BEIRUT: There’s nothing better than brunch – the best of both breakfast and lunch? Yes, please. The Daily Star took to the streets to track down the loveliest places to spend a weekend morning with friends, family and food.
Ginette
Gouraud Street,
Gemmayzeh, 0157044
In addition to a specialty brunch menu Saturdays and Sundays, Ginette offers a unique dining experience incorporating a restaurant with a boutique and exhibition space. The menu is the traditional brunch fare – a variety of egg dishes and sandwiches, with waffles and Ginette’s version of Eggs Benedict coming in as the most popular items. Waffles cost LL8,000 and egg dishes about LL19,000 with entree sandwiches and salads priced between LL25,000 and LL30,000. As the weather improves, brunch-goers can enjoy their meal seating on the broad, picnic-table style courtyard in front of the restaurant. To avoid food-coma, browse the art gallery or the boutique which offers furniture, clothes, cosmetics, artisan foods, and high-tech accessories.
Casablanca
Rue Dar al-Mreisseh,
Ain al-Mreisseh, 01369334
A Beirut favorite, enjoy Sunday brunch at Casablanca located on the top floor of a traditional villa, right on the Corniche. Casablanca is known for using all organic products – eggs, vegetables, cheese etc. The most popular items are the Eggs Benedict and a specialty dish of local, grilled cheese with tomato salad on two fried eggs. Omelets made to order are also popular. Guest can choose from mushrooms, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, leeks, potatoes, bacon, smoked salmon and other ingredients as omelet fillings. The menu also offers bagels, pastries, pancakes and a yogurt bowl mixed with fresh fruits. Prices range between LL19,000 and LL22,000 and Casablanca only serves brunch Sundays between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Enjoy your meal with a view of the Mediterranean Sea and weekend Corniche people watching.
Café Ristretto
Mahatma Ghandi Street,
Hamra, 01739475
Café Ristretto serves American-style breakfast items: good ole eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes. Try the “Hungry Pete” – eggs, hash browns, and two pancakes – for an affordable LL11,500. Ristretto also offers French toast, Spanish and smoked salmon omelets. Sandwiches range between LL10,000 and LL18,000 and entree salads between LL10,000 and LL13,000. Tucked away, a few blocks from Hamra Street, Ristretto has a cozy interior and outdoor seating away from the traffic noise. Unfortunately, the cafe is closed Sundays, but on the plus side they do serve breakfast until 1 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Gou
St. Nicolas Street,
Ashrafieh, 01200765
A restaurant, patisserie and artisan food market, Gou offers an international spin on brunch. Gou offers a special formula, “Gou morning,” and multiple “world platters” from Norway (smoked salmon, apples, seasoned potatoes, capers and brown bread), Switzerland (Muesli, dried fruit and nuts) and London (assorted scones, jam, honey and cream). Also a la carte, Gou serves regular egg dishes for LL9,000, omelets – including Spanish and Indian styles – for LL11,000 and Catalan eggs with potato tortilla and chorizo for LL12,500. The “Gou morning” brunch formula (LL23,500) consists of a choice of Spanish or Indian omelet, juice, a bakery basket, assorted jams, honey and butter plus coffee or tea. Choose your favorite teas out of their wide-ranging collection from around the world. Brunch is only available from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., but quiches and assorted baked goods are served all day long.
Chez Paul
Georges Haddad Ave.,
Gemmayzeh, 01582222 – 570170
Ever-bustling and well-known, brunch at Paul is still a treat. Aside from their a la carte, French-inspired menu, the restaurant offers a set brunch option available until 12 p.m. Monday-Friday and extended to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The set menu comes with an omelet, bread basket, one croissant, butter, jam, a glass of juice and a hot drink for LL20,000. The brunch option is also available without the omelet for LL15,000. Or simply enjoy a delicious pastry and coffee on Paul’s greenery-filled courtyard.
