They have multiple Central Asian cuisines here, with Azerbaijani one of the rarer ones. Borscht was decent. I think it tasted meatier than other Borschts I've had Azerbaijani Dolma was decent: stuffed vine leaves with rice & meat. Azerbaijani Chicken lavangi with sliced home style potatoes: chicken was decent. The potatoes were pretty tasty but sliced too thick so the flavour did not penetrate. The menu said both mains got salad & a side of our choice. But only the lavangi had choice & there was no salad. read more

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Chaihana peaked my interest as they specialize in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan food. I've only had Uzbekistan food out in Calgary (RIP Begim). This spot is located inside an office complex next to Amitie Cafe. We dropped in on a Wednesday (around 6:45pm) and had the place to ourselves. The inside is spacious with an abundant of tables and a banquet hall in the back. Service is slow and inattentive. The menu consists of salads, cold & hot appetizers, soups, khachapuri, mains, fish, kebabs and Azerbaijani dishes. Sadly, none of the khachapuri or desserts were available. - Lagman ($10.99) - broth reminded me of a tomato soup with more depth. Noodles were passable but lacked bite. - Salmon shurpa ($10.99) - the dill really elevated the broth to the next level. - Pilaf ($16.99) - normally, this comes with clumps of roasted garlic. Alas, the osh was still satisfying. - Lamb shank with braised vegetables ($20.99) - vegetables and the lamb jus was delicious. Lamb itself was tender and succulent. Some potatoes (as stated on the menu) would have completed the dish. - Siberian pelmeni ($9.99) - 12 small dumplings; plump, good filling and a nice elasticity. - Lulya kebab ($19.99) - we opted for the home style potatoes, topped with dill, which were light and crispy. Never were given the garden salad. Skewers were great and paired perfectly with the homemade ketchup sauce. Would definitely return to Chaihana to try more dishes. 4.5 stars. read more

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Well, all has always been great! Except may be the prices though )) The food is amazing - always fresh and delicious! I strongly recommend ordering khachapuri megrelskie. Dolma is amazing as well! Service is beyond admiration as well! read more

Chaihana is a hidden gem in the Finch West area... it's literally hidden because there is no visible sign of the restaurant name at all from the outside. It's located inside a mall / office complex in the corner of Finch Ave. West and Dufferin Street. The entrance is from the main office complex beside Good Life Fitness. It's in the same plaza as the Ontario Court of Justice. As soon as you walk in from the main entrance from the front, you'll see the restaurant on your left side. If you order take-out and come for a pick-up, you need to call them once inside the restaurant, and they'll come out to give you your order. When you order, you can specify what time you want to pick up (unless you're ordering delivery through Uber Eats or Skip the Dishes). Owner is very nice and friendly. The food here is a mix of Uzbek, Tajik, and Kazhak cuisines (from Central Asia), but the food selection is really a mix of cuisines from the surrounding regions (Eastern European, Middle Eastern, and Central & Western Asian cuisines). You'll find Georgian classics such as kachapuri, Russian / Ukrainian borscht, Russian varenikis (similar to Polish pierogies), Turkish manti (giant dumplings), and different types of tandoori bread commonly found throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. The region itself (where Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazhakstan are located) lends itself well as a melting pot of all of these neighbouring regions' cuisines. Menu is pretty big and all the food items that we tried were excellent (and in BIG portions!). We ordered SIDE Sautéed Vegetables, and it came like a Chinese-style full main dish (enough to share between 3-4 people). The tandoori breads were also quite massive. Review of the specific food items that we ordered: 1) Eggplant Rolls (with walnut paste inside, topped with pomegranates) - Love this cold appetizer! So smooth and the walnut paste inside is so rich and flavourful. 2) Manti (giant Turkish dumplings) filled with pumpkins & onions, topped with dill - Another favourite dish here. Unique filling for dumplings. I like the generous filling and topping with dill. 3) Vareniki (Russian version of pierogies) filled with potatoes & mushrooms, topped with dill - I found this to be too doughy and not too flavourful. Too much potato and not enough mushrooms inside. It came with sour cream. 4) Baked Trout - We got a very big and meaty fish, which was lightly seasoned (so you get to taste the actual freshness of the fish). It came served on a bed of raw kale. 5) Grilled Shrimps - The menu says "1 skewer of shrimps", but it came with a lot of big pieces of shrimps. Really well done in its simplicity. 6) Sautéed Mixed Vegetables (cauliflower, bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, onions) - We ordered this as a side to come with the fish, and it was served in a very big portion. It tasted like Chinese vegetables stir-fry using soy sauce... tasty but a bit too salty. 7) Tandoori Lepyhoshka (thick flatbread commonly found in Afghan, Tajik, and Uzbek cuisines) - Good as a pita that can be opened and filled with things, or dipped into hummus or babbaghanouj. 8) Tandoori Za'atar & Garlic Laffa (crispy Iraqi flatbread / pita, topped with za'atar spice blend and garlic) - If you like garlic bread, you'll like this one. Very strong garlic smell and taste. Crispy on the outside (and stays crispy for a long time!). read more

