Photo by: AFP

"Watch out, that's going to explode," he comments, handing a customer a "Cannon 155" -- a hamburger with a "calibre" of 155 grams of meat.

Hussein, aged 15 and who was born after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, says he is crazy about the food in Buns and Guns, even though in fact it scarcely differs from that served up in any other Lebanese fast-food outlet. "My friends and I love weapons -- though not to kill each other," he says, speaking through a mouthful of "grenade" potato-chips. "Lots of youngsters come here, but our message is not to teach them violence but rather to familiarise them with these weapons so they know the dangers," comments Youssef.

Aware that some potential clients would hesitate to enter the Shiite suburb, especially after clashes in May in which 65 people were killed, Youssef says he wants to open "another branch in Beirut and one in a Gulf country."

The short-term solution is a delivery service which, the menu boasts, "is faster than a bullet."
The concept of such restaurants is not unique in Beirut. The capital's ultra-sophisticated Talleyrand restaurant has sprinkled its menu with terms drawn from the Lebanese political scene.

Frequented by the political class, the restaurant offers the Western-backed ruling coalition a "green lentil majority salad" grappling with a pro-Syrian and -Iranian "opposition of warm tart Tatin and vanilla ice cream."

Hezbollah -- both a political movement and armed force -- shows up with its "chicken commando," in alliance with Christian leader General Michel Aoun, to form an "entente of green pepper sauce and fricassee of mushrooms."

As for neighbouring Syria, which dominated Lebanon for nearly three decades, it is still accused by the majority of exercising "crab supervision in salad" or at least "orange interference and tarragon on salmon on a board." The restaurant has nearly 50 such specialities, designed "to make the menu more amusing," says restaurant co-owner Beshara Hadji-Thomas.