I finally went to visit the empire of Lahm Baajen and its self-proclaimed emperor Afif. The place is small and is on the right side of the road just before you reach Faraya. It sells all sorts of Manakish but is famous for its Lahm Baajin man2ouche.
Aside from the Manakish, the owner of the shop, Afif, is well known for amusing his visitors with his funny stories, and has become popular after he showed on the LBCI program Kalamanji few years back.
Once we got in the place, Afif called one of his workers and asked him to come greet us. Apparently, everytime someone comes in, this guy has to come and say “Ya Hala ya Hala bil shabeb” or something like that.
After this weird yet amusing greeting, we placed our order and started listening to Afif. He was engaging in some weird talk with one of his customers on Maameltein and the Super night clubs before he looked at me and asked me if I was an NDU student.
Me: No I am an AUB student and I did my MBA at LAU.
Afif: Ahhh ya3ne ma bta3rif bil TTH?
Me: Mbala, 3anna yehoun bil AUB kamen.
Afif: Walla Walla, Fakkaret bil NDU bass. Aslan bta3rif NDU students aktar 3alam bile2o cheghel bil sou2.
Me: Le ba2a?
Afif: La2announ ma bye2e3do bil jem3a wou 3andoun kteer 3ale2at. Kelloun TTH wou ma ble2iyoun 2ella 3ande. Rou7 3al Cassino, White, B018 bitle2iyoun kelloun NDU.
Me: chou 3arrafak fiyoun kelloun?
Afif: Ana ba3refoun wa7ad wa7ad, wou ba3rif meen 3am yodhar ma3 meen wou meen tarak meen. Kelloun as7abe.
Me: Bravo mannak hayyin.
At this point, he switched the talk to another topic and I left with my Lahm Baajin man2ouche which was really tasty and worth the wait.
I recommend this place for anyone who’s planning a trip to Faraya.
2a2wa 3alam il embaratour!
What’s TTh?
Jean,
TTH as in classes on Tuesday Thursday. MWF ( Monday, Wednesday, Friday).
Ambrator el lahm b3ajin a2wa 3alam.! great place, great conversation… lovely lahm baajin.
I disagree on what he said, though.. NDU students work as hard as AUB or LAU students or other students, and sometimes harder… but yes, the ones who spend their time in Faraya 5 days a week, don’t do anything, and end up dropping majors and classes and finally work for their daddy’s company 😀
Finally, here’s a joke that Afif told me last year:
A guy was sentenced to life but served only 40 years… Why?
“Akhad summer!”
Hope you enjoyed your lahm baajine.. you should trying on a snowy saturday!.. it will be much better.!:D
2eme episode; Hajj Nasr a Achrafieh avec le Tsar Hanna!
Jibran,
Where is that exactly?
Yes, we would like to know where is it exactly 🙂
On your way up to Faraya before you reach the Faraya village entrance, the shop is on the right on a long straight. There’s a gas station right before it on the left side of the road