Narenj — Restaurant in Oakville

I finally visited this restaurant after eyeing their beautiful, cozy looking outdoor patio from afar for several seasons... I can't believe I took so long to try it.

This place is an absolute hidden gem. As a Burlington native, finding a trendy café that hits it out of the park with atmosphere and food is a challenge, to say the least. I've usually ventured out to Toronto whenever I'm craving something unique and luxurious, as I've never been able to find a comparable close to home. I'm so glad to report that I've finally found a local spot that checks all of my boxes.

First impression was of the decor and I was instantly excited to sit down. Live plants everywhere, eclectic antique furniture and a full view of their immaculately clean kitchen from any seat in the house. I was greeted by a lovely, sharply dressed woman (who in retrospect, may have been one of the humble and attentive owners) who sat us down at a table next to their fully stocked, mouth-watering pastry counter. Across from us was an upright piano adorned with knick knacks - I thought to myself as I sat down, "I wonder if anyone plays that piano?".

We started out with coffee, I got an Americano and my partner ordered a macchiato. The lady serving us warned "just so you know, this isn't a Starbucks macchiato, ok?". Thank God it wasn't, what we got instead was a REAL macchiato - bitter, rich, and smooth espresso with a nice dollop of foam. It was so good, I had to order another coffee just to try it. We each got a cortado to accompany our desserts (more on that later) and the proportions were perfect. Traditional, good coffees that don't weigh you down so that you can still comfortably gorge on brunch and pastries.

Speaking of gorging on brunch, their menu is one of the best I've come across. Persian/Lebanese inspired fare that stands out amongst seas of eggs Benedict and avocado toast that comprise the menus of other brunch establishments in the area. I find that brunch is usually a vehicle for restaurants to make huge margins with cheap ingredients and minimal effort, without much thought to creativity or even quality. Definitely not the case here. If you're concerned about paying a premium for breakfast food, don't be - any of the dishes at this restaurant are hearty and substantial enough to leave you feeling plenty satisfied until dinner time.

Once we had finished our dishes, we were feeling quite full and wondered if we'd be able to eat again at all later on. As we were contemplating this, a gentleman sat down at that upright piano and began to play jazzy covers of easy listening songs. I later learned he is there every Sunday afternoon, adding to the list of many reasons to come back. All the while, the pastry counter was taunting me out of the corner of my eye. Yes, I was very full.. but I was enjoying the atmosphere and music so much that I figured why not, they look pretty good. So, we ordered an eclair to share. The custard inside of this eclair was to die for. The pastry was crunchy on the outside and buttery on the inside. How can they be this good at so many things at once?

Thank you guys for such a lovely experience! You guys deserve all the props and I'll absolutely be back as...

After following the socials of this cafe easily for the last 2 months I finally had the chance to visit with my family and boy are we glad we finally went! Also thinking WHAT TOOK US SO LONG!?

Saying we absolutely loved the place would be a gross understatement. From the ambiance to the food and the service it was an impeccable visit. Our server/hostess/possibly the owner(not sure about that) has got to be the nicest lady ever and made the experience so much better that was pretty epic to begin with.

From the mismatched furniture that somehow really worked well together, to the plants splashing vibrant green across the room to the candelabra style chandeliers to the couch,piano and rocking chair in the corner the entire space is designed to comfort.

For the food, we ordered the braised beef braided cheese shakshouka, tokhmomorgh korma which we were told was very Persian, a sandwich version of the braised beef with eggs and the Muhammara. The fact that we hardly had any leftovers when the portions were more than generous is testament to how amazing and flavorful the food was. If i had to make recommendations i'd say don't skip the braised beef shakshouka and the korma. The beef was succulent and melt in the mouth and the korma had a very different and distinct flavor that i have never seen anywhere else before.

The savory brunch mains aren't all that're worthy of mentioning btw. There is an entire sweets section that displays the most decadent of bakery items and desserts. It all looks so pretty that it's hard to decide and control what to get when you want to buy one of everything. We tried the almond croissant (which was magnificant) and the pain au chocolat which was flaky and yum. From the desserts we tried the salted caramel mousse, pistachio and date jam eclair and some a dessert that almost like a ferrero rocher in a bar form( apologies i forget the name). Of all of them my personal favorite was the salted caramel mousse but that's not to say we didn't polish off the rest of them.

We had our coffees, ate our desserts after finishing our food and just sat around enjoying the ambiance for close to three full hours before we had to leave to allow them to set up for their evening event and even then we didn't want to leave.

All in all, highly highly recommended. Please go and have a wonderful time. I definitely plan on visiting...

📍Narenj @Oakville, ON

🖤好食 (quality)：😋😋😋.5 🤍環境 (environment): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🤎服務 (service): 💗💗💗💗

I got the yummiest and most aesthetic afternoon tea spot for you here in Oakville ON! 🙈Narenj serves a variety of Perisian, Persian and Mediterranean food! They serve a lot of high quality and beautiful pastries as well, make sure to check this out hehe. ✨This time, I got…

🍳Lebanany 🍳 This is a brunch plate of two scrambled eggs with a side of salad, potatoes and lava beans! 🥴It is pretty refreshing as it tastes sour and flavourful! 🤪However, they said it has avocado in the plate but we couldn’t seem to find that on our plate. There are also other options for a brunch items like shakshouka! 😄

🥐Pistachio Date Croissant 🥐 Honestly, this is the best croissant I have tasted so far! I am a big fan of pistachio and date, separately. 🫣But when they are blended together, it is actually a great combination! The pistachio date cream in the middle of the croissant was not too sweet and there was whole date in it! The croissant was so soft and well-made, definitely a must try item!🫢

🤎Fig Confit🤎 I got this to take back home because I fell in love with their croissant HAHA 🙈This gave me another type of spark! The confit on top was sour and goes super well with the cream and crust at the bottom!! The crust itself tastes like the croissant, very soft and crispy! 🥴

There were a lot of people when we went that day, the service could be better as we did not get cups for water and it was a long wait for seats. Also, it seemed to be very messy when we were waiting for seats as people just came in and walked in and took seats without informing the servers. The interior is very pretty tho, you could definitely enjoy some afternoon tea with friends here! Thank you for the treats! 🤍

📍131 Kerr St,...