Part of the Saifi Urban Gardens complex in Gemmayzeh, Cafe Em Nazih has been serving Lebanese mezze for a few years now and is a firm staple of the Gemmayzeh scene. If you go there during the day you can amuse yourself as you play nationality bingo, ticking off the different languages you hear as it is popular with the many international students at the attached language school. In the evening, it becomes livelier, with a variety of weekly events. These include a live house band and a brain-bending quiz night. On other nights, it serves as a nice place to meet friends and enjoy a few drinks, and is perfect if you don’t want to climb all the stairs to Coop D’Etat.
On a Friday and Saturday night you have to ring ahead to book a table but the Lebanese classics get cranked up and the local crowd will be Dabka-ing till dawn. A great addition is that Café Em Nazih opens up the fun again in the early hours so that you can get a manouche at 3am, which is nothing to sniff at. Overall, the relaxed atmosphere is always friendly and international and with a wide selection of great value Lebanese mezze it is a real winner.