'Taza, and Taza Treats’, located in Jhamsikhel, may look like an average neighborhood restaurant, but it offers appreciably more. Taza has been serving Middle-East dishes since 2015 by Bassel Shreiqi whereas, Taza Treat is a new bakery in town started from 2020 by Bassel Shreiqi along with his partner Maaz Ashraf. The bakery is also inspired from Middle-East desserts.
The history of the very restaurant is quite a fantasy itself. Shreiqi, whose hometown is Syria, went to Dubai, met a Nepali girl and married her. Here after, he came to Nepal thinking of returning back to Dubai, but couldn't depart from the beauty that Nepal holds.
The fact that there were no restaurants which served Syrian cuisine made him think of bringing the taste of his birthplace to Nepal. That is how Taza, restaurant that serves Middle East cuisine was introduced in Nepal by Shreiqi and his wife Sangita Lama.
Shreiqi explains, “In both Taza, and Taza Treats, there is nothing that I have not had personally from my childhood. So, the main thing about these two is to express what Middle-East people eat in their country.”
He adds, “At first, we launched our Taza Treats (Syrian treats), Baklava on Instagram. After that we started getting orders, prepared them, and then delivered the next day.”
“After getting a lot of orders, we had to expand our business, train more and more people, so that we could meet the demand. Then we decided to open our Taza Treat shop in September of 2021”, he adds further.
After listening to the wholesome background of both the bakery and the restaurant, I was eagerly waiting to try their cuisine. As advised by both Shreiqi and Ashraf, I decided to try their popular or best-seller dish, the Taza Special Platter.
As soon as the dish was served, I was stuck in awe. With the varieties of food in it, the platter was looking very tempting.
“The vegetarian side is called mixed veg platter. There we have Hummus, beetroot hummus; made of chickpea, Babaghanouj; made of eggplant, Falafel; which is also made from chickpea but in a little different way, and fried Pita Bread", said Ashraf as he explained the dish.
“On on other side is a chicken platter which has Shawarma wrap, Toshka, Kebabs, and Sheesh Tawook with Pita Bread on the side”, he adds.
The first bite of puffy Pita Bread and the mix of the creamy hummus, smooth and savory Baba Ghanouj along with a bite of crispy fried Pita Bread and crunchy Falafel was commendable. Sour, yet sweet and warm Shawarma Wrap with mincemeat kebab and mellow Sheesh Tawook made my day.
As for desserts, I tried Kunafeh, an item from Taza Treats which is made of spun pastry, cheese and soaked in sugar syrup. The Kunafeh was creamy, subtly sweet and the cheese in it was surprisingly making the whole treat delicious.
In the beginning, Shreiqi used to bring supplies and materials from Syria. However it was difficult to do so with time. They then started buying the best quality of supplies that are available in Nepal. "We just wanted the constant quality in our food for our customers", he says.
“The most exciting thing for me after Baklava is Kunafeh, which is equally popular as Baklava. Kunafeh is more like dessert, while Baklava is sweets”, Ashraf said.
Both Shreiqi and Ashraf are happy with the love and support they are getting from their customers and want to open their franchise in different places like Pokhara.
“From starting with a few treats and dishes, to varieties of cuisines and bakery items, it was not easy but pretty much challenging for us. But I’m happy that our hard work paid off”, says Shreiqi.
Contact details:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tazatreats/ and https://www.instagram.com/taza.nepal/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taza.treats and https://www.facebook.com/tazaitsfresh
Address: Lalitpur, Jawalakhel
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