Djerba la Douce

*PRESENT MAP PLACES THIS AT JONES, GOOGLE CORRECTLY SHOWS IT AT ALMOST AT COXWELL*
Great introduction to Tunisian food. The sauces are really quite a unique mix of spices.
The Tunisian soup is something like a Chicken-​Barley, and really well prepared. Kids (4 and 7) loved it, and ate that, and about a kilogram of pita they soaked in it. Not a very filling soup, but the pita and (spicy!) paprika/​olive oil dip make up for it I guess.
The appetizers (Brique and Calamari) were quite good, albeit I think a little more calamari would have been nice — we ate every last drop of sauce, of which there was plenty. The Brique is a meat (chicken?) filling to a springroll pastry — mild and delicious; quite substantial when compared to the calamari.
Mains: Trout in coriander sauce is certainly more flavourful than the couscous dish, which was massive. The grilled eggplant in the trout dish is perhaps the best I’ve ever had.
Dessert was a coffee-​infused crème brulé. Not the best presentation, or color, but texture was perfect and the flavour quite good. Very rich dessert, and lots of it.
Heat ratings — we have kids who are only partly tolerant:
Calamari: 1
Brique: 0
Soup: 1
Trout: 1
Couscous Royale (meat): 0
Couscous Royale (sauce/​couscous): 3
We’ll be coming back at some point, but overall I get the sense that on an average day, I would choose Indian over Tunisian. The plethora of Mexican, Ethiopian, Moroccan, etc., restaurants along Danforth will lure me in before I get there.

I came here a couple of months ago… had a craving for North African food today, so I was reminded of this tasty place ;)
I remember having their Lamb Couscous and Chicken Merguese Couscous… both were delicious, especially the lamb. Everything was just so flavorful without having to rely on oversalting.
The service was so personable and friendly… we felt like we were eating at a relatives house.
Its not the nicest place in terms of ambiance, but its cozy and the excellent food and service make up for this many times over.
Next time I will be trying their Trout in Coriander… mmmm can’t wait: 0

Excellent food and service. Very authentic flavors. We tried the calamari, tunisian app plate, trout in coriander and merguez couscous. The restaurant was recently renamed Taste of Tunisia, but the menu is unchanged.
Although there is no wine/​beer, i feel like it didn’t detract from the meal. The flavors were so unique, that water was perfectly fine. Prices are good, especially for the portion sizes.

Two guests at 7 pm on a Saturday night.
Service:
Very good, as expected for a small mom and pop establishment. Very personal and friendly. It was a little weird that they didn’t have menus when we were there. I feel those would’ve been helpful since neither myself nor my dining companion had eaten Tunisian/​Moroccan/​French/​Italian food before.
Food:
I was really looking forward to trying the Brique but unfortunately they didn’t have any last night. Something about just having renovated.
We tried the Calamari appetizer and it was delicious. My only problem with it was that it was served with store bought naan, not pita bread. I wanted some fresh homemade pita… but alas.
I ordered the Trout in Coriander sauce and it was delicious! So creamy and peppery, and the accompanying vegetables got a lot of flavour from being roasted.
My friend ordered the Lamb Couscous and I’m not sure how he felt about it as he left a lot on his plate. I tasted the couscous and it was good, but I’ve never been a fan of it.
We topped it all of with some mint tea. So warm for a cold night, and so sweet. The owner (?) gave us some dates «to sweeten our mouths after we ate».
Yes, they cook to order in the close by and open kitchen. Which means that the little restaurant fills up with smoke. When it’s cold outside it means they can’t open doors or windows, so their patrons walk away smelling like someone else’s dinner. I’m happy I got to knock off a country on my culinary world tour but I don’t think I’ll be coming back, as nice an experience as it was.

