Showing posts with label Baklava. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baklava. Show all posts

Tuesday, 2 February 2021

Paramount Fine Foods

Feb 2, 2021 @ Shops at Don Mills

BOGO Chicken Shawarma ($11.98 for two) with spicy potatoes and lentil soup (+$2.30 upgrade)
The chicken shawarma had really dry chicken today and just barely enough garlic sauce and pickles. 
The lentil soup was REALLY good with a nice grainy texture from the mashed lentils, very filling and perfect on a cold day. The spicy potatoes were delicious as usual. 

Jan 26, 2021 @ Shops at Don Mills

Gotta take advantage while the BOGO promotion is still happening!
Beef Shawarma and Shish Tawook ($11.49 each x 2) and upgrade to spicy potatoes and fattoush salad (+$2.30 each and so worth it)
Beef shawarma had lots of beef, but unfortunately the beef was way too well done and became tougher. The sandwich also didn't have garlic sauce, but a lighter sauce instead (maybe so that the garlic sauce didn't overpower the beef) and it came with pickles inside. The pita was pretty good too. 
Shish Tawook had really yummy juicy chicken breast kebab style with garlic sauce and pickles. There was also an option to get a spicy version of the shish tawook sandwich (so we got that too) and it was pretty good! 
The sides: the fattoush salad was mixed better from the Don Mills location with a better ratio of dressing to salad and lots of veggies not just romaine lettuce (so it tasted better overall). 
The spicy potatoes were REALLY good! Fried potato cubes tossed with a spicy sauce (and evenly distributed on all the potatoes) - super tasty. Both these sides are worth the extra upgrade (so try it out!)

Jan 21, 2021 @ 2450 Sheppard Ave E

 Super excited to see Paramount on Ubereats' BOGO list and their sandwiches were BOGO (what a great deal!). 
Unfortunately, I didn't have the best experience at this location, the guy who gave me my food was a little rude, he told me I was late and that my order was ready at 12:30, but the Ubereats app told me it was ready at 12:50 so I got there at 12:45 and the food was cold. (I didn't complain, but I kept it in mind for future orders)
Chicken Shawarma with fries ($10.91 for two) and for an additional fattoush salad (an extra $2.30)
The chicken shawarma was good! I love their thick grainy garlic sauce that's oh so tasty! The chicken was done well and wasn't too dry and the sandwich came with lettuce and pickles. 
The fries were okay, but the fattoush salad was worth the extra money since it was so good. I loved the savoury and tangy dressing but it was also super oily and there was way too much dressing in the salad. The crunchy bits were good and paired well with the salad (we added more lettuce afterwards to soak up all the dressing and it was much better - for such a small sized container, it could have used a lighter toss of dressing)

Baklava $7.99 (pre-tax)
Much cheaper to buy in person than online!
This location's baklava didn't have as many varieties, but it somehow tasted better with more rosewater flavour than the Don Mills location (curious...)

Dec 19, 2020 @ Shops at Don Mills
I enjoyed the last box of baklava from Paramount so much that I came back for more two days later. 
10 pieces of Baklava (15% off if you order online)
A different assortment of baklava at the Shops at Don Mills location, 3 each of the round pieces, one small rectangle and 4 bigger squares. However, these pieces didn't have any rosewater flavour. These did seem fresher than the baklava from the Victoria Park and Sheppard location, but I miss the rosewater flavour. 

Dec 17, 2020 @ 2450 Sheppard Ave. E

10 Pieces of Baklava $7.99 (10% off with cash payment)
The pieces got really tiny, but the flavours were great! Lots of pistachio and rosewater flavours and it wasn't super sweet. For those that don't like rosewater, it's not overpowering, but you can definitely taste it. The cashew baklava were pretty good too - I went through this box super fast.

Jan 4, 2018 @ Shops at Don Mills
Puffy bread

Half Mixed Combo Platter $43.99
Chicken and Beef Shawarma, kafta skewer, shish tawook, BBQ beef skewers and falafel with pickled turnips, pickles, lettuce and cucumber accompanied by garlic and tahini sauces
Delicious!

Fattoush Salad
I love the crispy bits in the salad

Fries
This was so much food for two people - but it was so delicious! 

Baklawa selection

Sept 25, 2012 @ 253 Yonge Street
Two years ago, Paramount Fine Foods opened up a new location bringing their popular Middle Eastern cuisine to the heart of downtown Toronto. 

Menu

We were served these huge steaming hot puffy pita pockets right after we ordered (talk about efficient!)

Paramount Special
My friend ordered this drink with mixed fruits: strawberry, kiwi, pineapple, almonds, crushed pistachio, ashta cream and honey in strawberry and mango juice. Really delicious! It was like a drinkable dessert with a full serving of fruits. 

Chicken Shawarma Plate $10.99
Grilled chicken shawarma, garnished with mixed pickles, tomato and lettuce.
A humongous portion! The chicken was yummy - not too dry and crispy on the outside. The sweet and tangy sauce worked well with the chicken and vegetables. I also really liked the fluffy and lightly scented long grained Basmati rice (a nice change from Jasmine rice for me). 