Chaihana - Eggplant Rolls, Vareniki, Baked Trout, Grilled Shrimps, Sautéed Mixed Vegetables, Salad - Middle Eastern Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Overall{based on a takeout}: Not bad, worth a try for something different Price: A little pricey, definitely not somewhere you can come to eat to often Portion: Portion is okay, a little small for the price Taste: Not bad. I found the food different and tasty The venue looks amazing from pictures though I havent had a chance to visit as yet. read more

Chaihana - This came around 70$ - Middle Eastern Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

We've came here not for the first time (actually it's been a while) knowing that this place has really good kebob, well this will be our last time. Service was so-so, too much of waiter's sarcastic humour felt uncomfortable to me, then seemed like he was arrogant. Starters were great but overpriced kebob was a tasteless dried rubber and the funny thing is kebob was served without any sauce or adjika typically served everywhere else but here. Rice was very dry like it's been sitting outside without covering.. home style potatoes was overcooked and dark. I was not planning to leave a review and didn't make any pictures of the dishes, but then again I've evaluated everything while in the car after that I'm not going back here again. Sorry read more

Amazing service and food. The waiters have been there for a long time and recognize us, always greet us and even offer to help with the baby. Amazing guys. The food comes out fast and is delicious. We love the way that they make kebobs. Highly recommend! read more

Well, you guys were not exaggerating. Most reviews here contain a warning of the subpar service at Chaihana, but I figured it had to be blown out of proportion. It wasn't. We arrived right at noon on a Saturday and the place was empty. I mean, completely empty. There wasn't a customer or staff member in sight. After standing around for a few minutes, we noticed that someone was arranging cutlery behind a curtain in the back, so I walked over and asked if the restaurant was indeed open. The guy looked supremely annoyed by this interruption, grabbed a couple of menus, and told us to sit where we wanted. We did and he pretty much threw the menus on the table and went back behind the curtain. Not the best start to the meal. Our surly waiter returned a few minutes later to pour us some water and take our orders. I decided to go with the Pilav ("Ancient traditional Central Asian meal prepared with lamb, round rice, carrot, onion, peas and barberry"), to which the waiter asked if I wanted one or two. Baffled, I said one. Why would I want two plates of food? The food arrived about 10 minutes later and it was good. The meat was very soft and flavorful, while the rice contained some spices I couldn't quite identify but which were pretty tasty. But the dish had been cooked with an almost overwhelming amount of oil, to the extent that the plate was practically swimming in grease. Needless to say, I felt quite full afterwards. It was an interesting meal that I don't regret eating, but that horrific service and overly greasy food preparation means I'll never return. read more

The food was delicious and I highly recommend the lulya kebab as well as the tandoori bread. I definitely will be back there soon.

I used to really enjoy coming here since I found a few dishes that were reasonably good for the price and service had generally been acceptable. Unfortunately, they raised their prices this year and the service was atrocious when we last visited. Not only that, they decided to try and sneak in an 18% service charge without telling us. It wasn't stated on their menu and the waitress didn't mention it when giving me the bill so I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't double checked. After calling her out on it, her initial reaction was just a shrug and a "that's what we always do for a table of 6 or more." read more

Let this be a warning to all that want to try this place (Trust me, you will thank me). I had ordered the chicken tabaka, which came out to around $14. When the food arrived... the chicken looked like it had been run over by a truck and the truck had reversed and ran it over again countless times. The " Georgian herbs and spices" advertised is just 1 ingredient - GARLIC. If vampires did exist, this would definitely be my weapon of choice. I felt like the garlic was to cover the taste of the meat, which may have gone bad. I felt extremely sick after and wanted to throw up. You have been warned! Who needs stakes for vampires when you got Chicken Tabaka?!?!? read more

Chaihana - Middle Eastern Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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That place does the job for a good meal, nothing more, nothing less. The menu offers a decent variety of options and all the breads, soups and meat dishes were great. Adding to the fact that the portions are generous and the prices very affordable. The setting is interesting ; it is attached to a banquet hall that you have to go into if you want to use the washrooms. There's also a huge television and sound system that makes you feel you eat at a friend's place rather than being in a restaurant. I would give this place a 4 stars if it wasn't for the service to be slow, slightly cold and it took a very long time before we were greeted. read more

