Panthère Verte

La Panthère Verte is a vegan, environmentally friendly-responsible restaurant. I think they had one on the Plateau about 5 years ago and now, they have 6 locations AND a food truck. I'm just imagining the cells growing when a baby is developing in the womb: multiplying and multiplying. OK, this is a weird and somewhat creepy comparison. I shall stop this at once. All this to say that ma gym boy, Leo, invited me to the one on Mackay, right next to Concordia, where he is the new manager. I'm really liking one of his first decisions as new manager: invite me to eat awesome food.

You know how much I like getting invited, right? Of course you do. Hint: I love getting invited. tell all your restaurateur friends. And I THANK YOU. But enough about me. The place itself is very inviting. It seriously feels like you are entering a jungle when you step in: plants everywhere, wood, and more plants! And, by the way, I looked and I didn't find any panthers, which I think is a good thing. OK, that was a bad joke. Hey, if my friend in Egypt can see a jaguar in the front seat of a car, there's always a possibility I can see a panther in a restaurant. Am I right? Anyhoot, there are communal tables at the back and some at the front, including this cute booth right in the window. Yes, you feel like you're in it because you have to climb into it and you have to sit with your legs crossed. I liked the style. Oh, and the music. The music was right on! Actually one of the best I've heard in a restaurant recently. Jolene by Dolly Parton, Lana del Rey, CCR. It faintly reminded me of my friend Lena's awesome mixes in the early 2000s when we were young 20 somethings in the city. Yes, I'm old.

On top of having very cool music, la Panthère Verte is uber environmentally friendly. If I knew a word that meant more than 'uber', I'd put it here. They have a green policy! I shall explain. You bring your container, you get discounts. You don't have one, you pay a small fee for the compostable container. You can also pay a deposit of 1$ for a mason jar and when you bring it back, you get 1$ in your pocket. What I found wow is that La Panthère Verte does not have a garbage. QQQUUUUWHAT? Yep. They either have recycling or compost. You empty yo plate where it needs to go and then you leave it on the shelf. It looked like it was quite well managed: we all know that this kind of procedure is difficult to maintain and that this could easily become very messy. And finally, food is organic and local as much as possible. Basically, this restaurant is quite the model citizen.

Leo wanted me to gain 18 pounds on that day so he brought me almost everything on the menu. I tend to exaggerate, but not THAT much.

The EVERYTHING: Black bean noodles (VERY interesting!), lentil salad, mesclun (but it was uber fresh, so it was acceptable), white bean salad, coleslaw, sweet potatoes, falafel ballzzz and a falafel sandwich. I told you: he wanted me to gain 18 pounds. Well, I think the dessert was responsible for most of those, but this comes later. Lets begin.

I had the ginger and apple cider drink which was oh-so-fresh and had just the tang I wanted. I'm also a sucker for bubbles. Buuuuubbles! Talk about a refreshing drink!

The black bean noodles, although original, were not my cup-o-tea: they tasted a bit flat and lacked flavor. Wait, that's the same thing. You get it. The lentil salad had this mustard vinaigrette and I absolutely loved the mix! It was a bit on the hot (n' spicy) side, which I love. Y'all know I loves me some heat! The white bean salad had dill in it. If you're starting to know me, you KNOW I ain't a fan. Like, ever. WELL, this was actually nice. Yep, I'm saying it: I liked the dill (don't tell anyone!). It actually made the salad taste fresh and went really well with the beans. The mesclun. Well, it's freaking mesclun! In my book (and you guys know I have the BEST book), mesclun is bad after having it for more than one day. Yes, I'm a tough mesclun consumer. And damn proud of it. Anyhoot, there was a lovely vinaigrette on top of it: very herbal and full-o-flavour! This made the salad, of course. Mesclun never makes the mesclun. OK, I'm getting ridiculous now. The coleslaw was... meh. OK, it was alright, but it was nothing special. The sweet potatoes looked promising but they kind of felt short of delivering. They could've had more flava. They were perfectly cooked though, which was a relief, haha. Nobody likes an undercooked sweet potato.

