Nasma's Awesome Lebanese Innovations

The Terrace at Beirut City Centre is truly a site to see. A number of restaurants, some of which are familiar, while others are totally new concepts to the country… and more others are opening... Nasma, relatively new, is a Lebanese restaurant where traditional food is introduced with a contemporary twist.

Nasma, this fine Lebanese with an interesting twist is divided into three sections: The main welcoming area, the middle court and behind the arcade, the inner dining room that is slightly more elevated than the rest of the restaurant. Nasma stands out from the others with its rain shelters on the terrace. Inside is spacious with a high grey and white ceiling. Nasma oozes positivity everywhere you turn; fresh colors seem to follow you around. After trying Nasma's tasty creation at the opening, it was a necessity to visit again for a review... and today's visit was excellent on all fronts.

• Wooden tables and metallic chairs fill the outside space where you can enjoy the outdoors ambiance the terrace provides with red and grey colors remind you of the place’s ambiance
• On the other side of the alley is a large terrace with green and white chairs deposited around wooden tables
• Enter the place to be welcomed by a long bar facing the entrance with three pending lanterns from one side and another metallic structure with bottles on the other. A fridge displays some mouthwatering cakes
• Seven arcades remind you that you are in an oriental place
• The middle space looks more like a dancing area with wood covering. It is filled with glass tables surrounded by beige chairs
• Grey and green take over the inner dining space which looks like a closed terrace with a view on the street
• Along the grey wall, green and white design lights pend from the ceiling. On the green wall, nice looking ropes cover it
• Up front, large grey tiles cover the floor and paintings decorate the walls
• Three TVs will entertain you during your stay as well as an interesting music playing continuously in the background
• Pillows, from all the imaginable colors add a touch of fun to the general design

With fine Arabic melodic tunes, food started pouring in… Nasma uses ingredients of the highest quality and traditional products selected from the best local suppliers around the Lebanese villages. While preserving the original taste and flavor that brings us back to memories of childhood, Nasma adopts new cooking techniques and offers a modern vision of these products. Let's eat:

• Dinner started with three small portions of carrots, peanuts and terms along a bottle of olive oil that landed on our table as we sat. A bread basket of toasted mini bread followed with markouk, served in a plastic bag along a small bag of Lebanese bread
• My wife ordered the Pomegranate drink served in a pomegranate shaped glass with ice. A nice refreshment to try

• Tabbouleh is fresh and crunchy with a subtle taste of pomegranate molasses
• Frakeh: Four portions of raw kebbe decorated with three pine nuts each. A new kind of raw meat for me, where borghol is felt more while its crunchy feeling removed the gewy aspect of the raw meat. The meat is great and light

• Borma: Crispy ousmaliya, chicken wrap and filled with cheese. A crunch followed with light chicken and a cheese hot filling. Non oily and interesting creation

• Chickpeas balila with fried eggplants and fried nuts. Served in a bowl, the bread is super crunchy, the laban is enjoyably cold, and everything is covered with roasted pine nuts while the well cooked cubes of eggplant add this unique finesse to every bite
•  The Hratch Soujok, a typically Armenian dish are served differently at Nasma. Tender and soft soujok are cut in slices, marinated in their tomato sauce and served in a stainless bowl
• Ras Asfour, or cubes of meat served in cherry sauce, mixed with crunchy nuts. I was expecting these to be better, much better. The meat of Ras Asfour should be tender melting under your teeth like butter. These were extremely unpleasantly chewy

• Znoud El sett: These are wow! I'll write an individual article about them! For me, who considers Znoud El Set to be one of Lebanese sweets best pieces of delicacies, reading about a version with chicken stuffing was a bizarre discovery. Believe me when I say that they are breathtaking! Pastry rolls that's fresh and crunchy stuffed with cheese and chicken. Thin and airy dough that crumbles under your teeth before the inner filling erupts its juices to activate all your palatal buds. Yum!

• Siyadiyeh: Sea bass fillets served with spiced brown rice, caramelized onions, grilled pine nuts and tajine sauce. The mix has an interesting lemony sauce and a perfectly cooked fish all in one bite of love and passion. I am a big fan of Siyadiyeh and this one a great one to consider trying

• Makanek with their lemon juice
• Hummus Nasma: Tasty hummus covered with zaatar, sesame seeds and shredded radish. I think the photo explains it all

Food was excellent: A general feel of generosity is felt in every plate that's meticulously prepared. This is a place I recommend. The lunch was great ... I was confident that the desserts were going to be just as as good. We ordered a choice of three innovations to try:

• Cheese Cake Baklava:  Discover cheese cake with a Middle Eastern approach. Enjoy a thick crunchy biscuit topped with a rich cheese filling and covered with a crunchy puff pastry soaked with sugar syrup.

• Layali el Ghazal: If your familiar with the Layali Loubnan dessert, this one is served with bananas, white cotton candy and whipped cream. Half a strawberry adds a touch of color.

• Esmalliya Bel Achta: Crunchy and fresh esmalliye served with ice cream. As good as it should be.