Beirut Habibi — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

As someone who finds joy in culinary adventures, I ventured into Beirut Habibi in Kuala Lumpur with high hopes and an empty stomach, ready to be filled with the magic of Lebanese cuisine. Spoiler alert: I left with a half-full stomach and a fully-baked sense of disappointment.

First, let's set the scene. The location and setting of Beirut Habibi are indeed quite inviting. It has that pleasant ambiance that makes you think, "This place could be special." There’s a small, open-air space inside the restaurant adorned with some charming foliage, giving it a delightful al fresco vibe. Picture this: You're sitting there, under the dappled light of greenery, waiting for a taste sensation to match the visual delight.

But alas, the dream begins to unravel. There's an open kitchen, which in theory should provide some culinary theatre. However, the only drama here was the long wait and the realization that Gordon Ramsay would have been left speechless – and not in a good way.

Now, according to their website, Beirut Habibi's menu is inspired by the "bustling streets of Beirut" with an "Australian twist." However, I'm not sure which part of the menu provides either. It felt more like the "silent suburbs" of somewhere very bland.

Perusing the menu was a mix of excitement and trepidation. The usual Lebanese delights were present, but many classics seemed to have taken a holiday, perhaps lost in translation or just AWOL.

The bread, I'll admit, was pretty good. But the spices? Negligible in both taste and fragrance. The falafel, oh the falafel! It seemed like it had been refried in an attempt to bring it back to life. Though the taste hinted at potential, it sadly resembled more of a crispy hockey puck.

And then there was the hummus – the staple of any Lebanese meal. This hummus must have missed the memo about lemon and salt. Bland is putting it kindly; it was more like beige in taste form.

The mixed grill, which I eagerly anticipated, turned out to be a cavalcade of culinary missteps. The lamb kofta was more like lamb "nofta," a sad, dry attempt that even my teeth didn't want to deal with. The octopus was so rubbery that I suspected it had a side job as a tire before landing on my plate. And the beef, oh dear, the beef. Poorly cooked and sinewy, it seemed like the cow had a particularly stressful life.

We went in with high hopes, but left with our taste buds dejected. My suggestion? Perhaps the chefs could benefit from some training with a genuine Lebanese chef or, in an ideal world, a week in Beirut – though given current regional conflicts, that might be wishful thinking. Authentic training could truly elevate the quality of the food from "meh" to magnificent.

In conclusion, Beirut Habibi has the setting of a great restaurant, but the food sadly falls flat. With some genuine improvements, it could indeed become a gem. For now, it's more "Beirut Maybe" than "Beirut Baby!"

Rating: 2 stars (one for the ambiance and one for the friendly service).

Date of...

Parking and tables here are quite limited so I highly recommend organising yourself in advance when coming. First impressions, the architecture and interior is reminiscence of its previous F&B tenants, utilizing the already established indoor/ outdoor contemporary space (especially noticeable from its shared bathroom with the upstairs bar). There is indoor and outdoor seating options. We booked a large table in advance that occupied 2/3 of the small interior and the table setting was nicely done. Highly recommend the lambneck as it was the most popular dish amongst the group. Portions are small and prices of the dishes was higher than average. The dips (tastefully presented like three colourful ice cream scoops on a plate but are actually hummus, avocado and I think beetroot), are accompanied by one slice of bread and one roti which is disappointingly small portion for such a generous serving of dips and also the number of diners in our group. Service is ok and could do with more training, e.g. suggesting more portions of bread for the dips, advice on the cooking time of certain dishes require a longer wait than anticipated, we couldn’t understand some of the waiter, we were informed they had a specialty dish that has to be ordered in advance that we were only told on the evening we arrived and tables were never cleared unless asked to make room for other dishes. But I could tell they were trying their best regardless- the lead server kindly helped my aunt up and down some difficult stairs (main entrance is not disabled friendly). My main peeve to be honest was the rampant use of single use plastic bottled water… the beautiful table setting was later littered with empty plastic bottles that really ruined the feel of the dining experience and most importantly it is just not sustainable- what happened to Malaysia’s ‘No Plastic’ campaign? 🤔😆. For a restaurant that is trying to maintain an above average standard with its modern interior, price range and ambiance, would have been best to stick to...

Beirut Habibi came highly recommended, and we were excited to give it a try. The restaurant has a cozy, welcoming ambiance, perfect for sharing a meal with friends or family. We were a group of five and decided to order a variety of dishes to share.

The food, overall, was enjoyable. The mixed grill was well-prepared, the octopus tender, and the labneh and orange salad provided a refreshing contrast. The dips, served with ciabatta and flatbread, were delicious, although the hummus tasted different from what I'm accustomed to—not unpleasant, just unexpected.

Unfortunately, the meal ended on a disappointing note. We ordered the Kataifi with lemon curd for dessert, but it had a strong rancid oil taste that was unusual and quite off-putting. When we raised this with the waiter, he explained that the Kataifi was "not fried but topped with syrup"—an explanation that clearly didn't make sense, given the distinct smell and taste of rancid oil. When we asked the waiter to try it himself, he took it back to the kitchen and returned, surprisingly, with a single cup of coffee—no further acknowledgment or effort to resolve the issue.

While the service was polite otherwise, this dismissive handling of our feedback was disappointing. Overall, the meal had its highlights, but the dessert issue and lack of proper response from the staff left a sour note. Not quite the highly recommended experience we...