6 incredible Persian restaurants in Toronto you can support this Nowruz

Mar 18 2022, 6:56 pm

Toronto has a thriving cultural food scene, and its Persian restaurants serve dishes to die for. Beautifully spiced ghormeh sabzi, succulent kabobs, and fragrant saffron rice — what’s not to love?

Plus, Nowruz is on the weekend! It’s the Persian New Year and is widely celebrated across the Iranian, Kurdish, Bahá’í, Afghan, Ismaili, and Asian communities. And it marks the first day of spring.

With a day of festivity coming up, it’s the perfect time to support your local favourite Persian restaurants. Here are some of ours, and we hope you enjoy them. Nowruz mubarek, everyone!

Darvish Persian Cuisine

 

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What: Darvish is known for some of the juiciest flame-grilled kebabs you’ll ever eat. It’s the perfect group dining spot if you have vegetarians and meat-eaters in your circle. It has a separate vegetarian menu to make ordering a breeze, but they do a mean lamb shank, too.

Try the Fesejoon — a stunning stew flavoured with pomegranate paste and walnuts, often served with rice. It’s available with chicken breast stewed in, or completely vegetarian.

Where: 508 Yonge Street, Toronto

When: 12 pm to 9 pm, every day of the week

Shatter Abbas Restaurant

 

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What: Shatter Abbas offers top-notch service at all four of its locations across the GTA. Enjoy traditionally spiced chicken or beef koobideh, or order some fresh kashke bademjan, made with roasted eggplant and flavoured with garlic and mint. Both go well with rice.

Where: 218 Queens Quay West, Toronto | 1440 Yonge Street, Toronto | 804 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto | 8141 Yonge Street, Thornhill

When: Location-dependent hours

Banu

 

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What: Located near the Quay, Banu offers a wide selection of Persian dishes and desserts with a modern twist. There is even have a koobideh burger, if that kind of fusion interests you.

Pictured above is a mouthwatering plate of its grilled pomegranate molasses beef side ribs. The pomegranate seeds give the beef a tartness and freshness that’s sort of addictive.

Where: 777 Queen Street West

When: 12 pm onwards all week, closed Mondays

Darbar Persian Grill

 

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What: In Farsi, the word darbar means “palace” — and this restaurant is certainly a palace for foodies. While Darbar Persian Grill has some amazing eats in its entree lineup, it’s the appetizer section where it truly shines. Simple, but hearty ingredients are combined to create magic, whether it’s in the soups, salads, or sides.

Try its Ash Reshteh — a deliciously thick Iranian soup made with onion, chickpeas, pinto beans, lentils, herbs, and noodles that are served with kashk (whey) and piles of fried onion and fried garlic and a drizzle of mint oil. Now go on, make a reservation.

Where: 2015 Avenue Road, North York

When: 11 am to 11 pm, closed Mondays and Tuesdays, open until 10 pm on Sundays

Herby Restaurant

What: Family-owned Herby is one of the best Persian restaurants in the city for desserts. Try the Faloodeh Shirazi, a sweet rosewater sorbet with rice noodles topped with house cranberry jam and lemon. You can add ice cream to it to make it extra decadent.

Or go all-out with some fluffy saffron loaf cake soaked in rose syrup. It’s called the Persian Baklava cake and it doesn’t disappoint. And it also has savoury apps and entrees to try out.

There is a Nowruz special going on right now! Check out its website for more info.

Where: 397 Danforth Avenue

When: Varying hours

Parkway Restaurant

What: Wraps, platters, rice, or bread bowls — Parkway has it all. The restaurant has decently sized portions of authentic Persian dishes. It also serves beer for dine-in, so grab a pint. And if you don’t consume alcohol, there is also a refreshing bottle of dooghe, a drink made with yogurt and mint that can cool you off on the most stressful of days.

Where: 379 Eglinton Avenue East

When: 11 am – 11 pm every day (open until 12 am on Fridays and Saturday)

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