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I'm only giving Chaihana 2 stars because I feel bad for all the hard work the chefs have put in. Other than that, the restaurant and service were awful. When my friends and I first walked in, the restaurant looked nothing like the pictures online. We waited 10 minutes for the host until we decided to seat ourselves upstairs. There was nobody to welcome us, or to seat us and let us know about the restaurant and Tajik and Uzbek cuisine. The waiter was especially lazy and completely disorganized. Not only did he get our orders wrong, but we had to constantly flag him down for cutlery, or water, and new orders. A simple dinner turned into a stressful ordeal... and it was impossible to enjoy our food because something was always missing. He didn't even bother clearing our plates or taking away our menus. He could have cared less that we were eating at the restaurant. Overall if you're going to get food here, order out if you must. They were missing a lot of items from their menu, even the pilaf which is what I had originally come for. At the end, my friends and I were left disappointed and annoyed. Honestly such a bad experience. read more

Kazy horse meat was very good. Normally horse meat is expensive. This one is reasonably price. Lamb kabob is usual. Everything is tasty but a bit oily. Samsha is the best. read more

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The owners were so nice and friendly. They went out in the cold to give us our food because we had trouble finding the place. The portion was huge and on top of that we got a free appetizer. Their khachapuri, samsa and manti were amazing! read more

Came here for a birthday party on a Thursday evening. Pros: - Decently priced - Relaxing/casual ambiance Cons: - Waiters were very unprofessional. We had to ask for water 3 times before they brought it. We were served food on tiny side plates and were only given regular plates when we asked for them. Our dinner plates weren't removed when dessert and dessert plates were brought out. We had to stack them up for them to realize that they should take them. (We were the only table there so it's not like it was busy). - Food was average read more

Finally, a Central Asian restaurant in Toronto! This place is located in a non-description office building at Finch and Dufferin - it occupies space inside the building and is not visible from the street. It is a large bilevel place with a huge adjoining banquet room. The cheerful orange decor has a pleasant oriental flair. The food is excellent. It is mostly Uzbek with a few dishes from other countries. Try the delicious spicy carrot salad, the shurpa soups, the semi-flat leposhka bread and the little kutabi pies. We all had the plov (rice pilaf) as a main dish and it was wonderful. They also have a wide assortment of kebabs, which we have not tried yet. It helps to have a Russian speaker in your party, as English is somewhat limited. But the service was very gracious and friendly. I hope they will add a few more main dishes to their menu in the future - would like to see a bit more variety of non-kebab offerings. But would highly recommend this as a new addition to the diversity of cuisine in Toronto. read more

I'm quite surprised the reviews are so low... I haven't gotten their take out so maybe that's why. It also helps this my native language/food. I've tried 4-5 dishes and everything has been great. The cuisine is can be described as Russian/Central Asian so expect a lot of dumplings as well as lamb dishes. If you've tried Xinjiang food it's very similar as they have pilav and lamb skeweres as well. I had cheburek, kazakh dumpling, pilav and lamb skewers. My friend tried borsch which was also good. The service was alright, can be slow at times but I didn't mind as I wasn't in a rush. It's located inside GoodLife building which can be a bit hard to find. Decor is nice, it's a casual place. Location is a bit far at Finch West but close to Russian stores and other Russian restaurants. Will definitely come back soon. read more

Chaihana - Middle Eastern Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

It smells funny when you walk in. They had a 10 year old taking our order. I personally did not enjoy any of the food items but it could possibly be just a personal preference. The vinegar on our table had about 10 fruit flies floating around in it so we told one of the waitresses who then went around the empty restaurant replacing all the vinegars. I will never go back. read more

Overall, this is a very traditional restaurant. So don't expect a westernized setting with westernized food. The food, the service, and the price are all very reasonable, compared to other similar places. I found the decor amazing and the food tasted good and fresh. There are some minor issues such as lack of free parking, hidden entrance, and perhaps an unnecessary giant TV/DJ table, which don't fit the decor as well, but if you are into good, homemade style food, this is a must try. I also do think their menu can be shortened and some photos added for clarification. read more

