Agabi Oakville: Mediterranean Restaurant on Kerr Street

Agabi Oakville is a Mediterranean restaurant specializing in Egyptian, Lebanese and Greek food.

The award-winning restaurant in Oakville features a spacious dining room and patio perched over Kerr Street.

Agabi’s menu offers classic Mediterranean dishes and is known to locals as one of the best takeout restaurants in Oakville.

With plenty of fresh salads and dips, it’s one of the best restaurants in downtown Oakville to enjoy a flavourful vegetarian or vegan meal.

Agabi Oakville History

Agabi restaurant first opened its doors in 2000, in a plaza on Lakeshore Road beside Mammoth Movies. My family moved to Oakville around that time. Agabi was one of the first restaurant’s we were introduced to by our neighbours.

I’ve always been a food and film fan. During high school I’d visit the plaza on Lakeshore Road almost every Friday, picking up a stack of DVDs to watch over the weekend and a bag of Oakville’s best take out.

While my family would initially eat out at Agabi restaurant, it became one of our favourite take out restaurant’s in Oakville. Whenever we were having a busy week and didn’t have time to cook a fresh meal at home, my mom or dad would chirp, “go grab Agabi!”

For almost two decades my family has been sharing our love for Agabi restaurant in Oakville. The restaurant has since relocated to a larger space on Kerr Street.

We’ve been eating at Agabi Oakville for years and have tasted almost every dish on the menu. Each member of my family has discovered a favourite dish, that we always seem to consistently order.

My father loves the Creamy Chicken, muddled with mushrooms and onions. My mother is a fan of the Lamb Shashlik, grilled to perfection with green pepper and mushroom. My sister always orders the Chicken Pineapple, marinated boneless chicken served with crispy bacon and juicy pineapple. I’ve always had a heart for Agabi Oakville’s signature Chicken Shwarma, best served alongside a Greek Salad and aromatic rice.

Agabi Oakville Mediterranean Restaurant

The name of the restaurant, Agabi, is inspired by the term Agape, which in Greek refers to “food offered with love”. When Agabi first opened, there was very little in the way of authentic Mediterranean food in Oakville.

Owner and Chef Essam Farag explains, “I grew up in Alexandria, Egypt and the Egyptian community in Canada can attest to the importance of food to our culture. High quality food made with love brings people together in a way that nothing else can. For almost two decades, Agabi has tried to emulate the same sense of community that is characteristic of living life by the Mediterranean Sea.”

Chef Farag adds, “I am a graduate of École Hôtelière French Cooking School in Egypt. I worked for ten years as a chef in the American Embassy upon my graduation. When I came to Canada I worked for Stage West Hotel and Olivers Fine Dining Steakhouse in Oakville. Then I opened my own restaurant in 2000.”

“I wanted to do something that allowed me to use the skills, techniques, and experience I had learned along with my love for Egypt and the Mediterranean. Also, at the time there were not many restaurants that offered an authentic taste of the Mediterranean. All of these reasons along with the support of my family encouraged me to open my own Mediterranean restaurant,” says Agabi Oakville’s Chef Farag.

Agabi’s interior is authentically Middle Eastern. It’s inspired by nights spent fishing on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria. Chef Farag notes, “It’s there where I began exploring the richness of Mediterranean cuisines. This covers Greek, Italian, Lebanese, French and Egyptian food. There are no limits to Mediterranean cuisine and its ability to bring people together and inspire their passion for food is truly special.”

Agabi Oakville can seat over 80 people in its casual Mediterranean-inspired dining room. In the warmer months, it also offers diners an outdoor patio, which overlooks Kerr Street.

Agabi Restaurant Menu

The menu at Agabi is extensive, offering plenty of options for meat lovers, fresh seafood fans and vegetarians and vegans. The Agabi restaurant menu is organized into appetizers, soups, salads, dips, chicken, beef & pork, seafood and lamb.

Agabi has been ranked as the best Mediterranean restaurant in Oakville many times over at the Oakville Beaver Awards.

If it’s your first time visiting Agabi Oakville Chef Farag suggests the restaurant’s most popular dishes. He recommends, “The shawarma, which can be ordered as a sandwich or as a plate with a side, the shrimp flambé, which is served on a hot plate with a burning flame and our Mixed Grill platter. Customers come from far and wide to enjoy our renowned garlic sauce!”

If you’ve got a penchant for warm Mediterranean holidays, Agabi Oakville will have you floating back to Lagos, Malaga, Mallorca, Ibiza, Valencia, Santorini, Mykonos, Malta, Amalfi Coast, Cairo or on an Egyptian Nile Cruise.