Middle Eastern cuisine especially ones you find that serve Tea and secondly display Hookahs always makes me skip a heartbeat. Mainly it’s because I slow down my pace from my daily routines and consume myself into the evening sunset culture where enjoying oneself slowly sipping tea, chit-​chating and smoking is what lifes all about.
I believe that’s the reason why I demand less about Food being served in a reasonable amount of time because time itself is irrelevant in the presense of such environment with good Friends. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t HUNGRY, but what came out from this Tunisian Kitchen is well worth the wait rivalling the delicious Moroccan Meals I’ve had to date.
Apps:
Calamari Djerbieno ($ 6.95)(Green onion, Garlic, Chili peppers and Tomato sauce)
Brique ($ 4.25)((Pastry stuffed w/​Potatoes, Parsley, Egg and Tuna)
Mains:
Chicken Merguese Couscous ($ 13.95)
Trout in Coriander Cream Sauce ($ 15.95)
Both apps were astonishingly flavourful, savoury, memorable, EAT it.
The control to make the Calamari perfectly tender was impressive.
That wasn’t all, as the Tomato sauce was lightly spicy addictive.
Brique seems like a Kopita slash Bastilla hybrid which was seasoned deliciously.
The Mains were less intense but not by much. My preference is on the Trout in Coriander Cream Sauce simply due to the fact that the Merguese is usually too dry for my likes and the Chicken was slightly overdone. Maybe just maybe I shall try the LAMB dishes next time. Lamb anyone?

When I walked into Djerba la Douce, I saw a hint of dismal in one of my friend’s eyes. I know Djerba la Douce does look a little sketchy both from the outside and the inside and this definitely not places he would have frequent.
With no decoration, no air conditioning (lucky it was kind of a chilly evening), a hole in the wall place, I don’t blame him, I have second thoughts when I walked into Djerba la Douce too!
But when I tried the food! The tasty well prepared food… full of flavours… cooked with care and love… I knew I made the right choice.
Calamari Djerbieno $ 6.95 (tender calamari and the sauce!!!)
Brique $ 4.25 (lemon, herbs and incredibly light!)
Chicken Merguese Couscous $ 13.95 (Couscous is the star!!)
Trout with Coriander Sauce $ 15.95 (spicy and creamy and peppery!)
They all tasted so good… has great balance of spices and herbs, foreign yet familiar…
Since every dishes are cook when order and having a small kitchen with 1 cook, it takes time… But it really worth the wait!
If you want ambiance, go across the street to Walima… we can meet up later and listen to you complaining about their lousy food!

It’s a fantastic little restaurant like Djerba la Douce that reminds me of how awesome Toronto is and how lucky I am to be living here.
I have never tried Tunisian food nor North African fusion with Southern Italian and French. Now, I’m a huge fan of this place!
What I love about the food here is the flavors. Each dish was prepared with such a care and love, which you could see through the open kitchen.
I’m a sucker for good calamari and prefer mine without bread crumbs. The Calamari Djerbieno, imagine tender calamari in spicy tomato sauce with a hint of garlic, onion and other spices. Love, love the sauce!
Another amazing dish was Brique. This pastry goodness was filled with delicious potatoes, herbs, tuna and eggs. Good thing there were four pieces, otherwise there would have been some hair pulling over this.
Chicken Merguese Couscous was divine! Tender whole chicken thigh, fluffy and flavorful couscous and tender vegetables, all prepared in aromatic spices. So good!
One of my absolute favorites was the trout. It was superbly done! The trout was tender and perfectly cooked. The creamy sauce was peppery. Save your bread for the sauce. In my opinion, the trout was as good as the one I had at Ruby Watchco the night before.
This is a family style restaurant. Everything is made to order and takes time to prepare. But it is worth the wait. Toward the end of our night, the chef and owner even came by and asked if everything was wonderful to our liking. Well, my rating says it all.

