Work through the list in order. Hide the notes when you know what to do.
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Try manousheh zaatar
Lebanon's quintessential morning flatbread baked in fiery neighbourhood ovens, spread with a paste of wild thyme, sumac, toasted sesame seeds, and olive oil. Pick it up straight from a local bakery (furn) while it blisters and steams.
Pair it with salty akkawi cheese (cocktail manousheh) and fold it over crunchy cucumbers, fresh mint, and tomatoes.
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Try authentic Lebanese tabbouleh
Forget Western grain bowls: true Lebanese tabbouleh is an intensely green parsley salad where bulgur wheat plays only a minor supporting role. It must be chopped uniformly by hand and tossed right before serving with lemon juice and olive oil.
Locals skip the fork and scoop up mouthfuls using crisp tender romaine lettuce leaves or young cabbage.
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Try fattoush salad with pomegranate molasses
A vibrant peasant salad loaded with wild purslane, crunchy radishes, cucumbers, and crispy squares of deep-fried khobz flatbread. It gets its distinctive tangy punch from generous spoonfuls of sour sumac and ruby pomegranate molasses.
The fried bread must crackle audibly; if it arrives soggy, the kitchen dressed the vegetables prematurely.
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Try hummus topped with awarma
Velvety chickpea puree rich in nutty tahini, topped with sizzling chunks of lamb confit (awarma) and golden toasted pine nuts. The clash of cool, creamy dip and hot spiced meat elevates humble hummus to festive status.
Scoop it using a folded wedge of warm pita bread, sweeping around the rim toward the meat-filled center.
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Try moutabal
Smoky roasted eggplant flesh beaten with creamy sesame tahini, crushed garlic, and fresh lemon juice. Charred directly over open charcoal embers, it retains an unmistakably deep barbecue aroma absent in blender-made copies.
Unlike moutabal, authentic Lebanese baba ghanoush contains chopped vegetables and pomegranate seeds without tahini paste.
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Try kibbeh nayyeh
The crown jewel of Lebanese butchery: ultrafresh raw lamb or veal pounded with fine bulgur, onions, and aromatic seven-spice blend into a silky paste. Served bathed in cold-pressed olive oil alongside raw scallions, mint, and flatbread.
Order this exclusively at reputable specialty restaurants or mountain taverns where the meat is processed freshly every morning.
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Try fried kibbeh footballs
Torpedo-shaped bulgur croquettes featuring a paper-thin shell of spiced beef packed with minced lamb, caramelized onions, and toasted pine nuts. Fried until deep brown, they deliver a shatteringly crisp exterior and steaming aromatic filling.
Seek out the coastal city of Tripoli for kibbet samak, an uncommon regional variation made with white fish and bitter orange.
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Try Lebanese falafel
Unlike all-chickpea versions, Lebanese falafel combines dried chickpeas and fava beans with garlic and fresh coriander for maximum interior fluffiness. Wrapped in fresh khobz with hot pickled pink turnip, mint, and lemony tarator sauce.
Always patronize dedicated falafel shops with continuous queues where the balls are scooped and fried to order.
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Try authentic Lebanese shawarma
Authentic Lebanese shawarma divides strictly: beef marinated in vinegar and spices with tahini, sumac, and parsley; or chicken paired exclusively with garlic toum and dill pickles. Cabbage, ketchup, and heavy dressings are never used.
The rolled pita sandwich is pressed briefly on a cast-iron contact grill so the flatbread crisps up with roasting fat.
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Try shish taouk with toum
Tender skewers of skinless chicken breast marinated in yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, and tomato paste before grilling over hardwood coals. Served with toum: an airy, snow-white garlic emulsion beaten with neutral oil and lemon into stable peaks.
Genuine toum uses zero egg whites or mayonnaise; it relies purely on the natural emulsifying properties of mashed garlic cloves.
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Try mujaddara
An ancient Levantine comfort staple of brown lentils and rice (or coarse bulgur) topped with a mountain of crisp, deeply caramelized onions. In Southern Lebanon, try mudardara for fluffy whole grains or mujaddara for the puree style.
Completely plant-based, it is traditionally eaten at room temperature alongside a crisp mint-cabbage salad or chilled yogurt.
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Try foul mudammas
A hearty morning powerhouse of slow-simmered fava beans and chickpeas gently crushed with mashed garlic, cumin, lemon, and olive oil. Served piping hot alongside raw scallions, whole spicy peppers, and fresh mint sprigs.