The falafel. Ah, the falafel. Panthère Verte actually has an award winning falafel. Ya, it's happening. First, it was Marie-Claude Lortie that said that they were the best she had tasted and that she would go back time and time again. If you know who MCL is, you know she is difficult as all hell. All. Hell. And then they were voted best falafel in Montreal many years in a row in the Best of MTL in the magazine Cult MTL. And I'm sure they have some stashed 'Winner of the best falafel' trophies, somewhere. So herbal and full of loveliness. It was perfectly fried, not crumbly and nicely moist. I'm also ready to make it MY fave falafel. Change APPROVED! There was also the falafel sandwich and although it was the same awesomeballs falafel in there, the pita was a bit on the thick side for me. Just a ps, you have the option of having everything in that sandwich, on a plate, without bread. Perfect for peeps watching their carbs :)

The sauces!!! They have many. I just love a good dip, you know? My fave (and Leo's too!) is the Yogi: vegan yogourt with lots of herbs. It was so damn fresh! I also liked the Hippie: maple syrup (nothing can go wrong here), ginger and sesame. As I said, I likes me a good dippin'.

The dessert. Was I still hungry? Hellsss no. Did I NEED dessert? Absolutely not. Did I want it? Well ya. I needed to try it, you know, for the review. Tiramisu. Or Viramisu, because it's vegan. Hehe. This was a huge mother freaking piece. The coffee taste was quite faint, which is good for this non-lover of coffee. The frosting was good and thick but not too overwhelming. It was very moist (ugh, stupid word) and I think a part of it was because of the layer of chestnut cream in the middle.

Service was done by Leo, so it was perfect. He explained everything to me in detail and gave me a drink asap! He even sat with me to tell me more about what I was eating (OK, he was on his lunch break :p).

And now, the scores!

Food: 9
Service: 10

Leo keeps on telling me that I must try more food on the menu, so, you know what, I might be back sooner than later :)

Farrouj

Best pic EVA

A couple weeks ago, I was heading to Toronto right after work. I decided that I deserved to buy myself some lunch. You see, I always either have a salad full of protein or meat/fish and veggies. It was pig-out time. I loves me a good Lebanese. Let me be clearer: I ain't being dirty or anything, I'm talkin' about the great food. Sheesh!

Farrouj is part of (or should I say 'THE') the food court in Galéries du Parc, right under my place of work, in the Transat building. OK, there are about 5 restaurants, but after speaking to some colleagues, Farrouj remains the best one.

I had a HUGE plate. It was a tad expensive at 16$ but hey, I don't buy Lebanese food every day! A girl can only dream! Let's begin, shall we? The taboule was right ON except for one thing: peppers. Who in their right mind puts peppers in taboule. WHO? I need names. The rest was SO nice and lemony and taboule-y (ya, it's a thing). Just take the peppers out. Thank you for your cooperation. Hummus was good but a bit on the pasty side and not seasoned enough. The garlic sauce was... effin garlicky. Wow! No vampires for me tonight OR I'd say for 2 or 3 nights. Ya, it was THAT strong. Some would have found it whhhhay too much, but for me, it was just perf. The chicken was, for a lack of a better word, perfection. Remember, in Friends, when Chandler is stuck in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre and he says that gum would be perfection? No? Well, I DO. And this juicy, perfectly grilled, seasoned just right chicken WAS perfection. The beef wasn't as good and it was a bit on the dry side. The pieces were too big to put in ma mouth and it was annoying to bite into them. The falafel salad, I had never seen before. Lots of spices in there made it very tasty but the sesame sauce they drizzled (major understatement) on top made it soggy. The chickpea salad seemed a bit old but it wasn't that bad so, I mean, imagine if it would've been fresh!

