Food & Cuisine

The art of the Lebanese table

Lebanese cuisine is one of the world's great culinary traditions — built on fresh vegetables, pulses, herbs, olive oil, and grilled meats, shaped by Phoenician, Arab, Ottoman, and French influences over thousands of years. The culture of the table is inseparable from the culture of hospitality: food is how Lebanon welcomes you.

Essential dishes

The mezze tradition

Mezze is not a starter — it is a way of eating. A proper Lebanese mezze spreads 20, 30, sometimes 40 small dishes across a table, arriving in waves, to be shared communally over hours of conversation.

Cold mezze come first: hummus, moutabal, tabbouleh, fattoush, stuffed vine leaves, labneh. Then hot mezze: kibbeh, sfiha, sambousek, fried cauliflower with tahini. Then grills. Then fruit. Then sweets. Then coffee. The meal is an event, not a transaction.

Street food

Breakfast staple

Manoushe

Lebanon's beloved flatbread, baked in a wood-fired oven and topped with za'atar and olive oil, cheese, or minced meat. Best eaten hot from the bakery, folded around sliced tomatoes and fresh mint.

The wrap

Falafel Wrap

Lebanese falafel — made from chickpeas and flavoured with fresh herbs — wrapped in flatbread with pickles, tomatoes, and tahini. Falafel Sahyoun in Beirut has been serving what many consider the definitive version since 1933.

The classic

Shawarma

Marinated chicken or meat, slow-roasted on a vertical spit and carved into warm flatbread with garlic sauce, pickles, and vegetables. Lebanese shawarma is widely considered the finest in the region.

The sweet

Knafeh

Shredded pastry layered over soft white cheese, soaked in sugar syrup and scattered with crushed pistachios. Tripoli's knafeh is considered Lebanon's finest. Best eaten hot from the pan at 7am.

The Beqaa Valley

Lebanese wine

Wine has been produced in Lebanon since the Phoenicians — the traders who spread viticulture across the Mediterranean world. The Beqaa Valley, at 1,000 metres altitude with cool nights and long sunny days, produces wines of genuine international distinction.

Château Ksara (est. 1857), Château Kefraya, Domaine des Tourelles, and a new generation of boutique producers are putting Lebanese wine firmly on the world map. Arak — the anise-flavoured spirit drunk with mezze — is Lebanon's true national drink.

Eating in Lebanon — what to know

Lunch is the big meal

Lebanese culture centres the main meal at midday, particularly on Sundays, when extended families gather for hours-long lunches in mountain restaurants. If you're invited to a Lebanese home for Sunday lunch, accept immediately.

Bread comes with everything

Fresh flatbread (khobz) arrives automatically at every meal and is used to scoop up dishes. Asking for bread is unnecessary — it will appear before you can ask. Running out of bread at a Lebanese table is considered an emergency.

Drink arak the right way

Arak is always diluted with water (roughly 1:2 ratio) and served over ice. The water turns it milky white — this is correct. Arak is drunk slowly throughout a meal, never as a shot. It is always accompanied by mezze.

Vegetarian options are everywhere

Lebanese cuisine naturally includes a huge range of vegetarian dishes — hummus, moutabal, falafel, tabbouleh, fattoush, stuffed vegetables, lentil dishes. Eating vegetarian in Lebanon is easy and delicious even in the most traditional restaurants.

Essential dishes

Street food

Lebanese wine

Eating in Lebanon — what to know

Come hungry,leave full

Come hungry,
leave full