Wife and I ate here yesterday and we were really quite pleased with this unusual little eatery. First off, it’s neither fine dining nor is it fast food or take out. It’s quite remarkable actually for that it seems to be a little oasis of «a slightly different nature».
Once seated you’d forget you are in the midst of the eastern part of the Danforth amongst some dodgy bars, convenience stores and pizza parlors. Neat, cosy environment that seems somewhat rustic.
Food
Starters: Calamari in a tangy sweet chili and curry sauce. Nice, although the calamari was somewhat chewy. I guess that’s just how it comes.
Bread pita-​like nothing special. Bought in.
Main course we ordered the couscous royal and it was plenty for both of us. Don’t be shocked, the menu is rather short. But I like that, better than numbers 1 – 50 which you know are frozen and not freshly cooked, this is all nice and fragrant, home made sausages and fresh herbs and spices.
Definitely a welcome diversion from our common picks. They don’t serve alcohol which is also refreshing considering this prevents an inflation on the tab.
Ok, the service is a bit too relaxed but then again, it’s like you’re sitting in a living room with four tables, so it doesn’t really matter all that much.
Try it, you might enjoy it — an acquired taste for sure but to my best judgment nice and exotic. 3 ¾ out of 5.

Wow this place was great! and not what I expected.
I’ve never eaten Tunisian food before so after reading a lot of great things about it on Unilocal I figured I’de check it out. I was thinking it would be more middle-​eastern — not far from egyptian style middle eastern food. I was way off. Its much closer to moroccan food (but different). There is definitely a marked french influence on the food.
The first thing about this place is how small it is. You sit at a table and you see the guy preparing the food right there. the kitchen is completely exposed. Kinda cool. For a time the cook had no help so he would have had to stop preparing my food to get me more water: P
My friend and I started with the Calamari. The guy said it was not like any other calamari dish and he was right. It came in this spicy sauce which was great.
I ordered the trout in coriander sauce. It came with potatoes and eggplants. Everything was grilled (over hot coals i think) so it had a great grilled flavour. I love when they grill meat first and then put the sauce on it. Thoroughly excellent and very reasonable for a fish entrée at $ 15.
My friend had the merguese which I think has been written about at length here. Its lamb sausage. I tried it. Extremely flavourful and tasty. Also has a really nice sauce.
I will definitely be back. This neighbourhood is a hidden treasure of awesome north african restaurants!

This place rocked. Billed as a North African restaurant, but the people are from Tunisia. The menu is small, but from what I can tell, every dish is on it is kick ass.
I suggest the calamari appetizer, it is prepared in a spicy marinara-​like tomato sauce, garnished with some greens and served with warm pita and was enough to appetize 4 of us.
I ordered the seafood crêpe. It was stuffed with shrimp, calamari, and scallops, and drenched in a rich and spicy cream based sauce.
It took about 40 minutes for the meal to arrive, but it was made fresh by what seemed a husband, wife, and daughter serving. So don’t expect to be in and out within 1 hour, however don’t let this deter you and plan a night out at this place with a few friends to chill, have some tea, and get some amazing food.

Excellent flavours, a little over salted and a little slow, though that can be forgiven since the guy is cooking it fresh, not 10 feet away.
The far and away winner here was the calimari. It was FANTASTIC. It was in a thick tomato sauce with tons of spice and warm and soft pita. I could probably have eaten the whole plate by myself and gone home happy.
The merguese was also very good, big enough for two meals. My only complaint was that the sauce was on the salty side. The sauce was spicy, fragrant and heavenly. The lamb sausage was delicious. It sent me to the internet as soon as I got home, looking for the recipe. The next day, I cooked up the leftovers for breakfast… soo good.
The service was great, it was the chef’s daughter. It took a while to get the food, but the guy wasn’t slacking, he was working hard in the kitchen, making everything from scratch.
A very delicious meal

Somewhere in between a 3.5−4 star rating for me.
Went here with a small group of fellow Unilocalers on a Friday night. Djerba la Douce is small place, seats around 20 people, that serves up Tunisian food (North African with both French and Italian influences).
As mentioned in other reviews, the food preparation takes a long time. The kitchen is completely open and you can see the owner and his family hard at work preparing the food. So it’s not that there is any slacking off in the kitchen or bad management — the food prep for this type of cuisine is just a lengthy process. Skip dining here if you are in a rush.
I ordered the merguese (usually spelled «Merguez» in case you want to google) which is sausage made with lamb & beef, served with a few homemade french fries, an egg and a spicy harissa sauce. We asked for VERY spicy and I didn’t find it insane, but it had a nice kick. The food was delicious, meat portion ridiculous (FOUR sausages!) I found the sauce very oily, so it’s definitely not diet food.
Interesting décor at this place and you’ll feel more like you’re in someone’s family home rather than a restaurant. Service was OK but not overly attentive. Small menu selection but looks like they do every dish well. 5 stars for unique food choices.

