Name: Jamil’s Chaat House
Contact: 1086 Queen St. W., jamils.ca, @jamils.to
Neighbourhood: West Queen West
Previously: Ramona’s
Owners: Jalil Bokhari and Emma Tanaka
Chef: Eric McDonald
Accessibility: Not fully accessible
Jamil’s Chaat House is a modern Pakistani snack house churning out small plates packed with explosive flavours. “I’ve worked front-of-house for years, at restaurants including Rhum Corner, Imanishi and Momofuku—places that offer a kind of modern take on regional cuisine. I’ve always liked eating at these types of spots,” says co-owner Jalil Bokhari. “I opened Jamil’s because there’s no place in Toronto offering Pakistani food—the cuisine of my heritage—expressed through the lens of casual fine dining.”
Before Bokhari and his business partner and fiancée, Emma Tanaka, were approached by an investor to open their restaurant in the space that was briefly Ramona’s, they were running Jamil’s as a pop-up concept. “Both Jalil and I love cooking—it’s always been central to our relationship,” says Tanaka. “I’m Japanese, and he was born in Pakistan, and cooking is a beautiful way of sharing culture and identity.”
Like many others during Covid, both Tanaka (previously a user-research employee at Deloitte) and Bokhari had time on their hands, so they decided to take their love for cooking one step further. “We approached Bar Sakai chef Eric McDonald because we were huge fans of her work and knew how amazing she was at developing punchy regional flavours,” says Tanaka. In the spring of 2021, the trio started their pop-up with a tiny table and one dish, dahi puri (a spicy and tangy South Asian street snack) in front of Parkdale’s Capital Espresso.
In April of 2024, Bokhari and Tanaka decided to get serious. After a trip to Pakistan, they became more invested in their business, branding their pop-up Jamil’s Chaat House. They did a few stints at various restaurants across the city, and their Instagram started blowing up with requests for more. “Things got so busy that, when we were approached again in October about the space, we were ready to settle down,” says Bokhari. “So we reached out to Eric once again. This time we wanted her to be our head chef.” Now, Jamil’s Chaat House is a cozy Queen West hideaway that’s a little bit Lahore and a lot Toronto.
While Pakistani flavours dominate the menu, each dish is influenced by cuisines of the Toronto diaspora. “I was born in Toronto, but our cooks come from different countries around the globe, and everyone here has a voice on the menu—at least subtly,” says head chef McDonald. To this end, the menu—which doesn’t shy away from spice—is made up of dishes that get to the soul of Pakistan through unfamiliar routes.
For instance, the seemingly traditional naan is made with red fife flour from Tottenham’s K2 Milling, a supplier McDonald uses due to her love of Robinson Bread. On top of the usual spinach, kale also finds its way into the earthy and vibrant palak paneer. And while chili crisp is typically associated with East Asian food, a lot of the dishes at Jamil’s get their heat from a house-made South Asian version of the delicious spicy oil. There’s even a signature twist on a Sloppy Joe, the Karahi Chicken Bun—with pulled chicken slow-cooked in a thick tomato-based masala curry, then piled onto a Martin’s potato roll with fresh ginger slaw.
There’s a natural and biodynamic wine list as well as a crushable cocktail card of old-school classics, each with its own South Asian twist. For example, the Amla Sour, a house take on a classic gin sour, is made of gin infused with Indian gooseberries, the sour notes of which eliminate the need for lemon juice. For some balance, it’s sweetened with a rose petal–infused syrup called rooh hafsa. Zero-proof options include the sweet-and-savoury Masala Double Coke, made with a reduction of Coke and South Indian spices that’s combined with more cola and served on ice.
Walnut banquettes are upholstered in ’70s scarlet velvet that could have been swiped from Nani’s chesterfield, while old-school Bollywood records and a peppering of vintage Bokhari family photos transport diners from Queen West to Lahore.
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Erin Hershberg is a freelance writer with nearly two decades of experience in the lifestyle sector. She currently lives in downtown Toronto with her husband and two children.