Restaurants in Damascus
The Damascus restaurants below have been grouped into three pricing categories:
Expensive (over SP1,700)
Moderate (SP900 to SP1,700)
Cheap (up to SP900)
These Damascus restaurant prices are for a three-course meal per person, including half a litre of wine, which is only available at the more expensive restaurants. Tax and service included.
Expensive
Club d'Orient
Cuisine:Club d'Orient is a prestigious and glamorous restaurant in the modern town where expensive but excellent French-Mediterranean cuisine is dished out to Damascus's well-heeled crowd. Book ahead. Alcohol available.
Address: off Midan Nejmeh, Sharia Mrewed, Damascus,Telephone: (011) 332 7518
Moderate
Al-Dar 111
Cuisine:Set in a modern multi-level Oriental courtyard palace, the al-Dar serves delicious Arab and fusion cuisine to a mixed crowd of expats, young Syrians and independent travellers. Food is served alongside a good selection of Lebanese wines and arak , an anise-flavoured liquor Syrians drink with their mezze .
Address: Bab Touma, 6 Sharia Assieh, Damascus,Telephone: (011) 542 3232
Arabesque
Cuisine:Another converted grand old house with a wonderful rooftop terrace filled with plants overlooking the old city and Mount Qassioun. Arabesque makes a change from the normal Syrian restaurants with a menu of pasta dishes, salads and mostly Mediterranean dishes.
Address: Christian Quarter, Next to the large Greek Orthodox church just off Straight Street, Damascus,Telephone: (011) 543 3999
Cheap
Beit Jabri
Cuisine:This richly decorated restaurant is located in one of the quarter's oldest houses. It was built in 1737 around a courtyard with a central fountain and lemon and jasmine trees. It's a great place to eat cheap but well-prepared mezze and salads. The service is very attentive but there is no alcohol because of the Beit Jabri's proximity to the mosque.
Address: signposted in a side alley southeast of the Ummayad Mosque, Midan as-Sawwaf, Damascus,Telephone: (011) 541 6254
Website: http://www.jabrihouse.com/
Leila's
Cuisine:This cheap Damascus restaurant enjoys a stunning location with a rooftop terrace overlooking the old city and, by night, the flood-lit mosque. It serves excellent Syrian food, but not alcohol.
Address: , Alley off the southeast corner of the Ummayad Mosque, Damascus,Telephone: (011) 544 5800
