I was passing by Hamra yesterday and noticed that Leil Nhar and Classic Burger Joint will soon be opening at the end of the main street next to Pastai.
Leil Nhar is by the way replacing Burger Nation who’s service has deteriorated drastically in the last few months!
I just came across a cool anti littering campaign called “Metel Ma Shelta” via Elie’s blog.
Knowing beforehand that people would definitely pick a 10,000L.L off the street, a group of graphic designers threw small pieces of paper on the streets with a the forged look of a 10,000L.L bill on one side, while the other side had “As you picked this up, you can pick up the litter of the streets as well” written on it.
I’m sure this wont make the people who might fall for this trick actually start picking up litter off the streets, but it may at least make them stop littering or stop the people around them from doing it.
If you happen to be passing by Hamra some time and feel like craving some sugar, make sure to drop by Le Gustav at Antoun Gemayel street. The place is very small and cozy, with 2 friendly chefs, Khaled and Noor, who never get bored of explaining to you how everything gets done in their kitchen and the ingredients they use.
Their menu has a wide variety of items and I personally recommend you try any of these three: Chocolate Pavè, Red Velvet cake with cream cheese, and Fleur-de-lis.
I finally got to try the burger joint everyone has been buzzing about for a while now, “Burger Nation” located at end of Hamra street.
The menu is very straight forwards and offers either their selections of burgers or do-it-yourself, and while explaining about the burgers you can’t but notice how much the waiters emphasize on the fact that their patty is made of grass-fed Angus beef that’s imported from Australia.
Farah and I shared two burgers, the Nation’s Pride and the Swiss & Mushroom both 4oz and medium well, and I have to admit the patty is among the best in town, I mean you can easily feel the difference between others and what Burger Nation offers.
However, the sauces and toppings definitely need an enhancement, at least for the Nation’s Pride. With that holy beef patty, I was expecting a much better taste. And don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying it tasted bad, actually I’m planning to go there again to try their 6oz burgers, but I’m pretty sure BN can do better with the toppings.
Would I recommend you to go there? Yes, and do try their belgian fries.
Here’s the schedule for Fête de la musique this year which is taking place as usual in Downtown Beirut, Hamra and Gemmayze. I’m personally looking forward to watch Band Audi, Wled El Balad, and Youmna Saba & Jade Balaben.
Place des martyrs
20h00 Gabriel Abdel Nour (Pop)
20h40 Michelle & Noel Keserwany (Folk)
21h10 Belime (Electro pop)
21h40 Bruno Live! (Pop rock)
22h20 Dana Dragomir
23H30 Anixa@Labex (Funk disco)
23h55 Epic (Rock)
00h35 Poly (Soul pop funk)
01h05 Mancer Dust (Rock alternatif)
Thermes romains
20h00 Soukara (World music)
20h35 Stephy Sfeir (Folk)
21h00 Nahas Project (Fusion jazz)
22h10 Les Blérots de Ravel
23h35 Limelight (Rock alternatif)
00h05 Lazzy Lung (Rock alternatif)
Souks de Beyrouth
20h00 Akachic Field (World music)
20h30 Rabih Rihana Trio (Jazz rock)
21h10 Silent Movie (Soundtrack)
21h35 Sandmoon (Folk rock)
22h20 Soweto Kinch (Hip hop jazz)
23h30 The Incompetents (Pop alternative)
00h10 Wled El Balad (Rock)
00h50 Jammit The Band (Reggae)
Jardin Samir Kassir
20h00 Karim Kneyzer (World music)
20h30 Episode (Rock symphonique)
21h10 Nadine Khouri (Folk rock)
21h50 Samar (Electro folk jazz)
23h00 Band Audi (Rhythm & blues)
23h40 Beirut Blues (Blues)
00h10 Plugged (Rock alternatif )
00h40 Rebellious Phoenix (Rock)
Gemmayzé
20h00 Charles (Pop)
20h30 Valérie Abou Chacra (Pop)
21h00 Cheesecake (Jazz pop)
21h40 Jolly Joker (Rock alternatif)
22h30 Tony Bayeh chante Zaki Nassif
23h30 Blue Band LB (Reggae)
Hamra
20h00 Purple Sea (Trip hop)
20h30 Moe Kabbara (Folk)
21h00 Arcane (Rock progressif)
21h40 Hanna Barakat & group (Pop rock)
22h20 Elissa Boustani’s band (Pop soul funk)
23h00 Nachaz (Rock blues)
23h40 Youmna Saba & Jade Balaben (Folk)
00h10 Nasama (Rock)
00h50 Pulse (Blues rock)
Scene Basement (souks de Beyrouth)
21h00 Ladybug
22h00 The BCE
23h00 ACIX
00h00 Djette
01h00 Jade
02h00 Vanclode Jandam
03h00 Ronin & Nesta
VJ’s :
Labo Strongsky & Vj Mosig
Eglise évangélique
18h30 Ecole de musique Ghassan Yammine
Schedule via Agenda Culturel.
I was passing by Hamra a while ago an noticed a new place called Sushi Lounge right next to Banque du Liban offering take-away orders of 50 pieces for 50,000L.L. Being a kind of sushi junkie, I decided to try it out with a couple of friends.
The excessive use of crab sticks was a bit disappointing as well as the size of the salmon sashimi, but all in all it tasted fine. And although Oceanus Achrafieh ramains my favorite sushi place in Beirut, I recommend take-away orders from Sushi Lounge on those last few days of the month, when you start to watch your spendings!
Note that for dine-in, the price of the same order increases to 75,000L.L.
I recently went to Roadster Hamra and thought of trying one of the items from the new low cal menu, and so I decided to choose the Fit n’ Burger, which comes with rocket leaves, grilled onions, grilled tomatoes, grilled fresh mushrooms and light sauce served in multi-cereal brown bun.
The burger was surprisingly GOOD! The bun tasted fresh and the patty was juicy enough. It of course doesn’t beat my favorite, the Swiss Mashroom, but it still is a definite choice for those who are on a diet and want to have a guilt-free burger.
By the way, for some reason I always notice that the service at Roadster Hamra seems to be superior than other branches… kudos for the extra attention they show!
It was good, but it definitely doesn’t beat Paul.
I don’t know for how long this announcement has been there, but I didn’t see it until yesterday. Lord of the Wings will soon open in Ibrahim Abd El Aal street, near “3a Zaw2ak” cafe.
I think Hamra is very close to becoming the ultimate destination in Beirut for food lovers since it almost has all kinds of restaurants now. What is still missing there?
A photography house called “Dar Al Mousawwer” has recently opened in a two story building in Clemenceau (Beirut as an initiative by an NGO called Zakira.
The first floor of the house is an under construction coffee shop, while the second has several rooms for workshops, studio, gallery space, development room.
As per the people behind it, the place has been made for people to rents cameras (and there are hundreds of them) and photography equipments, in addition to studio space and development rooms.
Definitely worth a visit if you’re into photography!
I would like to thank Ayman Itani from OnOffBeirut for providing all the details and photos about this photography house.
