louf — Restaurant in Toronto

Louf is a restaurant we wanted to love wholeheartedly, and the food itself really does live up to the promise: consistently excellent, layered with flavour, and one of the best representations of Palestinian cooking I’ve had. But everything surrounding the food makes the experience very mixed. On Tuesday evening, three of us went for dinner, and every single course was painfully slow to arrive. It was a weeknight, the restaurant wasn’t slammed, and yet we waited well over an hour for dessert alone (1 hour and 20 minutes, to be exact). While the staff offered us sage tea while we waited, that’s a band-aid solution for something that really needs to be addressed: the kitchen is far too slow, and the menu should be transparent if a dish requires that much time. Even cocktails took a very long time, though a complimentary bowl of almonds was sent out while we waited. At over $85 per person including tax, this kind of lag is unacceptable. The following evening, I returned to pick up sunglasses I had left behind and decided to stay for a solo dinner. To my surprise, the service and pacing were completely different: smooth, attentive, and much quicker. I was offered a complimentary 750 ml bottle of San Benedetto sparkling water, and the whole experience felt more professional. The only noticeable difference was in the kitchen leadership: Tuesday night had Chef Fadi (the owner) on the pass, while Wednesday had Chef Guy running things. Service overall is warm and hospitable. The staff are friendly and make small gestures like a pot of sage tea to keep waiting guests comfortable, but attention to detail is inconsistent. On Tuesday, the tap water tasted like detergent, which suggests unrinsed or dirty carafes or glasses. The atmosphere, however, is difficult to overlook. Because of the very large windows and hard surfaces, the acoustics are terrible. With several groups dining at once, the noise level quickly became overpowering, to the point where conversation at our table was difficult. Combined with an unpleasant smell in the restaurant, a mix of dirty rags, mop water, and cleaning chemicals, the space doesn’t feel polished or cared for. The bathrooms are the weakest point of the entire experience. On both nights they were filthy, particularly the one at the top of the stairs. The mirror looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in weeks, and the floor was covered in debris that clearly hadn’t been swept or mopped. For a restaurant at this price point, such neglect is unacceptable and really drags down the overall impression. The drink prices border on extravagant. The Ashkar wines from Galilee, at $30–$35 per glass, make sense given how rare they are to find in Toronto, but paying $13–$17 for mocktails and nearly $30 for most cocktails feels excessive for the level of bartending/ingredients. The food is largely priced in line with its quality. The bukjet freekeh ($30) had a wonderful flaky pastry texture but fell short on tastiness. A tiny bowl of red shatta ($9) condiment packed some heat but little value. The koussa mahshi ($36) arrived unevenly plated; one enormous zucchini paired with one miniature one, which made it less visually appealing despite reasonable flavour. In contrast, both breads are standouts: taboun (2 pieces for $4) and khoubz (2 pieces for $6) are outstanding, easily among the best in the city and excellent value. The lahmeh nayyeh ($29), thin strips of raw beef kissed by a Maillard reaction, was tender and flavourful, though it’s puzzling that it came with six Mary’s gluten-free crackers. The dajaj chicken liver pâté ($29), which my companions adored, begged for more crackers. My personal favourites were the moutabal foul ($19), a luscious green fava bean dip that’s addictive & brightly herbal (served without bread); and the mushroom salad ($22), both warm and cold (pickled) and perfectly balanced. The salatet al maftoul ($20) was another highlight. Dessert was where the evening dragged: the $18 cheeseless kunafe (crispy funnel cake), though delicious and generous enough for 4 people took 1...

I was really looking forward to come to Louf. My hyper excitement was due to the fact that it was Palestinian cuisine which I was craving since I saw the finale of Mo where the whole family shared a heart warm family meal in the West Bank. Not to mention that Palestinian food is one of my most favourite of all times.

Unfortunately, the experience fell utterly flat and was a huge disappointment. Everything I ate wasn’t worse a penny.

So to start off, we ordered two mocktails (priced at 14-15$). Apart from how tiny the cups are, it was a huge disappointment. The helba inspired mocktail well tasted like helba (fenugreek) and Doum (an Egyptian dried fruit). We use helba to cure meat; Basterma so I felt like I was drinking a liquid form of that. The rose petals orange concussion barely had any flavours of Zohorat or rose petals and the cup’s very last sip was very sweet so I don’t think it was mixed well.

