Le Palais Libanais — Restaurant in Gatineau

Palais Libanais is one of my favorite restaurants for their Chicken Plates. If anyone has had Shawarma Palace in Ottawa, then you can expect the same portion size (very ample), quality, and taste. Delicious!

My favorites are the Chicken or Mixed (Chicken and Beef) Plates. Each come with humus, rice (white and/or yellow), fried seasoned potatoes, fatoush salad, garlic sauce, and 2 pita breads. The portion size will usually feed myself and my wife, but a man with a huge appetite might be able to finish it, but I can't finish one on my own.

If you get the beef, ask for it lebanese style and they grill it with a very flavourful parsley mixture that really takes the taste up a notch. And adding tahini sauce to the beef or chicken can be tasty too, if you are a fan.

There are quite a few other options. Kebabs you have to wait a while for simce the meat isn't already cooking on the rotisserie like the chicken and beef shawarma.

Shawarma sandwiches are also very tasty.

They also have oil or creamy salad dressing for the fatoush salad. Try them both out, and decide which you like best. I prefer the creamy one, but both are always good.

Also be sure to load out with all the toppings. The pickled turnips are a must, even if you aren't a fan of turnips. Trust me, the shawarma flavour profile goes up to 11 with turnips and pickles added to the mix.

I've eaten at at least 30-40 different Shawarma restaurants in Canada and abroad, and Palais Libanais is in my top 3...

TL;DR: Institutional and it knows it.

You know when you walk into a place and you can tell it's been there forever? When I walked into Palais Libanais for the first time, there was a thick air of smoke - hopefully from the food. You look around and see people who've clearly been coming for years and they're set in their ways. This is Shawarma-ville though! I could hope on the 50/5 and be knee deep in shawarma in 10 minutes or less!

I ordered the mix plate all dressed and a falafel sandwich for good measure. The sandwich was expertly crafted. It didn't fall apart, it had a lot of falafel which I love but the flavours didn't sing together. It was kind of bland which, it turned out, was a theme. The plate was sizeable with a good amount and division of meats, rice, potatoes, and salad. Each thing kind of tastes like the others except the meats which were juicy and tender in their own ways. It wasn't just because everything is in a clump though... Every shawarma place does that - remember shawarma-ville - this was just okay.

I was disappointed that at $24 a plate and $7.50 a sandwich, I didn't get more flavour. I would gladly have sacrificed quantity for quality. That said, the people were lovely! Everyone was friendly which you don't always get at a shawarma place. They seemed happy to be there doing what they do well and for that I was happy too.

I probably won't be back but I'm really...

I don't really make any reviews usually but I've heard this place was good so gave it a try and I eat alot of shawarmas at different places and this place today was a real dissapointement the beef shawarma I got wasn't good at all honnestly. I almost threw it out but was hungry so had to eat the same. The meat was rubbery and hard, the cook put to much turnip and pickles in it so the balance of the shawarma was not it. It destroyed the taste of everything and didn't like the sauces in it cause he said ill do it the lebanesse way without any detailed got rushed to the cash so didn't see anything being done at the shawarma at all turn and the shawarma was cold right after being served and the salad didn't taste good at all very bland taste on both items. They gave me the salad first to rush me to the cash and afterwards take a thing to put the food on it without telling me at the start so couldn't see how the food was made i dont know not to professional should stay with the customer threw out everything till the cash and explain a bit more especially...