Habibi offers everything you would call Lebanese “street food” today. With its affordable prices, good quality dishes and location right in the university and party district Zülpicher Straße, Habibi was the first spot where my girls and I went out for dinner, and felt super grown up because we weren’t eating our mother’s food anymore.

While everyone went out for their 18th birthday to get totally drunk, a food lover like me invited my best friends to have an oriental dinner at my parent’s place instead. My cooking skills weren’t as advanced back then though and my mother wouldn’t let me stand in the kitchen for hours, because she always tried to keep me away from the kitchen. So I ordered a big ass plate of Falafel, hummus and Baba ghanoush etc. from Habibi, instead of accepting a birthday present from my parents.

Habibi’s food is fresh, homemade and spiced well, and everyone remembers that evening well to this day. I mostly go to “Habibi” whenever I need something small that has everything: carbs, salads, rich and filling, but healthy at the same time. This happens especially when I am near by the university, studying intensely (damn, not anymore) or whenever I am at the movies at the Off Broadway cinema, which is right next door. A nice detail that shows the warmth of the oriental culture and of Habibi (the word means ‘friend’ btw) is the obligatory hot cup of cinnamon tea that you get with every meal.