One of the first things you notice upon entering Jamjar, aside from the exquisite, small silver teapots on display on one wall, is a dome-shaped piece of equipment fronting the open kitchen. It’s a saj oven, one of just a few in Vancouver, used to make the traditional Lebanese flatbread of the same name. With it, the restaurant serves the kind of cuisine you’d find on the streets and in the homes of Beirut.

It’s what co-owners Fadi Eid and Bakhos Mjalleh grew up on. Eid, Jamjar’s Abu Dhabi–born general manager, spent his formative years in Beirut, while chef Mjalleh’s were in Zgharta, in Lebanon’s north. The two met in Vancouver through mutual friends, after each moved here a few years ago.

With Jamjar, which opened last fall, Eid and Mjalleh are sharing the simple but deeply satisfying dishes they know, love, and still crave.

“We definitely call it comfort food,” Eid says by phone following the Straight’s undisclosed visit. “It’s not complicated; there’s a lot of lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. It’s the kind of food that makes you feel good. It’s super healthy.

“Lebanese cuisine is centred on mezze, or tapas,” he adds. “There are over 80 different types, hot and cold. What we’re trying to do is give a snippet of all the tapas Lebanese cuisine has to offer. We’ll regularly rotate those hot and cold items. We can keep our customers engaged by offering them something new all the time. It gives us a lot to play with.”

Playful could describe fattoush, one of the liveliest items on the menu, which consists predominantly of vegetarian or vegan dishes. The vibrant salad is a mix of big chunks of tomato and cucumber, radish slices, romaine leaves, and saj crisps tossed in a sumac-based dressing. The red berry’s tartness is tempered by pomegranate molasses, but the combination still makes for a flavour that’s as bright as a day on the Mediterranean.

Mjalleh’s take on tabbouleh will appeal in particular to those not keen on carbs; it’s far more abundant in parsley than bulgur. The hummus trio is a must-have. Selections change all the time, but on this visit there was the traditional creamy chickpea purée plus a pretty-in-pink version with beetroot and agave as well as one infused with ground olives and thyme. Served with that freshly made, warm saj, the toothsome dips will have you hooked on the Lebanese staple. Bolder in flavour is muttabel, a super-smoky roasted-eggplant dip containing tahini and lemon. (It’s not to be confused with baba ganoush, a similar eggplant purée made with garlic and onions.)

Shish tawouk, roasted skewers of yogurt-marinated Rossdown Farms chicken breast, is a straightforward, savoury mezze. Skewered and grilled chicken that’s been lightly marinated in garlic and lemon, meanwhile, is one of two options on the kids’ menu and is served with fattoush and a choice of mezze. (It goes nicely with batata harra, cubed potatoes that are tossed with garlic and a bit of cilantro. The other children’s item is falafel, which comes with tabbouleh and a choice of mezze.)

Jamjar’s main courses focus on stews—like the rich beef okra stew, with brisket, onion, and cilantro; or darwish, which has eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers in a tomato broth—that come with especially tasty brown or white rice.

Eid and Mjalleh bring flavours of Lebanon to the drink list, too. Hibiscus Bloom is a beautiful blend of gin, fresh lime and cucumber, tonic water, and organic hibiscus, adorned with two tiny dried pink flowers. Fresh lavender swirls amid date molasses and rye in the restaurant’s innovative take on an old-fashioned, while a plain, old-fashioned caesar becomes a tabbouleh caesar with parsley and cucumber. Those aforementioned teapots are Moroccan and are used to serve Chinese gunpowder tea brewed with fresh mint.

Dinner prices range from $4 to $10 for mezze, while mains max out at $18. Along with daily specials and a takeout menu, Jamjar also sells jars of hummus, muttabel, sesame-spinach dip, mohammara (a spicy roasted-red-pepper-and-walnut spread), and majadra (a brown-rice-and-lentil pâté), as well as its house-made beef and lamb sausages.