Papyrus – 337 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 1N7
Country: Egypt 
Seating: There’s indoor seating with sidewalk and street seating outside. 
Must-try dish: Ful and Tameya Mix and Match
The high: The owner and chef Amr carefully explained each dish and how to eat it. 
The low: In the winter months, there won’t be a lot of seating inside as there are only a few tables in the restaurant.  

Full disclosure – the title of this post is taken from the motto of Papyrus restaurant on Toronto’s Danforth Avenue. For those unfamiliar with Egyptian food, it’s packed with fresh, flavourful, and heavy on legumes.This particular spot serves top quality vegetarian dishes that will even make meat eaters want to convert to a plant-based diet. 

We grabbed a table outside, and were lucky enough to be taken care of by the restaurant’s owner and chef Amr, who hails from Cairo, otherwise known as the home of the pyramids of Giza. Although there was a little back and forth about all of our experiences in Egypt, the conversation quickly turned to what was on the menu for dinner. 

Amr guided us through the menu highlighting his favourite dishes while recommending the most traditional and shareable of the bunch. Dokka was the obvious starter – it’s a dip mixed with dried herbs and topped with crispy onions served with warm pita bread and olive oil on the side. You’re meant to add a couple of drops of olive oil on to the bread and then topping it with as much or as little of the Dokka as you’d like. There’s also a lime wedge to spritz on the finished product if you so desire. 

There was no doubt in our minds that Koshari was going to be consumed during our meal. This is the quintessential street food of Egypt, especially in Cairo. It gives the impression of being a jumble of carbs topped with a rich tomato sauce and crispy onions, and it absolutely is! Koshari is a blend of rice, lentils, pasta under a thick layer of tomato sauce and caramilized onions. At Papyrus, there’s the option for mild or spicy, but there isn’t as much heat as there is flavour in the spicy. 

Our must-try dish of the night, and something we’ll soon be going back for is the Ful and Tameya Mix and Match. This plate is stocked with Ful, a beloeved bean dish eaten across the Middle East made with fava beans, citrus, and spices. It’s a revved-up version of British-style beans. As for Tameya, it’s the Egyptian version of falafel but made with fava beans instead of chickpeas mixed alongside the usual spices and covered in sesame seeds. The Tahini and the Lentil Hummus accompany the Ful and the Tameya with a salad and pita bread. 

Although there are signature cocktails, wines, and beers available, the house-made iced teas are worth sipping on before, during and after your meal in the sunshine. The traditional ones is the Karkade, a hisbiscus flower drink, but the star of the show is the Saffron Lemon Iced Tea that puts any other saffron infused beverages to shame. 

We opted to skip dessert this time, but the various Konafa flavours and the Saffron Rosewater Ice Cream were tempting, yet gave us something to look forward to on the next visit. 

The amount of care and attention to detail from Amr into his restaurant is immediately evident from the authentically friendly way that he interacts with guests, the carefully worded descriptions of each dish on his menu, and of course,  the delicious food. This is the type of restaurant that everyone can find something on the menu to suit taste, allergies, or even for those who can’t do a dinner out without a cocktail. 

Thank you for a lovely evening discussing memories of Egypt with terrific food. 

Eat with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)