A Taste of the Southern Caucasus Region

We thoroughly enjoyed this beef stew with basmati rice

My friend and her husband who live on the outskirts of Toronto say they aren't very adventurous in trying new restaurants that are not near them, but used my visit as an excuse to try something new.

Originally we wanted to try The Lunch Lady, which had opened almost a year ago, but she couldn't get a reservation until 9pm. She suggested Old Avenue Restaurant and on the menu there were Middle Eastern/Eastern European dishes which sounded intriguing so we decided to give it a shot.

There are two locations, and we chose the one in Toronto; I met them at the York Mills subway station and we drove a short distance to the restaurant just off a nice residential neighbourhood.

Borscht soup with cubes of beef

Inside the restaurant has an old school atmosphere, and we were surprised to see mainland Chinese diners, and later Koreans eating there too.

It turns out Old Avenue features cuisine from the southern Caucasus which borders Eastern Europe and Western Asia, and includes countries like Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijian. 

There are appetisers like hummus and babaganoush, but also items like kutab pumpkin or kutab meat, where the ingredients are wrapped in a thin dough and baked.

We ordered a borscht soup (C$10), a portion for one person but three of us shared, that had cubes of beef with grated beet. I added some sour cream to my small bowl and it was delicious and hearty.

Another starter we had was marinated herring with potatoes. The soft slices of herring were salted and topped with thin slices of red onion and served cold, while the boiled potatoes were still hot. The saltiness of the herring was toned down when eaten with the potatoes. Enjoyed this dish.

Lovely seasoned herring with boiled potatoes

For mains we had the beef stew in clay pot (C$26) that came with a plate of basmati rice. In the pot were beef, onion, chestnuts, chickpeas, red peppers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and seasoned with saffron and tumeric. It was such a comforting dish to eat, homestyle, and hearty.

The shah plov ($27) was a popular dish that practically every table ordered (and the waiter had recommended). He brought it to the table like a small pain-looking circular cake and then cut it like one too. The slices into the pastry exterior revealed rice along with bits of lamb, chestnuts, dried apricots, dried plums, raisins, onion and saffron.

It was kind of like the Eastern European version of Cantonese claypot rice, because the bottom of the shah plov was a thick pastry base with rice stuck on it, much like the crispy golden brown rice at the bottom of the claypot (though the latter is tastier).

The presentation and combination of the ingredients were interesting, but the flavours didn't meld together like the beef stew. We still finished it, and were too full for dessert that had items like kunefe (pastry layered with cheese and a sweet syrup drizzled on top), Azerbaijiani baklava, honey cake and Napoleon.

Shah plov, rice encased in pastry with meat

For drinks we tried compote -- stewed berries (strained) and mixed with water, so it wasn't too tart or sweet.

What an interesting experience eating this kind of cuisine! Will have to see if Vancouver has anything similar, but this was quite the treat!

Old Avenue Restaurant

1923c Avenue Road

Toronto

416 781 1117