It almost goes without saying, but this is body by pizza! We’ve had all kindsa pizza here on Triple B — Neapolitan, Detroit-style, both kinds of Chicago pizza (deep dish AND tavern), Montreal smoked meatza… even spam & pineapple. So when I heard there’s this new funky joint at Bloor and Ossington called Levant serving up what they call Levantine Sicilian pizza, you KNOW I gotta check it out, bro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This place has got 11 different pizzas on the menu, and you can get em either by the slice, as a small or a large. I have not limited myself to a small pizza since that one time in Vegas (they called it a Wee Pizza), but since I was told Levant’s large was 18 slices, 14 by 14 inches, and could feed a family of four…I stuck with a small, which is a pretty decent personal pizza in Flavourtown.
The good news (besides that I just saved a buncha money on pizza insurance) is that with a small, you can mix and match two different kinds of pies — with a large they let you do three, but then I’d need at least two of me to just eat it, Weird Bro-al!
Now, if I could only pick two pizzas, there’s no doubt that The Shawarma would be my number one pick. A funky take on my favourite Middle Eastern food, this pie is loading up roasted lamb & beef brisket with pickled shallots, cherry tomatoes, baby arugula and a bit of bomba sauce for an extra kick. Man, I’ve never seen lamb roasting on a spit at a shawarma shop before, but if that’s actually a thing, I need to find it ASAP. Plus, did I mention that the crust is made of focaccia? Mamma mia!!!!!!
But you ain’t seen nothing yet, Randy Bro-chman! This Meat Habibi is a Middle East take on a classic meat lover’s, with pepperoni, Mediterranean sausage, kofta meatballs, mushrooms and pickled chilies, completely smothered in garlic donkey sauce. Give it to me Habibi, uh-huh, uh-huh! (You KNOW I’m pretty fat for a white guy, bro!!!!!!!!!!!)
Levant only seats about 15 people, but they do have take out, and you can even grab some beer to go, right out of the display fridge. It turns out I grabbed the last Elora Borealis, a lighter shade of IPA coming straight outta Elora, Ontario. But they’ve also got a whole buncha beers from Burdock, which is just a couple blocks down the street, eh?
Maybe it’s cuz of all the pizza I ate, but I expected this saison to be sour and funky — and it was actually pretty mild and smooth. This Tuesday’s gone with the wind, Bro-nerd Sko-nerd!!!!
But even after all that pizza back there, we’ve always got room for dessert! Now, I’ve had kunafa a couple times before, and I didn’t really dig it. It’s kinda like baklava and tiropita had a baby, and poured rose water all over it. But this tiramisu kunafa adds a little Italian with some cocoa powder, espresso syrup, and a little marscapone mixed in with the cheesy centre. I actually liked this version so much better that when I had a couple bites of their OG kunafa, I poured some espresso syrup on it, in the name of love, bro!!!!!
Burgers, Bacon & Beer 