Beirut Express

Came here about a week ago and I am still drooling over the mince I had as part of the meal! Starters were very good — got hummus beiruty which came out quickly and was presented very attractively (nice aesthetic to start the meal!), disappeared very quickly between the two of us.
Ordered a bottle of wine as well which was decent enough — i am a bit judgmental on wine though so take that with a grain of salt — waitress was very attentive and managed to balance bringing appetizers, wine, main dishes all seamlessly.
Main courses were VERY good and I thought very well priced! Not a steal of a deal but very fair for a sit-​down place, and with a nice atmosphere as well. Being that it’s right on Dame St you’d think it would be more hectic but it’s really quite nice, buzz of conversation and big windows without being overwhelmingly quiet or frenetic.
Anyway overall the experience was great, lends itself to sharing dishes and enjoying a bit of time over dinner more so than a quick get-​it-​and-​get-​out which you might expect from the name. Price tag is appropriate for the experience. Would easily recommend!

I thought the food here great and unique full of middle eastern flavours and not something i’d usually have.
i’d definitely go again and I’d really recommend it to anyone.

Popped in for a nice meal with my partner after work. We were enticed by the filled filo pastry so thought why not. The only reason I have given one star was for the friendly server. My white wine was warm and glass was dirty, I could not finish it and that is NOT like me. The pastry came out and looked like a deep fried spring roll that had been frozen, not fresh at all. When the main came falaffel, it was the same again, frozen and deep fat fried, not fresh at all. The bread that came nearly broke my teeth when I bit into it. We could not finish the meal and my partner had stomach cramps all night. 2 starter and 2 mains, one warm glass of white wine and a flat coca cola, 50 euro. I was sick!

No matter where in the world I travel, after a couple of weeks of enjoying the local cuisine, I begin to crave Middle Eastern food. So when I saw Beirut Express across a crowded Dublin street, the proverbial record scratched and I was ready for a feast. Thankfully, my husband and our two traveling companions were happy to be dragged along for the ride.
The interior of the restaurant was clean, spacious and modern, with a few obligatory Lebanese touches (posters, lamps, etc.) We were seated right away; the same server took care of us for the entire meal, and remained professional and attentive, all three of which are fairly uncommon in Ireland.
Our food was fantastic. The baba ganouj, my personal litmus test for all Middle Eastern restaurants, passed with flying colors — smoky, creamy and flecked with sumac and olive oil. Our entrees, falafel and chicken shawarma, were flavorful and fresh, served with plenty of dipping sauces (they needed salt — but in my opinion most of what is served in Ireland needs salt, and it’s easily corrected.) We got actual, real green salad on the side, fattoush-​style, no mayonnaise involved. But our friends one-​upped us by ordering the tasting dinner for 2. They thought they had to choose an appetizer from the 7 listed, but in fact they got ALL OF THEM — a small amount of each, but I thought it was very generous for the price — as well as a huge plate of mixed-​grill kebabs, rice, salad and vegetables. And it wasn’t much more than our two entrees plus appetizer combined.
Four stars, not five, because I thought the portions were a little stingy. Lebanese meals should start with bread, pickles and olives, period, even if they need to build that into the cost of the meal. All entrees should come with rice and salad. And for 14 euros, the falafel plate should come with more than four. It’s not hard to be a little more generous in the restaurant business — when people feel like they’re getting a great deal, they’ll be back! That said, however, if we were in Dublin again with a craving for Middle Eastern food, I would seek this place out for sure.

The place is decent but I wouldn’t really choose to go there. But i went few times with my middle Eastern friends and the food was good. My favorite is their homus bel lahma, taboule, kube and their rice is cooked well. I did not like their Lebanese coffee although I am a big fan if it. I would suggest if you care about the food and not the place.

My wife and me went with a voucher to am have a good time.
When we first went in we thought it wasn’t as nice as we thought it would be. The decoration was not really pretty; too simple.
The food is lovely I must say. Good price for excellent value. I would definitely go without a voucher. The starters were lovely! I recommend the quails and the wrapped in pastry soft fried shrimps.
We got a little disappointed when we saw our main course. The salmon was too plain and my wife’s minced tasted good but looked not appealing at all. I must say, thought, that looking around while others main courses were served we figured we could’ve ordered better.
Desserts were the best! I mean the best! The first dessert on the menu is the best one, and even though the chocolate cake is not home made was really good.
On the whole I must say is a excellent place. waiters should recommend more dishes if they know you’re going for the first time to avoid ordering dishes that you’re not gonna like.

Went here for lunch with a friend who is British. I am German. The waitress was a non-​native English speaker and her English wasn’t too good. So we had some communication problems when my friend wanted to know the difference between two dishes and the waitress couldn’t explain it. And seemingly didn’t really understand the question.
The menu stated naan bread with the dishes but the waitress kept asking if we want rice or chips with it. Asking for the naan bread she kind of said that would be on the side. So we both expected to get rice and naan bread.
We got our dishes just with rice (chicken shawarma and beef shawarma) and then got told that they don’t have naan bread.
That was disappointing and obviously the communication problems took away from the experience.
But the food was very lovely. I had the beef shawarma and the meat was of very good quality and well cooked. It was spicy but not too spicy with two sauces.
Price for it at lunch time is € 9.00 which is ok.
I definitely would go back.

This place has a great potential, however unfortunately not all of it is used!
We went there for dinner and both courses were very tasty — really properly grilled meat, nice sides and interesting aromas. Even though the food is pretty nice, the place itself is missing the atmosphere. The interior doesn’t reflect the Lebanese authenticity — feels quite cold and the décor itself is quite poor.
I wouldn’t really go there for experience — food is what you can expect from Beirut Express but really not much beside that.

I went there on my launch food decoration was great but food taste was not good & customer service very poor & slow.

The boyfriend and I came across this lovely place while strolling/​wandering around the city for something different for lunch time. We had our budget set at 10euro each.
To our delight we came across this place, all thanks to the sign outside advertising their 9.99euro 2 course offer which is valid until 6 or 7pm I believe!
The menu is varied with lots of unusual things to choose from, I had to ask the waitress what a few things actually were.
We both ordered the Ferri (Quail) and Beirut selection (baba ganoush, hummus, falafel, 2 chicken wings, spicy potatoes, tomato and coriander salad and naan bread). Cokes are only 1.80euro each.
The food was tasty and very exciting but one thing it was missing was meat, just wasn’t enough for me I’m afraid. Oh and the place was FREEZING, everybody had their coats on which took away from the whole Lebanese experience.
Even with these couple of negatives we still hope to return as soon as possible! Such great value for money.

Just been in here for lunch — really impressed.
Got myself the lunch special of a chicken shish and a soft drink for 8.99 and it was pretty bloody delicious. The thing was HUGE — it actually arrived on a platter — with TWO chicken shish kebabs, a mixed veg skewer, rice, a fresh naan, and salad… that’s value, folks!
I was seriously hungry going in there but I didn’t actually finish the thing it was so big (very unlike me to be fair). Only slight gripe would be that the chicken was ever so slightly overdone — but I know that cooking on charcoal can do that pretty easily — so it would have been good to have a bit of sauce or whatever, but it really was delicious nonetheless.
The atmosphere feels a little bit sterile, but I think it’s just got that «new» feeling to it. Pretty cool Lebanese decorations and features dotted around the place too, and the waitress was lovely.
It’s marketing itself as a grill house (steaks and larger grill dishes are on the evening menu) so I’d have to come back to assess that part of it, but for a lunch spot it’s brilliant.