9:00 AM — Hotel pickup, Beirut Your private food guide meets you at your hotel and the tour begins — first stop is Hamra, where Beirut starts its morning the only way it knows how.

Manoushe & fresh juice — Hamra The day begins at one of Hamra's legendary bakeries — a neighbourhood institution where the saj has been hot since before sunrise. Your manoushe arrives straight off the dome-shaped griddle, blistered and fragrant with za'atar, cheese, or a combination of both — the definitive Lebanese breakfast that no visitor ever forgets. Paired with a freshly pressed juice — pomegranate, avocado, or a custom blend — this is Beirut at its most authentic and most delicious before the city fully wakes up.

Hummus, falafel & Lebanese sweets — Downtown Your guide takes you to one of Downtown Beirut's most celebrated hummus institutions — a place where the chickpeas are soaked overnight, the tahini is freshly ground, and the olive oil arrives in generous pools on a still-warm plate. Lebanese hummus at this level is transformative — nothing like the supermarket version. Alongside it, falafel fried to order — crisp outside, herb-green inside — and a selection of traditional Lebanese sweets: baklava dripping with rose water syrup, mamoul dusted with icing sugar, and halawet el jibn — a warm, soft cheese pastry rolled in cream that is one of the great pleasures of the Lebanese table.

Shawarma & street bites — Mar Mikhael Head to Beirut's most characterful neighbourhood — Mar Mikhael and the iconic Armenia Street — where the city's creative energy meets its oldest street food traditions. Your guide leads you to one of the neighbourhood's most revered shawarma counters — the kind of place with a queue of regulars at 10am — where spiced chicken or meat is shaved from a slowly rotating spit and wrapped with toum, pickles, and tomatoes in fresh-baked bread. On this private tour, your guide has the flexibility to add extra bites based on what looks exceptional that morning — a neighbourhood discovery that the small group never gets time for.

Knefeh & Armenian specialities — Bourj Hammoud The most unique stop of the tour — Bourj Hammoud, Beirut's vibrant Armenian quarter and one of the most culinarily rich neighbourhoods in the entire city. The centrepiece is knefeh — Lebanon's most iconic dessert — warm shredded wheat filled with soft white cheese, drenched in rose water syrup, and topped with crushed pistachios, served directly from the tray at the moment it is ready. Alongside it, a private-tour exclusive: a more generous spread of Armenian specialities — sujuk sausage, mante dumplings, Armenian pastries, and house-made preserves from the neighbourhood's family-run delis — that the time constraints of a group tour simply do not allow.

Sit-down lunch — the full Lebanese table The tour culminates in a proper sit-down lunch at a restaurant chosen by your guide — a curated spread of Lebanese mezze that brings everything you have tasted throughout the morning into a single, abundant, unhurried meal. Cold mezze — tabbouleh, fattoush, moutabal, labneh, and vine leaves — followed by warm dishes, grilled meats, and fresh bread, with Lebanese arak or soft drinks to accompany. This is not a quick stop. This is the Lebanese table at its finest — a meal designed to be lingered over, talked through, and remembered. Everything included, nothing extra to pay.

Return to hotel — approx. 1:00 PM Drop-off at your Beirut hotel after four hours, five neighbourhoods, and more food than you thought possible — the most intimate and most delicious way to experience the real Beirut.