Chamsine — Restaurant in Toronto

Chamsine is one of Toronto's hidden gems. It has it all: truly excellent Mediterranean food, generous portions, friendly & fast service, and very reasonable prices. Their 6 delicious falafel for $4.50 is one of the best deals in town, up there with the $5 Banh Mi place on Spadina. Their plates are easily 2-3 generous and satisfying meal portions (we usually split them between 2 people and have another portion for later).

At this point I've had nearly all of their menu items, and all were fresh, flavorful, and generously portioned. I want to make a pitch for their salad plates in particular: at many restaurants these are an afterthought, but at Chamsine they are star items. What you get is a brightly colored, layered extravaganza of different vegetable options. This ranges from savory fried cauliflower to sour pickles, fresh tabbouleh, lettuce, rich olives, and more. Every bite is different, and each of the components is BOTH delicious on its own and part of a harmonious whole. You can tell they put love into all their sides.

The chicken salad plate is my personal favorite, but darned if the wraps and shish taouk platter with the lentil rice aren't close behind.

Oh, and don't pass up the lentil soup,...

These guys are open 14 hours a day hacking up schwarma meat and working themselves into a froth to send customers away with ample plates and wraps filled with a good variety of deftly prepared ingredients. I ordered the beef wrap/gyro and chicken skewer plate. The meats were fresh and well cooked; the lentil rice, potatoes, and roasted veggies were very flavourful and of high quality; the seasoning was perfect (right amount of salt) and all of the condiments and veggies contributed to a very satisfying meal. The menu is quite small but what these guys do they do very well. On a future visit I would enjoy trying the beef skewers, falafel, and lentil soup. My one word of advice, for newcomers especially, which I was, is to try to go during off hours if possible as this restaurant does extremely brisk business and its compact layout and the way customers are processed can feel somewhat overwhelming. Ideally you enter knowing the menu and food items cold so that you can immediately give your full order without advancing further inside to examine and decide. I might have deducted a star for this but for my admiration of the hard work, quality and value...

4.5/5 Came here on a rainy day with my friend even though it was quite out of the way. Upon entering, Khalid attended to us and he was great. Friendly, and he gave us some lentil soup to try.

Lentil soup 5/5 I'm not huge on lentil soup so I haven't tried that many, but it was one of the best lentil soups I've had.

Falafel 4.5/5 The chickpeas were well flavored and the texture was great. The inside wasn't dry or crumbly at all.

Platter 4.5/5 For my platter, I got to try out the chicken, beef, and beef kebab. They were all quite nice, but I'd say my favourite was the beef as it was thin strips beef that wasn't too chewy but meaty. Great portions.

I also did enjoy the flavor of the rice that was mixed in with some beans. Nice portions of sauces too.

The salad came in a separate takeout container and it was nice but there were more pickles, which I ended up enjoying it but eating some with the platter for the crunch and to refresh my taste.

I just loved Khalid's overall service and that makes you want...