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    Nafisa Cuisine

    3.8 (45 reviews)

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    Baba Ghanoush
    Celine D.

    Accidentally stumbled upon this place while looking for a place to eat in Mississauga. When we entered on a Saturday night it was packed, and we were about to leave when the manager/owner warmly welcomed us and made room for a 2 person table. The decor is so beautiful! Chandeliers and bright traditional painting on the walls. There are sweets sold as well at the front behind the dining tables. It seems quite small but can seat around 50 people I assume. We ordered baba ghanoush, hummus, and the Nafisa special to share. Hands-down the best baba ghanoush I've ever tried! There were veggies and walnuts in it which elevated it further. The waiter said that if we wanted any more pita we could have more free on the house. The Nafisa special was delicious! The lamb was incredibly tender served on a bed of rice in a small pot. Yogurt was given on the side to eat with it. Everything was very reasonably priced, it was around $25 per person for a heaping amount of food. We brought some afterwards to our friend's place to eat and they all approved! Would highly recommend checking this Mississauga gem out!

    Details in the decor...
    Zaakirah K.

    Prior to what I said in my last review, I love to go back to the same businesses over and over again to show my support, even after I've visited for a tasting. Nafisa Cuisine is one of those places that I'd definitely keep supporting and recommending. I had a very positive experience from the very first time they reached out to me to the time I brought my mom over for lunch. I've also recommended this place to a lot of my friends and family, as I believe that it's one of the best places in Mississauga for halal food. The ambiance of the place is very nice. It's perfect to bring families or small groups, and also a great spot to go on a date or out with friends. The decor is so detailed and very nice, reflecting a lot of personal touches of back home (Syria). I also love how fresh their ingredients are and how they exported a lot of their machines and ingredients from Syria. Recipes used are also ones that have been passed down from previous generations (thus keeping traditions alive). There is so much variety on the menu and as someone who has tried almost everything on the menu, I can vouch that everything tastes amazing! My favorite is the Muhammara and the Saj bread. I also love their Nafisa Special and Chicken Escalope. Their Halawet el Jiben is the best one so far.

    Side Plate
    Mona R.

    The decor was lovely from top to bottom every detail is aesthetically pleasing. Upon entrance the biggest pans of baklava scented the air, which paired well with the ambiance and created anticipation for dessert. Starter - cheese rolls (my fav) - stuffed grape leaves - manakeesh - olives and hummus side (great little side) Main - samak harra (the star, tender saucy fish served in a skillet) Dessert - kunafah (I'm drooling just remembering it) - pistachio ice cream - Turkish coffee Overall great meal and value. FYI the ice cream is "Arabic style". Would definitely go back!

    Cheese manaeesh
    Areej Q.

    I came here with a friend during Christmas for the first time based on recommendation.. the place was open late and seemed like a nice spot to catch up. It is a very small joint! Space is cramped and tables are way too close! We were asked if we had reservations upon entry but even without any, were promptly seated. The restaurant was quite full to begin with but really started filling up around 9pm. Menus were provided after a short while after being seated and when we had asked. Both my friend and I were flipping through the pages only to discover neither one had a matching menu. This threw us off, prompting me to ask how many menus there are. Turned out to be one with the other not intended for patrons.. so we proceed to order and in advance asked for dessert. The way food is prepared here differs from typical Middle Eastern cuisine. They use a thin naan like bread to make manaeesh. It was okay, nothing special. One of our plates was dirty with a fingerprint. Didn't want to make a fuss about it and ate on another section of the plate. The platter of appetizers would have been great had there been more of each kind. This platter can be shared between two if neither party eats a lot. We encountered an issue with finding hair in our tabouleh, which resulted in them correcting the mishap with another bowl. There were times when glasses remained empty all around and when servers were called over, they were tied up and could not come, meanwhile two individuals, one of whom I believe was attending to the cash register were standing idly by the counter watching.. They seemed to be flustered and all over the place.. After finishing up and waiting on dessert to arrive, though it hadn't, we put in another request for dessert and ended up waiting an additional 45 minutes.. There's much work to be done to improve the quality and service of this restaurant. Normally will let slide minor infractions, yet there were so many issues that it spoiled the night. From loud banging to the aforementioned. The decor is about average compared with other Syrian restaurants in the city. Flatware is antique metal though drinkware is not. A beautiful chandelier hangs above the dining area and tables with turquoise furnishings are more comfortable than the table we sat at. Nevertheless, it was an experience that I'm not compelled to repeat. We were apologised to profusely and told they were short staffed due to the holidays..

