Location: 2537 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: https://byblosuptown.com/

Brunch is great, no doubt about it.  Eggs Benedict, pancakes, French toast — all tasty stuff.  But sometimes you want something a bit different, and if that’s the case, the Middle-Eastern-influenced brunch menu at Byblos fits the bill quite nicely.

We started with the Turkish Manti Dumplings (“eggplant + yogurt sauce + date molasses”), which was easily the weakest dish of the three I tried.  The yogurt/molasses sauce was one-note sweet and tangy, and the dumplings were basically pure mush.  There was almost no distinction in texture between the wrapper and the creamy filling.

Up next was the Eggplant Kibbeh: “zucchini flower + baharat + chickpea batter.”  This was interesting.  Kibbeh is a Middle Eastern dish made from spiced ground beef; it’s essentially a fried meatball stuffed with more meat.

The vegetarian version they serve here has only the most vague kibbeh-like properties, but it’s tasty for what it is; it’s nicely spiced, and the creamy filling contrasts well with the crispy fried exterior.

My main meal was the Bastirma Khachapuri: “manouri cheese + egg + guindilla + urfa chili.”  This was basically a Turkish pide filled with cheese, eggs, and bastirma, a cured meat that’s generally thought to be the precursor to pastrami.

It was pretty tasty — it was freshly baked, with a nice crispy exterior and a chewy interior.  It’s not the best pide you’ll ever eat, but of course, the combo of cheese, eggs, and salty cured meat is a winner.  That’s always going to be a winner.  It’s hard to go wrong there.