Chez Benny Express — Restaurant in Montreal

The reviews here are so mixed I didn't know what to expect. A Montreal friend said the quality had gone downhill lately and it wasn't worth the money anymore, but we were just in Montreal for the day and with Ernie & Ellie's out of the picture, we were seriously craving Chinese. I'll start by saying the food we got -- General Tao chicken & sesame beef -- were absolutely excellent. Crispy and fresh-tasting in a way that kosher Asian usually isn't. The sauces were suspiciously similar, if not 100% identical, and there was no hint of spiciness in the General Tao chicken, but seriously -- unparalleled deliciousness. Portion size is good and each Asian dish comes with rice/noodles and stir-fried veg, so it really is a nice meal. That's where the two stars come from. It's all downhill from there. There are two menus at Chez Benny: regular (Middle Eastern, meat & burgers) and Asian. The Asian menu is very limited, but we were content to order peanut dumplings and wonton soup to round out our meal. It's no Ernie & Ellie's pu pu platter, we figured, but it was what it was. As we ordered, the person on cash verified that the soup was available, and then we paid. When he called the order in, however, the person cooking (the same one who'd verified two minutes before that everything was available) informed him that there were no dumplings / won tons, in soup or otherwise. No reason was given for this, and since we'd already paid, they suggested we order something else from the menu... which again, was very limited. I suggested egg rolls or spring rolls, but again, they were mysteriously unavailable. Finally, they gave us back our money. There would be no "rounding out" this meal -- the two Asian dishes were it. There is very little on the menu for children (smaller portions/prices) or vegetarians (in fairness, we're Israeli and I'm not paying for falafel in Montreal when we can get it for a quarter of the price at home!). Our daughter got a "vegetarian pita" for $6-something which included a range of veggies a/k/a falafel toppings. Our son got a hamburger, also $6-something, which came on a tiny plate with absolutely nothing on the side (we gave him rice and some of our Asian dishes). Slightly high prices for not much food. Nothing came with water, cups, cutlery; we had to ask for each item we needed, along with extra plates for sharing (and the WiFi password, which took 3 trips). Chez Benny is clearly intended to be a takeout experience, even if the place is full of seats. So do I regret not taking my friend's advice and steering clear? I'm not sure. Folks around us seemed to be enjoying the Middle Eastern delicacies on offer, like shawarma, so maybe it's just my fault for wanting Asian food. And I truly am happy to have tasted these two dishes, which were excellent (I wondered why so many reviews mentioned the General Tao chicken, not realizing that's virtually all there is!). It's a shame there are no other Asian dishes on offer, so you can actually make a meal of it. And it's a shame that this place has neither the attention to detail or customer service to warrant a repeat visit. Maybe Ernie & Ellie's successor will be up and running by our next visit...

Service: Incredibly rude service at the counter by the elderly gentleman. I'm assuming he's the owner.

I was left waiting for the gentleman to complete the transaction when he suddenly completely ignored me and started addressing another customer who cut in line . Afterwards, he proceeded to work on something behind the counter -I'm not sure what- while I was left there standing, waiting for him to return the change and dumbfounded at what was happening.

On another occasion, he was playing a game on his smart phone while ignoring another customer!. I only noticed it when one of the other workers has to apologize and joke with the customer while the said gentleman continued to play the game!. Wow.

I notice similar complaints about the other branch on the google reviews -presumably about the owner-.

The remainder of the staff are very polite and friendly.

Food: The food is of good quality and the dishes and sandwiches are good but not exceptional. I'm kind of disappointed with the Shawerma as it didn't strike me as authentic, struck me as plain and I've tasted better elsewhere. The fries were pretty decent.

Prices: The sandwiches are overall pricey -even taking into account the price of Kosher meat-.

I liked their plates. While the plates were 16$ pre-tax, the portions are enough for two people and so are worth the price.

I hope the issue above is addressed. I will not be returning anytime soon nor recommending the place to my circles just to end up having a similar...

The absolute worst Shish-Taouk I've ever had. Hands down, the worst. I was given dark meat with ligaments and some bone, lots of fat. They season the chicken with WAY TOO MUCH GARLIC. Food was room temperature, no sauce included. Served with below average minute rice with a tiny portion of soggy tomatoes and awfully seasoned cucumbers as an excuse for a salad. Took 1 hr + for delivery and I work literally 10 minutes away from the restaurant. 21.90$. Couldn't tip the driver as there was a 3.50$ delivery charge. He literally refused my tip When he said the delivery charge is included in the price, I said: ".. but does it go to you?" He replied that it didn't matter, to not worry about it and left. It's fair to assume the owners most likely impose a no-tip policy on their drivers and give me them a .50$ bump an hr or something. In any case, just an awful experience, with awful food. Service over the phone was awful as well. The only thing that I liked about this whole thing was that the driver was really friendly and polite. Aside from that, phoque...