Taftan Kebab

As the name states they specialize in Kebabs. The establishment is small and mostly directed for take out. There are a few stools for people to sit and eat. Overhead they have i think 30 different platters to choose from (some are single dishes and others are combos: beef + lamb etc).
I chose a chicken kebab that came with rice and salad. The amount of rice vs salad and meat felt appropriate. The chicken was yummy but not that great.
If anything I deducted stars coz there was no flexibility. Like they don’t make fries or any other side dish that could be used as a substitute to rice. But yes wil come again to try different kebabs.

The food is ok, pricey for the portion, but the service is below average. Close to mediocre.
I did not come here expecting 5 star, hotel like service, but a smile never really hurts the customer.
To make things a little more interesting, and to cement the below average attitude towards service the owner turned off half the lights of the store, the OPEN sign, and the TV «while I was watching looool» 45 minutes before their closing time.
Who turns off the lights at their shop at 9.15 when they are supposed to be open until 10.00!!!
This was the second time, in eight months, that I had food at this place and I know I won’t be going back.

The portions are big, the kebab (especially koobide) is tender and the ladies behind the counter are pretty friendly. The tomatoes weren’t super charred, which is always a bonus. I also like their fesenjan, but they skimped a bit on the chicken last time which is why I knocked off a star. Also, the combo comes with a salad, which is pretty fresh and comes with a nice tangy dressing on the side. To the reviewer below who commented that the spices were «toned down for local palates»: Persian food is not spicy. Besides saffron and a bit of turmeric, flavour is usually imparted through the use of herbs and vegetables. Kebab is meant to taste like grilled meat, and the rice is flavoured to taste with butter and/​or sumac. So in terms of authenticity, it is pretty spot-​on.

I always get #18 which is the koobideh and chicken combo that comes with rice and salad for $ 12.99. Food always tastes fresh, which is probably why it takes about 15 minutes for them to make your order. If I’m not starving, it can feed me for two meals.
The people at the counter aren’t very friendly, but I don’t expect any level of customer service from any take out joints in this area. I’ll deal with it for the yummy food!

Worst Chenjeh kabob I ever had… not fresh nor tender! The customer service also sucks. Never go back again.

Rude costumer service. They are so unprofessional and treat costumers like animals. You feel this when any issue happens in your order or in thejr service.

The beef kebab and rice tasted pretty alright but without garlic sauce or any sort of sauce, it was sort of bland. Making it worse, they seemed to have run out when I asked so while the food wasn’t bad by any means, I wasn’t exactly head over heels over it. Still decent enough though in its own right.

Great Dishes… aromatic, fresh and delicious!
I don’t like the Koobideh, Ive had much better… the rest is suberb!

I went to this place to get some take out today. The food was ok but its not as good as before the quality of the food have been changed and unfortunately its nit as good as before. I dont think i will be going back here again after i didn’t have a good experience today.

Service is good, always delicious food i would recommend ordering ahead for pickup! My fav is the koobideh!

This is my second time at Taftan and I’m so disappointed. My first time here was a few months ago when I picked up some take-​out and that experience was good enough to bring me back for another go at their menu and boy, they failed miserably.
I dislike inconsistency. My first visit was fairly hassle-​free right from ordering to receiving my order. Although it took some time to receive my order (it was very busy Saturday afternoon), I got what I ordered. The kabobs (koobideh, dark meat chicken and barg) were well seasoned, juicy and flavourful. Although they serve halved tomatoes instead of a whole one you get at most other Persian kabob places, I didn’t mind paying extra for more tomatoes. Overall a very memorable experience.
This visit did not turn out so pleasant. I stood in line (2 people ahead of me) to order and the lady behind the counter started having some trouble with one of the patron’s orders. She continue to fumble with the cash register as the gent patiently waited for her to get her math right. I, too, waited patiently to place my order. Then after waiting some 15 minutes for the counter lady to finally get her act together, she started taking orders from other patrons (they spoke to her in Farsi) that came in after me and didn’t bother to stand in line. When I told her that I was there first and confronted one of the offenders, he and she both shrugged and said, «I/​he wasn’t ordering.» Of course, some 5 minutes later, he gets his food and walks out. It was unbelievable.
When I finally placed my order (3 large combos totaling almost $ 70), I waited another 20 minutes to receive it by the time I got the food, I had to rush out to get home on time for dinner. When I got home and unpacked our food, she had given me wrong cuts of meat on ALL of the orders and only packed 2 salads.
To add insult to injury, the kabobs (koobideh, chicken breast, lamb chops and steak) were all dry and tough to eat. I felt so bad for my 19 months old babe who couldn’t eat much of anything because it was just too tough for the little one to chew.
Such an upsetting experience to follow up a very pleasant initial visit. I will not return to Taftan anymore. I can’t be bothered to patronize a restaurant that treats their customers this way, never mind the significant drop in the quality of the food.

I’d driven by so many times and was always intrigued by the «low-​calorie» sign, LOL. However, there’s nowhere to park here, so I knew I’d have to make a special trip via TTC one day.
I actually came here after getting my hair done at Salon de Elephant — it’s just a short walk away.
The service was pretty cold and unfriendly, but I’m generally okay with that if the food makes up for it. Which it didn’t.
I mean, it was alright, and the chicken wasn’t too raw, which some people have said can happen, but it was average. Actually, I think the spices might have been toned down for local palates. The portions were smaller compared to competitors with similar prices — there was a lot of salad.
I prefer their competitors over them though, because their meat isn’t juicy enough. Kebab is inherently a dry meal — grilled meat and rice with no sauce — so the meat needs to be really juicy and impart flavour to the rice. At Taftan, the meat is dryer and there’s less of it in proportion to rice. I’d reather go to Tah Deeg up the street!
Tip: They don’t seem to indicate that you can choose dark or white meat for chicken kebabs, but you can — just ask!

