Middle Eastern restaurants in Toronto share similar ingredients and sometimes dishes (though the spelling can be wildly divergent). These are restaurants where mezze, falafel and kebabs are stars, and sharing around a big table is encouraged.
Here are my picks for the top Middle Eastern restaurants in Toronto by neighbourhood.
ANNEX
The menu is always changing at Fat Pasha on Dupont, but count on falafel, fattoush salad and za'atar fried chicken to all make appearances.
CHURCH & WELLESLEY VILLAGE
As far as fast food goes, Ghazale is hard to beat. Falafel and shawarma sandwiches are light on the wallet while hearty stewed okra and lima beans are excellent accompaniments.
THE DANFORTH
Kabsa Mandi deals in Yemeni and Arab Gulf cuisines including kabsa (a mixed rice dish), mandi (tandoor-cooked meat on rice), masoob (bananas and ground flatbread), and more.
DUNDAS WEST
Sip pomegranate wine accompanied by khorak e zaban (braised beef tongue) at Kadbanu. The Iranian cafe and bar is open for lunch as well, offering a menu of sandwiches like the Nan o Paneer featuring sheep's milk cheese with mint, tomato and cucumber on barbari bread.
DON MILLS
Chef Mark McEwan oversees the menu at Diwan at the Aga Khan Museum. Expect a lineup that draws influence from Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian cuisines set in the Damascus Room, a place designed to evoke the luxury of a 19th century Syrian home.
EAST YORK
Pasha's Authentic Turkish Cuisine is the place to go for Sigara Boregi cigar rolls), hot and cold dips, pide, and grilled meats.
EGLINTON WEST
Jerusalem Restaurant has been a staple on this stretch of Eglinton for over three decades. Combination dinners are the way to go here and offer three skewers from a choice of chicken, beef, lamb, kefta or liver accompanied by an array of dips, mixed pickles, sautéed tomatoes or fried eggplant and rice, salad and pita.
ETOBICOKE
Anatolia is a Turkish restaurant near Kipling Station where the walls are adorned with colourful tapestries and live entertainment (musicians, belly dancers and fortune tellers) goes down on the first Friday of each month. Open with an order of lentil soup and a spread of mezze before moving on to traditional dishes like izgara kofte (ground beef patties) and shish kebab.
FINANCIAL DISTRICT
Rose City Kitchen on Toronto Street keeps the Financial District stuffed with fresh baked pita pockets loaded with falafel, halloumi, chicken or steak available in five styles channeling flavours from across the Middle East.
FOREST HILL VILLAGE
Mashu Mashu is a Mediterranean grill where the thing to get is the appetizer combo and mixed grill, which optimizes the number of meats and mezze on the table.
KING WEST
Start with mint tea or fragrant cocktails at Byblos before ordering a selection of traditional mezze. Highlights include the house labneh with fennel and honey, smokey eggplant manti dumplings, and a jewelled saffron rice dish studded with carrots, barberries and almonds.
LITTLE INDIA
For a taste of Egypt, head to Maha's where the menu features sunny eggs and foole, falafels stuffed with eggs, and the Pharaoh's po' boy sandwich.
LITTLE ITALY
Start with yogurt dips like the maast-o khiar served with barbari bread at The Pomegranate. When it comes to entrees, you're going to want one of the braised lamb dishes like the morasa polo with jewelled rice and braised lamb shank.
MARKHAM
Bamiyan Kabob on Markham Road is one of six GTA outposts from this chain of Afghan eateries. Kebab wraps and dinners packed with rice and salad are the thing to get, and come in choices like barg (skewered filet mignon), kofta (minced meat), and choppan (lamb chops).
NORTH YORK
Dr. Laffa is a popular Israeli-Iraqi eatery where the menu features shawarma, falafel and sabich sandwiches loaded onto fresh, puffy laffa bread. Other highlights include the hummus with beans and hard boiled eggs, and whole grilled eggplant doused in tahini.
QUEEN WEST
Me Va Me offers a fast casual dining experience featuring shawarma platters, skewered meats on salad and falafels nestled into warm laffa baked onsite in taboon ovens.
RICHMOND HILL
Hanna's Shawarma does takeout and dine-in. The namesake shawarma is a menu highlight. It comes in a choice of chicken or mixed veal and lamb, which are best accompanied by an array of salad and hot and cold apps.
RIVERSIDE
A vibrant spread of mezze and grilled meats are a delight to enjoy at Tabule. The beautiful space decorated in geometric patterns and gilded accents is almost as nice as the colourful plates of tabbouleh, fried eggplant and kefta banadura featuring minced lamb and beef sizzling in a garlicky tomato sauce.
ST. CLAIR WEST
As you might guess from its name, Mezzetta is all about small plates offered for $3.75 each or in mix-and-match combinations starting at $36 for 10 selections. Options are plentiful and include highlights like Moroccan carrots with chick peas, dill and a minty vinaigrette, and baba ganoush made with pureed eggplant and tahini.
SCARBOROUGH
Mamajoun is an informal Armenian pizzeria where the house specialty is lahmajoun. Here, the traditional flat bread is topped with a mix of minced meat and red pepper paste, and can be had folded into sandwiches or topped with extra cheese and soujouk that does indeed resemble a pizza.
THORNHILL
Sababa isn't fancy or cool, but it doesn't matter because it's so incredibly delicious. Among its many strengths is the pita (baked fresh on site) which can be had accompanying an array of dips or as the vessel for falafel or shawarma sandwiches.
WEST QUEEN WEST
Iranian food food is the specialty at Banu where starters include olive tapenade and smoked eggplant with egg. Yogurts and a shirazi salad are smart orders too, especially before tucking into meaty flame grilled specialties including delicacies like del (cow heart) or don balan (lamb testicles).
YONGE & DUNDAS
Paramount Fine Foods across from the Eaton Centre can be a chaotic and loud dining experience, but just take that as a sign of it's enduring popularity. Standouts on the menu include the hummus piled with shawarma, fresh baked manakeesh slathered with labneh and sprinkled with za'atar, and the vast assortment of sticky baklawa.
YONGE & EGLINTON
Istanbul Cafe isn't so much a restaurant as it is a coffee house. Even still, you'll find an array of sweet and savoury fare including pastries like sari burma and baklava and lunch-time favourites like spinach borek at lentil soup.
YORKVILLE
70 Down is an upscale restaurant boasting a striking interior design and menu featuring North African and Middle Eastern cuisines. On the menu, you'll find ashak
(leek and onion dumplings), chargrilled Joojeh (lemon saffron chicken) and ferni (a rose water scented rice pudding).
What did I miss? Disagree with my selections in the comments.
Lead photo of Tabule by Jesse Milns.
by Liora Ipsum via blogTO
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