Service was good. It took a while to get ma shtuff because they were cooking the meat but that just means it was that much better and fresher!

And now, le score!

Food: 7.5

I'll go back if I have a craving for Lebanese OR if, let's say, I forget my lunch!


 

Maha's

My bro Olive lives in the East End in Toronto at Greenwood. I love that hood. All the war time houses, all the bars, the nice little bakeries, and then, there's Maha's.

Maha's is an Egyptian resto that is always busy. ALWAYS. We went on a week day at 8h30am so we got to sit as soon as we got in. Yay! My bro and his wifey swear by it; pretty much any time they can go, they go. With reason. The place itself is very quaint (ya, I can use fancy words), with knick knacks placed here and there. I loved the eye of the pharaoh right when you walk in. Guys, they are WATCHING US. There's about 20 seats in this very cozy and comfy place. It was a tad on the cold side for me, but hey, that's f*ckin' winter for ya!

I started with what I thought was tea with cardamome. Well, it was actually COFFEE with cardamome. Yep, this marked the first time I actually ordered coffee. Ever. Even if it was by mistake. I looked at it, I told my bro 'hey that looks/smells like coffee'. He replied: 'mmmyya, that's cause it IS'. I actually had 4 or 5 sips not disliking it simply because the cardamome was very present and I just love that spice! And then I started kind of feeling sick-ish (and felt like this all day!) because of all that caffeine. Totes my fault. Damn you, coffee! Damn you to hell!!! The first sips were great tho, I must admit.

The date scramble. Yes. AND yes. That scramble was buttery goodness. The dates were oozing taste (ya, it's a thing) and the whole dish was just packed with flavour. I said 'wow' at least 5 times. If not more. The herbs in there made it that much better. There was a little salad that was very fresh and went very well with it. In all seriousness, one of the best scrambled eggs I've had. Ever. Yes, there are a lot of firsts here. It was served with charred balady bread which was just heavenly: so soft and buttery and fresh. Mmmmm. Whenever I eat a dish in a restaurant that includes a bread-y thang, I tell myself I won't eat the whole thing (you know, dem carbs. There's a reason I gave my toaster away) but in this case I couldn't NOT.

My bro had the Cairo Classic. Holy sh*t. Goodness on a motha f*ckin plate, I tells you. Let's falafel first. Hello. Best damn falafel I've had in ma life. Not dry at all, like a lot of falafel out there (you, know, OUT there!) and packed with flavor. The eggs were cooked to damn perfection and don't even get me started on those fava beans! Mmmmmm! Not overly cooked and still a tad crunchy! I am a beans-at-breakfast fan and this was right up my alley. That creamy feta fit oh so well in there and tasted, wait for it, perfect! It had just the right level of saltiness. Mmmm, that bread dipped in everything with an egg on top was just so lovely and just the most perfect bite! I think we can say that the key word here is 'PERFECT'.

Service was on par the whole time we were there. A nice and warm welcome and a great big smile. Always important! Staff was very smily and very friendly. Seems like a nice environment to work in! Imma gonna send em my cv. For, you know, a part time when-in-Toronto job! Oh, and we had a pitcher of water on the table with a bunch of fresh mint in there! Supa fresh!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 9

Hopefully, I'll be going back soon! I need to try everything on the menu! Oh, and, note to self, do NOT order the coffee!

Nilufar

I had been wanting (really, really badly) to eat Lebanese food recently. Sometimes, you just gotta have a good shish taouk with some garlic potatoes. You just gotta. So I went, and I got. Yesterday was Nilufar with Gus.

As soon as I entered, I sorta knew I was going to be disappointed. Iz kinda sad to say, huh? I had read really good reviews and then I enter, and it smells funny and it's a bit dingy and it dson't look very clean. Not uber fond of dirty restaurants, you know?

Some wobbling fake wood-plastic tables with some red and some green plastic chairs and dirty walls. I sound rough n' tough, but it's only because...well, I am. And if I'M not, who's gonna be, right? That's what I thought.

