Showing posts with label falafel salad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label falafel salad. Show all posts

Tabule Middle Eastern Cuisine - Queen (Toronto)


While Toronto restaurants have made great strides with accommodating food allergies, choices are still limited for those who have celiac level allergies to gluten. It’s an added liability or investment that some restaurants don’t want to take on to make to ensure their kitchens and food handling is celiac safe.

Accordingly, it’s admirable that Tabule Middle Eastern Cuisine has not only dedicated their chain to being celiac friendly but also offers a wide range of menu options. In fact, they seem to cater to a host of dietary restrictions including those who are vegan.

Traditionally, the tabule in the sampler platter ($22) wouldn’t be gluten-free due to it’s use of bulgur wheat. As a result, the kitchen substitutes quinoa into the finely chopped parsley, tomato, and onion salad instead, which gives it a finer and more delicate consistency. I love mixing the citrusy tabule with smoky rich babaganoush and sandwiching a spoon of it into the thin and chewy laffa ($3.95 a piece), it’s a great way to start the meal.

In fact, you can make a whole meal from their starters with the host of other mezze options gracing the menu. From the inexpensive assorted pickles ($4.50) made up on turnips, olives, hot peppers, and dill pickles to something warm and comforting like the aaranbeet ($8.95), which is unbattered fried cauliflower that’s tossed with tahini creating a warm nutty bite.

Tabule’s falafel salad ($14.95) continues to impress, the crispy chickpea and fava bean nuggets are deliciously fluffy, moist, and flavourful putting other falafels to shame. I do find the vinaigrette overly acidic (mixing a bit of tahini into it helps) and the dressing could use a hit more salt. If you’re not into super lemony salads, I’d stick with ordering the falafels solo.

The warak enab ($12.95) is also overly citrusy, which is a shame as the stuffed grape leaves are a great consistency – the leaves delicate and soft and the rice not too mushy. If only Tabule tones down the lemon seasoning and augments the tomato, garlic, and other spices instead.

For something filling, go for the eggplant meal ($16.95) where slices of aubergine are fried until soft and topped with tahini and pomegranate creating a salty, sweet, and nutty main. The sauces and juices go equally well when soaked into the mujaddara, a fragrant rice studded with lentils and onions. If things become too oily or heavy, have a bite of grilled vegetables that round out the dish.

Gathering around the table to eat and share is such an important ritual to build connection. Cheers to Tabule for making this possible for so many more people. 

Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 810 Queen Street East


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Gastro World's Grading System

  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!


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Tabule Middle Eastern Cuisine - Bayview (Toronto)


Mezze are to Middle Eastern cuisine what tapas are to Spain: small plates generally accompanying drinks. They’re nibbles to start on or could be an entire meal in itself. They’re the dishes that draw me to Middle Eastern food and are ideal for sharing amongst friends.

Tabule has a variety of hot and cold options to choose from. Most tables share their sampler platter ($15.95), which gives diners a choice of three cold mezze from four options. Their hummus is thick and lightly laced with garlic, the babaganuj incorporating tons of roasted eggplant but could use more spices, and the tabule fantastic with a zippy lemony kick that’s goes well with meaty mains or tossed into hot rice.


To eat the dip, you will need an order of their regular pita bread ($0.50) or the gluten free laffa ($3.75 and pictured below). The latter is worth the extra money as it’s made-to-order, arriving hot, giving off a lovely smoky aroma, and incorporates a lovely chewiness in the dough.


For a vegetable that’s known to be a sponge, the fried eggplant ($7.95) isn’t overly greasy. In fact, get through the lightly crisped coating and you’re greeted by a soft almost creamy eggplant. Our dish arrived without the lemon garlic dressing, but it was still tasty and I ate my plain, not wanting the vegetable to get cold.


The sole disappointing mezze was the warak enab ($10.95), the layers of grape leaves too thick and the inside a plain lemony rice. Where was the tomatoes, garlic, and spices that were promised on the menu? Moreover, the yoghurt dipping sauce, reminding me of the Indian raita, didn’t exactly go with the dish. A warm spicy tomato sauce may be better suited.


Tabule’s falafel salad ($11.95) is hearty enough to be a main with a third of the plate occupied by crispy fluffy falafels. Generally, I shy away from these chickpea nuggets as they’re often dense and dry – Tabule knows what they’re doing, they’re one of the best I’ve eaten!


While the lamb chops ($30.95) were cooked way beyond the requested medium rare, the aged lamb was still tender and moist. Each piece had a great charbroiled flavour and arrives with plain chunks of sautéed vegetables. Sadly, the rice wasn’t substituted with müjaddara (extra $1.50), as ordered, instead in its plain form topped with onions – fine, but nothing special. Lucky for me there was still some of the tabule and babaganuj left, both went wonderfully with the rice.


Overall mark - 7.5 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 2901 Bayview Mews Lane (at Bayview Village)

Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System

  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!


Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:


Tabule Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato