Tyre's seafood tradition, transplanted to Hamra
Sūr opened quietly six weeks ago on a side street off Hamra, in the bones of a defunct shawarma counter that few will mourn. The chef, Rita Sfeir, spent her childhood in Tyre and her twenties cooking in San Sebastián. Both cities are visible on the plate: the seafood vocabulary is southern Lebanese — sayadieh, samkeh harra, tiny grilled red mullet served two to a plate — but the discipline is Spanish.
The kibbeh nayyeh of crab arrives glossy, still-cool from the marble slab, the bulgur cracked rather than ground, lifted by chopped pickled limes. It is the best thing we have eaten in Beirut this year. The wine list, curated by Sfeir's partner, leans hard on Bekaa whites and is priced with restraint. Rating: 4.5/5.