    Rice & Samakeh Tajin (fish fillet baked with tahini sauce, garnished with parsley, pine nuts, and mini crispy pita chips)
    Sel Z.

    If you're looking for authentic Syrian cuisine and/or sweets in the GTA, Nafisa Cuisine is the place to be. It's a beautifully decorated restaurant, cafe, and bakery combined. As soon as you walk in, you're greeted by the beautifully adorned interior that makes you feel like you're in a Middle Eastern palace. Even the washroom is very beautiful (and smells good). The place is always packed at all hours of the day, so making a reservation is highly recommended. Service is friendly and attentive, although the food comes out quite slow (but it's understandable given that they're always very busy, and the wait time is worth it once you taste the food). Nafisa seems to be a family-owned business where all the staff who works there tries to ensure that all guests have a great experience, which is very well appreciated! Regarding the food: everything that we ordered tasted phenomenal, and everything that we didn't order (but we saw other tables ordered) looked just as good and appetizing. Nafisa also does catering and delivers via Uber Eats, and is best known for its knafeh (Middle Eastern dessert made of semolina dough and cheese), but their entire restaurant menu is also really good. 1) Tabouleh Salad (parsley, tomato, onion, bulgur wheat, olive oil, lemon juice) - What tabouleh salad should be: simple, healthy, refreshing. Not as salty as some other tabouleh salads I've had in other places. 2) Jarjeer Salad (arugula, tomato, cucumber, onion, parsley, mint, apple cider vinegar) - The apple cider vinegar gave it a pretty strong taste, but it was still pretty good and refreshing. Good accompaniment to the other dishes. 3) Samakeh Tajin (fish fillet baked with tahini sauce, garnished with parsley, pine nuts, and mini crispy pita chips) - SOOOO good! It came out on a cute fish-shaped hot plate. The fish fillet was soft and tender, and the tahini sauce was out of this world. The pine nuts and parsley garnishes also added a good punch and extra texture. Originally it came with potatoes, but we asked to substitute the potatoes with rice. The rice came served with slivered almonds on top, and went really well with the tahini sauce & fish. 4) Falafels with labneh and saj (flatbread) - One of the best falafels I've tried in the GTA. They were freshly made in-house, crispy on the outside and soft & delicious in the inside, in donut-shape form (as opposed to a ball). They came served with saj (plain flatbread) and labneh for dipping. 5) Course cheese knafeh with Arabic pistachio ice cream - This was what we came to Nafisa for. The dessert was not too sweet, and I could really taste the cheese. We chose the cheese version instead of the cream. The top had a crispy texture, then a semolina dough layer, followed by a cheese layer at the bottom. It was better than any cheesecake, in my opinion. We ordered it with pistachio ice cream, and it was probably the best ice cream I've tried. It seemed home-made, with actual big pieces of pistachios, and it was very dense and not easily melted (due to the higher cream content and lower moisture / ice content, unlike most other ice creams). Being an Arabic ice cream, it was more dense and chewy than the typical ice cream. The combination of cold ice cream, crunchy pistachio pieces, and warm-ish and cheesy knafeh just went so well together. We couldn't have picked a better dessert to end the already five-stars meal. They also sell boxes of baklava and other Syrian sweets in boxes for quick take-out in the bakery section.

    Ran N.

