Snack Charbel: A Giant Pizza in Hasroun, Lebanon

On the way to the Cedars Forest in Bcharre, we passed by the village of Hasroun.

Being the devout foodie that I am, stopping by Snack Charbel to try his famous giant pizza was in fact planned. This pizza has been on my “list” – yes, I have a list – for ages and I was determined to try it. The scenic view we got to experience from the mountains was simply the cherry on top!

The owner, Charbel Touma, started his business in a kiosk in Hasroun that he named “Snack Charbel”. However, an unfortunate accident occurred in March 2015 involving a collapsed water well sending his shop (along with Charbel himself) down the mountain slope. Fortunately he fully recovered from the accident and now operates in a house facing his brother’s restaurant “3al 3al” with the help of his lovely wife. There is no actual dine-in area for customers; Charbel mainly focuses on delivery and takeaway now.

So now the purpose of this article, THE Pizza.

Charbel’s Giant Pizza

I will start off by recommending that you put your conscience aside and forget your diet; you will want to have more than 3 (pretty large) slices. Also, come hungry.

The slightly thin 50cm giant pizza dough is topped with whatever your heart desires and is then baked for about 4-5 minutes in an electric mini oven.

Charbel’s giant pizza was beautiful. Each slice was a different size. The cheese was generous to say the least.

Our giant pizza had ham, (a LOT of) mozzarella, mushrooms, diced sweet peppers and tomatoes, all atop a delicious homemade tomato sauce base. Total Cost? 20,000 LBP. Talk about good value for money!

This is not some state-of-the-art, authentic Italian pizza, but rather a Lebanese bakery-style pizza, which is what made it so perfect. Visiting Hasroun just to have this pizza is well worth the long journey!

The Zaatar “Mashrou7a”

We also tried his Man2oushé Za’atar (5,000 LBP). The organic Za’atar (thyme) is hand-picked by Charbel himself, mixed with olive oil and generously spread on the dough. The dough is then baked “Mashrou7a” allowing for a pleasantly crispy base. We had a slice each and kept the rest for later (we re-heated them on the stove-top the next morning and it was just as satisfying and delicious).