Armenian Kitchen @ Victoria Park/Eglinton

Hey ...
I know we can get a take out falafel at a dozen places around the city. This place is an actual restaurant with waitresses, and a liquor license. Serving shawarmas, falafels, tabouli and all that good stuff.

Definitely worth a try.

Enjoy.

[capetowngirlie]

I've come back from a very nasty lunch at the Armenian Kitchen! The shawarma, both beef and chicken was dry and tasteless and I missed the traditional toppings especially the parsley and pickles. While the pickles were served on the side, they were very dry and not very tasty. The garlic fries, yuck what the heck was that and the portion size for the price just made the whole thing more ridiculous. The people are very nice and I'm glad they have a loyal clientelle. This is too far from what I expected to ever go back again though. Very disappointing!

[embee]

I've never been there for lunch, but I've had dinners there for years. The shawarma has sometimes been dry when it is very late. But I've never had the kind of experience you describe. Their portions have been large and the flavours good or better. (I would never have garlic fries there).

[erly]

sorry to agree with capetowngirlie,
The app's are excellent, but the shawarma (went twice) was on both occasions so dry we couldn't eat it.
Portions seemed very fair, ( but this was dinner)
It is always a bad sign when the server retreives almost untouched plates, and doesn't ask why.

[embee]

In thinking about it, we pretty much always order a meal from the app selections. However, the shawarma has been good more often than not (usually ordered on the veggie combo with meat). The lentil soup is delicious.

The "mains" are not particularly exciting. But while we have sometimes suffered poor service, the food has been fine overall.

[capetowngirlie]

To be fair, I am partial to the old school shawarma's of sliced marinated juicy meats well roasted in a generous stack and the combination of strong flavours of garlic sauce, onions, turnip pickles, fresh tomatoes, lettuce and parsley, tahini and hot sauces. I found their shawarma's sorely lacking when compared to those at Farhat's on Lawrence and Warden. Most of the time they're perfection and impossible to beat for my taste. I tried Empire and wasn't that impressed, again as compared to Farhat's. Any suggestions on great places for great Roti in the east end of the city would be appreciated, thanks!

[embee]

Armenian Kitchen is definitely not as good as Nasib's. I've heard mixed comments about Farhat's on Chowhound and elsewhere, though I haven't tried it yet. But Armenian Kitchen is a licensed full-service restaurant. Different styles for different times.

[cream]

Was there last night for dinner. It was really good and for once the place was not packed. Love the eggplant, kibbe, luft, fatoshe and the rice. Take out stands up well and is great leftovers.
Had a good review in the Saturday Post. Although they said the hummos was average, which I totally disagree.

[capetowngirlie]

I think I'll give it another go based on the postings and comments above. Lunch of apps and some of the dishes mentioned by cream sound too good to pass up.

[jessi20]

sorry to hijack but a couple blocks south in Eglinton Square they have a surprisingly good shwarma joint in the food court. worth checking out......it is almost as good as windsor shwarma IMO. my dad swears by the fish sandwiches.

[capetowngirlie]

the great shawarma search continues! my sister and I are on a mission, lol! Ibrahim Pizza & Bbq, 1967 Lawrence Ave E - went to Ibrahim's today for shawarma's and they're fantatic! I'll go back for sure, clean, good price, great flavour, very nice service.

[mbee]

I have to second Ibrahim Pizza & BBQ. Chicken Shawarma is great, very tasty, not dry at all! 2 for 5.99 is a real bargain.

[red dragon]

Finally gave Armenian Kitchen a try (Friday night). The place was not busy when we arrived, however it quickly filled up by the time we left. I have to say, we will NOT be returning. Service was awful.

One server in particular had a very bad attitude throughout our visit. A table in front of us had a dirty tablecloth and since the place was filling up, I did hear them ask nicely to have it changed. The server was not too pleased to do this, however, she did change it and left. Our food was very slow to arrive, chicken shawarma was "VERY" dry. Portions in my opinion were small (meal of chicken shawarma, fries and tomato salad was $12!!). Hummus was good, however, fries were not cooked through. We asked twice for more pita and waited a total of 20 minutes!

A real disappointment!!

[embee]

Interesting. Their service is extremely variable. It can be good, well meaning but amateur, or overtly awful. But small portions have never been an issue for us.

[julesrules]

They are getting cheap with the pita, 2 pitas per portion of hummus or baba when I went last week. We did get more when we asked but since I got the baba to go I was short once again... I don't understand when restaurants cut costs this way, it's annoying.
To other's comments, the chicken shwarma was a little dry and not as flavourful as I remember. Must remember to ask for extra garlic sauce. They have never done the style with pickles, and since I grew up eating theirs I prefer it - I actually dislike the Montreal shish taouk with the garlic mayo and pickles. Obviously people have preferences, but I don't think there is only one right way to dress a shwarma.

[ekammin]

I generally don't like dishes in which chicken (usually cheaper that the original) has been substituted for what was originally some other form of meat. Shwarma, I believe, was originally lamb, or lamb and beef.

I used to love Schneider's Oktoberfest sausages when they were all pork. As soon as I saw that they had added chicken as one of the ingredients, I stopped buying them. I wrote to Schneider's to express my displeasure with this, but they never responded.

[lissar]

I love their garlic tahini sauce. Does anyone know how to copy it?

MMmm, spicy garlic fries...

[red dragon]

Has anyone been here recently? (This post is from 2005) .... also wondering what the prices are like?

TIA

[Leslieville]

I'm going in about 20 mins. The food is just as good as ever. We get the vegetarian plate with chicken Schwarma, that has humus, baba ghanoush, salad, tomatoes, falafel and the chicken, and that costs about 12.00. With 2 appetizers, thats more than enough for two.

[embee]

The Armenian Kitchen has very good food. You get the requisite complimentary pickled peppers and turnips. The lentil soup is lovely, the dips are excellent, and the falafel and kibbeh are fine. The shawarma (chicken or beef) is good when fresh, but can be dried out late in the day. One combination plate with meat ($12) is an adequate dinner main for two. The kebabs and similar "mains" aren't special. Service could be better.

[pescatarian]

I used to go there years ago, but havent been in a while. I will definitely go back now.

[cream]

Just did take out the other night. Make sure to try their eggplant! Their salads are really good, especially the fatouche. For dining in, service can be spotty, either super rushed or really slow!
Enjoy!

[ekammin]

We like to make a dinner of about 6 or 7 of their appetizers.

[dgrayca]

Just went a couple of weeks ago. I have to agree about the Baba Ghanoujh! Amazing. And I'm not a fan of eggplant.
I was there at lunch, while the food was amazing, the service was incredibly slow. Our lunch took over an hour to arrive after ordering, and we had to wait 30 minutes to order. Quite a few tables left due to being annoyed with the wait.

[superchick]

Still ridiculously cheap
Lots of the food has been mentioned although i find their falafel good but not fanastic.
Humous and Ganoush are solid - one of the best in the city
Try the sujok, a little salty but w/ dab of spread, it's very tasty
Lentil soup is a must
Lamb kabob sandwich has always done well for me
Fried eggplant - very scrumptious

Best Baba Ghanoujh (forgive spelling) I've ever had. I also love their chicken shwarma, with roasted tomatos and a different, non-mayo garlic sauce. And the baklava a la mode.