7 Middle Eastern shops worth visiting on Bank Street

Unless you know precisely where you're going, travelling south on Bank Street is often fraught with the frustration of missed turns and the impatience of drivers behind you. So many mini strip malls with narrow entrances and exits compounded by the occasional GPS direction that has you turning too early or too late, well — I admit that I've at times simply gone home and had a run at it another day.

But despite that, there are so many fab Middle-Eastern businesses, there's plenty to discover along this strip and we just want to make it a little easier for you.

The Ottawa Roastery

Starting just Southeast of the Billings Bridge shopping centre, you'll make a left turn on Lamira and soon find yourself at the Ottawa Roastery at 2188 Lamira Street, a well-respected Ottawa institution. Since 1975 this shop has been providing freshly roasted nuts and coffee to Ottawans who appreciate the freshness of the products they'll find here.

The cashews and almonds are highlights for me as are the flavour-packed, but smaller, Turkish pistachios. Coffees come from Brazil and Colombia and are offered at three different roast levels and they will grind yours to order based on the brewer you use at home. There's such a high rotation of these items that it's difficult to imagine anything being past the sell-by date.

Other items such as Turkish delight, chocolates, date-filled biscuits, teas, dried fruits, gift boxes of baklava and a broad assortment of roasted seeds round out the shopping options.

Saffron Kabab

This Persian restaurant Saffron Kabab at 1729 Bank Street opened in 2019 and has developed a strong reputation for a good kitchen and reasonable prices. The portions are substantial and stewed dishes make for luscious fall-off-the-bone eating. The mahicheh (lamb shank) is always a solid option and comes served with a fluffy dill and fava bean rice pilaf. For a stew with more plant content, the ghormeh sabzi is an herb stew with cubes of beef, preserved lemons and kidney beans. Lip-smacking.

And for those who'd like a change from the classic baba ganoush appetizer, I can only recommend the mirza ghasemi, a dish from northern Iran made with smoked eggplant, tomatoes, eggs, garlic, olive oil, and advieh (a mix of salt, pepper and turmeric). It was a minor revelation to me and I admit, I do now prefer it to baba ganoush. And by no means give the hummus a miss because it's very good, and you may want to compare it to versions at other middle-eastern restaurants.

Sultan Nuts

Editor’s update: Sadly, Sultan Nuts closed permanently in late summer of 2023. We wish the Hasham family all the best in whatever comes next.

The Hasham family opened their doors to Sultan Nuts on 1666 Bank St. just three months ago, and what a beautiful shop it is to explore. It's almost as mesmerizing a display as a traditional souk but without the haggling throngs. Display counters of house-blended herbal teas and zaatars, baklava from Turkey, and an assortment of roasted nuts and seeds line the store on the left while on the right, spices, packaged teas, and a selection of ornate coffee and tea service sets adorn the shelves.

They also offer a small selection of quality olives and olive oils from Palestine that are a treat, not only due to their scarcity but also because of their intense flavour. And don't forget to try the brined young eggplant (that is both the size and shape of an egg) spiced with chili and stuffed with walnuts. It can be used on an appetizer platter or served warm and chopped on top of rice with lots of roasted shallots, and garlic cloves as a side dish.

There's plenty that's eye-catching but the centrepiece is surely the fire-engine red Toper coffee roaster that sits in its own room, behind display glass at the back of the store. It has the capacity to roast five pounds of coffee in one go, and Sultan Nuts offers both Colombian and Brazilian coffee in three different roast levels at an astonishing $10 a pound. For coffee home-roasting nerds like me, they will also sell you green beans at a discount.

I found the Hasham family to be both generous of spirit, and incredibly gracious shopkeepers so by all means use the opportunity of your time here to not only shop for unique and delicious items but also to learn a little about things that may be unfamiliar to you. I know they'll be happy to share.

Rambutan

Right next door to Sultan Nuts you'll find Rambutan, a modest juice, crepe and panini bar opened by Basel Hamra earlier this year. Basel came to Ottawa from Syria in 2016 and with friends here, the transition to Canadian life became a little easier.

On their honeymoon in Malaysia, Basel and his wife became enchanted with the Rambutan fruit which then made its way onto the sign outside their business. Their menu is manageable with just three panini sandwiches: beef tongue, sujuk sausage and four-cheese, and an assortment of crepes and freshly prepared juices. Standouts are crepes with kashta (a deeply dense cream) sweetened with honey and the grilled four-cheese panini.

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