Zaataria — Restaurant in Lisbon

So, there we were, strolling through the heart of Lisbon, when we stumbled upon this little slice of heaven called Zaataria. The place was buzzing with the scent of spices and the kind of vibe that makes your belly do a happy dance. And let me tell you, the owners – cuteness overload! She was like a marketing wizard, painting pictures with words that made every dish sound like it came from a magical kitchen. And him? A kitchen prodigy from way back, learning the ropes under the watchful eyes (and aprons) of the family’s mamas.

Their story? Well, it's straight out of a pandemic fairy tale. They rode the Covid wave from the Middle East, started off as delivery maestros, and now? Now they've got this cool joint dishing out dreams on plates.

Let's talk kibbeh – crunchy on the outside, melt-in-your-mouth on the inside. And get this: little surprise piñoli gems hiding in there like Easter eggs for your taste buds. Genius, right? And the good stuff, not those white seeds you buy at the supermarket. Then, there's the falafel dish – a legit explosion of colors and flavors. Creamy hummus with real-deal chickpeas, a salad that's basically a garden on a plate, and rice with aletria bringing the whole party together. But wait, it's dessert time! Malabi that's like heaven in a bowl, with orange flower waters doing a little dance on your taste buds. And, oh, sweet Shirin hooked us up with some killer orange flower waters, too.

Originally, we swung by Zaataria just to snag some takeout for our cozy apartment feast. But you know what? The owners' vibe and the place's cozy charm got us hooked, and we ended up turning it into a proper dinner date. Zaataria isn't just a restaurant – it's like a foodie love story set in the...

We found Zaataria restaurant during our vacation in Lisbon, I thought to introduce my friends to the Lebanese cuisine. Well I was disappointed and embarrassed that this was their first exposure to Lebanese food. I wouldn’t call this Lebanese cuisine it’s more of an attempt to create a Lebanese menu.

Their mezza menu is à la carte, Lebanese mezza comes as a group of small dishes not tapas style order, one plate at a time.

Baba ghanouj was the most tasteful, you could taste the eggplant. The hummus was okay. The kibbey was acceptable except it had walnuts instead of pine seeds, which is what usually is used. The walnut is an interesting experiment except it gives a bit of a bitter taste.

The Labne was average. We also tried the kefta bowl, there were three modest pieces of meat with an unrecognizable taste of kafta.

The mezza order came with two saj bread, which had an okay taste. We ordered more but it took a while to get extra. You will probably need more than the bread that comes with the order, so order more ahead. Lebanese food uses primarily pita bread or saj bread to eat, the fact that the bread is not given in abundance it tells me that the targeted customers are tourists.

That tabouli was decent but they use quinoa instead of bulgur, which is the traditional recipe, it’s an interesting twist to this popular salad. The halloumi salad didn’t have a cohesive taste. But it was okay.

The environment was lovely, they really captured the Lebanese spirit and cultural icons. The tribute to Fairuz was heart warming.

Overall, this restaurant is a geared to tourists and the uninitiated to the...

I was really looking forward to enjoying a nice Lebanese manouche here, but unfortunately I left quite disappointed.

I ordered a manouche, expecting the traditional fluffy flatbread with cheese and toppings, but what I received was a thin wrap filled mostly with a lot of olives and big cucumbers, with hardly any cheese at all. The dough was nothing like a proper manouche.. it felt more like a warmed-up supermarket wrap, and honestly, it just didn’t taste good.

When I politely asked the staff why it was served this way, I was told, rather curtly, “yeah, we serve it in a wrap,” without any apology or acknowledgment that this might be confusing or disappointing to customers expecting an authentic manouche.

It’s frustrating because my friend ordered an actual wrap from the menu, and what I got was basically the same thing but labeled as a manouche. It felt misleading, and the dismissive attitude of the staff really put me off.

I’m a kind and very easygoing customer, but I felt really let down by the quality of the food and the service. If you’re looking for a proper Lebanese manouche experience, I would recommend going elsewhere. This place seems more like an overhyped TikTok spot than a place for authentic, tasty...