Al Safir does a bustling buffet trade with both hotel guests and office workers based in the Diplomatic Area. Although its brown wooden panels and cream pillars make it reminiscent of an ’80s dining hall in a university residence, the all-you-can-eat formula clearly works.

The Lebanese mezze, meat, fish and salad dishes are fresh and substantial, but if your eyes are not bigger than your belly, then the à la carte menu offers a range of simpler bites. The Mediterranean salad with romaine lettuce, rocket, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, black olives and fillet of slightly smoked grilled salmon is fantastically appetising, while the croque-monsieur sandwich with veal ham and emmental served with french fries is a toasty treat, vigorous enough to refuel you for the rest of the day.

End your meal by allowing dark and light into your life with an outlandishly rich, creamy and ever-so-slightly crunchy chocolate mousse – its sublime sweetness rushes straight to your head.