Wooden Bakery – Beirut, Lebanon

Upon our arrival to our Airbnb in Beirut, our host introduced us to his father and sister, and offered us watermelon and coffee. When he took us inside of our little studio nearby he showed us that he had stocked the fridge with bread/pita, cheese, beer, juice, and pastries. Needless to say, we didn’t need to head out immediately for food.

We Didn’t Want To Take Everything

We didn’t want to be so selfish to eat everything he left us, though, and later that evening we decided we might also like to try some Lebanese food out. Deciding on a restaurant, Kyle checked out the map, and we headed down the road. Kyle was confused about our orientation in relation to the map so we went the wrong way and didn’t come across the restaurant. What we did come across, though, was the Wooden Bakery.

I thought we should check it out so we went inside. It was a bakery, deli, small/sort of upscale convenience store in one.

What Great Choice

Kyle still wanted to look further for the restaurant but I said “Why? What we were planning to order at the restaurant is here!” Or some of it was, anyway. We would also be getting more food for our money than we would at a restaurant and could continue to snack so we grabbed a large container of hummus and a container of Labneh (Greek Yogurt / Lebanese Cream Cheese / Strained yogurt). Together, the price was 8,000 LBP, or a little over five dollars.

Both were so good! I could not stop eating the yoghurt – with the pita. I don’t think I had had yoghurt in a few months, Greek yoghurt (labneh, whatever) for even longer, and this was probably some of the best plain yoghurt I’d ever had. Kyle was downing it too so it probably had something we needed nutritionally as well. Pretty simple dinner, but good.

The walk there and back was pleasant as well.

We returned again (it may have been that night) to grab a muffin as well.

They Even Make Sandwiches

On our last night, we took advantage of an additional feature of the shop- the restaurant. It wasn’t really a restaurant, but you could order fresh/hot food from the people behind the bakery displays. Only one of them spoke English but they provided us with a menu. You can find their menu here.

I would have been satisfied with just eating more of what we had at the apartment but Kyle convinced me to get a sandwich. Kyle ordered the Chicken Tawouk: skewers of marinated grilled chicken breast, garlic mayo, pickles, and fries in a pita/wrap; and I ordered the cheesy sandwich: special cheese mix, bell peppers, tomatoes, rocca, on bread. Aside from hot and cold sandwiches and wraps, you can get pizza, salad, side orders, and more. We took our sandwiches home and enjoyed.

I was so tempted to try their eclairs but decided to get two muffins. One for my dessert, and one for our host (I felt bad about eating the food they left us).

~B~