Review: Mr. Kaak

Khalid Ghorani lost his job during COVID and as so many have needed to do, he re-imagined his life and opened Mr. Kaak at 1020 Pleasant Park Rd.

He comes from a family with businesses in Lebanon and as his parents were also producing Lebanese sweets, he felt it a natural extension to create something like it here in Ottawa.

Kaak is a type of Lebanese bread, similar to pita but sprinkled with sesame seeds and made with a different type of dough. Khalid is also a cheese maker, producing both the Akawi and Halloumi cheeses he uses in his Kaak sandwiches. Both are brined, unripened cheeses with Halloumi being the more firm and typically used for grilling.

A savoury Kaak is filled with one cheese or another according to preference or sujuk sausage or basturma (a dry-cured middle-eastern beef tenderloin) is added. Kaak is also served sweet and Khalid's sweets are as much in demand as his delicious cheese creations. In fact, you may be tempted to try a few pastries with his sumptuous ashta cream.

One final tip: Kaak sandwiches may appear modest in size but they are nutritionally dense. If you’ve cut one of these flatbreads in half for later enjoyment, you may easily re-warm it in your toaster. Just pay attention to your timing as leaving it in too long may cause the cheese to run.