Pizza

Beiruti Grand Café is a Middle-Eastern spot in a hidden strip mall a block or so from Sheppard Ave and Consumer Road. They get a lively lunch crowd from the offices around the area. It's a rather large cavernous space that they've tried to humanize with lowered ceilings in some areas, plants, and bright decorations. Nevertheless, it does feel like eating in an upscale airport cafeteria.

Though most people order from the soup and salad counter, I decided to get something from the Middle-East section. I finally opted for a "labneh flatbread" ($9), obviously inspired by traditional thin pizzas such as lahmacoun. The free soup was a tasty lentil concoction, except for the odd addition of too-soft elbow pasta. The toppings for the labneh was excellent: fresh vegetables and creamy greek yogurt. Unfortunately, the dough itself was bland and tasted like it came out of a microwave. There was none of that aroma and flavour of a freshly baked pie. My guess is that though these are created in-house, the various flatbread offerings are pre-made for convenience and speed. Then it's just a matter of doing a quick reheat.