I went here on a random summer night, looking for something a bit out of the ordinary, flavourful and ethnic… and this place delivered!
We ordered the «salad» to start which was made out of eggplant purée, tuna, olives, capers & olive oil. Served with pita bread. Not exactly your typical salad being smooth and flavourful, a little bitter but delicious none the less.
The lamb sausage or merquez was almost like sausage filled with kebab. Tomatoey. Spicy. Complex. This is my repeat order dish at this place, and I havent found anything in the city that comes close.
The lamb couscous with chickpeas was fragrant, mild and had a bit of a lamb-​y smell to it if you know what I mean. This dish was more about the textures than the taste. Not a repeat order but i didnt mind trying this out.
The service was great, and the server was attentive, however i wouldnt go here when you are pressed for time as the food takes a long time to get to the table especially on busy nights. In the summer you need to be willing to put up with some mosquitos, as there is no airconditioning here and many parks nearby.
One of my favourite parts of going to this place was the complimentary honeydew slices served at the end. Perfect end to a delicious meal.

I can’t say enough good things about this place — it’s so unique! Where else can you get North African food in a warm, comfortable setting in Toronto?
I love the fact that the place is chef/​owner run — he makes all your food and yes, you might have to wait a bit longer than you would at a restaurant with a full fleeet of line cooks, it’s well worth the wait!
I always get the Salad Grill Mushwa, which is actually a fragrant, delicious purée of vegetables topped with tuna, hard boiled egg, olives, and capers in a shower of parsley — it’s so addictive! I’ve never had anything like it — the melding of the flavours and the chef’s deft hand with the spicing is unbelievable.
We always get the merguese lamb platter — plump, merguese sausages served with a pile of sauteed vegetables and delicious fried potatoes in another addictive sauce — you’ll literally want to lick your plate clean and you’ll be chasing every last drop of sauce with the warm, fluffy pita bread provided.
I also love the trout with coriander — a generous portion of trout in a delicate, coriander-​flavoured sauce also served with vegetables or couscous.
I find the mint tea overly sweet, but that’s probably just a difference in taste.
The service is functional and warm and we’re always made to feel welcome.

«What’s merguese?» I asked my friend after she ordered the chicken merguese cous cous, at this Northern African resto located on Danforth near Coxwell.
«Sausage» she replied.
«Sounds very much like the name of a South American dictator» her husband contested. «General Merguese is most displeased.»
«No man it’s sausage.»
And so we ate. From merguese, chicken and lamb to calamari and vegetable cous cous, our palates were satisfied and our stomachs filled with every bite of this Tunisian fare.
Had a bite of someone’s brique, a pastry stuffed with potatoes, parsley, egg and tuna. Tasted pretty bland to me. Wouldn’t venture there again.
Good food. Great friends. A place where you’d go with people who don’t mind waiting the extra hour for food to arrive (service is quite slow) and who are interesting enough to chat with sans alcohol, since the place lacks a liquor license.
You appreciate just how hard staff are working here and it certainly makes me want to patronize this restaurant more often.

So. Damn. Good. Service was ambivalent, food takes a lot longer than you’d expect, but I’m totally going back.
The mint tea was awesome, and the lamb with mustard sauce and couscous was perfect. Not just really good… perfect. Food that makes me smile will get me coming back. As long as you’re there to relax and eat awesome food, and not in a particular hurry, it’s all good.

