Summerlicious '12: July 6: Tabülè

Pictures: https://david-kong.squarespace.com/#july-6-tabl

There is nothing assuming about this Davisville eatery, positioned just before Yonge Street gets posh. The décor is drab and colours mismatched, a true indication of the playfully ‘ethnic’ experience to come. And while many ethnic restaurants are more about novelty than execution, Tabülè’s kitchen admirably colours Toronto’s food scene with culinary precision. The tabülè which the restaurant is named after was ever so light and delicate, grounded by a rich hummus. The falafels were not oily. The eggplant (the thicker variety) was generously sliced and flavourful. The mains, though well timed, were largely unspectacular and could have used more vegetables and less rice. But the star of the show was the knaffa ashta, a creamy sweet custard beneath an ‘angelic’ crispy lattice of middle eastern pastry dough, with an almost undetectable flowery undertone (I had thought it to be green tea, but it was rose water). The monochromatic dessert (which shows poorly on camera, and is thus not pictured), much like the restaurant, delights in the most unlikely ways.