Sandra's Italian Kitchen

Chicken parmigiana with pasta and vegetables and garlic toast $10.95

I found the menu kind of confusing for the hot table. A meat and two sides (including pasta) was $10.95 and they had some pasta special too. I didn't really know which was which. The tomato sauce was pretty good

Lasagna with garlic toast and a chicken parmigiana 

I guess the lasagna is an upgrade from the daily pasta and we somehow could add meat to it. 

Anything goes with an Italian hot table. The pasta was pretty good and they gave us a huge portion. 

Website: https://sandrasitaliankitchen.com/

Kostas Greek Bakery

I'm back to Greek baklava! I think my favourite baklava so far has been from Serano Bakery, it'll be interesting to see how this one compares.

 

Assorted Baklava

There was a lot of syrup/honey with the baklava - almost too much since it made the baklava super sweet. The baklava were also really sticky. 

  

Tiramisu

The tiramisu had a lot of chocolate powder on top and the cake was kind of dry. 

Website: https://www.kostasgreekbakery.com/about

Shirini Sara Pastry House

Jan 22, 2020

Pistachio cake

Light airy pistachio mousse cake with lots of fresh cream and fluffy cake. You could easily finish half the cake without realizing it since it's so light. I would have liked it more if the cake had more pistachio flavour (like a pistachio buttercream), but that's my preference. 

July 2, 2019

Persian cookies!

The chickpea cookies are my favourite! They have this unique grainy texture that just melts on your tongue.

 

Baklava with pistachios

Shirini Sara's baklava have a rosewater scent. 

Walnut baklava

The pastry was flaky, but it didn't have a lot of syrup or sweetness. 

March 23, 2019

Pistachio Roulette

Light fluffy cake with a light flavoured pistachio cream and sprinkled with pistachios on the outside.

It was okay, I prefer the pistachio flavour to be more prominent. 

Website: https://www.shirinisara.com/

Lebanese Bakery

Assortment of baklava

The baklava were pretty flaky and there were lots of crushed nuts. 

I've realized that my preference is for syrupy Greek baklava as opposed to Lebanese baklava, so unfortunately, I'm probably not as good a judge of their baklava since it felt kind of simple to me (no floral flavour or honey/syrup flavour).

Website: http://lebanesebakery.ca/menu/

Harvest Green

Jan 6, 2020

Piri piri chicken (spicy sauce) with kale and potatoes

The chicken was juicy and moist and the piri piri sauce was slathered on top - it is a bit spicy. 

Aug 30, 2019

A few people have told me about this lunch spot and how good the food is here. There's always a lineup here, but it moves pretty fast since they really make two meats on the grill (chicken and fish) and the salads are constantly being prepped by a team behind the counter.

Bourbon Chicken, kale salad with caesar dressing and potatoes

The bourbon chicken is delicious! Good flavour and the chicken is perfectly cooked! The kale salad was good too and the potatoes came with a mushroom gravy which was really nice. 

Spicy Buffalo, mango salad and kale

The mango salad used fresh apple mangoes cut into strips. The buffalo sauce was good, but I prefer the bourbon chicken flavour.

Website: https://harvestgreen.ca/

Crown Pastries

Assorted baklava

The baklava had a light floral scent and it was rather light on syrup/honey as well. 

Another customer recommended the knafeh with cheese, so I thought I'd try it. Unfortunately, I didn't really like it - something about the stringy texture at the top of the pastry and the soft cheese in the middle just didn't work for me. 

Website: https://www.crownpastriesbaklava.com/product-category/baklava/

Oh My Gyro

A lot of people on Yelp mentioned that this was a really good deal for lunch since it's a huge portion and it's really good.

Lunch special: Chicken on rice $8.45

 I tried out the lunch special with mild hot sauce. It is a huge portion! The garlic sauce was really yummy and the rice was moist. I loved that the chicken shawarma had nice crispy edges and that it was juicy and not too dry (even at the edges). It's really good value since it's super tasty and a huge portion for under $10 with tax. 

Website: http://ohmygyro.ca/