I think the poor guy was alone, doing the cash AND the kitchen, going back and forth. Argh. I went to order and looked at the poor little salad bowls that were on display, and they looked about 3 weeks old. I was very worried that he was going to serve this to people until I found out that he only has them on display so we can choose the salad but he has the real stuff in the kitchen. Kinda weird and not that good of an idea, if you ask me. OH, and if you'd ask the MAPAQ, they would also think the same thing.

Anyhoot, I ordered my usual Lebanese lunch: shish taouk and garlic potatoes, heavy on the garlic. My goal, when I eat them potatoes is to not be able to kiss anyone for at least 48 hours. I am SO lucky to be single :p

Those potatoes were lovely. Really, on the potato ball. They had the skin on which made the dish even tastier than usual. They were crunchy and soft and moist and were very happy to be in ma mouth (or vice versa). The garlic was uber garlicky. I'm afraid to say a bit TOO garlicky. It was as if they had made the sauce from uncooked garlic. Seriously, my tongue was itchy for like an hour after!

The shish was as cold as the potatoes were hot (and they were scorching). I'm not a fan of eating things cold when they are supposed to be hot or eating things hot when they are supposed to be cold. The pita was partially grilled, the chicken was very flavourful with a bunch of spices in there but the rest was a bit blah.  

Service was at the counter but the dude was very nice. Most likely the owner.

And now, the scores!!!

Food: 6.5

Service: 8

All in all, it was disappointing. Next time I want to eat Lebanese food, I'm heading somewhere else. 

Sumac

I LOVE Sumac. Simple as that. It's love. And I met some pretty awesome girls that love it as much as I do. What what. It's Lebanese at its best. Forget Amir or Boustan, Sumac is where it's at. So that's where I was last week with Al and Mar, the Sumac 'experts' and V, one of my fave baby gurls from the gym.

First off, lemme say that Sumac is effin busy. All the time. ALL the time. All the TIME! Y'all get it? Obviously, there's a good reason for that! You want the best Lebanese fast-ish food, you go there, it's as simple as that. On top of being busy, it's happenin'! It was full when we got there at 8h30 pm and got even more full after that!

Happenin' usually means loud, and it certainly did in this case. Which is just fine, but when the table is as large as I am long, and you have a hard time hearing the person in front of you, it becomes a problem. A problem I would absolutely accept if I were in a night club. But this was not a night club. At least not that I'm aware of.

I've already written about Sumac so I won't dwell on the place itself (you can read about it here: http://www.eatingoutmontreal.com/2015/02/sumac.html ) but more on the food because let's be honest, this is the #1 reason why you are reading this.

I wanted to have a drink. Rum and fanta sounded like just the thang I wanted. Simple and right up my alley. You know, my drinking alley. It had just the right amount of rum in there (read: LOTS) and was nice and sweet. AND, when do I ever get to drink Fanta? I LOVE that stuff.

Hummus fries. So basically two of my favourite things. It should be part of that song in The Sound of Music-- 'some hummus on fries with lo-ooots of spices, these are a few of my favourite things!'. Yes? Let's do it! I'll call up the Von Trapp family. But before I do that...I would like to rename this dish 'The Lebanese Poutine'. I don't really like poutine and will only taste one that does not include either the crottes de fromages (ew!) or that brown sauce (eeeeew!), so this was purrrrrfect! The fries were crunchy and hot and soft on the inside. Basically, the definition of a good fry. On the fries, the spices were very present, which is what you want! Well, it's what I want! Aight so there's sumac (I bet at least 62% of you did not know that it was a spice), which adds a bit of acidity, and zaatar which is a mix of spices like thyme, sumac and sesame seeds. I remember when I was in high school, dem Arab boys would always bring pita type bread (from what I recall, it is called manouché---but I might be wrong) smothered in zataar. The spiciness came from the s'rug which was kind of sprinkled on so we never knew which bite was going to be spicy. For me, it was a nice surprise but for Mar, who dsont like the spice, it was not cool. The hummus was like a cloud: smooth and heavenly. some of the best I've had. And trust me, I've HAD hummus!

