Centrale
Perhaps one of the most exquisitely designed bars in Beirut it stands nearly 7 metres in the air in a black steel cylinder reachable only through a 1930s hydraulic lift, a trademark of Centrale’s architect, Beirut bad boy Bernard Khoury. The tubular bar is set on top of a converted old Gemayzeh mansion, which houses the equally famous Centrale restaurant below. The bar stretches 10 metres from end to end and about 2 metres wide, so space is at a premium. rn
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Weekends can get unbelievably crowded, but it can be wonderfully intimate during the week. Essentially, however, Centrale is a bar one might expect to find in the heart of Manhattan rather than Beirut. The windows behind the bar revolve upwards at the touch of a button to open onto the star-speckled sky at night, a view of Martyr’s Square, or the neighbours opposite.
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Head barman Michel boasts the widest selection of whiskies in town, but they come at a cost. Prepare to break open your wallet here to get down with a deeply funky crowd, young and old, to DJs spinning everything from jazzy house to hard groove to queen Nina Simone herself.
- Address
- Mar Maroun Street, Saifi,
Gemayzeh - Telephone
- +961 1 575 858
- Website
- centralerestaurant.com
- Opening Times
- 7pm-3am daily
- Price
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- What3Words
ketchup.imagined.funny