Travel & Leisure just ranked Beirut first place under the “Best International Cities for Food” for 2016.
The World’s Best Awards is put together following a massive collection of experiences, opinions, and surveys from the readers of Travel & Leisure (~6 million).
This is used to produce a top list of cities, islands, cruise lines, spas, airlines, food, and much more. Readers rated cities for several qualities, including food.
This is the “Best International Cities for Food” list:
#10 Bordeaux, France
#9 Barcelona, Spain
#8 Chiang Mai, Thailand
#7 San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
#6 Rome, Italy
#5 Bologna, Italy
#4 Florence, Italy
#3 Paris, France
#2 San Sebastián, Spain
#1 Beirut, Lebanon
This is what they wrote about Beirut:
“Lebanon’s capital city, Beirut, is having a bit of a cultural renaissance—and it’s not just new museums like the striking Aïshti Foundation that have attracted international attention.”
“There’s arguably no better way to sense the friendliness and enthusiasm of Beiruties than by enjoying fresh a meal at Tawlet, a fantastic Lebanese restaurant in the hip Mar Mikhael neighborhood (order goat tartare and the unusual mountain specialty, h’risset ‘akkub: a lamb porridge with wild thistle).”
Even breakfast here is exciting: order Al Soussi’s fatteh, a traditional dish of toasted pita, chickpeas, yogurt, and pine nuts.”