Chicken shawarma OR very full and colourful vagina. No? Come oooon! In this loveliness, there's hummus, tahina, purple and green cabbage and pickled turnip. Yes. What I noticed at first was that the chicken seemed a bit old. I guess they had cooked it earlier and hey, there were closing soon soooo. Still, obviously, the fresher the better (duh), so that kind of turned me off. It was still uber tasty tho but... the question remained: when in the hell did they cook it? The bread was very soft and fresh but maybe a bit too thin in some spots because all the liquid from the sandwich would seep through. If there's one thing i hate is having hands full of food juice. Hahaha: food juice. The turnips were perfect and I just loved the cabbage in there. Really loved the textural aspect of it. Crunch crunch crunch!

Service was aight: very quick, water on the table, but does not check if we're a-ok. How it goes is that you order at the cash (those big line-ups can get annoying) and then you are seated and wait a couple minutes for your plate. It's actually rather light-speed fast.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7
Service: 7

I can't not go back because I usually love it so much so ya, totes heading there again soon for more Lebanese awesomeness that will hopefully be a bit awesomer (don't even check, it's a word!) than the last time.

Sumac

Last week, I was feeling rich. Oh-so-rich! I had booked my Via1 ticket and felt on top of the wooooorld. And then I realized that the reason I felt so rich was that I hadn't been to a restaurant in a while! This had to be fixed: I decided to try Sumac. My super friend Lea had tried it the week prior and oh so wanted to go again so I had my resto partner! Yay!

This middle-eastern restaurant seemed very inviting. OK so I was kind of comparing it to a restaurant that is 100% better than Amir. Don't get me wrong, I love some Amir here and there but this... this! Basically... no comparison! At all!

The place itself is very white and pale wood, loft-ish, open kitchen at the back, lots of movement.  And, on top of it, they were playing Livin' On a Prayer by Bon Jovi! Hellllooooo!

The thang is that you get in and get in line. Some peeps pass by and give you numbers (for your order) and a table. After you order, you go to your table and wait for the marvellousness to arrive.

Oh and it did (can you tell I like this place?)

The yumminess. I don't care if you fight me on this, 'yumminess' IS a word. I had the Sumac fries and the falafel sandwich and Lea had the baba ghanouj and the chicken shawarma.The bread was fluffy and moist, and there was a perfect mix of textures in there: crunchy, soft, and down right good. The fries were a tad spicy and lemony (sumac is known to be lemony) and oh so good AND totally worth that measly 4$. The baba ghanouj was tasty and smooth. Although it seemed a bit slimy at times, it was still very good. My falafel was wonderful: so many veggies in there, and great falafel balls!  Not dry at all, very tasty, although a bit too crunchy at times, it was nice to have somewhat of a contrast in there.  Plus, as you eat it, because of the bread, the sandwich stays together! The shawarma also had some nice veggies in there and the chicken was so tender and wonderful! You could taste a bit of cinnamon in there which was great! Their sandwiches were so big that when I went to take a bite, my nose dipped in the sauce. Hehehe. 

Service was good. Although our waitress AND what seemed like the maitre-d' sih guy forgot some things we asked for (and later got from the 2nd waitress), everything else was on point. We got our food and drinks fast and our water even faster. All in all, great service. the only thing that's not going to work in the end; getting in line and being assigned a table and then ordering and THEN sitting down. It was quite unpleasant to have a line-up behind us for half of our meal, with some pushing and shoving. This won't last, but this restaurant will.

And now, the scores!!!

Food: 9
Service:8

I will definitely go back 100% to share this wonderful experience with all my friends (all of em, I swear!)!
 
ps: it cost me 15$ or so with tip. Uh hello, can you say 'worth it'?