Meaty Meal

I went to Persian brunch spot Takht-e Tavoos when it first opened. But this restaurant is so popular with both Iranian ex-pats and locals that I haven't been back. But on a recent walk past the College and Dufferin corner, I noticed it wasn't quite as busy on a week-day. So on Friday, I dropped by for brunch.

This time around, I chose the hearty Dizi Sangi ($15). Also known as Abgoosht, this Iranian lamb stew is cooked for hours, along with onions, spices, and other ingredients. The liquid is drained into a separate bowl as a soup to be eaten with torn pieces of barbari (Persian bread). You are given a mortar and pestle-like combination to mash the rest into a paste to spread on the bread, along with some cool yogurt and spicy jalapeno.

The soup was exquite, rich, and fragrant. The barbari soaked up all that wonderful flavour. But I was on the fence about the "paste". First, I couldn't make it. There was still so much liquid in the lamb and chickpeas that my attempts to grind them up just sloshed them around. But mostly there was so much meat that after the first few delicious bites, it started to pall.

My suggestion is to eat them all together even if traditionally you are supposed to finish them separately. I would also love it if there was a version that dialed back the meat for more veggies.