Byblos Awards

Byblos Restaurant Review:

Byblos’ interior boasts an array of Turkish carpets, Moroccan tea glasses and golden lighting, while its menu features Eastern Mediterranean-inspired dishes crafted with traditional ingredients. The dukkah mixture of ground coriander, sesame seeds and pistachios crusts the lamb ribs with red chilli schug (a Yemeni chilli paste) and dusts the savory crispy squid. For family-style dining, waiters recommend guests order at least two dishes each to share amongst the table. Citrus-marinated olives seem ordinary, but are topped with finely chopped preserved lemon and tiny hints of chilli; Turkish Manti dumplings are a marriage of smoky eggplant, tangy yogurt and sweet date molasses. Jeweled basmati rice is a highlight, each bite relinquishing a new treasure, from barberries to pomegranate seeds. And don’t miss the elegant desserts, such as yogurt mousse garnished with Persian cotton candy and flower petals, or the crispy qatayef dumplings filled with Lebanese ashta cream.