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Diwan

4.0 (70 reviews)
Closed • 11:30 am - 2:30 pm

Diwan Photos

Business Info

DIWAN ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Classy
Moderate noise
Good for groups
Outdoor seating

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Recommended Reviews - Diwan

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Meat platter(chicken and beef) with naan and fattoush Salad.
Ann R.

Inside the beautiful Aga khan museum is Diwan. My friend and I came to enjoy the museum and the Rumi exhibit. We first stopped for lunch and opted for Diwan. We didn't have a reservation but we were able to get a table right away. The patio was not available but we were seated toward the back over looking the patio. The restaurant is l equally as beautiful. We order the special. Which was the meat platter which came with beef kabob and tandoori chicken with naan. We also ordered the fattoush salad and shared everything. The food was delicious and the service impeccable. It was a wonderful lunch before exploring the museum. I would definitely be back!

Beef Fesenjan
Elle G.

I would actually give this place a 2.5. It's definitely better than a 2 but not quite a 3. There are things to like -- - nice location - staff are friendly and helpful - has both inside and patio dining - they do check for vax certs and take cleaning seriously Things less appealing -- - they had tables of 10 and larger inside including a group of about 20 people celebrating a birthday but right in the main dining area. This made us feel a bit uncomfortable. It felt crowded. I thought there was still a limit on table size for inside dining?? - the appetizers and fries were great, the lamb burger not so much. It had grill marks but no crispness to the outside. Was tasteless and in some parts stringy or chewy in a strange way. Not great. :( - I will say that some of the other meals looked quite nice - so it may just be the lamb burger that's not great - they charge you $10 for parking and do not offer any break to diners that are spending a decent amount for a meal. May or may not go back. We'll see. Certainly not anytime soon.

Interior
Vannesa A.

I heard a lot of this place so I give it a try. Food is OK, find it not really authentic, but the service is very good. The lady staff keep coming to us and checking if we are OK, keep filling our water, and even she has the mask on, I can see it in her eyes that she is smiling. The decor is beautiful. I'll come back summer time to sit in the patio.

Lamb shank + extra side of rice
Victoria F.

Very pretty restaurant and the patio is quite gorg - it's seated right beside the beautiful front of Aga Khan Museum with the water feature and lawn. Service was nice! Onto the food... it's alright. Drinks are pretty mediocre. Watermelon lemonade had no watermelon flavour. Cactus pear and lychee mocktail was overly sweet. Food: - Watermelon Gazpacho: Quite refreshing but a bit heavy handed on the tartness - Fattoush salad: Highlight of the entire meal. Greatly enjoyed this fresh bowl of salad! Dressing was amazing and paired very well. - Lamb shank: Tender and just alright. It sits on a bed of hummus with some veggie salad on the side. A side of rice is $4. Imo, rather pricey dish esp considering it doesn't even come with a rice. - Beef fesenjan: Served extremely hot. Super tender beef shank, but it's a tad dry. Stew sauce itself is alright - it's savoury and the pomegranate adds a extremely slight hint of tang in the back of your throat. It comes with some rice pilaf and tasteless chickpeas. I likes how the rice had some added raisins for some extra flavour dimension.

Butter chicken, beautifully plated.
Ryan L.

This is a fancier middle Eastern restaurant. They said the menu changes from time to time so it would be good to check it out again. Staff is very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. Service is definately a high priority for this place. I ordered simple comfort foods (butter chicken) because I was craving it. It is a bit steep at $22. Portion is quite small but beautifully plated. Taste was very good, wish there was a bit more chicken though at that price. You get some naan slices with it and a nice fresh cream in it to balance out the dish. The view is really good here, big bright windows overlooking some water fountains and beautiful big trees. People say it is a good place for summerlicious so will probably come back around then to try something else.

mango lassi
Ruhee W.

