Mounzer Jamous has been serving up freshly baked pastries to sweet-toothed Torontonians for over 15 years. Regulars would cram into the original Patisserie Royale, located on Lawrence East, picking up desserts by the kilo. Boxes would be stuffed full of the best baklava in town, pretty petit fours and various other finely crafted pastries.
A year ago, Jamous decided to move the patisserie east to a new plaza off Kennedy Road. He enlisted design help from Studio Paolo Ferrari, matching the shop’s atmosphere with the pastries themselves.
The new space is minimal in design and comes dressed in white and black etchings. A group of large circular display pedestals sit front and centre, showcasing the patisserie’s main draw: house-baked sweets.
Jamous cut his teeth at Montreal’s famed Patisserie Mahrouse, and he has paired the knowledge he gained there with age-old family recipes — some dating back as much as 300 years. The result? A fine-tuned selection of Middle Eastern sweets.
Over a dozen pastries are available daily (they run out quickly), along with an assortment of petit fours and confections. This is not the kind of place where you walk out with one item. Lineups occur daily with guests ordering the sweets by weight (half a kilo or one-kilo boxes). Jamous doesn’t skimp on the ingredients and imports large quantities of nuts from the Middle East and Asia.
Here’s what you should be ordering:
ALMOND ASSEBEH
The almond assabeh is one of the most popular items at Patisserie Royale. Be sure to grab a few of these cylindrical rolls of pastry filled with crushed almonds soaked in sugar syrup.
PISTACHIO KARABIGES
Pistachio karabiges are small semolina wheat cakes that come topped with marshmallow syrup.
SWAR
I love the swar. Swar, which translates to “bracelet” in Arabic, are disc-shaped sweets made with crunchy pastry and giving off hints of orange blossom. Jamous’ version comes smothered with chunks of pistachios.
WARDEH
Rose-shaped wardeh are a must-eat. Picture a dozen layers of phyllo pastry curled up and stuffed with both crushed and whole pistachios before being soaked in orange blossom syrup.
PISTACHIO BURMA
If you haven’t yet had your fill of the green nut, tuck into some pistachio burma. The tubelike burma is crafted from shredded wheat, which is filled with crushed pistachio nuts drenched in clarified butter.
BAKLAVA
Royale also has arguably the best baklava you’ll find in town and is the shop’s most recognized item. There are two versions: pistachio and walnut. Both are excellent.
Patisserie Royale, 1415 Kennedy Rd., 416-755-6323