Cafe du Liban

Popular Turkish caf? with outdoor seating and shisha pipes.

Forget cream teas and chintz, cucumber sandwiches and scones, and instead think thick, strong, black coffee dotted with cardamon pods, sticky, syrupy, sweet pastries, mint tea and bubbling shisha pipes. For a decidedly more exotic refreshment break, head to Cafe du Liban ? a traditional Lebanese coffee bar on the Edgware Road. Long a haunt of London?s North African enclave, on a hot summer?s day Edgware Road appears more Maghreb than Marylebone. Along both sides of the street you?ll find a host of caf?s teeming with men in Shalwar Qameez and white caps sipping coffees, or smoking shisha on the outside tables. Caf? du Liban is one of the longest running, and one of the most interesting and welcoming. Inside it?s clean and bright with large mirrors but, if you can, try and get a seat outside on the pavement and enjoy the bustling, vibrant atmosphere of this unique area of town. No doubt you?ll be tempted by the mouth-watering range of authentic Tunisian, Moroccan and Middle Eastern foods, ask for full English translations and descriptions of the cooking process, which are guaranteed to get your salivatory glands working overtime.

Best for:
Shisha pipes (outside only), sweet pastries, strong, syrupy coffee and pavement seating.

Did you know?
Tradition has it that when passing a hookah to another person the mouthpiece must point away from the receiver who should, in turn, tap the giver on the back of the hand.