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One of the richest and most generous breakfast experiences you can imagine having in Lebanon can be found at Mosaic, Phoenicia's all day dining restaurant. With endless choices of food, the morning experience is indeed memorable from the welcoming all the way to dessert. On this beautiful Wednesday morning, I arrived around eight thirty to be welcomed by Sarah, a smiley and attentive hostess who insisted on showing me around before seating me at a table by the glass facade. Waiters smiling, enjoyable music, positive vibes, breakfast at Mosaic is not only for the hotel guests but for everyone who seeks a moment of serenity before a long and busy day.
Mosaic, located next to the lobby, welcomes you all day for an open breakfast and lunch buffet as well as dinner. All day dining with islands loaded with endless choices of food from all around the world. Facing the entrance is the dessert island followed by the croissants section. To the left you will find the light section, juices and then cereals. As for the right, down a long corridor bread is lovingly baked, and awaits you facing the salads and cold cuts. Continue ahead to reach the hot sections filled with chicken, ham, turkey, pork, potatoes and sausages. In the middle of the island is a chef preparing eggs - just the way you like them.
Dozens of tables all perfectly set up with cutlery, surrounded by light green leather chairs with arm rests. I liked the attention to detail, like the pleasing little stand for the table number; walk around, order your favourite dishes and leave your number. Your cravings will be delivered to your table in minutes. All tables have a complete cutlery set, a table napkin and a selection of local and international jams.
The buffet in detail:
- The light section (gluten free bread and sugar free jam)
- Seven pitchers filled with juices
- Three kinds of milk
- Mouhallabiyah in cups
- Bircher muesli
- Taanayel yogurt
- Ten jars filled with crunchy stuff; cereals, fried raisins, muesli and nuts
- Six choices of Danish pastry each with fruit on top - giving fresh color
- The bread corner with a bread oven
- Six baskets of bread
- Four baskets of croissants
- Smoked salmon displayed in a fridge
- Tomatoes and fresh greens
- Three choices of cold cuts
- The big display of Lebanese specialities and cold appetizers on a bed of ice (moutabbal, hummus, beetroot moutabbal, shawarma, rice, pasta salad, palmito among others)
- The open kitchen bakery
- Freshly prepared manakish
- Three choices of knefeh
- Five jars of fruit compote
- Seven jars of jams
- Honey and halawa
- The hot section (hash brown, grilled onions and mushrooms, red beans, grilled tomatoes, bacon, sausages)
- Pancakes and waffles
- Lovely to-order eggs
- Saj and markouk
- Foul mdammas
- Grilled fresh salmon
- Eight choices of local and international cheeses and labneh
- Zaatar and sumac
I love it here! I love the choices, the mood, the vibes, the view and the food. I feel good meeting Najy again, Georges the sous-chef as well as Sarah and all the other members of staff.
The eggs Benedict are special and different. Different to all the other eggs Benedict I've had before because the muffin is soft and moist, a kind of choux lightly heated in the grill compared to the hard textured English muffins you usually get. The eggs are poached to perfection, light and moist. The sauce is light-bodied, the general taste is good, not intense and not gourmet but enjoyable as it should be. The green parsley on top was not too pleasant to chew and I would recommend it is left off the dish.
I tried the grilled salmon, the steak, the sweet beans and hash browns; all the hot section was enjoyable. I also ordered a zaatar mannoushe, spread it with labneh, added some tomatoes and cucumbers to enjoy my all-time favorite breakfast treat - what a combination!
Now was time for dessert. The choices at Mosaic are endless. A soft, lightly sweet knefeh with a subtle crunchy outer and a soft bed of molten cheese. Danish pastry and a load of fruit! The fruit made my day, a big selection; pineapples, figs, watermelon, raisin, strawberries, bananas, oranges, melon among others. I enjoyed the croissant for the first time, it's flakiness and lightness but would look into changing the cheeses that are a bit too salty for a morning treat; parmesan and halloumi are very salty!
Two hours passed and I didn't want to leave. I was enjoying everything I chose to eat while writing my detailed review. People came in, the restaurant was almost full, I felt happy to live a vibrant summer in Lebanon visited by tourists of all nationalities.
I enjoyed this morning treat which I'll be repeating very soon.
