lina restaurant libanais syrien — Restaurant in Paris

The restaurant Lina is small with an open kitchen behind the glass counter. Not that many seats and smaller bistro tables side by side in- and outside. On first glance it did not stand out from the many restaurants in Paris yet this restaurant greeted us with amazing smells that lured us in directly. The food was perfect, specially for the price, and the kind staff made it feel like we where invited into their home rather then customer #680.

Pro's: Clean, open kitchen Great food Friendly staff Quite low prices for Paris

Con's: Not many seats (group over 8 persons)

Full review:

Being a tourist my girlfriend and I had no idea where to go and grab a meal in Paris. We wandered around passing a few establishments. With the wind in our face we crossed the street and were greeted by an amazing smell of spices. These came out of a tiny Libanese restaurant with a few people sitting outside. From the outside it looked pretty good so we decided to eat there.

The kind lady behind the glass counter greeted us as we entered and asked where we would like to sit. She then guided us to one of the few tables outside.

Within a minute she brought us the menus and 2 complimentary cups of strong, spice blended tea. The menu had a decent selection to choose from without being too much. I am terrible at French but despite me not mastering the French language or Libanese, and the waiter not speaking English, she explained the delicacies and took our orders with full effort and patience.

She brought our drinks and told us she'd be back with the meal soon/

The food was freshly prepared in the open kitchen. When served it was hot and well presented on the plates. The portions were nice and large and accompanied by plenty of flat bread. Each item on the plate had it's unique spice blend was complimentary to each other. As a side note I was glad the food was not overly salty to be able to adjust it yourself since I do not use a lot salt myself.

During dinner she asked if everything was as desired and if we needed anything. Nice to see her give some service between helping locals and seating and cooking for a larger group that arrived later. Locals seemed to drop in to pick up a meal or one of the baklava selections and pastries which they also sold.

From their prices you would not expect the quality of the food! Such quality normally comes in smaller portions too. All this and the friendly waiter made every part of this dinner a great experience.

Fun detail is that the next day in the afternoon we ran into the lady from the restaurant somewhere in Paris and she recognised and greeted us and asked "Ca va?

The night before we would leave Paris I asked my girlfriend where she would like to eat she replied without hesitation Lina's. It was pretty late nearing 22:00hr but they were still open and she made some room next to what seemed friends and perhaps her husband or some of their core customers. What we ordered was again amazing and came out to the table fast and hot. We found out the people next to us spoke quite a bit English and had a conversation with them and the lady that served us both times. At some point she brought out some cake etc for their friends and offered us some too. We left probably 20 minutes after they would have normally closed (or 1hr 20 min later if they normally close at 10pm) Full and with another amazing experience. I never expected, as a tourist in a world city, to feel as a regular customer or even guest for a home cooked meal but it happened here. The Dutch have a word for the total experience: "Gezellig". Look up the meaning in your language it applies!

If you have read this you can understand why I have to give this tiny Libanese restaurant a full 5 star review. I would fully recommend this place and next time we visit Paris this restaurant is on our must visit tourist...

On a typical lunch hour this restaurant has a significant line up, a good indicator that a place is worth checking out. We picked up take away on our way home, a falafel sandwich and shish taouk sandwich. While we were waiting we were given little cups of delicious mint tea with a hint of sweetness. It was actually super refreshing even though it was hot. This restaurant has outdoor cafe seating if you choose to eat in. It is cash only. Service is quick, attentive and friendly. Our sandwiches were delicious! Lots of flavour -- the pita was perfect and soft, the hummus authentic tasting and a good ratio of salad vs chicken or falafel in every bite. The Lebanese beer is cold and tasty. Highly recommend. We are already making...

I ordered a chicken shawarma sandwhich to go and as a Lebanese person who loves shawarma I can give it at most 1 star. First problem is that there was no sheesh for the chicken nor meat, they were already in containers so that removed the essential cooking flavor. Second, I made sure to ask if theres toum in the sandwhich and the staff said yes, well my tastebuds say otherwise. Third the sandwhich was 70% cabbage and very little chicken (although maybe better because the chicken pieces were flavorless). Anyway for a 7€ sandwhich in Paris there are many other better locations, a litte more central though but worth the trip. Maybe other things on their menu are better but I would not recommend the...