Bandakji is one of Hamra’s premier mezze restaurants and certainly the biggest. It characterises all the aspects that you would want to find in a Lebanese restaurant — a wide selection of mezze, the typically Arabic design of the interior, which explodes with colour and the comfy seats that are perfect for socialising with friends long into the evening and sweet smoke wafting off lazily argileh.
The small army of waiters that serve you are friendly and attentive and the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. Hamra has a plethora of bars where you can spend the night, but you’d be just as happy to spend the evening at Bandakji. Being a mezze restaurant, you can spend as much as you want; the individual prices are reasonable and in keeping with similar restaurants in Mar Mikhael.