It seems like yesterday I first step foot in Paramount’s two-floor
Yonge and Dundas location. I was marveled about its size and extensive menu
dedicated to Middle Eastern cuisine; deciding what to order was no small feat. In
less than five years, the chain now has 26 operating restaurants and another 16
in the queue – there will soon be more Canadians facing the ordering dilemma.
Their menu has all the popular favourites: shawarma, kafta and shish tawouk skewers.
Yet, Paramount also offers dishes such as the manakeesh, a flatbread topped with a variety of ingredients that’s
similar to pizza, which until Paramount I’ve never heard about. This summer the
choices continue to grow with another dozen dishes added, a selection featured
in this post.
The Yalla special ($9.99), a dish popularized by the Yalla Paramount food truck, is not unlike poutine
- cubes of chicken shawarma replaces cheese
curds and plenty of garlic & tahini sauce is drizzled over top instead of
gravy. It's a popular dish for the food truck. However, unlike the Canadian favourite, the sauces aren’t warm so the
fries arrive cool losing that hot crispiness I love and crave with fries.
If you’re looking for a great shared starter, opt for the mezza plate ($9.99), the selection of
dips are fantastic:
- Of course there’s the classic hummus: a smooth chick pea paste combined with tahini (a toasted sesame seed sauce) and drizzled with olive oil.
- The tabbouleh is refreshing, the diced tomatoes and crushed wheat helping to mellow chopped parsley and onions. If you’re having any of Paramount’s grilled meat mains, save a bit of tabbouleh, it goes so nicely mixed with hot beef or lamb juices.
- Lastly, a serving of moutabbal, which I mistakenly thought was baba ghanoush at the restaurant. Having researched the dip further online, the Syrian Foodie explains that although both use eggplant cooked on an opened flame (to give the dip a smokiness), moutabbal mixes the vegetable with tahini while baba ghanoush uses pomegranate molasses and parsley – so you’ll find the moutabbal richer and more savoury.
The mezza plate is
the perfect condiment for paring with the pillowy pita made fresh at the
restaurant’s wood-burning ovens. Heated to 600F, the intense heat causes the middle of the bread to steam and puff up. As the basket is brought to the table, I can’t
wait to dig into the hot bread and inhale the yeasty steam. Paramount’s pitas
put supermarkets to shame – they’re chewy with a lovely toasted crust, nothing
like the dry powdery cardboard you find bagged in plastic.
Another new bread being offered is the markook, an ultra-thin flatbread which is used in their tabliyeh saj chicken shawarma wrap ($11.99). Plenty of
shredded roasted chicken is wrapped in tortilla-thin bread, then toasted so
that it gets a crispy exterior. The garlic sauce gives the wrap moisture and
almost a cheesy quality when it’s warm and gooey. The platter makes for a great
lunch with a generous portion of fries (complete with more garlic sauce for
dipping), pickles and turnips.
Paramount’s first seafood dish, the BBQ shrimp plate
($16.49) is wonderful. The marinated shrimp cooked quickly on the hot grill so
they get a lovely light char but retain a crispiness. I love the lighter tomato
garlic sauce they’ve concocted for the dish – the spicy heat going nicely with
the shrimp and even better when mixed into the fragrant basmati rice. This has
to be my favourite dish at Paramount to date.
Even their drinks are a sight… every time someone see’s the Paramount
Special ($7.49), they immediately peruse the menu to find the elaborate concoction.
The drink could easily work as a light meal or dessert: the fresh strawberry
and mango juices topped with mixed fruits (strawberry, kiwi and pineapple), crushed
almonds & pistachio, ashta cream
(similar to clotted or Devonshire cream) and honey. For me, I prefer their mango
juice ($6.49), silky and fragrant without being overly sweet.
Paramount has always been a popular restaurant for weekday
lunches – their service is quick (allowing the lunch to stick to an hour),
prices are reasonable (most mains are under $15), there’s a great selection and
no on leaves hungry. If time is not an issue, I suggest first ordering
appetizers and adding on mains afterwards - otherwise everything comes in quick
succession and the small tables makes fitting the large platters a challenge.
I can certainly see why Paramount Fine Foods is one of the
quickest growing franchise in North America. And thank you for the new mezza and BBQ shrimp plates, deciding
what to eat has now gotten even more difficult.
Dislaimer: The above meal was complimentary. Rest assured, as noted in my mission statement, I will always provide an honest opinion.
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 1250 Bay Street
Address: 1250 Bay Street
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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!
Is That It? I Want More!
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