Royal Indian cuisine in Scarborough — Shaaz is built around the Mandi, slow-cooked meat and rice prepared in a pit until the meat is fall-apart tender and the rice has absorbed every aromatic. The biryani and the Chicken 65 round out a menu that takes Mughal cooking seriously. Open until 2am nightly.
Neighbourhood: Scarborough · Address: 2043 Eglinton Ave E, Scarborough, ON M1L 2M9 · Hours: Mon–Sun 12:00 PM – 2:00 AM · Price Range: $$ · Phone: (416) 285-0800 · Website: https://theshaaz.com/
Shaaz serves Scarborough’s best mandi—a slow-cooked, pit-roasted meat and rice dish rarely found outside specialty houses. Open until 2am, it’s a legit late-night option when most good kitchens are closed.
Shaaz takes Mughal dishes seriously: their mandi pit uses traditional techniques to coax deep flavour and tenderness out of lamb and chicken, while even side dishes like Chicken 65 are made from scratch. The menu is tight, focused, and mostly unavailable anywhere else in Toronto after midnight.
Shaaz is the kind of Scarborough restaurant you hear about from people who actually eat out late, not from people making a list for show. It’s built around royal-style Indian cooking, especially Mandi, and that focus gives the place a clear identity right away. The idea isn’t just “Indian food, but late-night.” It’s slow-cooked meat, rice, spice, smoke, and patience done in a way that feels specific and deliberate. The Mandi is the obvious centerpiece: meat and rice cooked together so the juices from the meat seep into the grains, the seasoning goes deep instead of sitting on top, and everything comes out soft, fragrant, and very hard to stop eating. When it’s right, the rice isn’t dry or separate in the way you’d expect from a basic takeout container. It’s a little moist, a little clumped, and full of the flavour of the meat, which is exactly the point. The lamb and chicken versions both work, and the appeal is the same in either case: long cooking, careful seasoning, and a result that tastes like it had time to become itself.
The biryani follows the same logic, just in a different form. Shaaz does a few versions, and the nice thing is that it doesn’t feel like an afterthought menu item thrown in because every Indian restaurant has to have biryani. It’s layered properly, perfumed with whole spices and saffron, and cooked sealed so the aroma stays in the pot instead of disappearing into the room. You taste the difference right away if you know what you’re looking for. The grains hold their shape, but they’re not stiff, and the meat is integrated enough that you’re not just eating rice and then chasing it with a separate piece of chicken. If you’re the kind of person who likes biryani that feels cohesive rather than assembled, this is a good place to be.
The Chicken 65 is the slightly louder, more immediate part of the menu, and that’s exactly why people order it alongside the slower dishes. It’s spicy, fried, crisp-edged, and finished with curry leaves and dried red chilies, so you get that hit of heat and salt and crunch before the heavier stuff arrives. It’s one of those dishes that travels well across tables because everybody wants a piece, and it’s also one of the best things to order if you’re waiting for a bigger meal and want something to keep the table busy. Shaaz does it the way it should be done: properly fried, well-seasoned, and not bland or soggy. It’s a strong contrast to the Mandi and biryani, which makes the whole meal feel more complete.
Then there’s the haleem, which is the dish to order when it’s available and you’re in the mood for something slow, dense, and deeply satisfying. Haleem takes work, and you can tell when a kitchen cares because it doesn’t come out as a generic porridge with meat mixed in. Here, it has that long-cooked, almost melting texture that comes from wheat, lentils, and meat breaking down together until the whole thing feels unified. It’s not a flashy dish, but it’s one of the most rewarding things on the menu if you like food with substance. The kebabs are also worth paying attention to, especially the seekh, boti, and reshmi options. They give you the usual grilled, spiced, smoky side of the menu, and they’re useful if you’re with a group because you can split them around the table while deciding how ambitious you want to be with the bigger platters.
