Middle Eastern – Page 3

Unique Sandwiches at Fattoush Sandwich Club

Published on July 9, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 253 Gerrard Street East, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/fattoushtoronto/

Fattoush Sandwich Club serves a bunch of Middle Eastern-inspired sandwiches (though, oddly enough, fattoush is a salad and not a sandwich, and does not feature in any of their sandwich offerings).

I tried a couple of sandwiches, and they were both quite tasty.

The first was the Smashed Beef: “Beef Mix, Pomegranate Molasses, Tahini.” This is sort of burger-esque, though the meat tastes more like kofta than like a burger patty (this is not a bad thing). The pomegranate molasses adds some sweet zippiness, and the tahini adds richness. It’s a solid sandwich.

I think I liked the Crispy Eggplant even better: “Eggplant, Siracha Toum, Tomato Confit.” As you can see from the photo, this is a substantially sloppier sandwich, with a whole bunch of lettuce and tasty sauces. But the real star of the show is the eggplant itself; when they say it’s crispy, it’s crispy. It’s breaded and fried, and it has a very pronounced crunchiness that holds up even to the very saucy sandwich. The contrast between the crunchy exterior and the creamy interior is thoroughly delicious.

Great Shawarma at Leziz Kitchen

Published on May 21, 2024 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 418 Horner Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.lezizkitchen.com/

Look, I’m going to cut right to the chase with this one: you know what shawarma is. I don’t need to sell it to you. And the chicken shawarma wrap at Leziz Kitchen? It’s great. You should try it.

Everything about it just works. The shawarma itself is as it should be — it’s nicely spiced, it’s got a bunch of crispy bits, and the meat is juicy.

The wrap has a nice balance of meatiness and freshness from the veggies (mostly just lettuce and tomato; I skipped the onion), the garlic sauce is flavourful without being a garlic assault, and the hot sauce adds some nice zip. And the pita, which they put on the grill to heat up and get some light toastiness, is fresh and lightly chewy; it does a great job of holding everything together.

It’s definitely one of the better shawarma wraps I’ve had in the Mississauga/Etobicoke area.

A Delicious Wrap at Yaseen’s Shawarma

Published on April 13, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5030 Maingate Drive, Mississauga
Website: https://yaseensshawarma.ca/

Shawarma is one of those foods that’s everywhere in the GTA. I doubt that you can go more than two or three blocks without coming across at least one shawarma joint in most parts of the city. And yeah, it makes sense — it’s fast, cheap, and reliably tasty.

That being said, even with as many options as there are in the GTA, Yaseen’s Shawarma stands out. I got the chicken saj wrap, which features chicken shawarma, zippy pickles, and a very generous amount of garlicky sauce.

If that sauce weren’t so tasty it might have been too much, but it was rich, garlicky, and delicious. I want to buy a tub of it.

The shawarma had a decent amount of crispy bits, and was nice and juicy. It also had an interesting citrusy flavour that helped cut through the richness of the chicken and the sauce (sumac? Lemon zest?).

And the saj flatbread its wrapped in was nice and fresh, and was toasted on its exterior, giving it a light but satisfying crispiness. It’s a great wrap.

A Delicious Sandwich at Falafel Plus

Published on December 7, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1065 Canadian Place, Mississauga
Website: https://falafelplus.ca/

I’ve had the falafel at Falafel Plus a few times now, and it’s consistently delicious — some of the best falafel in the GTA. I figured it was probably about time to try something different; despite the name, this place actually serves a whole bunch of Middle Eastern standbys.

I went with the magaly, which is a fried eggplant and cauliflower sandwich. You can get this topped as you’d like, but by default it comes with creamy garlic sauce, zingy cucumber salad, hot pepper, and (I think) a different garlicky sauce.

It’s really good. The eggplant has a great flavour and is luxuriously creamy, and the cauliflower adds a meaty bite. Combined with the tasty toppings, it’s a top-notch sandwich.

Given how good the falafel is, I was expecting this to be tasty, but I was actually pretty blown away by how much I enjoyed it.

A Solid Wrap at Shah’s Halal Food

Published on January 26, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 65 Duncan Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.shahshalalfood.ca/

Shah’s Halal Food has a pretty straightforward menu; it’s basically just chicken, lamb, and falafel that you can either order on rice or as a wrap. Apparently it’s a chain with a whole bunch of locations in the States and the UK, and yeah, that checks out. It tastes like chain food.

Still, it’s not bad. I went with the lamb gyros, which comes absolutely crammed with lamb, veggies, black beans, chick peas, hummus, and three different sauces: white sauce, hot sauce, and green sauce.

The lamb itself is probably the weakest part of the sandwich; it comes out of a metal warming tray looking like the saddest, grayest cubes of meat that you’ve ever seen, and it has a spongey reconstituted meat flavour. It’s not great.

But the sandwich is so crammed with stuff that this is barely even an issue — I wish it were a bit spicier (it’s basically not spicy at all), but it’s zippy, crunchy, and flavourful, and the soft but substantial pita does a good job of holding it all together.