North Express

Dec 8, 2020

Koobideh Sandwich $6.99

I think it's official, the man who makes their delicious laffa bread no longer works here...I'm super sad because that was one of the best things about their sandwiches here. 

The wrap was super dry and crumbly and it was wrapped twice to almost make sure that the food inside the sandwich stayed inside. The meat was still good, but it tasted like there was some gamey meat (maybe lamb) inside it today. The sandwich also didn't come with sauce or anything other than parsley and onions - which also made it super dry. Super disappointed on this trip, I wonder if I should give up on this location for koobideh sandwiches now - it's no longer as worth it as it used to be. 

Aug 7, 2020

Koobideh sandwich 

The price went up a little bit and the laffa has changed to a thinner wrap. The sandwich condiments have also changed - they no longer have the eggplant, mushrooms, tabule and other Persian sides for the sandwiches. Instead, they have the regular cucumber, lettuce and tomato - but they do still have baba ganoush and hummus. The sandwich is still pretty good, but not as amazing as it used to be.  

Jan 24, 2019

Huge Koobideh sandwich

(Banana included for size comparison)

Their sandwiches are really good - you can choose all the toppings you want from their counter and it includes items such as tabbouleh, baba ganoush, hummus, sauteed mushrooms and more. 

January 6, 2015

This place has become one of my go-to spots when I'm in the area.

And they finally have a take-out menu! 

I think the prices are a little cheaper than North next door, but I'm not too sure since I've only ever eaten at North Express.

Massive Sandwich for $6.95 (excluding tax)

It's a little bigger than a foot long sub.

So colourful! There's tabbouleh, cabbage, sauteed onions, koobideh (of course), hummus, babaganoush and more in this deliciously tasty sandwiche.

It's definitely got some tangy-ness and a tiny hint of sourness, but it's nothing overpowering and there's so many veggies packed in. Delicious!

November 1, 2014

Chicken shawarma sandwich

Also on a fresh laffa and with all the accompaniments
This time they were much quicker at serving us and preparing our orders. However, I think they haven't quite worked out all the issues with their dry chicken yet because the chicken shawarma sandwich (despite having a lot of sauce from the hummus, babaganoush and tahini) was still really dry. Conclusion: I think the Koobideh is the go-to sandwich at North Express.

October 28, 2014

Ever since I ate at Taftan Kebab, Persian food has been on my mind and I recalled that my coworkers mentioned that there was a place near Yonge and Steeles called North that served really good Persian food. So the next time I was in the area, I decided to grab dinner at North (Shomal). 

We were all set to walk in the restaurant when I noticed that there was a store next to it called North Express serving take-out of the North menu items. They recently opened a few days before we dropped by - so we had excellent timing to try out their new offerings. The menu probably isn't as extensive as next door's, but they had cheap sandwiches and lunch/dinner specials.

Koobideh sandwich on a freshly made laffa

I put a little of everything into my sandwich: marinated olives, eggplant, tabbouleh, babaganoush, hummus, beets, tomatoes and cabbage salad.
And it was all delicious! A little tangy from all the accompaniments which offset the doughy bread and I thought it made the koobideh (which is a Persian minced meat kebab) stand out more.

Chicken Breast Lunch Box
I think this might have been been better in concept than execution. The vegetables were simply steamed and lightly seasoned - but they didn't survive the journey home. Unfortunately, it tasted like they absorbed the smell of the plastic from the container as did the chicken. The chicken was also really dry after the trip home. The only thing intact was the salad.

Overall: We kind of wrote off the lunch box, but the sandwich was fantastic! The service was a little slow, but it's understandable since they recently opened and weren't really sure how to run the take-out counter yet. We will definitely be back for more sandwiches because the koobideh we had was delicious and great value for money. 

Website: http://shomalrestaurant.com/

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/

Papa Cafe & Bakery

I'm always slightly intimidated by Persian bakeries since they have so many different cookies and pastries and I don't really know which ones are good or not. Sometimes they sell individual cookies by the gram/pound and other times they're already pre-packaged. 

Papa sells by gram: $31.99 per 100 grams for cookies.

Th saffron chickpea cookies were great! Lovely saffron yellow colour and flavour. The pistachio flavour didn't really come out in chickpea cookies, but they had ground pistachio nuts on top which was nice.

Pistachio roulette cake made with fresh pistachio cream. The flavour is rather light and it's nice that it's not too sweet. 