    If you're looking for a fancy night out in Mississauga, Nasifa cuisine is a pretty place to do so! The interior is SO pretty. Every detail is thought out from the cutlery, napkins and placemats, I was super impressed by the designs. There's alot of vegetarian options as appetizers. I tried the cheese Manakeesh. Manakeesh are a very popular Levantine food consisting of a flatbread topped with a variety of possible toppings. This one was a mix of mozzarella and halloumi cheese. It was a good starter, not too heavy so you still have enough appetite for the meal. The taste is pretty plain, since it is meant to compliment the spices for the rest of the meal. Cheese contains dairy and is not vegan. For main dish they only had the fallael plate. The fallafels were nice and crispy and super thick. I was full after 4, and it came with 8. The flavour is definately different, it's filled with different veggies. The tahini sauce is vegan, making the whole dish vegan. If you go to Nasifa, don't leave without getting some ice cream! It's such an interesting ice cream. Very thick and gummy feeling in texture and no taste of sweetness other then the cotton candy on the top. It's made through a very cool pounding process. And throughout the process pistachios are thrown in so the nuts are mixed throughout. Even though I prefer my desserts to be sweet, I still liked this alot! It was just so unique and had a really nice texture that complimented the rest of my meal nicely. Cheese contains dairy and is not vegan.

    Huda S.

    Small tiny restaurant but truly authentic taste, i tried everything on their menu . Visited for breakfast/ lunch as well as afternoon coffee w desserts . Loved their sweets the best syrian halawt be jabn

    Cold Desserts - Halawat el Jiben (cream filled dough w/pistachios)
    Fahim K.

    Looking for a Luxurious spot in Mississauga? Here it is! Halal Moroccan/Syrian style food (might be wrong?) Chicken lamb beef (some veg!) Decor: amazing (a little tight if it's busy!) Food: delicious - subtle flavours. Price: pretty high for main dishes (ranges $20-30) but the rest is not too bad. But hey it's an experience! If you are looking for a date night or couples outing - should check it out at least once :) - nice decor nice plating and good food!

    Turkish coffee
    Natalie B.

    One of the few places in The GTA that offers Arabic ice cream. My family and I loved all the desserts we got and will definitely be coming back soon ! Also, beautiful display and design of the restaurant. Next time we want to try their main dishes.

    Elaine L.

    If you're looking for a cute middle eastern restaurant for a datenight, this is a perfect spot! The interior decor is absolutely beautiful, and the food is delicious. Note that it is a bit of a smaller restaurant, but ample free parking just outside of the plaza. We ordered the nafisa special (both of us) as our main dishes, and tried both the coarse knafeh with icecream and mafrouka with pistachio for dessert. The portions are massive, and everything was amazing. The experience was just amazing overall, I would definitely come back!

    Ice Cream !

    Great varsity of Syrian food and deserts , including Arabic Ice Cream. The food and service where both excellent ! They serve you hot bread with the appetizers, your bread never goes cold. Highly recommended recommended!

    Nafisa Authentic Damascene Cuisine

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    7 years ago

    Great place but they need staff in the kitchen. Food takes a while to come out. Food is very delicious

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    7 years ago

    So nice and delicious food, friendly staff. Reasonable prices, good portions. BooK before going.

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    7 years ago

    We love the food. Great place and great food. They have plenty of vegetarian option and yummy dessert too...

