Little Beirut — Restaurant in Brisbane City

I have previously given this place a scathing and very well deserving one star review! After succumbing to pressure from several of my friends who insisted that ownership of this establishment had changed and therefore I should give the place another chance, I reluctantly agreed to dine here again.

Immediately upon entering we were promptly greeted and seated by the lovely and charming young waitress named Dima. The service by this amazing young lady was second to none! In all my years of dining out I have only ever been as impressed by a waitress as I was by her once before.

Our food arrived at our table almost as quickly as we had ordered it. At this point my friends seemed a little nervous as I had assured them that if my second visit to this restaurant would be another bad experience I would use the food to paint the windows while everybody dined! I am please to advise that at no point did I feel this would be necessary.

I am not a big fan of tabouli and never eat an entire serve in a restaurant. This place did an amazing job of this and I cannot ever recall eating the entire serve in any other restaurant.

Never before have I eaten vine leaf rolls in a restaurant and found them to be home made. These are an incredibly fiddly and time consuming thing to prepare from scratch and therefore it could be understood that they will be a difficult dish to provide on a commercial basis. However no restaurant should be serving food from a can and therefore I simply never order them. A member of my party did however with a smile on his face and I was amazed to find that these tasted almost exactly as if my own mother had made them!

We were served two plates of fresh piping hot falafel as our waitress insisted we must. (I think by this point my previous review seen below had been shown to management) and again I was impressed.

My advice to the new owners here would be to keep doing what your doing. And if you’ve dined here before and we’re not impressed, then please allow the new owners the pleasure of having you as their guests for the first time. And by all means if you are not impressed then go ahead and paint the windows.

And yes the lovely belly dancer still works here!

The one star is for the belly dancer only! She was awesome. Very friendly and entertaining. Interacting with our table for an extended period of time she danced with our kids and offered everyone at our table a dance. She was a lovely touch to a fine atmosphere. Unfortunately this is where the nice talk stops. Yes I am Lebanese and I am going to be critical of Lebanese food. But I have eaten at Lebanese restaurants all over the world and this place is a fraud! If I want food from a can I will go to Woolies and buy baked beans or maybe spaghetti. Don’t ever take me to a restaurant and serve me mass produced garbage from a can and tell me it is Lebanese food. At least two dishes served were from a can. The labneh was debatable. I have never eaten pre made labneh so not sure but other members of my party insisted it was. The falafel was a horrible pre made powder mix u simply ad water to. And some of these can actually be not bad but this one was terrible. The fattoush was a disgrace to the unique salad it’s meant to be. This was nothing more than a very quickly thrown together garden salad topped with fried Lebanese bread and drizzled with the worst pomegranate sauce I have ever tasted. Samkeh harra (fish dish) I suspect was made using fish stolen from somebody’s crab pot found high on a river bank somewhere at low tide! I use better quality fish in my crab pots. Overall advice to this place.....give your belly dancer a big fat bonus and thank her for her efforts. Shut shop and maybe try opening...

Overview Little Beirut (L.B.) is a well-established Lebanese restaurant on Lambert Road, conveniently located near the Indooroopilly train station.

Food My wife and I dined on a quiet Sunday evening in June. We opted for a simple menu selection: a tabouli salad ($18) as a starter, followed by the lamb platter ($32) for me and the Beirut vegan platter ($28) for my wife. The salad, while fresh and tasty, seemed overpriced at $18 for its modest portion. Our main courses were a mixed experience. My lamb platter was a generous size, with tender skewered meat accompanied by fattoush salad, rice, hummus, and fried bread crisps. Although enjoyable, the dish could have been served hotter. My wife found her vegan plate disappointing. The main feature, "arnabeet" (fried cauliflower balls), were overly chunky and bland. The accompanying hummus, falafel, baba ghanoush, tabouli, and vine leaves were adequate. After voicing our concerns, the helpful maître d' offered a complimentary dessert. We chose the crème brûlée, which was sweet and creamy and a good way to end the meal. Curiously, despite being told baklava (our first choice) was unavailable, we noticed numerous boxes for sale at the counter when leaving.

Service There was nothing to complain about in the service department. There were two servers on duty, a pretty lady, and a tall well mannered gent, who I took to be the maître d. We had made a booking but it wasn't necessary. Our orders were promptly taken and the drinks and food came out quickly and in the correct order. We found both servers to be polite, friendly and efficient.

Atmosphere L.B. is spacious and airy, though it appeared to have seen busier days. Only a handful of diners occupied the more comfortable wall-side tables with upholstered benches. The decor, while dated, is smart and stylish with wooden furniture, bright lighting, colourful walls, and a striking bar feature at the entrance. The ample space allows for comfortable seating, and our table easily accommodated our dishes, though it was somewhat sticky. The sparse crowd didn't create a lively ambience, but it did allow for easy conversation with good acoustics. Overall, the restaurant had a relaxed, casual and homely atmosphere.

Cost Our bill came to $65 after applying a 25% Entertainment discount. This covered a beer, a starter, two main courses, and the complimentary dessert. The full price would have been around $100, which seems excessive but reflects the current hyperinflationary trends in Australia's hospitality sector, where, thanks to the Labor Party’s free spending ways, prices are going up virtually every week.

Facilities and Parking The restaurant has two toilets at the back, a male one and a female one, which might prove inadequate during busy periods. However, they were clean and well-stocked. Parking was easy, with ample unrestricted spaces available nearby on Railway Avenue, adjacent to the train station.

Summary Our evening at L.B. was pleasant, with prompt service and a casual, relaxed vibe. The food though, was somewhat underwhelming and prices steep without a discount. The facilities were adequate, and parking was hassle-free. However, the overall experience wasn't compelling enough to warrant a swift...

I had a family birthday dinner at Little Beirut a few weeks ago. I could not picked a better place! First of all, the location is local and convenient. You can walk, drive or catch the bus/train. It was only walking distance from where I live in my case. Secondly, the atmosphere is warm, exotic and welcoming. I love the outdoor shisha area which you can spot on your way in, followed by a small flight of stairs that lead you up to the front desk where a waitress or the owner himself wholeheartedly welcomes you. The mood lighting, candles and decorations were gorgeous and perfectly themed. The restaurant is spacious. The waitresses were always looking after us and the owner himself was just wonderful. He was so giving and down-to-earth and that's something you don't get everywhere. When we asked about the portion sizes, he explained everything to us and even casually offered to just "bring us out more" if we weren't full! To top that off, he offered us free shisha! Then to the food... the mezze was perfect for our group as there was plenty to go around and it offered a range of tastes and styles of Lebanese food. We even had to take some home! Plus, it was so affordable... something around $30 pp, and that's including a delicious traditional dessert! The owner threw in some free tea for us too! What's more, one of the chefs himself brought it out and had a lovely conversation with us. So many nice characters in that place! Finally, the birthday part... the staff happily stored a cake my mum made and brought it out later and sang happy birthday, and the owner joined in. No silly charges for serving up cake.

Overall, I would wholeheartedly recommend Little Beirut to all of my family and friends, and to anyone who is after quality food, quality service and a quality time with family and friends, or even just yourself. Thank You Little Beirut... I'll always remember my...