Café Rawda
Manara, 01743348
Located seaside on the Corniche, just beyond Luna Park, Café Rawda is a welcoming, family-style cafe serving up Lebanese mezze and seafood. Though it does not have a set brunch menu, morning mezze platters, Arabic coffee and freshly squeezed juices make for a delicious breakfast combination in Rawda’s sunny, buzzing courtyard. A table filled with eggs and soujouk, foul, saj, fetteh and labneh makes for a hearty Lebanese breakfast, served with fresh fruits and a vegetable platter. The cost of mezzes range between LL7,000 and LL12,000 with juice (try fresh orange or lemon and mint) at about LL6,000. Café Rawda is open every day but crowded with families on the weekend. Kids can enjoy the playground on the side of courtyard while parents chat, smoke nargileh or challenge each other at backgammon on a leisurely morning.
Bread Republic
Nehme Yafet Street,
Hamra, 01738040
In a pedestrian alley off Hamra Street, Bread Republic serves up breakfast all day, every day. The menu offers a number of specialty egg dishes – scrambles (with feta and hot green peppers, merguez sausage or sumac), omelets (wild mushroom and prosciutto, parmesan and tomato, grilled vegetable, or mushroom, bacon and cheddar) and Eggs Benedict priced between LL9,500 and LL17,500. Artisan breads, muffins, scones, bagels and other baked goods are freshly baked daily and the restaurant also offers assorted bruschetta, tartine and focacia dishes. For lunch fare, Bread Republic offers a large number of sandwiches and entree-sized salads. The restaurant is well known for using organic produce, locally sourced eggs and free-range chicken as a part of Lebanon’s Slow Food movement, which promotes local, sustainably produced foods.
St. Elmo’s
Zaitunay Bay, 01367356
Looking for a hangover cure? Brunch at St. Elmo’s may be just the treatment, offering decadent breakfast goodness and the ever important, “hair of the dog” mimosa or bloody mary. A seafood and seaside brasserie at the newly redone Zaitunay Bay complex, St. Elmo’s serves brunch Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m to 5 p.m., dishing up eggs, pancakes, sandwiches, burgers, and oysters a la carte. Try their specialties: a rich version of Eggs Benedict served with smoked salmon or poached lobster, blueberry pancakes drizzled with Canadian maple syrup, or “The Full Monty,” an English breakfast style meal including two eggs any style, sausage, roast tomato, seasoned potatoes, baked beans and toast. The average brunch check is between LL45,000 and LL52,500.
Tawlet
Corniche al-Nahr,
Mar Mikhael, 01448129
The beloved Saturday brunch at Tawlet offers a mix of all Lebanese traditional breakfast and lunch dishes. Diners can start with manakich, foul, hommus and egg dishes – like bayd bil banadoura (eggs with tomatos) and move on to grilled meats, kibbeh nayeh, tabbouleh and other lunch items. The open buffet costs LL45,000 per person but also includes dessert as well as open arak and lemonade. The charming Mar Mikhael restaurant is well known for its role in preserving and promoting traditional Lebanese cuisine, and brings chefs together Saturday from all regions of the country to prepare the buffet – open from 12-4 p.m.
Kitsch
Gemmayzeh Street,
Gemmayzeh, 01575075
Got a sweet tooth? Kitsch, a cozy cafe and concept store steps away from Gouraud Street, offers creative cupcakes and baked goods in addition to full breakfast items. Served up all day, the breakfast menu consists of eggs done your way, cheesy or in omelet form (around LL18,000), pancakes and waffles (LL12,500) or two breakfast plate options – the Kitsch breakfast plate (coffee or tea, orange juice, a soft boiled egg, and breakfast cupcake with nutella, jam or peanut butter) or the Born in Beirut plate (coffee or tea, orange juice, a fried egg with sumac on toast, grilled halloumi and jam), both for LL17,000. Kitsch also serves salads, tartines and their signature cupcakes and baked goods, like the cheeky monkey muffin with chocolate and banana or their hazelnut cake. After breakfast, browse the Kitsch boutique, filled with fashion and other specialty items.