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Do you think that you have experienced the best diner in town? Do you think that you have tasted the best diner burger already? Well, think again!
Latest Version Diner or LVD is the latest diner to open on the Dbayeh highway, an area in Lebanon now booming with restaurants. You are welcomed with a smile into a dimmed diner that seats up to fifty persons indoor and the same number outdoors. Located on the seaside road of the Dbayeh highway, LVD's interior includes dark red couches, wooden chairs and wooden tables, all perfectly created with a clean finish. As a first impression, I liked how we were served with salted peanuts to start, even if we had not ordered any alcoholic beverage. I appreciated this especially compared to other restaurants who only serve Lebanese mixed nuts to beer drinkers. Carlos, the professional funny waiter made our dinner a very pleasant one. He explained every single detail of the menu perfectly well.
Offered the menus, you surf through a hard carton printed on black background with lots of a small an interesting details some of which are mentioned below. Adding pictures to it would have made it easier to understand:
- Five possibilities of the cooking time of the meat.
- "Greet the best meat".
- All our meat products are freshly imported. All food items are halal certified, fresh & never frozen.
- Premium steak burgers: all beef burgers are cooked medium to medium well as per LVD standards.
- Specialty steaks: all our steaks are served with 4 sides: baked potato, corn, artichoke & fungi. All beef steaks are cooked rare to medium well but never well done.
- "Our food is all fresh. Our ingredients are all natural. In the mood of flame grilled steaks or burgers? Indulge in our tender chicken. Dare to try our juicy meat."
The menu:
Breakfast, starters, salads, premium steak burgers, specialty steaks, desserts, smoothies & shakes, beverages, alcoholic drinks and wine pairing.
The wine pairing concept: A first at a diner.
Pairing foods with wines is very much like discovering wonderful new recipes. Pairing the right wine with a meal creates a combination that celebrates and enhances the experience of both food and wine. Master Sommelier Evan Goldstein notes: Food and wine pairing is like two people having a conversation: 'one must listen while the other speaks or the result is a muddle'. This means either the food or the wine will be the dominant focus of the pairing with the other serving as a complement. Enjoy the experience o wine pairing with our selected cut if meat!
What needs to be improved:
- Nachos are commercial and served from a bag, not produced in house. The plate had a lot of broken pieces which only come from the bottom of the nachos bag. In a high-end diner Nachos should be prepared in-house or chosen piece by piece to look perfect. - In an American diner, people expect to order Coke not Pepsi and have it draft not in cans as well as being offered a free refill service.
What I loved:
- The big and generous portions.
- The salad is perfectly cut with a delicious tasty sauce.
- The mozzarella bars are unique and the onion rings are extraordinary.
- Their soft fresh hamburger bun.
- The perfect cooking time. When you ask for your meat to be red, it is served red.
Everything is imported except the homemade mozzarella bars, onions rings and chicken.
The meat choices:
- Imported Wagyu or Angus beef. - Grass or Grain fed cows. The grass-fed cow, which eats from a pasture and is not "finished" on a diet of grains and supplements for rapid weight gain, is said by its promoters to be better for the planet (less energy goes into growing grass than grain); better for the beef eater (less overall fat, and more omega-3s and other "good" fats); and better for the cow (critics decry feedlot practices as inhumane).
The delicious mouthwatering and exquisite burgers:
A perfect combination of juicy meat prepared by Chef Jean Habchi with a thin layer of cheese embraced by a soft bun. And that's it! No need for an added condiments, no ketchup, no mustard, no mayonnaise, nothing that will spoil the aromas and taste of the unique meat. I've ordered the special Swiss'n'mushroom sauce with caramelized onions on the side and enjoyed it with some of my bites. It is indeed an American diner serving burgers and steaks of high end premium quality at a diner's price.
In my opinion:
- Try the LVD special sauce. - Order your burger without any tomatoes and lettuce.
Check out their facebook page.
A 40$/person average check but it's worth it. A MUST TRY