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    Zain Alsham

    Zain Alsham

    3.9(9 reviews)
    5.2 kmErin Mills

    I tried their grilled meats and appetizers like muttabal back when they were at their original…read morelocation in the Ridgeway Plaza some years back and the food was good. Then they closed up shop and turned into a catering service and more recently reopened their restaurant elsewhere. The new location is tiny. Decor is nice. Service needs work. Some servers have limited knowledge of their menu. Others are more on top of things and that was appreciated. Dishes don't allow for substitutions. For example, ordered shish tawouk (chicken skewers) with fries and received a boatload of fries and a minimal amount of chicken. I found it strange lol.. the fries were good but the cost of the plate makes no sense. There were maybe 6-7 pieces of chicken on the plate. At least they were tasty.. I made sure to request them moist. It would be ideal to pair protein with carbs and another side.. like a small salad.. just to counter the amount of carbs consumed. I ordered muttabal on the side and with it came two piping hot pita breads. They give you toum (garlic sauce) and pickles as well. The company I had dinner with each ordered specific dishes, like stuffed intestines (my facial expressions spoke for themselves, haha) and Sayadiyeh (a fish dish) where they fry their fish atop of a bed of rice. The latter differs from what I'm used to but the portions are huge for both dishes. The stuffed intestines were a delicacy for the person eating them and they seemed to enjoy their food. Another individual ordered minced meat skewers, recieved two of them and a TON of rice. Would return to try other dishes. Since I was invited for a meal, didn't want to cost the host too much. I was tempted to order their appetizer plate and a couple of other items.. so next time, for sure.

    I'm honestly sad to say that my last visit, about 10 days ago, was completely different from my…read morefirst two visits. I know this is a different location, but it has the same name and menu, so I expected a similar experience. Unfortunately, it was very disappointing. As someone with celiac disease, I asked if the Fattah could be made without bread. At first, I was told no. Then the owner came over and explained that the dish is normally made with bread. I told her I understood that, but because I have celiac disease, I was simply asking if it could be prepared without it. In the end, they did make it for me without the bread, which I appreciated. However, the interaction felt uncomfortable, and I felt like I was being lectured rather than helped. The biggest frustration was the tea. As Middle Eastern people, tea is an essential part of breakfast and is usually enjoyed throughout the meal. The owner is Syrian, so I was honestly surprised by the policy. The only way to get a kettle of tea was through a breakfast special, and it only provided about four cups. There were four of us at the table, so when we asked for more hot water or a refill, we were told no and that we would need to purchase individual cups of tea instead. It felt disappointing and not very hospitable, especially considering how important tea is in our culture and breakfast traditions. I also want to say that none of this was the waiter's fault. In fact, I felt bad for him because he seemed to be taking the heat from multiple customers who were frustrated with the policies. At one point, I even turned to another table and told them to go easy on him because he was clearly not the one making these decisions. What made me even more uncomfortable was seeing the owner correct him in front of customers. He was using his phone to check ingredients and see whether the falafel contained gluten so he could answer my question correctly. The owner asked him why he was on his phone, and when he explained what he was doing, she told him he should already know the answer without looking it up. I appreciate that he was trying to verify information for a customer with dietary restrictions, and I don't think staff should be criticized in front of customers for doing that. The food itself was average. Several dishes seemed to be lacking salt, and I wasn't the only customer who noticed issues. During our visit, I heard other customers expressing frustration about the service, the tea policy, and the overall attitude. I had such a positive experience at the other location that this visit was genuinely disappointing. While I appreciate that they ultimately accommodated my dietary needs, the service and overall atmosphere were not what I expected, and unfortunately, I wouldn't return to this location.

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    Zezafoun Syrian Cuisine - Funafeh Volcano

