Restaurants
Walima Cafe
Walima Cafe is a great little family-run gem on the Danforth offering classic Moroccan dishes at affordable prices.
Other venues in Toronto may offer plusher surroundings, but I opt for a place where the food is the focus, surroundings are comfortable and where I'm not distracted by the touristy pageantry of amateur belly dancers coming up to my table every few minutes.
Claudia and I cozy up to one another on a cushiony banquette and bob our heads along to the beat of the soft Rai music playing in the background. The atmosphere here is laid-back; the perfect environment to spend an evening smoking hookah and catching up with close friends.
A rich orange, red and indigo palette gives off a warm soothing glow. The eclectic interior is cluttered with trinkets: Ornamental teapots, wrought iron lanterns, woven tapestries and mosaic fountains adorn the entrance. 
Mohammed, the owner, graciously welcomes us with a classic service of mint tea ($5). We watch in awe as he somehow manages to pour the tea from high above our heads into teensy glasses, without spilling a single drop. There's a medicinal smell, but the strong green tea is beautifully matched with the sweetness of the sugar and the fresh mint. 
At Walima Cafe, all dishes are reasonably priced with starters ranging from $3.75 to $5 and mains around $13. Beet salad ($3.75) with pita is light and refreshing. Cubed beets, Kalamata olives, diced red onions and parsley are tossed in a mild citrus dressing with cumin and cinnamon. 
Our half portion of vegetarian couscous ($12.25 for full portion) is a bit bland, but a welcome palette-toner for the spice infused meal to come. 
Chicken Bastilla ($13.25) arrives fresh out of the oven. Crispy phyllo pastry crackles upon contact, exposing the warm savoury interior of shredded chicken marinated in sweet spices, toasted almonds and parsley. The savoury treat is dusted with confectioners sugar, cinnamon, and then drizzled in honey, resulting in a sensory overload. Each bite evokes a different taste bud, at times salty, then sweet. 
Steaming-hot Lamb Tagine ($13.25) is accompanied with a trio of scented rice with raisins a dish of mixed olives and tongue-numbing harissa chili sauce. The lamb is tender and marinated to perfection in a blend of exotic spices, with raisins, onions and parsley. 
We manage to resist the lineup of sweets tempting us from their glass domes, since we're both stuffed to the brim at just $40.
I'll definitely head to Walima Café when I'm in need of a break from the mundane. Afterall what could be better than a touch of exoticism on the cheap? 
Photos by Claudia Lama
Discussion
14 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
Me and my friends left vowing to never return.
DO NOT go to this place, there are other restaurants in Toronto where customers don't get treated liked dirt.
I visited Walima Cafe last night with my guy and I've got to say this was the best meal (at a Toronto restaurant) of my year so far. I'd been looking for a Moroccan restaurant to take him to and this out-of-the-way spot is just great.
We split:
- Harira (soup) - spicy tomato base with chickpeas, parsley, coriander, a blend of Moroccan spices. Served with the most delicious pita and dates.
- Chicken Tagine - fall-off-the-bone chicken in a lovely sauce with preserved lemons and olives, served with saffron-spiced potatoes.
- Kofta Tagine - ground beef with spices and a tomato-based sauce, served with egg on top.
The service was attentive and I had a great time. I was also really impressed with the prices - those three dishes plus an extra side of rice and pita, plus a generous serving of mint tea and some sweets to end brought us to $50 including tip.
I highly recommend Walima and hope you have good experience like I did!
Cheers,
Mel
It was very hard to find a place in toronto were you can find authentic tagine and couscous but i found it everytime i go ther with my husband it feels like im back home in my grammas kitchen..
The decor is very nice and cozy i would highly recommend this restaurnat to anyone ...Its one of the best and tastiest foods you will find in toronto...
I had the chicken bastilla which tasted really good. A really good balance of sweet and savory. You wait a good half an hour for the food, but it's worth it. Good food usually isn't ready in 5 minutes.
Pros:
The atmosphere in the restaurant is amazing. I love it.
The food tastes fantastic. I love it.
The prices and servings are reasonable - some might say the servings are too small//overpriced - but I think they are fine, and for the atmosphere and taste - TOtally worth it.
Cons:
THIS IS WHERE IT ALL GOES DOWNHILL. :(
- Even on a busy night there are, at most, two people working the restaurant floor - service is quite slow... but you don't mind it so much because you are enjoying the ambience of the restaurant.
- The staff are INCREDIBLY RUDE!!! They are always the same staff and like I said, I have been there six times, so this was not an unfortunate fluke of bad luck. IT HAS ALWAYS HAPPENED. I understand that they may be understaffed and that financial viability for a small, independent restaurant in these economic times is difficult. HOWEVER, that does not validate what has happened (ESPECIALLY THE LAST TWO TIMES I HAVE BEEN THERE): Asking people to make sure they order at least one entree per person to keep this beautiful restaurant afloat is understandable. I have taken people there in groups because I love the restaurant so much, but my guests (to my utter shame and embarassment) were nothing-short-of THREATENED to order entrees because if we did not, we were "COULDN'T EXPECT TO JUST SIT THERE IN THE NICE PLACE AND NOT ORDER AN ENTREE; IT IS AN INSULT TO THE OWNER" ( paraphrased the words of the Moroccan gentleman there)
He went off on a tangent rant, even after we had expressed our understanding and had already decided on the main dishes to order.
- When we ordered our meals in groups, orders were frequently made wrong, and they ran out of things such as rice, or pita, or couscous and simply replaced those in individual orders as they pleased. We did not see it fit to try and fix that from our shock and fear from the tongue-lashing we had received earlier.
My last visit there was in mid-May 2011. Finally having been fed up with their service, I took a vow to never go back, and even tried to express my concerns with the manager, who simply brushed them off casually and chalked up the rudeness to the fact that the gentleman that was consistently rude to us was Moroccan. How do you like that??? I was in awe. Never have I ever seen such a fine restaurant stink in terms of rudeness.
Used to go in groups of at least 5 to 15 people. I consistently brought them good business, and planned to continue, until then. I am never going back and am now actively discouraging anyone else to, as well.
As for the service bit, it's owner operated and once we got to chatting Mohamed was a lovely, warm gentleman with so much pride in his culture & his food.
I'll put up with a slow start for that food any day of the week. I can't wait to go back. This is a must-try restaurant.
I would never return to this place ever again! there are other restaurants in Toronto where customers don't get treated liked dirt. I am never going back and I am now actively discouraging anyone else to, as well.