Middle East - Anthony Ham [403]
Old City
In the small alley east of the Umayyad Mosque, just past the Al-Nawfara Coffee Shop (Click here), are a couple of very good shwarma places and a stall that does great felafel. There’s another collection of felafel and shwarma hole-in-the-wall eateries in the covered market lane that runs north off Souq al-Hamidiyya.
Bakdash (Map; Souq al-Hamidiyya; cone S£50; 9am-late) Find the queues close to the mosque-end of Souq al-Hamidiyya and you’ll have found this wildly popular Damascene institution. A purveyor of scrumptious ice creams made with sahlab (a tapioca-root flavoured drink) and topped with crushed pistachio nuts, it’s a souq-shopping must. Pay at the cash register before ordering.
Art Café Ninar (Map; 542 2257; Sharia Bab Sharqi; pizza S£150; 10.30am-2am) Don’t be surprised if you see local artists sitting at the wooden tables painting and sketching, or a poet jotting down lines of verse in a notebook. Damascus’ intellectual set flocks to this casual eatery in a big stone building for the art exhibitions, excellent pizza and cheap beer. Be like the locals and drop by late.
Bab Sharqi (Map; Sharia Bab Sharqi; meals S£175; 11am-midnight) It’s hard to get a table out the front of this excellent pizzeria-cum-takeaway place, especially on a summer evening, when students linger over cold beers, bottles of Syrian wine, Italian-style pizzas and delicious toshka (Armenian toasted meat and cheese sandwiches).
Abu al-Azz (Map; 221 8174; Souq al-Hamidiyya; lunch/dinner S£300/500; 9am-late) This place is popular with locals as much as tourists – Arab families pack the place over summer. Look for the sign ‘Rest. Al Ezz Al Shamieh Hall’, then pass through the bustling ground-floor bakery and up a narrow staircase to two floors of dining; the upper level is the most atmospheric. Expect mezze, salads and kebabs, live oriental music all day and whirling dervishes in the evening from around 10.30pm. No alcohol served.
Beit Jabri (Jabri House; Map; 541 6254; 14 Sharia as-Sawwaf; meals around S£450; 9.30am-12.30am) This informal and phenomenally popular café is set in the partially restored courtyard of a stunning 18th-century Damascene house. The menu runs from breakfasts and omelettes to oriental mezze and mains. The quality of the food and service is OK, but doesn’t always live up to the surrounds.
Bab al-Hara (Map; 541 8644; Sharia al-Qaimariyya; meals around S£450; 9.30am-midnight) West of the Umayyad Mosque, Bab al-Hara is one of our favourite Old City restaurants. The grills have that reassuring taste of charcoal, the kibbeh is some of the tastiest we’ve tried and the fatta is hearty and very good. Prices are a touch below the other courtyard eateries including the nargilehs (S£100), which draw a hip, young and local crowd. The service is casual and obliging. Highly recommended.
Leila’s Restaurant & Terrace (Map; 544 5900; Souq al-Abbabiyya; meals S£500; 11am-2am) In the shadow of the Umayyad Mosque, opposite the Minaret of Jesus, this stylish place occupies, just for something different, a beautifully restored courtyard house with a glass ceiling. It’s quieter than the more popular Beit Jabri, and we reckon the food is better as well. Vegetarians will love the lentil kibbeh and carnivores will be just as pleased with the delicious mixed grill. The fresh mint lemonade (S£75) hits the spot on a hot day, while the cheese mamoul (a shortbread-like pastry or cookie lightly filled with cheese) for desert is exquisite. The roof terrace is a great place to enjoy the Damascus night.
Neutron Restaurant & Bar (Map; 544 5451;