the owners are cousins, I believe.. and I think you went to the one in Mar Elias, which is usually very crowded and the service is very slow. It’s the one I usually avoid.
Hey Joseph, I went to the one next to the municipality, 3al nazle
If a restaurant is open, then they should be serving the best food they can. The comment in your post about being told to go back on the weekend is ridiculous.
As for the powers of the ze7lewi, I can’t comment.
A bit dry and hard to swallow eh..lol NASTY.
Turns out the brother of Masaad has a place in Kuwait. Just passed by and had a taouk, pretty good.
of course having a ze7lewe with you makes the experience a whole lot better! makes any experience better for that matter 😀
try it with a ze7lewe next time 😉