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We spent 10 minutes just trying to find the place, it is inside the office building and there are no signs whatsoever. Yet, when we found this place we were really surprised, the interior is very high end, not sure whether it's authentic or not. The food is delicious. It is mainly Uzbek cuisine with many Russian and Middle Eastern choices. We shared shakarob salad and meat kutabs, I had shurpa salmon soup and my husband had lagman soup. We also shared lamb kebabs and khinkali. Everything tasted great and the prices were very reasonable. The service was friendly but slow even though the restaurant was half empty. It took 15 min before our order was taken and almost 30 min before we got our meal... Yet, we will certainly be back. read more

Chaihana - Lamb kebab - Middle Eastern Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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This is what I just emailed them... I just had your food delivered for the 1st time. Although the food is very good, I was quite disappointed in the order of dark meat chicken kabob. The menu states 2 skewers of chicken with potatoes and you filled the bottom of a small round container with potatoes so full that you could only fit about 1 skewer of chicken. I do not like to pay the price for chicken only to receive mostly potatoes. You should rename this dish 2 skewer of potatoes with a side order of chicken. read more

I don't understand how people want to be in business with such a low quality food. I think it is a fresh opened café and if you want to be in business you need to server tasty and good quality food. Ground meet for Manti and khinkali was awful, full of small piece of ligaments and scrap meat. Too much herbs in ground meet. you put herbs to kill bad meat. Chebyrek too much liquid and very little meat. Shish kebab was ok, but pieces are too small. you pay $9-$10 and expect some quantity. My verdict - I will never go there again and don't recommend. read more

High price... Food varieties is bad .... In general if you wan to enjoy Uzbek food don't go there .... It is not even restaurant .... It is like some sort of banquette place with very overpriced low quality food... read more

You should avoid this restaurant. We visited this restaurant today (October 16, 2016). It was an absolutely terrible experience. Samsa ($3 per each) with meat was dry and not fresh. Probably, they kept it for several days and just heated it up. Lamb Kebab ($10 per each) had just 4 - 5 tiny peaces of mean with huge empty gaps between them. Not the best one as well. Artichuk Salad ($6.95 for one) on a tiny plate was so small. It is hard to understand, why they charged such price for it. Plov ($10 for one) - a small portion on a small plate. We did not like it as well. It was not fresh, but heated up. Pot of green tea - in a very small pot at the price of $5. Just ridiculous. Chak-chak ($6 for 2) was not ready at all. It had just small peaces of sweet bred and no honey or anything, which make it chak-chak. Service was absolutely terrible. Table was without tablecloth. All plates were tiny. Waiter did not even told us that chak-chak was not ready. He simply told that he does not know, why it was not ready. As he explained, nobody works on kitchen on Sunday and he does not know, why they did not prepare it yesterday. But why he gave us not ready desert in this case and charged $10 for it????!!! At the end we got a bill for $140.84 including HST for 2 adults and 2 kids (no alcoholic beverages were ordered at all). We were completely shocked and in disbelief that we may get such high bill in such terrible place. I has visited this reastaurant 2 times before and had positive experience due to food was nice and price was reasonable. But I learned today that this restaurant has became so ugly place. Stay away from this place, guys. read more

Chaihana - Look what Chaihana charged 2 adults and 2 kids today (October 16, 2016) for not nice food and absolutely terrible service. - Middle Eastern Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I order their food as take-outs once in a while when I'm craving a tasty pilaf or chicken tabaka.

This place is alright. We ordered take out from Just Eats. Wanted to try something new and it doesn't get more rare than central asian cuisine. Actually it's a mix of central Asian cuisine with some Russian/Georgian dishes. It's like Kavkaz or Suliko but even more menu options. We ordered Beshbarmak, and beef kebob dinner with fries, and cherry dumplings. The beshbarmak was a bit disappointing. Not much flavor to it. It came with a soup which was sort of like a lesser version of Pho. The beef pieces in the Beshbarmak were like stewing beef. The noodles are similar to some Uyghur flat noodles I had elsewhere. Overall if I want beef with noodles, got to stick with pho. This dish was lacking. The beef chunk kebob was just ok. 2 Skewers for $15 with fries is alright. Compared to all other kebob flavors I've tried (Iranian, Turkish, Afghan, Lebonese, Pakistani), this has to be the least flavorful kebob I've ever had. It's edible but it just isn't special. The cherry dumplings I enjoyed very much. The whole experience came with a salad and 3 sauces (sour cream, ketchup, and another red sauce which we could not identify). I'm not sure why this place gets $$$ as the rating. $15 for a main is pretty fair to me. Should be 2 dollar signs. Would I order again? Probably but I'm not dying to try again. read more

I love this place, and so do my parents who are very picky and like the food to taste like "back home". The girls who work here are very nice, food is always delicious. read more

