Welcome to Paramount Fine Foods!

Website: http://www.paramountfinefoodsbc.com/
Location: 560 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6Z2Y2, Canada
Hours of Operation: Daily 11:00am – 11:00pm

We had been waiting for the opening of this place for months, finally, the wait is over! This place opened few months ago, and boy, they are always full and I totally understand why.

I don’t know about you, but I am a lover of grilled/BBQ food. I had been planning to buy a portable home grill since I cannot remember when, and I finally did it last year. Since then, I had been BBQing since winter! That sounds crazy but its true. I must be the only crazy person in our place doing BBQ in my patio in a cold winter weather. Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, nothing can stop me from enjoying my grilled foods at home. Although I am able to do this as often as I want to now, I still like eating in restaurant that offers grilled foods, just like Paramount Fine Foods. This is one of the reason why I like this place, I get to enjoy my BBQ without doing the process of cleaning up my grill. We were able  to visit this place two times only during lunch time but we were able to try a variety of foods. Let me share with you what we had.

What type of food do they serve?

Paramount Fine Foods is a Middle Eastern Restaurant that serves authentic Lebanese Cuisine. The restaurant serves charcoal BBQ meat, freshly baked breads in wood burning oven and a variety of fine handmade sweet that will surely complete the dining experience.

Restaurant Location and Interior

The restaurant is located in downtown Vancouver. The place is new and clean with a very elegant and cozy design. The place is well lighted with unique and fancy looking chandelier and hanging lights. The chairs are comfortable cushioned with nicely finished wood tables. The only downside is that it is quite small and the table and chairs are quite too close to each other. Aside from that, I like the ambiance and the design of this place.  

How is the service?

The manager and serves are very attentive. They immediately made us feel welcomed as soon as we walked in. The food service from the time of ordering until it gets served in the table is quite fast. We were totally surprised on how quick they were able to prepare and served the food considering the traffic of people going in and out during lunch hour. The servers are very polite and they pay close attention to customers needs.

Nothing else matters more than the food

Location is good, interior is good, service is good BUT if the food is not good, that is a real deal breaker. Thank goodness, this is not the case. The food was really good and fresh. My mind got so confused just looking at the menu, they have so much items that I would like to try. Luckily, I was with my friends and so we were able to order the Full Mixed Combo Platter which is more than enough for four people.

Mixed Combo Platter: Fattoush Salad, Chicken & Beef Shawarma, two Kafta Skewers (Ground Beef Kebab), two Shish Tawouk Skewers (Chicken Kebab), two BBQ Beef Skewers and four Falafel pieces. Served with Tahini, Hummus, Garlic and Mouttabal Sauce 87.99 | Half 43.99

The Family Platters are the way to go if there are at least 2 (half-size) – 4 (full size) people. The serving portion is huge and you get to try almost the main meat dishes that they offer. It also comes with Basmati Rice and French Fries on the side.

Unlimited freshly baked bread – If you have any foods to go, you can even ask them for bread to go to for free

Any meal, regardless if platter or single order comes with the wood-fire freshly baked bread. Unlimited to your heart’s content 🙂 As expected, the bread is fresh, hot, soft and a perfect for dipping in hummus.

Among all the meat skewers, I like the Kafta (Ground Beef Skewers) the most. It is very tender and juicy. The BBQ Beef Skewers is good as well, tender and juicy like the Kafta. The Chicken Skewer is fine, but not exceptional. I initially thought that the chicken skewer will top my ranking, I guess I was wrong. It was good, but was not as great as the Beef Skewers.

The platter also comes with Chicken and Beef Shawarma. They were ok, but nothing stands out in the taste. I find the Chicken Shawarma a little bit dry and too much shredded, and lacking in taste and seasonings.  The Beef Shawarma on the other hand is tender, well seasoned and tasty. I guess I am leaning more into their beef dishes than chicken dishes.

The Falafel is good, but not as good as in the other places that I had tried before. I find the texture too compact and dense, and a little bit lacking in seasonings. The hummus and other dips saved the Falafel a great deal. With the addition of some fresh vegetables and spoonful of Hummus, Moutabbal (photo below) and Tahini Sauce, the Falafel turned out great in the end.

No need to worry if you cannot order the platter, most of the items in the platter can be ordered individually. It may take some time for you to be able to try all, but it is always fun to go to this place from time to time.

Chicken and Beef Shawarma Plate: A mix of Chicken and Beef Shawarma served with Garlic and Tahini Sauce.

Makali Veggie Plate: Grilled eggplant and zucchini along with crispy cauliflower, falafel complemented by two savory grape leaves, a side of hummus and tahini dip.

Beef with Cheese Manakeesh: Ground beef mixed with Mediterranean spices and finely chopped tomatoes topped with melted Accawi cheese.

This will pass to me as a pizza, BUT it is not a pizza. When I compared this to their pizza, it looks like the main difference is the dough. The dough of Manakeesh seems to be thinner, aside from that, they both looks the same to me. I haven’t tried their pizza yet, I cannot confirm 100% in terms of taste. The Manakeesh is good, nothing unusual and especial with it.

Fattoush Salad: Romaine lettuce, cucumber, mixed peppers, red radishes, tomatoes, onions and fried pita pieces, served with a Fattoush dressing.

Tabliyeh Saj Chicken Shawarma: Shredded pieces of chicken grilled on a rotating spit wrapped to perfection with freshly baked thin Saj bread with garlic sauce.

Paramount Special is absolutely recommended! The combination of the fruits are perfect, they worked well together. It taste very tropical to me and very fresh. The juice is not sweet at all, and I enjoyed the chunks of fresh fruits mixed in the juice.

Paramount Special: Layers of fresh strawberry and mango juices with mixed fruits, topped with fresh strawberry, kiwi, pineapple, almonds, crushed pistachio, ashta cream and honey.

Kinafe: Lebanese or Nablseih kinafe drizzled with sugar syrup either served on plate, or inside a kaake bread.

We were so full but we cannot resist to try this Kinafe. I had tried Kinafe before, and I find it too sweet for my taste, but this one is different. This one is just the right sweetness for me, it is very creamy but not in an overwhelming way. I like the slightly salty taste of the top as it balances the sweet and creamy taste of this dessert. A perfect ending to a perfect meal. I couldn’t ask for more.

They also have assortment of handmade desserts. We tried quite few of them, and as expected, they are also good.

If you are looking for a Middle Eastern Restaurant in downtown Vancouver, this is your place. As always, Sahtain (Enjoy)!

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