Due to the close proximity of ‘ Phoenix Restaurant ‘ to my car’s oil-change mechanic shop in Thornhill. My original intention was to have a casual Hong Kong Cafe style lunch there whilst waiting for the maintenance job completion.
Lo and behold, when we got to the restaurant, we were stunned to find it had transformed into an enormous, bright and airy Turkish restaurant! The impressive, modern, spacious and grandiose setting forming the backdrop to some intriguing and wonderfully cooked and presented Turkish fare.
Efendi Salad ( Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Red Cabbage,
Onion, Pomegranate Sauce and EVOO )
Meat Shish Kebab of Lamb and Veal ( 2 skewers ), Rice, Onion, Parsley, BBQ
Pepper and Tomatoes
Ali Nazik ( Meat shish over bed of Eggplant, Yogurt and Garlic mixture topped
with melted butter, BBQ Pepper and Tomatoes )
Overall, my impression was a very positive one. Ingredients for the salad were crisp and fresh, the Pomegranate sauce and EVOO dressing was pleasing and delicious. The fair size meat shish kebab chunks were nicely seasoned and executed. The texture, surprisingly tender ( may be subjected to a bit of sous-vide treatment? ). My favorite goes to the delightful Icli Kofte ‘ bonne bouche’… the crispy, crunchy and greaseless shell combined with the well seasoned and exotic meat and Walnut filling to create a great tasty and textural mouthfeel. My son capped off the meal with a super strong, potent and aromatic Turkish Coffee……guess he will be staying up late tonight?! Ha!
BTW, for the second dining-out meal in a row, we were being looked after by an extremely friendly and helpful server. Nice complement to a delicious meal.
Now for the feedback I didn’t quite enjoy my meal especially at this price point.
Beyti kebab had higher expectations as have had a much better version from now defunct La Turk. The stuff was still quite warm despite the long delivery time to downtown so didn’t have to reheat.
The chicken shish is acceptable but Mustafa which is regular delivery spot for moi offers a way better version imo. The dining companion pretty much only eats chicken shish from Mustafa also confirmed the opinion.
The dips are ok and reminded me a lot of meat point delivery. Ok I guess. I didn’t try the salad but it went well.
Sorry to hear that!
We ate in, so the food was delivered to our table piping hot. Could make a huge difference when compared to take-out, where quality of some ‘sensitive’ food like Kebabs might be altered by travelling time and ’ condensation ’ inside containers?!
Because of this, my only take-out nowadays are Indian curries or Chinese braised food or stews
Agree with elvisahmed and it’s not just on takeout. It’s been a while but we dined at EFENDI probably back in 2022 with another foodie couple. Recall it was busy with lots of takeout containers at the front and tables were at capacity. The ambiance was almost like a cafeteria. The waiter and staff were helpful & friendly but the consensus on the food was only OK, not great value and no standouts. I don’t recall specifically other than we expected better overall. It was just meh.
