The Verdict
Mayrig. The Armenian word for 'mother'. Opened in 2003 in a restored Gemmayzeh townhouse and has been the city's defining Armenian-Lebanese restaurant since. The cooking preserves the Ottoman-Armenian tradition that Lebanese-Armenian families brought to Beirut after 1915: basterma (cured, spiced air-dried beef), soujouk (the cured garlic-sausage), mantı (small boiled dumplings in yoghurt-garlic sauce), and kibbeh in its Armenian register of cherry-glaze and tahini-lemon preparations.
The menu is extensive. More than 60 items across mezze, mains, and desserts. And is best approached in groups that can share. The kibbeh kebbeh (sour cherry kibbeh) is the signature and the dish that makes the clearest case for the Armenian kitchen's distinctiveness. The basterma carpaccio and the soujouk sliders are the established favourites on the mezze side. Desserts include anoush abour (Armenian pudding),