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It’s time to turn up the heat and add a healthy dose of spice to your next meal with some of our favourite Middle Eastern restaurants in Hong Kong. From Lebanese and Egyptian to Turkish to Moroccan cuisine, take your pick from these top spots around town! All we know is, there will be hummus galore.
Shahrazad Lebanese Dining Lounge & Bar
If you want to feel like Arabic royalty, then head over to Shahrazad Lebanese Dining Lounge & Bar, where they will treat you like kings and queens. This Lebanese establishment is one of the most aesthetic restaurants we’ve come across, with plush sofas and gilded furniture strewn across its dining space. Emerald blue, deep purple, and gold are just some of the bold, exotic colours used in its interior décor, but Shahrazad is more than just pretty looks.
If the weather permits, grab a seat on their terrace overlooking Lan Kwai Fong and order some mini lamb skewers ($105) and lamb okra tagine ($170) for a nice, relaxing evening with incomparable food.
Shahrazad Lebanese Dining Lounge & Bar, 2/F, Carfield Commercial Building, 75–77 Wyndham Street, Central | (+852) 2330 0242
Maison Libanaise
It’s hard to miss one of the most popular Middle Eastern restaurants in Hong Kong when it’s right by the Central–Mid-Levels escalator: Maison Libanaise. Black Sheep Restaurants’ Lebanese offering is made of three floors and offers classic dishes from the Levant with a modern twist. On the first floor, there’s a to-go counter for speedy takeaways, as well as a dining area and a rooftop on the upper floors for sit-down meals.
Try out Maison’s falafel ($128) that uses tahini yoghurt and pickled turnip or the sawda djej ($148), a pan-fried chicken liver dish with garlic, lemon, and pomegranate molasses. Their herby and zesty tabboulé ($88) is also not to be missed and makes for a great palate cleanser between courses.
Maison Libanaise, 10 Shelley Street, Soho, Central | (+852) 2111 2284
Francis
Israeli-born chef Asher Goldstein heads up the kitchen at Francis and the focused menu echoes his upbringing in Tel Aviv. He takes classic Middle Eastern recipes and turns them into contemporary offerings with bursts of flavour, such as the burnt eggplant ($80) with pepper chilli and yoghurt, and the baked halloumi ($120) with pomegranate molasses and wild oregano. Don’t forget about the desserts, such as the delicately plated kanafeh ($90), made with mozzarella, orange blossom, and pistachio that looks like a little bird’s nest!
Francis, 4–6 St Francis Street, Wan Chai | (+852) 3101 9521
Awtar
Awtar is the place for authentic Middle Eastern food, drinks, and quality shisha. Start off with an interesting watermelon & halloumi salad ($138) before you move onto the mains. Awtar’s lamb Adana ($198) is a must-order family recipe of lamb kebabs, but if you’re looking for something more seafood-based, try the grilled tiger prawns ($248). Their cocktails and shisha menu is also a highlight, so be sure to try them out before you leave!
Awtar, 23 Staunton Street, Soho, Central | (+852) 2530 5900
Mama Malouf
Middle Eastern cuisine offers comfort food and a taste of home, which is what Mama Malouf excels at. Named after chef Alex Malouf’s mother, the restaurant takes bits and pieces from her recipes that were passed down through the family. It is also one of very few Middle Eastern restaurants in town that offers weekend brunch.
We would recommend the halloumi fondue with fig jam & brioche ($138) for those with a sweet tooth, but if you’re looking for something more on the meaty side, do not miss the tender lamb shoulder with farro, pumpkin & mint labne ($188)—the perfectly cooked meat literally slides off the bones! We’re also huge fans of their hummus with lamb ($88), served with hot pita bread drizzled in olive oil.
Mama Malouf, 93 Catchick Street, Kennedy Town | (+852) 2817 3828
Bedu
Another modern Middle Eastern restaurant with prime aesthetic designs is Bedu, Meraki Hospitality’s cosy Middle Eastern restaurant and bar. Tucked away in a quiet corner of where Central meets Sheung Wan, the restaurant combines different Middle Eastern cuisines and reinvents them with a touch of modern interpretation.
Bedu’s signature creations include the beetroot & mint labneh ($55), which acts as the perfect dip for the many pieces flatbreads the restaurant serves you, and we also love the baked feta smoked lemon & honey ($115) and the sweet potato falafel ($95) with herbed hummus, pickles, and tahini.
Bedu, 40 Gough Street, Central | (+852) 2320 4450
Aziza
Authentic Egyptian cuisine is rare on this side of the globe, so when Aziza claims to be the only restaurant in Hong Kong offering genuine Egyptian fare, we’ll readily believe it. Aziza’s kitchen team crafts everything in-house, including their couscous, falafel, and their lamb and beef kebabs, and everything tastes just as good as it looks.
We will put the spotlight on their desserts though, and we would not leave the restaurant without trying the baklava with pistachios ($50) or the konafa ($78), a shredded pastry with ricotta cheese. Not familiar with these traditional desserts? Just Google videos of people making them—we promise you will not be disappointed (and it will definitely get you salivating in anticipation)!
Sumac
A Middle Eastern restaurant experience would not be complete without a mini courtyard and a shisha session! Sumac, tucked away in a nondescript corner of Glenealy, has a small alfresco porch and a courtyard that is perfect for shisha and an evening of dining under the stars. Sink into rustic wooden furnishings and dig into some hummus ($78) to get your appetite up and running, then some chicken shish taouk ($198) served with fries, or the lamb mograbieh ($235), a dish of slow-cooked lamb shoulder to fill you up.
Sumac, 8 Glenealy, Central | (+852) 2147 9191
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