What Shaaz really does well is stay committed to a particular style without making the place feel stiff or precious. It doesn’t have the mood of a polished downtown restaurant where everyone is whispering over tiny plates. It feels more like a busy Scarborough dining room where families, friends, and night-shift regulars all know what they’re there for. People come in for actual food, not ceremony. You’ll see groups sharing big portions, people leaning over platters of rice, and tables casually building a meal out of a few shared dishes instead of each person ordering their own plate and calling it a night. That shared-table energy fits the menu perfectly because Mandi and biryani are both better when they’re meant to be part of a bigger spread. The room tends to have a steady hum rather than a loud party vibe, but it’s never sleepy. Even when it’s not packed, there’s usually a sense that something is happening: orders moving out, takeout bags being picked up, people debating whether to add one more kebab or one more rice dish.
The neighbourhood matters here too. Eglinton East in Scarborough isn’t pretending to be anything it’s not. It’s practical, busy, and full of places that serve the people who actually live nearby, work nearby, or pass through because they know where to find good food outside the downtown core. Shaaz fits that environment. It’s the sort of place that makes sense on a broad avenue where buses run, people arrive in cars, and dinner can easily turn into a very late dinner. If you’re coming from downtown, it’s not the kind of trip you make on a whim just to look around, but if you’re already in Scarborough, or if you’re making a specific food stop, it feels like exactly the right kind of destination. The surrounding area is more functional than scenic, which is part of the appeal. You’re not paying for a polished address or a trendy block; you’re paying for food that knows what it wants to be.
What sets Shaaz apart from other spots doing Indian and South Asian food in Toronto is the emphasis on a few signature preparations that actually feel central to the place instead of diluted for broad appeal. Lots of restaurants claim a wide regional range and then end up tasting interchangeable. Shaaz feels more focused. The Mandi is the thing you remember. The biryani has intention. The Chicken 65 isn’t just a generic fried appetizer. Even the late-night angle isn’t just marketing. Being open until 2 a.m. every night changes the whole role of the restaurant. It means Shaaz becomes a default answer when the evening goes longer than planned, when a show runs late, when a drive back from somewhere turns into “let’s eat before we go home,” or when you’re with a group that can’t agree on whether to call it a night. In Toronto, that matters more than people admit. A restaurant can be good, but if it’s closed when you’re hungry, it’s not useful. Shaaz is useful.
If you’re going, the practical advice is simple: don’t overcomplicate it, and don’t show up expecting a quick in-and-out if it’s a busy hour. Late dinner is the best time, but it’s also when the room can get crowded with other people who had the same idea. Weekends and post-evening rush times can mean waiting a bit longer for your food, especially if you’re ordering one of the slower dishes or a table is working through a big shared meal. The smarter move is to go with a small group, order a few core dishes, and let the kitchen do what it does best. Mandi should be first on the list if you’ve never had it there. Biryani is the safe second choice. Chicken 65 is the thing that keeps the table happy while the mains arrive. If haleem is available, get it. If you’re someone who likes to compare textures and seasoning across dishes, this is a place where that kind of curiosity pays off.
The honest reality is that Shaaz can get busy, and busy here doesn’t mean trendy in a downtown sense. It means lots of hungry people, a steady stream of orders, and a room that’s working hard. That’s usually a good sign, but it also means you should come with a little patience. The best strategy is to arrive expecting a proper meal, not a rushed one. If you’re with a group, be ready to share. If you’re coming late, don’t assume the kitchen feels the same urgency you do at 1:30 a.m.; it’s still doing real work, and the dishes are better when they’re allowed to come out as intended. For anyone looking for Scarborough late-night food that isn’t just fast food or an afterthought, Shaaz stands out because it knows exactly what lane it’s in and doesn’t drift out of it. That confidence is part of why people keep going back.
Shaaz Restaurant is at 2043 Eglinton Avenue East, Scarborough, ON M1L 2M9. Phone: 416-285-0800. It's accessible by the TTC 34 Eglinton East bus along Eglinton Ave E. The restaurant is open until 2am nightly, making it one of Scarborough's best late-night dining options.
Mandi is the signature dish — a traditional Yemeni-origin preparation popular across the Gulf and now in South Asian cooking: meat (lamb or chicken) and rice slow-cooked together in a sealed pit. The slow heat keeps the meat moist and tender while the rice absorbs the dripping juices and the sealed steam. The result is aromatic, deeply flavoured, and distinct from biryani. At Shaaz it's available from $65 and is intended for groups.
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