They taught Hong Kong to love kebabs, hummus, and falafel: how three family-run restaurants introduced Middle Eastern cuisine to city

Beirut in Lan Kwai Fong, Zahra in Wan Chai, and Habibi in Central paved the way for the flowering of authentic Middle Eastern gastronomy in the city

Families behind those pioneering places, and a new generation of restaurants – Aziza, Beyrouth Bistro and Zahrabel – talk about the passion that drives them

Reading Time:5 minutes

At Aziza restaurant in Kennedy Town you’ll find different meze dishes such as (top, from left) tabbouleh and bosara, labna (middle), and (bottom, from left) moutabel and hummus. More Middle Eastern restaurants have opened in Hong Kong since the first few in the 1980s and ’90s. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 12:15pm, 8 Nov 2019Updated: 12:46pm, 8 Nov 2019

Hong Kong is quite familiar with Middle Eastern cuisine now. Kebab shops are everywhere – and not just in the entertainmunt hubs of Wan Chai and Lan Kwai Fong; falafel and tabbouleh are part of the basic diet of many yoga hipsters; and hummus is a bestseller in Marks & Spencer food sections.

Yet there was a time when people could not tell shawarma from a shisha.

It took a few brave and pioneering immigrants to bring their food to the city and introduce it to a culture which knew little of the Middle East or its dishes.

Today, some of those restaurateurs are still around, and have been joined in the business by their children.

The interior of Aziza in Kennedy Town. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

1. Aziza

Egyptian chef Mohsen Gaber Ibrahim first came to Hong Kong in 2002. His brother Hosni Emam had just opened Habibi, the city’s first Egyptian restaurant, with his wife and chef, Jennifer Migliorelli. On a trip to Egypt to look for additional decoration and kitchenware, they visited Ibrahim, who was running a top hotel in the coastal resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.