Completely based on curiosity of trying different foods, and the reviews this place received on here, I ordered food for pick up over the phone. The man who answered was very friendly, telling me ‘Okay, see you later’ immediately after I had placed my order– no instructions of price or timing, which was interesting, but nothing to worry about at all.
Going to pick up the food, the restaurant itself is nothing special to look at from the outside. And if it wasn’t from the reviews, I probably would never have gone in. But just as he was on the phone, the man (I’m assuming owner) greeted me with much enthusiasm and a huge smile. The food was reasonably priced, an appetizer and one dish for $ 18, and the portions are quite large.
The ‘Salad Grill Mushwa’ has an interesting flavor which my mother hated, but I enjoyed for the most part. It’s not something you would come across everyday, and they serve it will hard boiled eggs (*gag*) whose odor definitely does not persuade your nose to go anywhere near the dish. However, once the initial dipping of the pita into the ‘salad’, you kind of can’t stop.
We also ordered the ‘Vegetable Couscous’, which was, as promised, a large portion that was relatively filling. The flavor isn’t something I’ve tried before, but I did enjoy it. Although I wouldn’t say it was anything special.
All in all, it wasn’t anything too special, but it’s an experience to try the cuisine, and I haven’t come by any other place similar to this one.

Wow. What a wonderful little place. The food was plentiful, made with love and an a kind of simple honesty that is very rare. That sounds like a weird thing to write, but really, that’s what comes to mind. You wouldn’t want to come here on a night when you are begrudgingly dining with that neighbour whose jokes force you to practice smiling on route. You want to come here when you are able to be the most sincere and grounded version of yourself. Maybe it’s just because there is no booze here, but i think there’s more to it than that. There is some great karma going on here and it’s too small a room for your emotional baggage to tag along. Come when you’re feeling light.
Calamari comes in a fragrant tomato sauce, richly spiced. Mint tea is served in small glasses from silver pots. The couscous makes you say «how come theirs is so much better than mine?», and believe me, I never say that lightly. The menu is very short, and vegetarians are freed from almost all decision making, however the salads are great.

Djerba la Douce is a little gem located in a somewhat «up-​and-​coming» part of The Danforth near Coxwell Avenue.
It’s the city’s only Tunesian resto and I love it.
I’ve been there three times now and have always left with a full belly and a tasty leftover lunch for the next day.
I especially enjoy the shrimp appetizer and the coucous dishes.
Don’t forget to order some of the special mint tea.
Warning: the food is a little bit spicy but ohhh so flavourful.

this is my new favorite place.
we walked in when the streets were packed with snow and it was pouring rain. the first thing the owner/​chef/​waiter said to us was that he couldnt believe we came out on a night like this. well good on us, because the food was PHENOMENAL on all accounts.
right away after we walked in, he asked us whether we wanted tea. MY LORD. «YES» was the simultaneous response from the both of us. it also helped that he said «mint tea» which was sweet with fresh mint and just perfect for the weather and in general
we started off with the Salad Grill Mushwa which is a garlic purée of roasted tomato and onion tossed with lemon, olive oil, capers and lightly pickled cucumber and green chilies. imagine something that has the consistency of hummous, it is doused with fresh olive oil and capers, has a nice, almost jalapeño-​like kick and you are served a fluffy pita with it. you just want to keep on dipping and smearing your pita, your fingers and your tongue with it.
next were two dishes. i had something called the Merguez lamb sausage or something like that. it was about 5 small sausages arranged in flower formation in a sea of a tomato based tangy sauce. if it was in a cup id drink it. V8, RIP. that also came with another pita to slop it up.
my wife had a huge bowl of couscous with loads of vegetables and chickpeas. that was also amazing. very filling, fluffy, and rich in taste.
the place itself is very homey with a mural on one wall, and on the other a shelf filled with crafted bowls, tagines, hookas and other photos.
all the food is made with halal meats and organic vegetables and made exactly when you get there and order it.
i didnt even think there was a wait, but if you go and feel there is, then ride it out as you wont be disappointed.