The last time my family was in Toronto, Canada, we ate at Lahore Tikka House, about 30 years ago. This year, we decided to go to RIS 2022 and thought we would use the opportunity to go back to an old favorite, which we did on the 2nd day of the conference and it was super delicious! However, it came on good recommendation that Karahiboys has now taken the top spot when it comes to Lahore-style food in Toronto, so on the 3rd night of the conference, Christmas Day and our last night in Toronto , we skipped out a little early so we could explore Karahiboys before they closed for the night. Only about 10 min from the conference center, we found the restaurant pretty easily. I was immediately struck by the modern yet authentic Pakistani vibe this place gives off. The place was packed and the staff was super busy yet still very friendly and attentive. The owner, Zohaib, strongly recommended we order before we get seated so the wait wouldn't be as long. Good advice, sir! With his recommendations and our own interests, we ordered! Chapli kabab, boneless chicken karahi, chicken seekh kabob, tandoori wings, along with till wala naan (sesame) and garlic butter naan and he said the chicken briyani is just too good lol! So we couldn't say no and ordered that, too.
After about 10 minutes of waiting we were seated and served water from these interesting sealed jugs. A new transplant from Lahore, Aqsa was our waitress and was very attentive, constantly checking if we needed anything else even before our food arrived. She made the experience very positive! We took the opportunity of her check on us to order some desserts to go, khoya keer and gajar ka halwa.
My son ordered fries which came out first while he stepped away to the washroom. They were so good, we almost devour them before he came back lol! Next the tandoori wings came out. They were very nice, juicy with a subtle kick; the green chutney was a perfect savory pairing with them. Then the gorgeous till naan and garlic naan and the boneless kharahi chicken arrived. We all got a taste of the chicken and we're wowed by the depth of the flavor. We sampled the two naans with the boneless chicken and I felt that they're both foods from heaven. I regret not ordering the family naan, which is served on a peculiar hanger. Yes, it hangs down off of a hook-like device which I've never seen before. The chicken seekh kabob also has a very authentic and deeply flavored savory taste that was perfect. I originally wanted the beef behari Boti, but Mr. Zohaib convinced me the chapli kabab is preferred by the customers over the behari, so I agreed to try it and had no regrets! It was very tasty with perfect balance of spices with a professional crispy perfectly grilled outer layer that satisfied my craving for a Pakistani BBQ beef dish. I'm still curious about the Bihari though so... In'sha'Allah next time! The chicken biryani was nothing less than that perfect biryani you hope you'll get when you crave briyani. Especially with a little bit of raita gently stirred in, the briyani was perfect. We also indulged in the Mango Mojito - I had a sip since my wife ordered it but I could have drank the whole thing. It was so good! I ordered the kulfi shake and man did I feel like the luckiest person lol! Not only because it was super good, but due to some fluke, I got two for the price of one lol! It was better than I hoped for and everything was delicious!
I'm writing this because not only was the food amazing and the staff super awesome, we had a little incident that really made us so appreciative of the whole Karahiboys franchise. My wife accidentally left her purse behind and it contained her and our children's passports, not to mention credit cards and cash! We got back to our hotel in Milton just before midnight and realized we she left it! We tried calling the restaurant but the phone line was not working, so we started to worry. We tried calling a couple of the other locations to see if they had Zohaib's cell phone number or some way to reach them. Lucky for us, one of the other sympathetic staff members understood our problem and said she would make some calls and get back to us ASAP. A few minutes later a very nice gentleman called from the Toronto restaurant and said he found my wife's purse. I told him it would be at least 30 minutes before I could get back there and he said no problem! I got back around 1:00 AM the young man was waiting outside in the freezing cold by the door and let me in and handed me her purse! I foolishly forgot to ask for his name, but I pray that Allah almighty bless him and everyone that helped us get my wife's purse back safe and sound! With that, I'll say it was a fantastic experience, great food, great service, definitely an A+ 5-star 2-thumbs up experience. read more