the food was very overpriced and the quantity was much smaller than expected, but the service and ambience were great. for the appetizers: - the mixed tikka platter was delicious, great to share between 4 people - the lamb samosas were much smaller than expected (and you only get 3), and the chutney was sweet instead of savory or salty, so the chutney flavors did not complement the samosa filling for mains: - the shrimp and the chicken shawarma were my favorites and both were a reasonable quantity and the fries that came with the shawarma were tasty - the lamb shank was a little overcooked, i wouldn't order it again; we also ordered rice with it, but the lamb was dry enough that it didn't make sense to eat with rice - the quantity of the bandari chicken was good for one person to eat but it was very tough to share; in terms of the taste, it was very flavorful and the rice went well with the chicken for dessert: - we tried the chocolate mousse cake, and it was very rich and easy to share the mango lassi was also delicious! very creamy and sweet, and well-made. this restaurant is a lovely place to dine with family in the aga khan museum (especially with the view and so much natural light in the daytime), but i unfortunately wouldn't go out of my way to come back here.

Calamari has a nice spice and flavour to it
Amy W.

Today was my dad's birthday. I've decided to come back again. We've ordered the salmon, it was a little saltier than before. But still pretty good. My mom had the speciality of the day, these lamb kofta. My mom enjoyed it and she loved the naan. She took my brother's portion of the naan aswell! My brother had the other speciality of the day, which is the chicken. He said it tasted good! There are interesting freshly squeezed drinks such as lychee and cactus, which my mom ordered. Then she had the mango lassi, she liked it. The only comment she had was a bit sour. My dad ordered the mango and guava. One important point to mention is our waiter. He has an amazing friendly smile. Very friendly and helpful. His name was Angelo and made our dining experience very different!

Onion Bhaji
Anna G.

Really impressed! My girlfriends and I came to Aga Khan on a Wednesday to explore the museum. We were pleasantly surprised to learn the museum is free on Wednesday nights! After it closed at 8pm, we headed to Diwan to grab a drink and a snack. The restaurant is beautifully decorated! It's modern with a middle eastern feel. Our service was fantastic! We had the nicest service who was helpful, friendly, and truly made our experience wonderful. There was live entertainment of string bass and saxophone which felt romantic and sophisticated. I was impressed with their cocktail menu, and it was hard to choose a drink. All the cocktails have a middle eastern flair to them. I ended up going with the Caesar which was delicious. We ordered 3 apps to share: onion bhaji, fatteh baba ghanouj, and sumac fries. Everything was delicious! The baba ghanouj was quite spicy though, so beware. Overall, we had a wonderful time at Diwan and I'd definitely come back for a larger meal to explore more of their menu. Our server told us the restaurant changes the menu every 4 months to another middle eastern country's cuisine. So neat!

Standing on the Moon.
Dominic M.

We decided to have lunch here before going into The Moon : A Voyage Through Time exhibit. The dining room is beautifully decorated in antique architectural pieces with huge windows opening onto a lovely treed in patio The menu is meAnt to be "traditional" middle eastern foods. A little more expensive than expected but well worth it. We started with the Baba Ganoush. As a main I had the octopus and calamari salad and my wife had the tikka chicken salad. Both we nicely prepared with fresh ingredients. Both were also specials, meant to represent some aspect of the Moon exhibit. The McEwan group has another winner with this place. Bookmark it and tour the museum while you are there.

Ceiling brought from middle east
Patricia G.