Agabi Oakville Appetizers

If you’re eating dinner with a family of four we suggest ordering two appetizers to share at the table. The most entertaining dishes at Agabi restaurant are its flaming shrimp or saganaki cheese. They’re flambeed right at the table! Our favourite is the vegetarian platter featuring the restaurant’s best Mediterranean salads and dips.

• Grilled Calamari
• Deed-Fried Calamari
• Grilled Wild Octopus
• Red Lentil Soup
• Wild Mushroom Soup
• Mediterranean Seafood Chowder
• Shrimp Oppa: black tiger shrimp flambe with brandy
• Saganaki Oppa: pan seared kefalotyri cheese flambe with ouzo
• Stuffed Grape Leaves: mixed rice, greens and fresh herbs. Served with tzaziki sauce.
• Garlic Butter Escargot: escargot with garlic butter, served with pita bread.
• Assorted Vegetarian Appetizer: taboule, hummus, baba ganoush, tomato feta and barbecued eggplant.

Mediterranean Dips

• Hummus: ground boiled chickpeas with tahini
• Babab Ganosh: barbecued eggplant with tahini and olive oil
• Barbecued Eggplant: barbecued eggplant and tomatoes pureed with fresh herbs.
• Three Dips Assortment: hummus, baba ganosh, barbecued eggplant with pita bread

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Salads and Vegetarian Dishes

Most of Agabi Oakville’s main courses are served with a side salad. If you’re a vegetarian, vegan or simply looking for a healthy meal, Agabi’s fresh salads are a perfect pleasure.

• Tomato Feta: fresh tomatoes, olive oil, herbs, feta cheese, kalamata olives
• Greek Salad: lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, feta cheese, kalamata olives
• Taboule: finely chopped fresh parsley, green onion, tomato, crushed whole wheat, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil
• Fatoosh Salad: garden salad with pita croutons and citrus dressing
• Falafel Plate: combination of taboule, ummus, falafel and pita bread
• Vegan Platter: hummus, falafel, stuffed grape leaves, fried cauliflower, Garden Salad and pita bread.

Agabi Oakville Chicken Dishes

The restaurant’s best dishes are made of chicken, prepared in the kitchen several different ways. Shwarma is slowly roasted on a rotating spigot, while other chicken dishes are grilled over a barbecue or sautéed in a pan.

• Chicken Shawarma: slowly roasted boneless chicken, thinly sliced and lightly grilled
• Chicken Pineapple: marinated boneless chicken grilled with bacon and pineapple
• Creamy Chicken: sliced chicken breast sautéed with onions, pepper and mushrooms
• Chicken Shashlik: marinated chicken breast with bacon, onion, green pepper, and mushroom
• Chicken Souvlaki: large skewer of grilled chicken breast

Beef & Pork Dishes

If you’re looking to sample authentic Egyptian and Greek dishes we suggest ordering Kofta, Calf Liver or Mousaka.

• Beef and Lamb Kofta: freshly minced beef and lamb with parsley, red onion. Served with hummus, taboule and pita bread
• Agabi Calf Liver: fresh calf liver thinly sliced, mixed with fresh herbs and sautéed
• Beef Shawarma: beef tenderloin thinly sliced and served with taboule and hummus
• Mousaka: baked eggplant, mixed beef topped with bechamel sauce and served with rice and salad
• Pork Shashlik: pork tenderloin grilled with bacon, onions, green pepper and mushrooms.
• Pork Souvlaki: large skewer of grilled pork tenderloin.

Fresh Seafood

No Mediterranean feast is complete without a taste of the sea. Agabi’s fresh seafood dishes feature shrimp, calamari and fish fillet.

• Grilled Black Tiger Shrimp
• Fish & Chips: deep-fried fish fillet with chips, sautéed vegetables and Greek or Garden salad
• Mixed Seafood & Chips: fish fillet, black tiger shrimp, calamari with sautéed vegetables and Greek or Garden Salad.
• Seafood Mixed Grill: grilled fish fillet, black tiger shrimp and calamari
• Creamy Shrimp: sautéed shrimp in Madera wine cream sauce

Agabi Oakville Lamb

Lamb lovers rave for Agabi restaurant’s kabob, shank and grilled shashlik.

• Lamb Kabob: grilled skewer of boneless lamb served with taboule salad and hummus with pita
• Braised Lamb Shank: 16oz lamb shank braised with vegetables, herbs and red wine
• Lamb Shashlik: boneless slices of lamb grilled with green pepper, mushroom and onion