When I came back from vacation in mid-September I was already reminiscing about the places I had visited and the smells, sights and aromas at many homes and at eateries. I stayed in northern Greece and traveled to the southernmost point in Greece, the island of Crete. I also took a three day side trip to Istanbul (Constantinople) which included a day trip to the Princes’ Islands in the Bosphorus.
Back here in Toronto, I was craving the Lahmacun than I ate on “Pringipos” and when I was walking on the Danforth, just east of Pape I saw that Toronto’s ethnic map was beginning to mimic actual geography: Greektown (Danforth) to the west of Pape and a cluster of Turkish shops east of Pape/ Greece in the west and Turkey just east of us.
The first time I walked into Mr. Pide was a warm September afternoon with the front of the shop opened-up by way of a garage door opening. Mr. Pide specializes in making “Pide” (Peed-ai), which is often referred to as the Turkish pizza. The other specialty that appears on the menu is the more familiar Lahmacun, appearing widely in the Levant and Armenian cuisines.
Mr. Pide is a family-owned/operated eatery where you’ll find my friend Omur and his mother in the shop. Located on the Danforth, just east of Pape on the north side, you’ll be always greeted with a warm smile, Turkish music playing in the background and a clean, well-lit and inviting place to eat.
If you want a delicious departure from the usual pizza, then a lahmacun or a pide will hit the spot. The dough is made in-house, a thin crust in the norm for pide or lahmacun and the toppings will transport you to Turkey. Today, Omur is going to show us how he makes his Lahmacun. In the video, a thin dough is slightly stretched out into an oblong shape and a mixture of ground beef, tomatoes and peppers, onions, seasoning and spices are massaged into the dough. The Lahmacun is baked for about 7 minutes and served with garnishes of onions, hot peppers, tomatoes and parsley – just like I had in Turkey.
Mr. Pide is located at 800 Danforth Avenue, just east of Pape (on the north side) and take-out orders are accepted (no delivery).
Toronto, ON
M4J 1L2
Tel: 647 351 7433
e-Mail: info@mrpide.ca
If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at https://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
© 2007-2010 Peter Minakis
Mmm, you must have suspected we might pop up to comment on this post. :) Lahmacun is my favourite; especially with extra spices and a side salad. Lucky you, having a pide place – and one that’s good. The Turkish places near where we’re from in Britain only serve doner kebabs and they’re anything but good. At least it makes us appreciate our pide more when we come back to Turkey.
I love pide! I make it often at home and top it taco style with onions, tomatoes, chili peppers and parsley. It is difficult to get the crispy crust from a convential oven but I found a great Turkish bakery near here (I have to write about that). Do they add turmeric to the meat? the crust looks very golden.
That lachmachun on the video is really great and with a generous topping. Usually they put much less here in Istanbul and believe me, nobody shares the lachmachun… usually they just ask for another serving. :))
Mmmhhh, those look so good! Lahmacuns are so scrumptious.
Cheers,
Rosa
I could eat pides all day!
I woul love to try this at home since we do not have a Mr. Pide’s anywhere geographically near our home here. Even the Lahmacun would be welcome.
I agree with Anna..I could eat pides all day as well! The lahmacun looks so good Peter…yum!
The lahmajun was and always will be my favorite pizza! I would eat several in Beirut growing up, we’d buy them fresh from the baker for 50 cents each and they would come with fresh lemons to squeeze on top. Heaven. And a glass of tea, so appropriate with it!
o.k. where have I been that haven’t eaten this? And I want some.
Looks like a very lovely treat!
YAY! Live right near there and will be checking it out ASAP. We’ve been getting ours in Montreal and bringing them back to Toronto for years. The place we get them would have a long line of Ontario plated cars waiting outside.
We’re just back from Istanbul as well and really enjoyed the food there.
Omur’s pide is even better than the ones made in Turkey. Imagine only if he had a wood burning oven.
Also you should try his kadayif desert sometime.
My girlfriend and I eat here at least twice a month if not weekly. It’s our favorite food and we’re Chinese.
The owner is super nice. I hope everyone can learn of this place!