We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Falafel plate – falafel garnished with mixed pickles, tomatoes and lettuce served with a side dip of tahini sauce
Having grown up in Saudi Arabia, we are always looking for Arab food that has that same flavour we know so well. Several years ago, some old neighbours of ours from Saudi took our parents to the Paramount restaurant in Mississauga. Only recently have they expanded downtown and up in Markham. We finally made our way to Paramount Fine Foods for lunch on our way to the Toronto Zoo.
They had our favourites, ranging from mixed fruit juices, manakeesh with Accawi cheese, moutabal, mujadara, and pink turnip pickles. Everything was amazing, from the Arabic music to the smells of spices and perfume to the counters of beautiful food in ready-to-go containers. I remember, before I had to wear an abaya and wasn’t allowed into the ‘male’ section of the restaurant, going with my dad to pick up some of these delicious foods, in the same ready-to-go containers!
Unlike a regular restaurant, you order at the cash register, and the servers will bring your food to your table as it’s ready. You pay when you are finished your meal, before you leave. The benefit of this is that you can keep on ordering more food, desserts, and drinks as you desire them, and only leave once you are good and ready. It makes for a leisurely, no-fuss meal.
The colours of these foods are fantastic as well, from the bright pink beet-stained pickled turnip to the vibrantly green tabbouleh and green pistachio nuts. We had to restrain ourselves from ordering everything on the menu, and we will definitely be back for more!
Za’atar manakeesh and fresh, billowy pita breadFor dessert we had Sh’aibiyad, phyllo pastry stuffed with ashta cream, coated with sugar syrup and topped with crushed pistachios.Arayess – pita bread stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, chopped onions and parsley, garnished with mixed pickles, tomatoes and lettuce with a side of hummus.Za’atar manakeesh and moutabal.Our lunch!Moutabal – a dip of grilled eggplant, tahini sauce, and virgin olive oil. Topped with sumac and pomegranate seeds.Osmalieh – kinafe dough stuffed with ashta cream and drizzled with sugar syrup.
Our family ordered this Saudi fruit juice whenever we went out for shawarmas - the classic fast food we ate in Saudi Arabia. Now shawarmas are commonplace in Canada, but when we moved to Riyadh in 1996, they were brand new to us. The shawarmas were only SR 5 (less than…
Last week a university friend and I caught up over dinner at African Palace, an Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurant in the Bloorcourt neighbourhood of Toronto. It has been voted one of the Best Ethiopian Restaurants in Toronto in several publications over the past few years. The Bloorcourt neighbourhood itself is home to several Ethiopian…
Finding free things to do is important way for us to save money, and it can be especially difficult during the winter in Toronto. Summers in Toronto are full of street festivals, cultural festivals, Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, picnics, and afternoons spent cycling. In winter, which in Toronto spans November to March,…
2 Replies to “Toronto Eats: Lunch at Paramount Fine Foods”
[…] I figured out the recipe after years of testing – the guava juice is the secret ingredient. Paramount Fine Foods offers the closest thing, and you can get the deluxe version with pistachios, almonds, chopped […]
Gorgeous pictures! My favourite is arayes
[…] I figured out the recipe after years of testing – the guava juice is the secret ingredient. Paramount Fine Foods offers the closest thing, and you can get the deluxe version with pistachios, almonds, chopped […]