Australian-born former Harrod’s pastry chef Phil Khoury has created a chocolate bar that is being touted as being better than the viral Dubai chocolate bar.

Phil, who announced he would be leaving Harrod’s in January 2025, created the Beirut Chocolate Bar, which takes inspiration from his Lebanese roots.

The chocolate bar features layers of sweet, floral orange blossom caramel and a nutty cashew baklawa crunch. All this is covered in a 50 per cent almond milk chocolate or 63 per cent dark chocolate.

The Beirut Chocolate Bar is the first launch from his new business, Khourys, based out of east London, which was officially opened on August 7.

According to Good Housekeeping, the chocolate bar was created as a one-off flavour for a charity bake sale in London, and soon went on to become a viral success across the Middle East. Phil later relaunched it in Lebanon.

This most recent iteration is the first time it will become a permanent fixture at Khourys. The initial response to the Beirut Chocolate Bar was strong, with 600 bars sold in less than two hours.

When announcing the opening of Khourys, Phil said, “I’m finally going out on my own.”

“I left a dream job to pursue a dream of my own. I can’t wait to share more… but first I have a kitchen to build.”

It’s been a huge few years for Phil who, in addition to his lauded job at Harrod’s, also released his debut cookbook A New Way to Bake in 2023. The book went on to collect the Fortnum & Mason Best Debut Cookery Book award. Phil has also appeared on MasterChef Australia, and the BBC’s Bake Off: The Professionals.