Tut's Egyptian Street Food — Restaurant in Ottawa

Not just another 5 star review - sure the Food was a solid 5 stars of ADDICTIVE GOODNESS, but the 5 stars for Service was EARNED by the restaurant taking full ownership of the outsourced delivery gone wrong that was not their fault at all. Mistakes happen, but Doordash gets 1 star for having a driver who turned off his cell phone, and didn't return to get the second of 2 bags after the restaurant, Doordash themselves, and I personally told him about the problem (I only got the bag of condiments & drinks the first delivery). Not only did the restaurant call me ahead of time to notify me of the problem trying to reach the driver and ask me to send him back, but they also remade the food and personally delivered it to me for no extra charge when the driver didn't show up. Doordash didn't do anything to try to the fix the situation. Service like this is rare these days, so that's why the 5 stars is EARNED.

And wow, the food was seriously good. Finally, a restaurant in Barrhaven that's worth ordering from repeatedly! Here was our experience:

The fries were audibly crispy - coated in some sort of addictiveness - once you start eating them it's hard to not want more. Not too thin, not too thick, just beautiful texture and flavour. No salt granules, just perfect seasoning.

The Koshary dish (large) was surprisingly tasty given how healthy it is (I highly recommend getting Extra crispy onions if you order this for the texture they add, and Extra chickpeas - my husband also liked the hot sauce, which he said was fairly mild; it came on the side so you can add as much as you like).

We also ordered the 4 sandwich combo, and I'd say the sandwiches were smaller than I expected, so I could definitely see someone eating this all by themselves. Other reviews have already pointed out that the bread is clearly made fresh - light and fluffy, but firm enough to hold up to being handled as a sandwich, and thick sliced. The fried chicken sandwich was our favourite of the 4 we ordered, and unexpectedly reminded us of a southern fried chicken sandwich - crispy with a spicy mayo sauce and perfectly balanced pickle. The fried falafal and fried shrimp sandwiches were also beautifully crispy, in contrast to the soft bread - my husband likened the fried shrimp sandwich to a New Orleans po'boy sandwich. And the minced beef sandwich was also more flavourful than I expected. We now want to try all the other sandwich options!

But the true food highlights from our order are these:

1. the Tut's bowl (large) - it's hard to express how delicious this was. Even just lifting the lid off the container was sensory overload with cravable food smells. Imagine shawarma flavours with the dryness removed, the garlic sauce bitterness removed, and the tomatoes on the side perfectly intensified. Then take the grilled chicken and poach it in herbed chicken juices and drizzle it in the most perfect sauce, and layer it on top of crispy fries and rice. Almost like a juicy shawarma poutine. Incredible. I'm still craving more a couple of hours after eating it!

2. Zalabya (little fried dough balls). Imagine if a really fancy restaurant set out to make a better version of TimBits - these are each just a bit smaller and firmer than a TimBit - with higher quality ingredients, that transport you to a fairground. Why do these instantly remind us of being at a fairground? I don't understand what causes the flavour & texture improvement. We chose to get ours covered in Nutella, but they'd be excellent without any extra topping, as they're clearly soaked in some sort of syrup (the flavour reminds me a bit of baklava). So, way better than Tim Hortons. They should probably sell larger containers of these.

Actually, scratch that last idea. Addictive foods are right to be limited.

I've attached photos with a can of ginger ale to show scale - the bowls were larger than I expected. But all was truly delicious. And that's high...

Starting with the hospitality of both owners Reem and Ibrahim. They are amazing. Thank you for the great experinece and the role model you set for any entrepreneur or business owner. Then comes the food, which is amazing, bringing in the taste of Egypt, especially the Koshary, Which is ofcourse vegan, a huge PLUS here! I have two suggestions for the restaurant I hope if it could be of any help! Would the franchise consider having the option of pita bread for sandwiches? Like a little bit of the Egyptian whole wheat bread but still sounding like Pita to please the tastes that don't know of the Egyptian bread and how it is nutritious and full of fibres, but still willing to try! I guess this will be up to the franchise, maybe it is only one standardized bread that is approved, I dunno! Pls consider having a sort of contract o supply nearby school(s). There are some restaurants around the neighbourhood supplying lunches to schools around them, if this is feasible with the franchise, pls consider the idea! This will help with increasing your exposure and above all telling school kids about some items of the delicious Egyptian cusine who would eventually bring in their parents and relatives and it is just the begining! A form of passive advertising, I guess. It might be a little hectic when considering food allergies when initiating such a thing, but a VEGAN koshary dish to a primary school kid is definitely very nutritious and worth every callorie in it (ofcourse, if not allergic to any of...

I decided to try Tut’s Egyptian Street Food today. One of the highlights is that all their bread is made fresh, which is a great touch. While the fries are prepared ahead of time, they still tasted fresh. The restaurant also offers an air hockey and foosball table to enjoy while you wait, and my order was ready in about 10 minutes.

I tried the cauliflower, grilled chicken, kafta, and sujuk sandwiches. These are small, about two or three bites each. • The cauliflower sandwich was decent but didn’t stand out. • The grilled chicken with garlic sauce had excellent flavor and was my favorite of the four. • The kafta, unfortunately, lacked seasoning and tasted quite bland compared to a traditional kafta. • The sujuk sandwich was a bit off for me—mustard isn’t a typical pairing with sujuk, and while it was supposed to be a mint mustard, I didn’t detect any mint. The grilled sumac onions were flavorful, but the sausage itself wasn’t something I’d get again.

They also offer fried chicken, though it’s more of a basic chicken finger rather than anything unique.

Overall, the experience was okay. If I return, I’d definitely stick to the grilled chicken sandwich. I’d rate it...