Nile River Restaurant Toronto – 598 College St, Toronto, ON M6G 1B4
Country: Egypt          
Must-try dish: Molokhia Signature Plate 
Dinner guests: Pornstar Sam 
Seating: Indoor seating only. 
The high: The cozy atmosphere and decor take you out of Toronto. 
The low: The koshari is on the sweater side. 

Egypt is often thought of a country to visit because of the rich history dating back generations, plus the vast landscapes that go from the Mediterranean to the desert to the mountains. Within its borders, there are cities, oases, bodies of water, and of course, The Pyramids. This being said, the cuisine is often forgotten. 

It’s always a happy thing when another Egyptian restaurant opens up in Toronto. It’s an under-rated country for its cuisine, which uses fresh ingredients and has its own variation of dishes from other Middle Eastern countries. 

The Nile River opened in the heart of Little Italy, which surprisingly is slowly losing its Italian presence as more restaurants from other countries open up in the area. It’s a cozy interior with decorations and art from Egypt. There’s Arab music playing from the speakers that’s loud enough to enjoy but not so much so to be distracting. The Hieroglyphs covering the walls going down to the bathroom were an absolute highlight. 

This simple lunch turned into quite a heavy meal since there are several things on the menu that we had to order, and we’re content with all that we tried regardless of leftovers. The food at the Nile River is all Halal too. 

To start, we got a cold appetizer called Mosaka, which is a chunky dip served with warm pitas made up of braised eggplant, onions, pepper, and garlic in a tomato base. It’s exactly what it sounds like, and took us all back to lazy North African lunches on the Red Sea. Eggplant is an under-rated vegetable in North America, so when it’s done well on a menu, we always want to give it a bit of love.  

From the warm starter menu, we ordered the Vegetable Samosas and the Falafels, both of which have their own unique flair when compared to those from surrounding countries. There are several samosa filling options but we got the classic vegetarian one with spiced potato, onion, and peas in a thick dough. As for the six falafel balls, they were juicy and came with a fragrant tahini sauce. The blend of crushed chickpeas and fava beans with onion and garlic was a perfect pre-main course snack. 

The Koshari Signature Plate is Egypt’s quintessential street food. Despite being delicious, it’s always different and gives the impression of being a random mix of pantry items to make a quick meal. The base ingredients usually consist of a variety of legumes and noodles cooked in a tomato sauce. The Nile River’s version is made with chickpeas, lentils, spaghetti and macaroni noodles. The tomato sauce is sweeter, almost like a ketchup, and you can add the hot sauce that comes with it to give it a bit of a kick. It always comes topped with crispy onions to enhance the texture. Personally, a more savoury koshari is preferred. 

Another traditional item that we enjoyed is the Molokhia Signature Plate, which is a green broth made of jute leaves and spices. It comes with a mountain of rice and your pick of protein – we opted for some of the tenderest grilled chicken imaginable to dip into the sauce. It’s got an earthy flavour but pairs well with meat and rice. 

In order to try some of the red meat options, the last thing we got was the Mixed Grill Dinner, which comes with three meat skewers over rice and a small salad. This is often what you see on Middle Eastern menus, and although it’s always great, it’s boring compared to some of the most authentic dishes from certain countries. It’s reliable, and the meat will always have a charbroiled taste. 

Besides the food being good, the space is peaceful to spend an afternoon chatting with a mug of tea – it’s an oasis from the chaos of the city. 

Eat with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)