The best restaurants Tripoli

Bab el-Bahr literally means "door of the sea", name of this quarter of the medina. This brand new little ndaxté sells small sandwiches (0,75 DL the liver sandwich) not exceptional with soft drinks, but it is worth a detour for its marine decor full of photos of sailboats.

Inside the old town, a chic coffee-restaurant with mezzanine decorated in oriental style. The chef prepares Moroccan dishes as well as international, Libyan and even French cuisine for those nostalgic for basquaise chicken! At the time of our passage, the group owner of the restaurant was about to open a second on two floors with a bright decor, with its colourful walls embodying the fabric of traditional tents. Named the Rayma ("tent" in Arabic), it is located nearby (from the Old City, take the street left to go back to the port and turn right: The restaurant is located on the right side of the clock, before the Clock Square and recognizes its décor on the floor.

To eat on the thumb but in a superior frame! The boss is proud to recall that despite his modern decoration the establishment opened in the early 1960 s and shows his aged photos of a meeting of Ittihad, one of the two Tripoli football teams, against the Real Madrid. Moreover, the restaurant's acronym is that of the team. No need to add that his former players (the same as in the photo!) love to find himself at his table under the arcades. A quiet room on the floor, overlooking the medina of the medina, Bab el-Menshia.

The neighbour of the El-Mourjan restaurant is just as good as he and has also built his reputation on fish and seafood dishes. Also good dishes with lamb.

This popular restaurant with a pleasant atmosphere at noon serves méchouis, skewers, fresh salads, mezze and a very good cheese bread, in short, good Turkish cuisine based on fresh products.

Formerly located on the water side in a part of Gargarech during the urban redevelopment, this restaurant has completely changed its face by changing neighborhoods. It is now in the form of a gigantic white tent (reminiscent of the decor of a great wedding) that can receive a few hundred people, and a quiet garden where other very pleasant tables are arranged. The kitchen of this restaurant famous for its seafood specialities and fish is always good. Also international and Italian cuisine. Servings are copious. Every evening at 20 a. m. musicians play under the tent.

The cafeteria of the Galaxy on the ground floor is much less the detour than the Mezzanine restaurant, but the room is very well kept and quiet.

A clean and healthy restaurant. The decor of the first room is pleasant, with pieces of ghadamsis handicraft and a bousouk (traditional musical instrument) attached to the wall. In the bottom room, from 19 a. m. to midnight, a guitarist adapts his or her repertoire to the client. There are pizzas, Italian pasta and delicious shawarma, plate (6/8 DL) or sandwich (2,25/4,5 DL). So taste the octopus salad that is delicious. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

Good Moroccan cuisine based on harira, couscous and tajines. Also Libyan soups and couscous, Italian dishes, fajitas and fish dishes. In short, good Mediterranean cuisine. The restaurant is frequented by expatriates and tourists who appreciate the service and the oriental framework based on travaillé stucco and painted tiles. The small mezzanine on the floor is particularly charming.

The Zumit restaurant is also open to non-guests. We eat in the small patio of this ancient Ottoman trade hostel. Good international and Maghreb cuisine and good fish dishes.

The room is somewhat impersonal, but it is an address appreciated for its Lebanese specialities.

From the beginning of many visits from the medina, it makes it possible to start the walk full belly! This small fish restaurant is simply succulent. On the menu, the specialities of the Patron boss Mohammed Abeya, proud to show what he mijoter and to show in English on his recipes. They put water in the mouth: Squid salad, haraimi (fish in very spicy sauce!), white beans (fassoulia) and squid stuffed with rice, fish couscous, fresh fish cutlets, purchased every morning at the harbour.

The small walls decorated with small painted tiles were provisionally closed for renovation during our last passage. But just a few metres towards the green square a beautiful door on the right opens onto a second annexe on the floor, in a pleasant room with a lot of crafts. The evening meals are served in this room (by reservation by the morning).

This expansion testifies to the success of this former canteen at 5 DL breakfast, whose notoriety has constantly grown thanks to the mouth-to-mouth of its clientele of visitors to the Libyan, Libyan or foreign languages, to give rise to many newspaper articles, Libyan and even foreign, carefully compiled by the boss.

The Tripolis is located on the floor of a patio, north of the old renovated Ottoman residence Dar Yahzazrkom, so it can be accessed from Souk and Turk Street. It is part of these new restaurants in the medina, impeccable and decorated with great taste, the inspiration being here Tunisian. The room also offers a beautiful view of the harbour. Chief Yassin Hamem is Tunisian but offers tasty Libyan day dishes: Libyan couscous, roushda, fish and sometimes a very good tchicha soup (fried wheat grains) seasoned with dry mint. The menu changes every four months. The map should soon offer gourmet menus (from 45 to 70 DL!) based on fish and seafood: mussels, sea urchins and lobster should be on schedule. The newly established establishment enjoys a good reputation. The staff is francophone.

Hajj Hmad is a popular figure that appears daily on Libyan television during the festivities of the month of Ramadan to entertain families. The Hajj Hmad canteen is more famous for tourists. The place, very clean, does not pay a mine, but here too you will eat exclusively from real and good Libyan cuisine. Roushda is to fall on the ground!

If you want to know what the good libya cuisine looks like, don't miss the small canteen Beirut. We'll get there at lunchtime because we eat it as at home, and in the same proportions! The location is pleasant, with some pieces of handicraft exposed to the wall, and the kitchens are of impeccable cleanliness. From the typical sauce sauce to the fish stew or fish couscous, everything is good, so why not indulge in a delicious osban, a roasted rabbit or even, for the most reckless, a grilled sheep head! The two bosses, Hajj Abdelrazak and Suleyman (English speaking), join one in two.

A friendly atmosphere to eat a complete kebab menu (with soup and salad) very correct for 5 DL. The kitsch of the large room, with its fountain, will delight lovers of the genre.

Below the hotel's reception, this great, high-quality buffet offers very original dishes and Italian specialities.

To enjoy a pastilla in the pigeon in a beautiful Moroccan decor with, as a bonus, a fabulous view of the city on the top of the 26 th floor! The addition is also quite high.

The neighbour of Al-Gambari restaurant specialises in fish dishes and serves a large seafood dish at 40 DL. Also good grilled squid (15 DL), but also classic soups, salads, meat and pasta dishes.

To swallow a cheese-burger with a coke. Fast-food contrasts with the classic architecture of the Italian arcade.