We thought okay maybe they were trying to be creative and it didn’t work out too well but surely the rest of the food will be exquisite. We started off with the Haloumi salad. It was okay, I give it a 5/10. The tomatoes were nice stashing but slightly soggy. The Haloumi pieces were cold and barely flavoured which was strange given how you’d expect nice fresh mint. The portion was incredibly tiny. Two bites each of sharing. The chicken liver pâté was actually quite nice and a nice twist on traditional liver dishes; especially for me who can barely stand liver taste - I actually ate it and the side crackers were nice. Has nothing to do with Musakhan though which is a bread based roll. Again, very tiny portions. We got all three types of bread which I still can’t believe didn’t come as a regular side with the dishes and how expensive the tiny pieces offered were (5-6$) when I get gourmet sourdough load for 9$! The Taboun bread was very dry, the Ka’ak was so dense that unfortunately places like brodflour that culturally appropriate it and call it a Jerusalem bagel bake it much better and the zaatar bread was just flat in flavour and had zero hints of zaatar.

We got the braised meat with Tamarind sauce lastly. It was actually decent portions of meat but agaib had zero hints of Tamarind and tasted like our cook’s version of Kabab H’alah back home. Atleast back home we eat it with white rice and veg on the side. I just wasn’t sure what to do with a stew of saucy meat and no white rice side and only offered sides are super expensive breads that didn’t go well with that flavour profile?!

Lastly for desert we had the Mahalabiya and the orange date cake. Mahalabiya was actually exquisite but there was a spice flavour that only came through the first two bites then not in the rest of it. The orange date cake was dense, flavourless and the chocolate sauce was just off.

The waiters are service was beyond exceptional. The waiters very welcoming and warm.

The interior was also disappointing. I feel like if they were trying to go for a fusion fine dining experience, like going to dishoom, then they’ve failed miserably. Stepping into dishoom is like stepping into a world of wonders and the flavours are so bold and exquisite. I don’t know exactly what they were trying to do with the interiors because I def didn’t feel like stepping into a family house in Quds for example.

As for how this compares to restaurants in Dubai or London, I don’t even know how I should think of it. Take a place like Bibi social in Dubai, it’s pricey, it has small portions but it’s worth every bite.

I really wished for utter success for this place. I was rooting so hard for it especially that it’s Palestinian owned. I really wanted to adore it and recommend it to all my friends. I truly am disappointed and will not be stepping foot in that restaurant again unless something magically changes in the flavoured offered. It truly has so much potential but has an immense amount...

I was looking forward to Louf and my disappointment is powerful.

The space: the room is gorgeous but my seat was wildly uncomfortable - like something from a Quaker school house. I recommend picking up some cushions. There was no consideration of acoustics. Why do so many restaurants who care so deeply about our sense of taste and smell utterly disregard the sound in their spaces? In a small, glass box, sound is amplified, sharp, and unpleasant. Find a way to soften it.

The service: we were greeted warmly but the mistakes that occurred throughout the meal were amateurish and made the price point of the menu ridiculous. It’s clear that they’re trying hard and maybe they’ll get there, but they’ve got a long way to go.

The first wine I ordered was out of stock. I was then offered a glass of one normally only available by the bottle, only to be told there were only 2oz remaining. Not that big of a deal, but it adds up. Dishes were cleared while we were still eating creating a rushed energy. Dessert menus were dropped while we still had food on our plates, only an hour after we sat down. I looked around and other tables who’d been sat at the same time (also still on mains) hadn’t been unceremoniously presented with dessert menus - just us. This place needs some veteran servers to bring confidence to the table. The lack of expertise, elegance, and style in the service exacerbated the feeling of being ripped off by the portions and price…

The food: this is where the real problem lies. There are flashes of quality and creativity but the portions were laughable - and I say this as someone who has worked and dined in fine-dining and modernist restaurants for decades. The menu feels like it was priced by someone who’s never been to a restaurant in Toronto before… “It’s a banana, how much can it cost? $10?” is a funny joke everywhere except at Louf, where it’s literal. This was pretentious and hubristic to the point of being ludicrous. Except one dish: an inordinately large bowl of sage ice cream that made me think I was being pranked. Others have done a better job at describing the lacklustre flavours and caloric deficiencies so I’ll just say: sumac and nice olive oil only get you so far.

And finally, the dumbest coffee cup of all time. No handle, untouchably hot.

I see the owners spend a lot of time responding to reviews which generally I consider admirable. My suggestion would be to instead spend time on training your staff, thinking about your guests’ experiences holistically, and familiarizing yourself with the concept of “perceived value.” I wish you the best of luck in an insanely tough business. You’ve got a spark but without the right changes, it’ll be...