When you get bored of the nightclub scene in Beirut, Music Hall is definitely the place to go to. Numerous artists and band appear each night and play an entertaining mix of western & eastern music.
The video and photos below are from a fantastic evening I had last Saturday.
Last week I got to enjoy Ivan M., one of the world famous saxophone players from Cafe Del Mar, playing live in Amethyste Lounge Phoenicia.
Below is a small video I recorded during his performance. The light is very low so you wont be able to see how the ambiance really was… but you will still enjoy his tunes.
Good food, great music, what more can one ask for?!
One of the most fascinating places I have ever been to lately, that’s seriously without any exaggeration the newly opened Amethyste Lounge in Phoenicia Hotel.
To those of you who still don’t know about it, Amethyste is a new outdoor bar and lounge that was launched on May 13th with a fabulous opening that started at noon and lasted till midnight.
So I got the opportunity to go there with a group of friends two weeks ago and had a blast! I honestly don’t know how to describe the place, and I hope the photos I included do justice to it, Amethyste is just unique and different than any place of the same category.
Your world will be painted purple the minute you step in, even the pool water turns purple when it’s dark (due to the lightning of course), and the color is guaranteed to make up your mood if your going there after after a long day! Just the way a real lounge should be. And to complement that, chill out music is played all the time.
The food is good, nothing tasted new to me, but the presentation is EPIC! Some plates are served in a theatrical way, for example the salad we ordered was brought in a jar, to which the waiter added the sauce and shook it like a cocktail, then put it into our plates. On the other hand, grilled meat comes to your table on a small barbecue! (yes with coals and everything)
Cocktails are… you guessed it right, good as well! I think I can easily write another post about their cocktails because they have a wide variety to choose from, they actually have a separate menu for these.
The staff is very friendly, our waiter was very helpful explaining to us about the items in their menus. What is really remarkable though is that they are cooperating to make podcasts and publish them on their blog! And I hope they continue doing it, the first episode featured Grant Collins and a guy named Haytham showing how to prepare the poolside Margarita.
Surprisingly, and believe it or not, Amethyste is NOT overpriced. Their menus along with the pricing are available online for you to check, The Pool Menu, The Cocktail Menu, and The Main Menu.
The world cup is kicking off in less than a month and lot of people are getting those mini flags for their cars and balconies, it might seem silly but it’s cool as long as it makes people deviate a bit from the political discussions.
Still, it really is pathetic when you get a flag that is more than 1 meter in width or length! I’m pretty sure you could have put that spent money for a better use! Probably to fix your screeching brakes?
I took the first photo in Jdeideh, while I got the second via one of my Facebook friends.
“Beirut survived the war, but it’s not going to survive peace. What survived two decades of war, we are destroying now, in the name of modernity,” Mr Kodieh says.
Across Beirut, hundreds of high-rise buildings have replaced old buildings. The city’s architectural heritage is being wiped out because there is no legislation to protect it.
“What’s happening is very sad, but it’s not in our power to stop it,” says Rasheed Jalekh, representative of the Beirut municipality.
Via BBC News
Destroying the architectural heritage is indeed ugly, but is Beirut really turning into an ugly city?
The first video is taken in Tariq El-Jadida and the second in Ras El-Nabeh.
I’ve been to Le Chef in Gemmayze for the first tine last Saturday, I don’t know why I always thought it was a meat shop everytime I passed by until a friend told me about it and recommended it to me.
As soon as you step inside you get greeted with a loud “Wlecooooome” by Charbel the head waiter at the restaurant. Charbel is a phenomenon himself! Throughout your stay he can’t but grab your attention everytime he strikes a “Welcooome habibi! how are youuu?”.
The restaurant is relatively small with few tables, and at first glimpse you feel like everything around you has been there since the 70’s of the 80’s (except for Charbel of course :P). The food is just great, it tastes like real homemade food, unlike other restaurants that throw the word “homemade” everywhere on their menus but taste like plastic. They serve nothing very fancy, but rather traditional plates such as Lebanese mezze, and a plat du jour varying between roast beef with mashed potatoes, sayyadiyeh, kibbeh bil sayniyyeh, mloukhiyyeh, and few others.
The pricing at Le Chef is really something! The most expensive item on their menu costs 8,000 L.L, while others such as lentil soup and fattoush cost 1,500L.L and 2,000L.L!
Definitely worth a visit!
Among the top 29 cities to live in, Beirut was ranked number 19 scoring 80.5/100.
Our formula has ranked the best cities for men – the best cities in which to live, work and party – based on data that includes the number of guaranteed vacation days per year, weather, unemployment rate, new restaurant and club openings, the cost of a Nissan 370Z, and more.
Taken last Sunday April 18th 2010. Ain El-Mrayseh is one of my favorite areas in Beirut, but definitely not on a Sunday afternoon!
I saw this caricature by Armand Homsi in Annahar Newpaper on Sunday April 18th.
Illustrating what is happening in Beirut and various areas of Lebanon, this caricature is worth a thousand words. We don’t need skyscrapers with apartments that we cannot afford, just keep our beautiful Beirut as it is!
