Lavash restaurant serves up Armenian and Middle Eastern cuisine including a selection of hot and cold mezzeh, meat skewers and kebab, and other signature dishes like manti.

The space occupied by Lavash used to be a house before it was home to a number of different restaurants, the most previous being a Chinese restaurant. 

Co-owners and close family friends, Armen Jakjakian and Shant Ghazarian have made the space their own with meaningful decor. The custom-made plaque on the wall features the Armenian alphabet in the tricolours of the flag. 

While the ceiling art incorporates three different cultural symbols including pomegranates, the fruit of Armenia.

The menu is perfect for sharing and trying plenty of different flavours, with a number of different hot and cold mezzeh dishes available.

Mouhamara ($7) is one that pairs nicely beside some Hummus, your quintessential Middle Eastern starter. The name of the hot pepper dip with pomegranate molasses comes from the Arabic word Ahmar, which literally means red. 

One of the more popular mezzehs is the Lavash Special Fattoush ($8). The salad that's well-loved in the Middle East takes on a twist with the addition of string cheese and a few extra spices. Though the zesty pomegranate dressing might be a bit of an acquired taste. 

Manti ($18) is probably one of the most iconic Armenian dishes on the menu. The mini pastry pockets are each filled with marinated ground beef individually by hand so the dish also has the longest prep time. 
With the crunchy pastry balls covered in a tomato sauce with a mix of spices, yogurt, and sprinkled in sumac, the dish tastes best mixed together. That way all the tastes are combined in each bite. 

For a modern twist on the traditional favourite, they also offer a Vegetarian Manti that's made with a mushroom-based filling instead of the ground beef.

Kebbeh (five pieces: $8) is another dish that takes some time. The croquettes are first made with ground beef and bulgur wheat before they're stuffed with seasoned beef and pine nuts and then hand-rolled or twisted into the signature football shape. 

They also have a number of different skewers on the menu including minced beef kebab, filet mignon and shish tawook. Each can come as a platter, within a combo, or on its own with two skewers per order. 

All meat here is 100 per cent halal and the skewers are slowly cooked over ceramic stones to give it a bit of a BBQ taste. Lavash bread, the thin and stretchy flatbread that originated in Armenia of which the restaurant is named after, is served on the side of all of the skewer plates and platters. Samsak (five pieces: $8) is another favourite due to the fact that only a small handful of restaurants serve them. The fried seasoned beef patties are made with a combination of Armenian spices and wrapped in homemade buttery dough. 

Situated on Victoria Park Avenue in Scarborough, and nearby an Armenian church, school and community centre, Lavash is a welcome addition to an area with a large Middle Eastern community.