Location: It's located in the Aga Khan Museum on Wynford drive. I think you basically have to drive, it's in the middle of nowhere. i'm not even sure if a bus goes by, if it does it's limited. Also, no one says this, but you are forced to pay $10 to park there, so make sure to factor that into your budget if you are coming. Carpool. Decor: The place is real nice! It's clean and simple. There are floor to ceiling windows so it's nice and bright. The walls and ceilings are decorated with 19th century carved wooden panels from Damascus. There's a poem in arabic written across the panels. Nice Menu: I like when a restaurant puts items from their regular menu on their 'licious offerings. I use them to try out new places. Diwan did that. The food is a combination of the Middle East, North Africa, and India. The three dishes I picked were the Imam Bayildi (Smoked Eggplant), Aloo Gobi, and the melon salad for dessert. Food: Imam Bayildi was my entre. This dish was delicious. Honestly, if they would have put this dish in front of me for all three courses I would have been fine with it, that's how much I loved it. The only problem with it was I wished it came on a full platter so I could eat it for days! The dish was smoked eggplant with Tahini Yogurt, Pine Nuts, Pomegranate & seated on an amazing minted Chickpea Couscous Salad. Yum and Drool. Next I had the "Aloo Gobi" with Roasted Cauliflower Steak Ragda Pattice, Sweet Peas, Green Chutney, Raita and Fried Onions. I'm not sure why it's in quotation marks. This one cause a problem for me.As soon as they placed the dish in front of me i knew I couldn't eat it. The smell from the red sauce was so off putting. It smelled like concentrated spaghetti o's sauce. *shudder*. I thought that maybe I could hold my nose but when i tasted it - nope. I felt weird asking the waitress to take it away. I normally eat anything Put it in front of me and I'll try it. Nope not this. They were nice enough to make me another one with out the sauce , It was delicious, so delicious. I'd like to note that there was a woman at the next table who got the same thing and she didn't like the red sauce either. My final course was the Minted Melon Salad with Sweetened Labneh, Great way to end the meal. One thing, you can tell they cut the melons probably the day before, they had that fermented softish edge on them. My friend got the Sweet Onion Bhaji with Tamarind Chutney. I tried it and didn't really like it very much. She didn't finish it. but thought it was okay. Her main was Beef Kofta Kebab with Shirazi Salsa, Hummus, Toum, Rice and Naan. She really liked it. She hoovered it up. It smell and looked delicious.. She ended with mango sorbet. it had a cookie. Okay, call it the 12 year old boy inside but they looked liked a penis with testicles. presentation is everything people. Thoughts: So what do I think? Food was great. Wait staff amazing, Want to try out their weekend patio specials. Miffed off that I had to pay for parking in the middle of nowhere. Food was good. would only go back if someone else drove and paid for parking. ( not sure why this is bothering me so much)

Paul K.

This is probably the most thoughtful and wonderful Middle Eastern lunch that I've ever had. The restaurant itself is a museum within a beautiful museum. Huge portions of the walls and ceiling were imported and hand carved. The food and service matches the beautiful interior, for lunch, I enjoyed pakoras and falafel, and although the portions are small, the flavors are huge. The falafel was the star, a unique and light take on falafel with a small tabouli-style salad and all atop a creamy but bright sauce.

Aga Khan Museum
Danny K.

We brought our friends to this restaurant hoping to have the experience of past visits. We've been here a couple times in the past and were so impressed. We were hoping for a three-peat but none was to be had. Not sure what happened but the menu has changed. From an upscale Indian fusion theme to mediocre, elevated bar food. Only reason the restaurant gets three stars is because of amazing service and ambiance. If this wasn't connected to the historic museum I would make the assumption that it is under new management. So sad since it actually is connected so such an amazing architectural monument in Toronto. Not sure if I'll give Diwan another try which makes me sad.

Dan T.

I ate at Diwan during Winterlicious, so my experience with the restaurant itself is limited to their set menu options. I came in not knowing what to expect from a Mark McEwan restaurant, but at the same time I know he's actually not in the back cooking for us :(. It took us a little while to get seated - perhaps OpenTable had something to do with the confused looks from the Front of House staff. Regardless, they were really welcoming. The restaurant is bright and spacious and the decor really sets the tone for the food. The food itself was good, but I didn't find myself dying to come back every day. Writing this review several months later, I can only vaguely remember the dishes I had. A blended soup which I thought was just okay, a Chicken Biryani which was good, and the carrot cake (or at least I think it was a carrot cake) which I think was left out a little too long. Granted, this was a Winterlicious setting, so it does warrant another try on regular day. I enjoyed the experience overall though and would try again.

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Diwan - mideastern - Updated May 2026

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