Kingfish tartare…  chunky cubes with mandarin chilli dressing. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Fried cauliflower…featuring bhar aswad (black pepper) and smothered with sumac crème. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Crunchy charred chicken… accompanied with colourful slaw. Photo: Wendy Johnson

White bean hummus… smooth and creamy with a pool of olive oil in the middle. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Beirut Express… tequila, green chartreuse and lime. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON comes away from Bar Beirut adjectively well fed…

BAR Beirut in Civic is bouncing from award to award, picking up four in 2022 alone. It’s bursting with energy and the bar shakes and stirs with vigour.

The food is bold and punchy – a modern interpretation of where the Middle East meets the Mediterranean. If you’re keen, enjoy the belly dancing and burlesque on Thursday evenings, for some “school-night shenanigans” as Bar Beirut puts it.

The hugely popular Beirut Express was sensational ($22). A twist on a margarita, this cocktail is created with tequila, green chartreuse and lime. Fiery was the chilli-salt rim. 

I love dirty martinis, although I don’t order them often since they’re sometimes light on with the “dirty part” (the olive brine or juice that makes the cocktail cloudy looking). Bar Beirut has mastered this martini. I opted for the vodka version with olives and Bar Beirut lets you name your bottle of alcohol (house pours start at $20). 

We agreed, although this is a “cocktail” bar, that the wine list could be beefed up. With whites, for example, only three are on the menu by the glass, and the Viognier, Vermentino and Chardonnay blend is $25 a glass.

Bar Beirut is cosy and compact in size. The bright pink walls behind the bar are an attention grabber. Selecting a seat near the windows at the front, we watched the world go by in Garema Place.

We were impressed with the menu and could have ordered any dish. Bar Beirut prides itself on its late-night kitchen, taking orders right up to 10pm. Big tick.

Sharing is the way to go, and our dining experience started with impressive kingfish tartare tarted up with mandarin chilli dressing ($22). The super-fresh fish was cut into chunky cubes and the dressing smashed it with flavour.

Smooth and creamy was the white bean hummus ($11). The pool of olive oil in the middle was a stunning, deep green.

A wonderful a la carte dish was the fried cauliflower featuring loads of bhar aswad (black pepper) and smothered with sumac crème ($16). It’s a testament to Bar Beirut’s passion for packing flavours into food.

The colourful slaw that accompanied the charred chicken was super crunchy and the meat moist and delicious ($18).

Bar Beirut offers two set menus, one a vegetarian option (minimum two people).

While the place wasn’t packed, Bar Beirut was a bit wonky on service. My dirty martini wasn’t dirty, although it was replaced pronto. We asked for our chicken and cauliflower to come together, but that didn’t happen. And we weren’t given appropriate serving utensils, making life a bit awkward.

While the few service issues surprised us, the pluses made us forgive. As my dining friend proclaimed: “I’d come back in a flash.”