Seek out tiny historic stalls that specialize exclusively in legume breakfasts and shut doors by noon.
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Try Baalbaki sfiha
Delicate square pastry envelopes pinched at the four corners, originating from the ancient city of Baalbek. Filled with minced local lamb seasoned with labneh, tomatoes, pine nuts, and sharp pomegranate molasses.
In the Bekaa Valley, families buy seasoned lamb directly from butchers and take it next door to the bakery for custom baking.
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Try coastal sayadieh
The premier seafood specialty of coastal Sidon and Batroun: browned white fish fillets layered over long-grain rice tinted deep brown with caramelized onion stock, cumin, and caraway. Crowned with fried almonds and tahini sauce.
Order this at waterside fish docks where the fish broth is simmered using fresh catches of sea bass or grouper heads.
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Try knafeh in kaak bread Desserts and pastries
Beirut's iconic carb-on-carb morning ritual: a slab of molten, stretchy sweet cheese topped with crisp semolina crust stuffed inside a sesame-studded pocket bread (kaak) and doused in orange blossom syrup.
Grab this between 7:00 AM and 10:00 AM from neighborhood sweet shops serving pedestrians through street-facing glass windows.
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Try halawet el jibn Desserts and pastries
A northern specialty from the historic city of Tripoli: gossamer-thin sheets of cooked cheese and semolina dough rolled around clotted milk cream (ashta). Garnished with crushed green pistachios and candied bitter orange blossoms.
Always served chilled; drizzle the accompanying rosewater syrup moderately to avoid drowning out the delicate fresh cream.
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Try maamoul shortbread Desserts and pastries
Buttery, crumbly semolina shortbread traditionally molded in intricately carved wooden stamps for religious celebrations. Stuffed generously with aromatic chopped pistachios, spiced walnuts, or soft date paste.
The wooden mold design reveals the interior: pointed cones contain walnuts, flat rounds hold dates, and domes hide pistachios.
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Try osmallieh Desserts and pastries
Two layers of golden, crisp shredded kataifi pastry baked until crunchy, sandwiching a thick layer of fresh artisanal clotted cream (ashta). Drenched on demand with rose and blossom water syrup.
Eat it freshly assembled; prolonged storage makes the shredded pastry absorb the cream moisture and lose its trademark crunch.
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Try Batroun-style fresh lemonade Non-alcoholic drinks
The signature refreshment of coastal Batroun: freshly squeezed lemons crushed vigorously with their peels and sugar, diluted with cold water, mint, and a drop of orange blossom water. Cloudy, frothy, and intensely aromatic.
Grab a chilled cup from the rival family lemonade parlors operating for generations along Batroun's historic stone alleyways.
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Try Lebanese coffee with cardamom Non-alcoholic drinks
Finely pulverized medium and dark roast Arabica beans brewed in a long-handled copper pot (rakweh) with freshly ground green cardamom pods. Served unfiltered in small porcelain cups without handles.
Specify sweetness when ordering: 'sada' (plain bitter), 'wasat' (medium sugar), or 'helwe' (rich and sweet).
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Try jallab Non-alcoholic drinks
A cooling summer drink made from dates, grape molasses, and carob syrup smoked with natural incense, blended with cold water and rose water. Poured over crushed ice and topped with floating raw pine nuts and soaked golden raisins.
Sip through a straw while using a long dessert spoon to scoop up the crunchy syrup-soaked pine nuts.
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Try Lebanese arak Local alcohol
Lebanon's anise spirit distilled three times from indigenous Obeidi grapes and steeped with fresh mountain aniseeds. Poured clear at over 50% ABV, it turns cloudy white ('the lion's milk') instantly upon adding fresh spring water and ice.
The cardinal mixing rule: pour one part arak, add two parts cold water, and only drop ice cubes last to avoid an unpleasant anise film.
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Try Bekaa Valley wine Local alcohol
Lebanon crafts world-class wines from high-altitude terroir perched 1,000 meters above sea level in the sunny Bekaa Valley. Complex red blends of Cinsault, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah yield distinctive notes of spice, dried cherries, and cedar.
The epicentre of production lies around the town of Zahle; order a bottle alongside charcoal-grilled meats in mountain restaurants.