    Zezafoun Syrian Cuisine

    4.5(139 reviews)
    28.9 kmMount Pleasant and Davisville
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    Zezafoun Syrian Cuisine located along Manor Rd near Yonge St serves up homemade, authentic Syrian…read moredishes in a cozy space. I've heard many good things about Zezafoun and was excited to finally try the place. The restaurant has about ~25 seats for customers indoors. They do have a small outdoor patio for when the weather gets warmer. Reservations are recommended during busy peak dinner or brunch times, however it is possible to get a table if you do walk in as well during non-peak times. I dined at Zezafoun with a party of 3 recently on a Sat evening. We didn't make reservations but walked in around 6:30 and was able to grab a table. It wasn't too busy that early in the evening but as the night went on the restaurant got busier. Service was great and friendly. Staff gave us plenty of time to decide what to order as well as gave us recommendations as well. The interior is warm and cozy. For drinks, I ordered the pomegranate juice which was unique and delicious. One member of my party ordered the rosewater and lemon juice which was refreshing and light. They also have Syrian coffee and tea as well on the menu which I will try next time! Food wise, we ordered and shared the following dishes: - Falafel plate (chickpeas patty fried and served with a side of tahini sauce) - Hummus (homemade chickpeas, tahini, lemon and garlic with a touch of olive oil) - Fattoush salad (Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radish with Zezafoun dressing topped with crispy pita bread) - Kebbeh labanyeh (beef kibbeh in a cooked garlic yogurt stew served with side rice) - Maldoum (beef kufta wrapped with delicious eggplants in tomato stew and served with a side of rice) - Makloubeh (layers of rice, eggplants, and ground beef with tomato sauce served with side yogurt or salad) Food was delicious and unique! I've never had authentic Syrian food like this before and it was a delight. The appetizers we shared (falafel, hummus, and salad) were great to start the meal. The hummus was creamy and the falafel was nice and crispy. The crispy pita bread in the fattoush salad gave the dish a textural contrast, In terms of our mains, all the dishes were tasty but I especially enjoyed the makloubeh! Overall, delicious spot in Midtown Toronto for Syrian food in a cozy environment. Service was also spot on as well. Definitely want to return to try their brunch menu!

    We enjoyed the Syrian breakfast; everything was so tasty! It's a great dish to share. They ran out…read moreof one of the dishes, but happily replaced it with delicious hummus! Every time I come here, the food is amazing!

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    Shawarma Royale

    5.0(4 reviews)
    16.2 kmEtobicoke

    I love shawarma and I love the authentic taste of Syrian Shawarma that Shawarma Royale offers. This…read morelocation had their Grand Opening back in mid December and has been fully operational ever since. The owners are very nice and deeply care about customers feedback. We tried both "Beef&Lamb" and "Chicken" shawarma and they were both fresh and tasty. I am a big fan of Kebab (specially on rice) and always make sure to order one. So I tried "Kebab of Fries" and really enjoyed its taste and quality, serving customers in a family-friendly atmosphere. Parking can be tricky, so make sure you park in the plaza beside the restaurant as they don't have a designated parking lot.

    This is yet another new location, with a grand opening on 2024-12-13; the soft-openingwas 2 weeks…read moreprior. This is in south Etobicoke. From 2024-12-13 to 15, you can get their Queen Chicken Wrap ($11.99) for only $4.99. We went 2024-12-14 and they were very busy at 21:00! It is a small restaurant,  with five tables for 2 and one table for 4. There is an open kitchen where you can see them preparing all the food. And they are fast! We ordered the following: 1. Falafel Salad Royale Bowl ($12.99) 2. Beef & Lamb on Rice Rice Royale Special ($17.99) 3. Kabab on Fries Royale Bowl ($14.99) 4. Beef & Lamb King Meal ($16.99) 5. Queen Chicken Wrap ($11.99, special $4.99) 6. Jalapeno Poppers ($7.99) 7. Onion Rings ($5.49) 8. Ayran drink ($3.49) 9. Strawberry Barbican drink ($3.29) 10. Pineapple Barbican drink ($3.29) All the food was freshly made. They all tasted very good. You can taste the freshness of the Beef & Lamb and Chicken, hot from the rotating spits. And any of their toppings were good, too. Surprisingly, we loved the rice and coleslaw. The Jalapeno Poppers were not very spicy and had cream cheese inside it. There are plenty of electrical outlets at the tables. There is lively arabic music playing in the background. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible. There is one gender-neutral washroom that is also wheelchair accessible. There is no easy parking (I used a mall a little west of the restaurant). Review 2024-270

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    Nafisa Cuisine - syrian - Updated September 2026

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