Beirut Nights: Good, plentiful food in Kfar Saba - review

Unlike its super-glamorous sounding name, Beirut Nights is a down-to-earth eatery in the Kfar-Saba industrial area with a faithful clientele of hi-tech workers from the surrounding companies who appreciate good, plentiful food and the homey feel of the place.

Invited to sample the business lunch, we sat down at one of the outdoor tables and began to enjoy the almost Parisian vibe of the place.Proprietor Michal made us very welcome in her perfect, New-York-accented English. Lihi, the waitress took our orders and explained that the first course of mixed salads was “on the house.”

There were six different salads in small containers with fresh pita served in brown paper bags. We started with the Moroccan carrot salad, always a favorite, and this one was not too heavy on the spices so went down well. The shredded cabbage and tomato salad were fairly nondescript but the red pepper salsa made up for the blandness of the other salads, being nicely piquant. A good humus and rather watery tehina made up the rest of the salads.

They did a good job of taking the edge off our hunger so when our main course arrived we were no longer ravenous.

I chose the grilled chicken breast and was pleasantly surprised at how juicy and succulent it was. It was not the slightest bit dry and tasted really good. It was accompanied by a giant half-onion and half tomato done on the grill and a green chili pepper.(NIS 47).

My dining companion chose the shwarma which had been rotating on a grill. Very thin slices of beef with hamburger had the distinctive flavor of lamb thanks to the fat which had stopped the meat from getting too dry, although no actual lamb was involved. Cumin and coriander were detectable but not overpowering.

We were treated to some freshly deep-fried and delicious meat-filled cigars as well, crispy and piping- 

There was a plate of rice and very good small roast potatoes flavored with chimichurri sauce alongside, an unusual addition.

We drank Carlsberg and diet coke as well as ice-cold water which all seemed right for the rather unsophisticated ambience.

Michal, the proprietor, told me that she opened her restaurant two plus years ago and within weeks had to close because of COVID-19. She struggled over the last two years to continue with takeaway and is very happy to be back in business.

And the name? Beirut Nights is actually the name of a well-known Lebanese dessert with cream, caramel and semolina topped with pistachio nuts. It sounds wonderful.

Maybe one day we’ll be able to travel to Lebanon and sample that too.

Beirut NightsKosherHata’as 24, Kfar-SabaOpen: Sunday-Thursday 11:00-18:00

The writer was a guest of the restaurant