Good lebanese sit-down restaurant in the GTA?

[gegtik]

Hey everyone; I've been on the lookout for a good lebanese restaurant ever since moving here from Montreal. Does anyone have any recommendations, preferably accessible via the TTC?

Thanks.

[jannie_b]

Armenian Kitchen is pretty good. Best baba ghannouj in the city, and wonderful, fresh falafel.

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Armenian Kitchen
1646 Victoria Park Ave, Toronto, ON M4A, CA

[gypsy_queen]

Agreed. I've been going there for years. The shawarma is excellent, but only if you get them to cut it fresh off the block for you; otherwise it can be dry and tough from sitting around. They do a very nice plate of foule, too, and the falafel is nice and light. And I love to wash it all down with mint tea (order double mint).

Be forewarned that the kitchen is open concept, which means you will likely smell of cooking when you leave. I like to sit by the window to minimize that effect.

If you are there anyway, you should pop into the little Middle Eastern supermarket a few doors down and buy some spicy lahmajoun, a thin crust meat "pizza." Freezes beautifully, and is delicious heated up and eaten with either some yogurt and dried mint, or some sliced pickles and a squirt of lemon.

[Vinnie Vidimangi]

Based on my experiences in Montreal , you don't know what good Lebanese cooking is . The one that was the cover of Gourmet (Auo?) years ago was just awful. If you find something good here it will be from a place that I don't know. Go to Detroit.

A good bet in Toronto is the combo plate at Aladdin's Palace, hold the felafel , and thats it there. Cheap. Christian Arabs from Lod, Israel.The use lemons and not the bottle.
VVM

[lolabella]

sadly, compared to montreal we don't really have any good lebanese restaurants...though I'd say Jerusalem on Eglinton is best.

[ziggystardust]

I like Laila on Bloor at Bathurst. If you order a sit down meal, i.e. Shish Tawouk as opposed to a falafel, it seems to be prepared from scratch. It takes them about 20 minutes or so to prepare it even if there are no other customers, and you get a full plate with lots of sides for under $10.

[Ediblethoughts]

I love the Jerusalem (I think it's reasonably close to Eglinton W. subway) and Tabule is also very good. I've heard they have the same owners but I'm not sure if that's true. The fried eggplant is a little better at the Jer and so is the hummus since they have it available with foul (which I love). The beef on the skewer is very good at Jer and not as good at Tabule. The fried garlic tomato is really very good at both places. The service is better in my opinion at Tabule (or maybe I should say it's more consistently good at Tabule).

[embee]

I believe some Tabule people may have worked at Jerusalem, but they aren't connected. The Jerusalem location on Eglinton has better food than Tabule, while Tabule is a calmer dining environment. Both are decent. Neither place seems precisely Israeli or Lebanese - more an amalgam. The Jerusalem on Leslie St is bad, bad, bad.

[BamiaWruz]

Lebanese/middle eastern style restaurant or cuisine? Try Jerusalem. They have two locations, don't bother with the buffet one.

[gegtik]

Cuisine if I had to choose ;)

[egghead]

Tabule has great Lebanese cuisine.

[Edith S]

Tabule on Yonge north of Davisville tho they call themselves Israeli
93 Harbord tho the chef is Palestinian

[cynthias]

how do they call themselves Israeli? I frequent often and the owners are half greek and Lebanese?...not that it matters anyways.... the food is very good

[Vinnie Vidimangi]

The chef/owner at 93 Harbord is a Christian Arab from Bethlehem. The city under PLO administration that used to be predominatly Christian 20 years ago and now is predodominantly Muslim. Last time in his menu described Kibbeh as a food from the countries surrounding Israel , but omitted Israel . I can tell you for a fact that it is found in Israel.
VVM.