Website: https://www.papapastry.ca/

Ladan Pastry & Nuts

Assortment of Persian cookies

I really liked the swirly chickpea cookies! The saffron one (yellow) was really nice. We also got some baklava. 

Darband Restaurant

June 6, 2017

Koobideh and chicken platter and a koobideh platter

The chicken was a little over-cooked and not really flavourful by itself. I preferred the koobideh. The koobideh meat was really tender and it was pretty tasty. However, I like the slightly more grilled version from North. The platters at Darband were cheaper than North Express' platters and they did include a lot of basmati rice, a charred tomato and a side salad. 

October 30, 2016

I didn't even realize that there was a 24/7 Persian restaurant open in the plaza by Don Mills and York Mills until I searched nearby Persian restaurants (because I was craving koobideh and usually I go to North Express at Yonge and Steeles). 

  

Koobideh Take-out

Koobideh was really flavourful and tender. The juices from the meat soaked into the basmati rice and made it so good! I'd definitely come back for the Koobideh (but I love the sandwiches at North Express more). 

BB Cafe

With my more recent obsession with Persian food and add that with my fascination with desserts, it was really a matter of time before I started looking for places that would serve Persian sweets.
We happened to be in the Thornhill area and so we went to BB Cafe for lunch and sweets.

Pot of Tea and Pistachio Milkshake
 If you've been following my blog, you probably know I absolutely LOVE pistachio things.  So when I'm offered anything pistachio related - I will always get that option.  Part of the reason why I think I could become addicted to Persian desserts is because they put pistachio in everything.  The milkshake was rather creamy with tiny chunks of ground pistachios in it and it was topped with a whipped cream and sprinkled with pistachios - so it really was made for the pistachio fanatics. I liked it, but I felt that it was too heavy on the cream and didn't really have that amazingly sweet pistachio flavour I was looking for. (It could have done with a little more sugar and a little less cream).

Chicken panini and salad
The panini was great! Perfectly seasoned and juicy grilled chicken breast with some mixed greens, roasted peppers and tomatoes on a focaccia bun.
The salad was tangy from the balsamic and the tomatoes were ripe and sweet which made the salad quite nice.

Croque Madame and Salad
It looked a little sad on the plate...the salad was really good at least.

Pistachio Napoleon and Saffron Pistachio ice cream
Also a little heavier and creamier than I would have liked my dessert and there was some crushed pistachios on top of the dessert but not as much inside the dessert. The pastry was flaky and had a nice light touch.  The saffron pistachio ice cream was really cool! It was aromatic and really quite different from your typical ice cream.  The saffron flavour was a lot heavier than the pistachio.

Overall: Good desserts at BB Cafe - lots of pistachio varieties! The food was pretty good too and reasonably priced. The service was a little slow though, but it was difficult for the waitresses to have to deal with two floors of customers - so it was a little understandable.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/BB-Cafe-Pastry-Boutique-545805858800146/

Ladan Pastry & Bakery

Ever since I've been fully introduced to little Persia in Toronto and Persian food, I've been eyeing their cookies and looking for an opportunity to understand them so I can finally try them. So I was really excited when I saw this article in the Toronto Star about Persian cookies. 

Persian cookies

The swirly ones are Beheshti - the yellow ones are saffron pistachio and the white is vanilla. It's a soft cookie that crumbles pretty quickly but leaves a lingering taste in your mouth. The other cookies had jam in the middle and the solid block one was a chickpea cookie. 

Overall: I got the impression that Persian cookies are delicate and crumbly and not very sweet. They have interesting flavour combinations too.  

Taftan Kebab

After reading about this place online, I wanted to try it since I was in the area for lunch:

Prices on the website were pretty cheap.

It wasn't until I got to the restaurant that I realized the prices all went up by a bit:

    

    
Combo #5: Chicken Kebab with salad $5.99
The chicken was juicy and tasty. I was a little concerned that it might have been undercooked (but I didn't have any stomach problems - so it must have been okay or my stomach handled it).
The roasted tomato was really good - I now understand the obsession: the crinkly skin, sweet tomato and slightly mushy inside...Yum! The salad was a simple Greek salad, but all this food together was very filling for less than $10.

Overall: Good take-out Iranian food a little south of Little Persia. I didn't have any problems with the service - they were quick and polite to me.

Website: http://www.taftankebab.com/