16 February 2026
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When the holiday of Ramadan begins this week, many of the world’s more than 2 billion Muslims will begin to fast, refusing even water in the daylight hours as an act of commitment to their faith.
For Arbequina, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Toronto, it’s one of the busiest times of the year. Tables are booked out days in advance ahead of the precise minute the sun sets, when diners will be able to tuck into their first bite of a special Ramadan break-fast menu.
“It’s the most important thing, the moment of happiness when you are breaking your fast after all the abstaining all day,” says Chef/owner Moeen Abuzaid.
Opened in 2024, Arbequina quickly became a local favorite in the diverse Roncesvalles neighborhood with a menu that reflects Abuzaid’s traditions and values.
Born to Palestinian parents near a refugee camp in Jordan, Abuzaid remembers selling parsley and mint to other families as a young child. When he was 15, a government program sparked an interest in cooking and he later joined the kitchen at his camp.
After working at restaurants in Jordan and across Europe, in 2009, Abuzaid moved to New York with $27 in his pocket. Barely knowing the language, he worked his way through top city restaurants, including wd~50, before starting a popular Middle Eastern fine dining pop-up series, The Broken English.
Arbequina, he says, is a humble spot, meant to make guests feel like they’re at home. Dishes are elegant preparations of familiar plates from across the Arab world.
While the restaurant has a liquor license, it doesn’t serve any alcohol.
“It's definitely not easy, but it's just something we committed to doing. It's aligned with our own values,” says Asma Syed, Abuzaid’s wife, who runs the restaurant with him.
During Ramadan, the act of fasting is meant to remind Muslims about self-control and self-preservation as they experience a taste of the hardship that persists around the world, the couple explains.
The special Ramadan menu – timed to iftar, the daily break-fast meal – is a three-course feast, combining special holiday treats and regular menu mainstays that are both nourishing and exciting – something to look forward to after a day of hunger.
It also helps to avoid a common Ramadan faux pas, Abuzaid says: post-fast over-ordering.
“The eyes are hungry,” he says. “When you’re fasting you want to eat everything, but in fact your stomach shrinks.”
An iftar feast
The menu begins with dates and water, which custom dictates are the proper way to break the fast. Abuzaid has Palestinian Medjool varieties waiting on the table so fasters can dig right in.
“You have a date in your hand, you're in prayer, reflecting on the day on all things and you're waiting for that minute,” Syed says. “Then you break your fast. It's often a quiet, sobering moment.”
Next are a course of appetizers, including cheese buns with za'atar and labneh, potato and squash falafel, lentil soup and manti, which is like a fried dumpling with beef and lamb, served with fermented yogurt and pine nuts.
Lentil soup, Abuzaid says, is a common iftar dish because it’s warm and calming on the stomach after a hard day.
“And then, of course, you always need something fried,” Syed says. “People can't get through Ramadan without the fried stuff.”
Entrées include chicken shish tawouk, a kebab, and angus short ribs served like a taco, on flaky saj flatbread with tahini, arugula and crispy and pickled onions.
For dessert, Abuzaid serves a milk cake made with pistachio and booza, a dense Arabic kind of ice cream, as well as qatayef, a sweet dumpling, made with walnuts, rosewater, cinnamon and maple syrup.
“That one is Ramadan. If you go to the Middle East now, all the streets smell like qatayef,” Abuzaid says.
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Hero image: Arbequina's Iftar feast. ©Royce Visuals