Beef Shawarma Plate $10.99
Grilled beef shawarma with mixed pickles, tomato and lettuce. 
It was interesting that the beef shawarma had a slightly more bitter and more watery sauce, but I thought it was a good complement to the drier beef and the sauce was a good complement to the beef taste-wise. 

Overall: Paramount Fine Foods is definitely doing something right! The food is great, portions are huge and appropriately priced (so you get great value for money). It does get boiling hot in the inside of the restaurant (especially in the summer), so it's a good thing that the service is fast (eat and go!).

Paramount Fine Foods on Urbanspoon

Sunday, 2 August 2020

Narin Pastry

I saw that there was a Turkish baklava place near Wilson Haus of Lechon, so I thought I'd try it out to compare it with other baklava I've eaten. 

Turkish Baklava
Narin's baklava was had much more nuts than others I've tried; the pastry was quite flaky and there were more textures than just flaky pastry and nuts. In terms of flavour, Narin's baklava were more subtle in flavour with a lighter honey compared to the syrupy Serano's baklava. 
The roll in the top left corner had a grainy texture inside which was kind of unexpected but really nice!
I loved all the pistachios in the desserts - they were really well done. The cashew baklava was unexpected since I thought it was walnut, but it was a pleasant surprise. 

Cookies
The cookie with pistachios at the corners and jam in the middle was okay - it was a little on the dry side, but had okay flavour since the jam was slightly sweet. 
We got a sample of their salty cookies to try: the twisty cookie was surprisingly salty (I didn't really like it as much). However, the sesame cookie was pretty good and it was pretty buttery. The circle cookie was kind of powdery and disintegrated on your tongue (kind of like Persian chickpea cookies)

Monday, 25 May 2020

Serano Bakery

May 25, 2020
A small assortment of my favourite baklava at Serano! 
$11.48 total for all the baklava

Apr 21, 2020
I group my Serano baklava trips with Souv Like since they're both on Pape. So I get delicious gyros and dessert in one go!
Pistachio mini baklava, crushed walnut, 2 almond cream, bueno baklava, walnut squares, almond squares and spiral baklava $14.84 (by weight)
I love their pistachio baklava (because the pistachio buttercream is amazing!) and the bueno baklava with hazelnut and chocolate is really good too. My other favourites are the square walnut baklava and spirals - it's the perfect balance of sweetness from the honey/syrup, crunchy nuts and crispy pastry. 

Apr 2, 2020
I called ahead to see if Serano Bakery was still open during the COVID-19 Pandemic and they were! Excellent! I have cake and baklava options now! Hurray!
Clockwise from left: Melomakarono cheesecake, Nougatina large cake, Strawberry shortcake large cake, Tiramisu large cake, mango mousse small cake and black forest small cake
Large cake slices $2.60 each and small cake slices $1.50
Of the small and large cake slices, my favourite was the strawberry shortcake. The other cakes had too much cream in them for my liking and I felt like the flavours were a little off in the mango mousse and the tiramisu. 

Melomakarono Cheesecake $5.50
According to BlogTo, this is one of the best cheesecake slices in the city - so I had to try it out of course! Melomakarono is a Greek Christmas cookie made with honey. I've tried it at other places before and I wasn't a huge fan, but for some reason it works really well with this cheesecake! The cheesecake initially has a strong nutmeg flavour, but then as you keep eating it's not as strong with the cheesecake and the crust of the cheesecake really standing out. It's a really good cake and I would definitely recommend it. 

Assorted baklava: almond baklava triangles, walnut baklava squares, spiral baklava
These are some of my favourite baklavas at Serano - I find they do really AMAZING walnut baklava and I love their squares with crushed walnuts inside. I also really like the mini baklava circles (especially the pistachio cream baklava). The morning/early afternoon selection was okay, but the staff behind the counter said that they would have more baklava selection later in the day. Next time, I'll make a later trip. 

Aug 26, 2019

Black Forest Cake $2.60
It was super cheap to get a slice of cake here and the cake was pretty good too! The Black Forest Cake is pretty popular here. 

Assorted Baklava
I loved the pistachio baklava with the buttercream and they had a Bueno baklava today! I also tried the kataifi and realized I don't really like the stringy texture of the pastry. I like the spiral baklava and the ones with densely packed nuts. 

June 24, 2019
Yummy baklava! 

Assorted baklava
My favourites were the walnut baklava. Serano makes the best walnut baklava I've ever had. The almond and pistachio baklava circles are really good too. 


May 11, 2019
Pistachio cake and Hazelnut cake
The pistachio cake didn't have a lot of pistachio flavour. The hazelnut cake was slightly better. 

Pistachio, walnut, almond and apricot baklava
OMG! Their baklavas are REALLY GOOD! Everything was delicious! Super crisp and flaky pastry made with honey (so it wasn't super sweet) and packed with tons of nuts to get the perfect flavour. 


Friday, 24 January 2020

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. 


Wednesday, 22 January 2020

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.