Disappointed ! The chicken kabob was super dry. The koobideh didn’t Taste like koobideh at all no seasoning what do ever. Rice was overcooked. Very bad experience. And the side salad was pity. They should never serve that to any customer.

Two strikes are enough that i will never return to this place. Asked the lady at the register to explain a few options and they were rude. It is not like the questions were complicated.
This place gives Pursian food a bad name. The chicken tasted disgusting, rice lacked any substance. I tossed out the dinner after a couple attempts at eating it. I didn’t think even open the salad as i figure if the cooked food is this bad then not taking any chances with raw.

Been going to the joint for a few yrs now. I have to say the first time I had it I immediately fell in love with Persian food. I’ve tried the chicken, steak and koobideh kebab. The koobideh is by far my fav always juicy, fresh, flavourful meat. The dinner comes with salad, rice and 2 skewers of the koobideh. This is enough for me for 2 meals and it’s so cheap! I love the free side they give sometimes (tadeek). If you haven’t tried this place you should definitely give it a try!!! There’s not much seating so take out is best here and I would recommend that you order a head as the wait time is a little long as they cook the kebabs fresh when ordered on the flame grill.

This place is a hole in the wall and a fast food place. The service is quick, food is cheap but I question the sanitary aspect of it.
There is a sign outside of the restaurant posted by Ontario Ministry of Health giving it only a «Conditional Pass» during their last inspection due to health hazards. This is indicative of a dirty restaurant and you can possibly get sick eating the food here.
I recently went there and ignored the failed inspection notice. I got some «Koobideh Kebob» to go and when I got home, there was a big surprise waiting for me in my food: A Long Black Hair right in my salad. The meat was also under cooked and raw in the middle. I threw the food away and will never eat here again.
The only reason why I think people are giving this place high rating is because of the price. The price is a couple of bucks cheaper than your average take out place (for kebobs), but it comes at a cost: Getting Sick, dirty food, bad service and no parking.
I will never eat here again.

Taftan Kebab is the tiny little Iranian place that flashes like a beacon amongst the dark street. There isn’t much around Taftan other than some office buildings, but I’m pretty sure I know where many of these workers go for lunch…
This place is small with barstool seating and not much else. Primarily a takeout place, the countertop isn’t a bad place to park your ass while you’re taking in the smells of the BBQ meats. The place does the whole charcoal cooking method and it smells wonderful.
I ordered the Chicken Leg and Koobideh platter while the GF got the good olé lamb. Koobideh is minced meat formed into a tiny balls of meat and cooked on a stick. The minced meat itself is flavored with an array of Middle Eastern spices, none of which I could remember. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the Koobideh, but to be fair, I’m not usually a fan of Koobideh to begin with (Though I wanted to give it a another shot). The Chicken leg was the best part though. Chicken leg is always tender and when it’s cooked over charcoal, it easily becomes the best thing at any place! Each platter comes with rice and salad, and the portions for both are quite adequate. GF loved the lamb, but I thought it was dry though flavorful.
Overall, I thought it was a good stop for some kebabs. I wouldn’t venture out here if it were not for the proximity of my home. Nice change from all the Korean restaurants in the area, but definitely better kebabs to be had elsewhere.

I’ve walked by this place for years, smelling their most amazing food, and finally ducked in. I can only add to the raves. Cheap, good food. Not great on seating and if you’re looking for a place filled with lonely middle aged men you’ll find a delightful concentration here Friday or Saturday night.
Props to the $ 4.99 chicken kebab dish. First, a meal for under $ 5. And it’s nicely filling. Chicken, pita, salad. If you’re one of the lucky ones to come here with a human female, get one of cheaper items and one of the combo plates with rice and share. Really filling.

I came here late at night just this week to get some food; I all of a sudden got a craving for a Kebab after catching a movie. They were actually closing, it was that late, but it smelled so good inside the store. I ordered a chicken and a beef kebab with rice a salad and of course some flat bread. As soon as I got home my family and I devoured everything! It was really delicious; I’m not even sure if it was that we were so hungry or that the kebab from this place are just that good?
The owner is in the store while we were there and he was super friendly and attentive, the entire kitchen staff stayed back a few minute later just so they could get our food cocked, I was very pleased and impressed at the level of customer service the whole staffed showed! The professionalism and courtesy was what made me give them a five star rating!
Thanks everyone.

Sweet sassy molassy, this is some tasty food!
My friend brought me in here for dinner. They have a large range of food, all of which is cooked on a shish kebob. Combos are served with delicious rice and salad. We came in here on a Wednesday night, and it was busy as hell. The only drawback of the place is that there isn’t much seating, and the seating they have is takeout style — high counters with bar stools — not very comfy. But the food is so good, it really doesn’t matter. I would eat this stuff sitting on the sidewalk. I would eat it in a box, I would eat it with a fox.
On the counters are napkins, Italian salad dressing, sumac powder, lemon juice, and Frank’s red hot sauce. I love to drown my salad in dressing, so I was pretty happy about this. One bite into my giant platter of food and I was in heaven. My mom has the exact same platters and we use them as serving dishes. There was easily two meals of food on this dish for me. At $ 13.50 taxes in, that’s a bargain! I had the beef shish kebab and the… thing that’s like ground meat. (combo 15). Everything was perfectly grilled.
I just know that I’m going to be craving this place for the next few weeks, so I’ll definitely be back soon, with my wrap-​loving Hubster in tow!