Altona Kabob — Local services in Toronto

I was first introduced to the wonders of the Persian kitchen about ten years ago by a good friend. Altona was the first place he took me. I remember the day and the meal vividly- we got the koobideh combo (which was then only $5.99 including drink) and took it to a nearby park to scarf down; it was fantastic and I was an instant fan of Iranian cuisine. As I was new to the cuisine and excited about it, I set out trying all the restaurants in Persian Plaza, as well as several in the surrounding area, but quickly realized Altona was the best- I was hooked. I started going twice a week and worked my way up to going almost daily for several years. It was especially a great option for late night eats after a night of drinking at bars or clubs downtown- a great alternative to all the unhealthy stuff which you're usually stuck with late at night. The koobideh remained my de facto meal for many years, because let's face it... at that price it was a heck of a deal... plus not to mention theirs is perfectly cooked and seasoned. Over the years they raised the price up gradually, to the point where I often would just skip going for my favourite "all-in" dish there, the flagship Altona kabob (a three-way combination of koobideh, barg, and vaziri, or ground beef, sirloin steak, and chicken thigh for those of you who aren't familiar with the terminology). That was always the dish I got when I was at my hungriest and had some cash to spend- it gets you all the flavours and is just incredible. So I kept going for the koobideh (which was now close to $10) or the vaziri. The koobideh kabob has always been my favourite from a flavour and texture perspective, so I'm happy to keep going that route and will often ask for an extra skewer... that's how insatiable my appetite for it is. Now my memory isn't what it used to be, but I think perhaps the portions have gotten a little smaller since the renovation. And speaking of the renovation- I think I preferred it before for some odd reason... it had a very authentic, albeit slightly cold, feel to it- but maybe I'm just nostalgic for it due to all the great times I've shared late night meals there with various friends in various states of intoxication. The owner is amazing and very friendly, as is his family and the rest of the workers- I've become very friendly with all of them. The one 'negative' I'll mention (though I'm still keeping my rating at five stars) is that there were periods where you could tell they were using different products and I didn't like the koobideh as much as I did before, but now they're back to being the best. I just had an Altona combo the other night and there's just nothing like it... especially if you get it with the pita bread underneath instead of the rice... the way the meat juices soak into the bread is just divine. I'll end this here: if you're after the best koobideh along all of Yonge Street, Altona is THE place to be. There's no better koobideh anywhere...

Disgraceful staff and deplorable service!!! We'll never order there again!

My wife and I ordered food from them, after receiving our take out, we sanitize the packages thoroughly. Once that was completed we opened our food and unfortunately found hair in our rice. My wife and I were very upset, not only were we hungry, we wanted a break from cooking due to COVID-19 and wanted to relax and order take out.

Mistakes happen, so my wife called them and politely asked for a refund. Not only were they defensive and ignoring our concern but one of the staff members HUNG UP the phone on my wife! My wife and I were in shock and called the store back, she was fuming and asked the person that picked up, why did one of your staff hang up on me, the person we presumed sounded like a male, pretended that he failed to speak or understand English after he heard my wife expressing her concerns very sternly.

My wife conversed with him in Farsi instead and informed him that I'll be heading there with our orders in the bag it came in untouched and would like a complete refund. [05-21, 23:58] When I arrived, I showed him the hair and he looked at the hair that was in the food as if it was foreign to him and another female(I presumed the rude one that hung up on my wife!). I told them that I do not want your food anymore but only a refund. HE SAID NO REFUND, ILL ONLY REPLACE YOUR FOOD. I told him no thank you I lost my appetite, he looked at me and said okay, I'll throw the food in the garbage instead. I said do whatever makes you happy.

On my way out. I noticed that their entire staff failed to wear a mask and the cook was seen without gloves and a hair net!!! I was disgusted.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYBODY....

READ THIS REVIEW IF IT IS YOUR FIRST TIME HERE! We went to this place to try their Koobideh Kebab and Chicken leg with rice. After minutes we saw A PIECE OF HAIR IN THEIR FOOD (2-3cm long) which most likely was cook's hair. I picked up the hair and I walked by the customer service to let them know what happened. I tried to show them the hair as nicely and friendly as possible. But they instead of apologizing accused me of lying!!!and they said to me that they need to check the camera!!For sure they didn't mean to see the cook's hair dropping into the food through their camera! Yes, they didn't apologize, and they were so rude and disrespectful. At the same time, there was an old lady there who asked 2 or 3 times about the prices. They responded to her so disrespectfully. Also, the rice was terrible!.ترجمه فارسی: ما به این رستوران رفتیم و چلو کوبیده و جوجه ران سفارش دادیم. بعد از چند دقیقه متوجه شدیم در غذا یک عدد موی کوتاه حدود 2 -3 سانتیمتری هست. سعی کردم با آرامش و احترام به اون آقا و خانمی که اونجا بودند بگم اما اونها نه تنها عذرخواهی نکردند بلکه من رو به دروغگویی متهم کردند و گفتند باید دوربین را چک کنند!!!!!رفتارشون خیلی خیلی زشت بود. ناگفته نماند که رفتند بدون حتی یک کلمه عذر خواهی یک نصفه پرس چلو کوبیده تک سیخ!!! آوردند و دادند به من. بیییی نهایت ناراحت شدم. بدون اینکه حرفی به زبان بیارم غذا رو گرفتم و درومدم. ضمنا کیفیت برنج هم در مقایسه با سایر رستوران های...