Food 3/5: blended, simple, small portions, no flavor except for 1 sauce. Service 4/5: the are friendly and attentive. Personal using wireless headphones to pass your order but it looks funny and not necessary in empty restaurant. Location 2/5: its an addition to a night club. Its not an stand alone restaurant. Paid parking. No good view. They have 2 levels. 1 its like you are at cheap ugly mall and 2nd is so high and there is so many loud sounds coming from club rehearsal. Its not comfortable. Looks like whole restaurant just an "who cares" addition. Price 2/5: $$$. other "Russian" restaurants are cheaper or better. Will NOT be back! read more

I'm an Iranian -Tajik. This place was far from traditional Tajiki or Uzbeki food. They had a nice decide inside with Quran written on the rooftop with the photo yet served Alcoholic beverages inside lol. They didn't seat us we had to figure it out on our own and the price for the food was over what it was worth. The menu was not Tajiki-Uzbeki even though it's supposed to me , it's an imitation being in my own house hold we make traditional food. The dishes were mainly I would say Russian dishes and or Ukrainian. But if your Persian (Tajiki) and want your traditional Tajiki or Uzbeki food, this is definitely NOT the place to go. I would honestly recommend Bamiyan Kabob or Mazar Kabob even though they are considered "Afghani" food they are more Tajiki and serve traditional Tajiki dishes. Also North York, for authentic Iranian dishes. But anyways, wanted to give a review because I love my Tajiki food and this place just wasn't it. read more

I recently had the immense pleasure of visiting the wonderful/beautiful "Chaihana Bar | Restaurant | Lounge" and enjoyed a very delicious, nutritious, hearty, and colorful Uzbek dinner, and will definitely keep coming again and again. I loved their comforting Kharcho as my appetizer, which consisted of succulent, boneless, and yummy chunks of lean beef, with walnuts, rice, and fresh herbs. It was an awesome powerhouse of sumptuous nutrition. Another delicious appetizer I enjoyed was their Kutabi with Meat, a soft patty containing tasty ground beef and fresh herbs. For my sumptuous main course, I savored their yummy, healthy, colorful, and hearty Plov, which was a generous serving of rice mixed with various all-natural and fresh ingredients (eg. chick peas, carrots, onions, garlic, etc.) and topped with succulent, boneless, and yummy chunks of lean beef. The wonderful Plov was served in a beautiful and ornamental bowl adorned with majestic art. Orders were taken by a very courteous, cheerful, efficient, and sweet young lady, who also brought the wonderful food right to my table, with a smile. All the staff members were very hospitable and efficient. The Uzbek culture is famous for its tremendous hospitality and generosity. Many yummy items to choose from. Large variety. Very high quality food in very generous portions at very good prices. No wonder the place was packed, with many dine-in patrons as well as take-out patrons. The atmosphere is very friendly and relaxed. Majestic ambiance. The decor is magnificent, with beautiful Uzbek art adorning the walls and ceiling. Feels as if one is in a royal palace. Even the washroom was way nicer than the ones in 5-star hotels in the GTA. The dining area is immaculately clean and tidy. Plenty of tables. Two floors. All forms of payment accepted. Prime and convenient location in the Finch Ave W and Dufferin St area of Toronto. Within easy proximity of Highways 407, 401, and 400. Plenty of parking. Bus shelters/stops at doorstep for many local and express routes for TTC, YRT, and VIVA transit systems. Only 2 stops, about 10 minutes, to and from York University (Keele Campus) on board TTC's 196 Rocket Express, which travels along the York University Busway, a dedicated bus-only road. The starting point of this Busway is only about 500 metres north of the restaurant. Only 2.8KM from York University (Keele Campus), 2.6KM from Downsview Airport, and 5KM from Toronto's famous Yorkdale Shopping Centre. My sincere thanks to the wonderful staff of Chaihana for making my first visit a very enjoyable one and I look forward to continue dining at your great establishment on an ongoing basis. God Bless. read more

Great selection of authentic food and very high quality ingredients. It's like eating home-made food at a home-made prices. The menu very reasonably priced. Décor is beautiful and atmosphere is great. Staff is attentive without being overbearing. Highly recommending to check it out. read more

Pathetically small portions. We paid nearly $50 and received barely enough food to feed one person. The Baba Ganoush didn't even come with anything to dip in it. The chicken Tabaka was a small piece of chicken by itself (no side) and somehow cost $14. I spoke with the owner and he basically told me that those were the portions and to deal with it. He told me that if I wasn't happy with it I should never order from them again, so I told him I wouldn't, and I recommend that nobody else does either. read more