Café Beirut

Good tasty Lebanese food, quite a big step up from what you would expect if you have only tried Lebanese fast food. Quite small and cozy, feels almost like being in someone’s house.
I had the Arrayes, which is really tender beef, delicately flavoured chicken, and falafel rolled up in pita bread and toasted, with salad and hummus (see attached photo). Not super cheap but good value for the high qualify food.

We came here a couple weeks ago. We were the only ones in the restaurant for the evening.
We were seated right away. The atmosphere is elegant, more so than the Whyte Ave location.
The menu is fairly extensive and has many delicious items, it was hard to choose.
My better half had the marinated shrimp, which is an appetizer (he ate prior so wasn’t too hungry). I had the chicken shawarma and a glass of house red wine.
My guy liked his shrimp, I tried a bite and found it a bit too zesty, not my favorite flavor to shrimp.
My chicken shawarma came with a large portion of fatousche salad and hummus. The shawarma was also plentiful, I had to get half of it to go. It was very tasty and fresh, definitely something I would try again.
My wine was good, but my guy had to settle for a ginger ale because they don’t serve regular coffee there, only the Lebanese kind.
Our bill came to about $ 55 including tip, drinks and supper. Not too bad considering I was stuffed and had lunch for the next day.
There was an electric keyboard and a guitar lying around, so I am assuming they have either a belly dancer or music night on some evening.
I will be back.

We stopped in here for dinner on a blizzardy Saturday, and were the only ones there for the whole evening. It’s not a big place, but it’s nice and cozy, just south of Jasper ave. I wasn’t sure what to expect, given that their Whyte ave location is pretty casual. This location is definitely a fancier affair, although not too fancy. You can probably expect at least $ 20 per person here.
We started with a steak tartare-​ish thing… I don’t remember what it was called, but it was listed on the menu as the most popular appetizer in Lebanon. Served with pita and onions, it was absolutely delicious. Definitely the highlight of the evening. I could see going back just for that and a glass of wine some night.
We ordered the kebab platter for two for our main. It came with salad and the most delicious rice ever. The kebabs were pretty good, although a couple were a little dry. The hummus was nice, although the baba ghanouj (or at least I think that’s what it was) was definitely not my favourite. But we left stuffed and happy.
The service was good (although given that we were the only ones there, you would assume it would be), and the owner came out to check on us as well.
Definitely a great addition to Oliver.

Lovely, authentic atmosphere, traditional food, and wonderful entertainment!
We were there for a «set plate» meal that included hummus, baba ghanouge, some kind of grape leaf wrapped thing (yabrek maybe?), kibbi, fatoush, Baked calamari stuffed with feta cheese, onion, chilli pepper and olive oil, and I think Sujuk which is beef marinated in red wine (on their website). The main meal was falafal (for me) and for the others, a Tawouk Kabob, which is cubed chicken breast marinated in Shishtawouk sauce, skewered and barbequed and served with rice and grilled vegetables (according to their website). The other diners mentioned that the rice was really good. The price was $ 50.00 per plate without drinks.
Everything was tasty. The baba ghanouge had a nice smoked flavour, the hummus was tangy as was the grape leaf appie. The calamari was really good! My falafal was kind of dry but I liked the fresh tomatoes that came with it.
Unfortunately, the service was slow and we had to wave down the waiter to ask for things. Also, our drink order came wrong (wrong beer and wine) and no water until we asked twice. They seemed overwhelmed in the kitchen. To be fair, they are newly opened and this was an event where the entire restaurant was full. They also just got their liquor licence.
The belly-​dancers were really awesome! I’ve seen a lot of belly-​dancing and have done some myself. These ladies were talented and trained!
The best part of the whole experience was that the friendly owner, Sam, served, and played music for the dancers. What a treat to hear him play! He was (according to the website) «once a TV star with his own music show.»
Overall, it was a great night with great entertainment and good food.