Friday, 25 July 2014

Byblos - I've been dreaming of you

Byblos Restaurant
11 Duncan St.
Toronto, ON M5V3M2
Telephone:(647) 660-0909
Website
Menu
Ridiculously Extravagant Dinner for 2 - $200
Rating: 5 out of 5

Last year I went to Cocktail Parlor, and was amazed by the food.  Then I found out they closed and so I hunted down the chef to see if he had another restaurant.  Lo and behold, Executive Chef Stuart Cameron was doing his thing in the very same building at Byblos.  I love middle eastern food, so I was so excited to try it, and lucky me after talking about it for a few months my boyfriend surprised me for our 6 month lunaversary last month!

You can either order a large plate and eat a meal, or you can go tapas.  We decided to go tapas so that we can try more dishes.

Our Plates:
Basturma Egg: Get this. Just do it.  It was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten!  My boyfriend said it took him back 20 years to his childhood in the middle east! I asked for the egg a little bit cooked more because I find runny egg repulsive and they were able to accommodate me.  BF wanted to order another one and our server was like.. wait.. you have lots more food coming... and oh boy did we ever!

Duck Kibbeh: The spices in this were like BAM! It was delicious! The texture was perfect, we both just wanted to eat more.

Steak Tar Tar: The STT was very good.  Not mind blowing like the rest of the meal, but very good.  If you like STT then get it.  The Barbari bread on the other hand.. I wanted more!  It was sooo delicious!

Yogurt Baked Fluke: This... I'm not totally in love with fish usually, I can eat it here or there, but our server highly recommended it, so I got it.. I bow down to him.  It was... just wow! Yes.

Dry Aged Ribeye: Very good.  Pales in comparison to the fish, but very good.

Hand Rolled Couscous: I took a bite.  Then I had to stop eating and breath.  The browned butter in this.. OMFG! It was overwhelmingly phenomenal! I was seriously blown away, and I almost cried. I'm not kidding.  It was just the greatest! It made me so happy.  It was like love had been injected into this dish.

Sweet Jeweled Basmati Rice: This is the most beautiful dish you will ever see in your life.  The colours and textures and tastes.  It's a masterpiece!  You must get this.  Don't ask me any questions, just do what I say!

Our Desserts:
Kanafeh: The ice cream on this was awesome!!  The Kanafeh itself we found a little dry.  It was.. fine.

Crispy Qatayef: These were delicious.  Cute little dumpling morsels of goodness.  Yum!

Our Drinks:
Gulab: I'm not much of a drinker but decided to celebrate, and yummy yummy!  What a choice.  This beautiful glass was filled with mostly ice and a pretty flower, but the drink that was inside was delicious, and I nursed the ice for a while since it still had some of the taste of the spices!

Some citrus drink: I forget the name: It was excellent!  I think I may have even liked it better than the Gulab. My server recommended this one since it was light on alcohol flavour and heavy on awesomeness.

Some Ginger Drink: BF says when I asked him just now how he liked it.. he said very excitedly "Oh ya... the drink was great!".

The service was outstanding! The atmosphere was simple, elegant, and beautiful!

We're going back in a few weeks for another celebration and we can't wait!  It's all we've been talking about for a month!

GOOOOOO.

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