Gia Ba — Restaurant in Montreal

Do not eat here if you are vegetarian, vegan or have any religious obligations. They tell their clients that their dishes are "vegetarian" or "vegan" when in fact all of the dishes served are made from animal lard or meat broth. The owner had mentioned this to me after I got sick ( I am unable to process the animal fat and get sick). The owner told me that I cannot eat at their restaurant since they have nothing suitable for vegetarians. She only told this to me this after the fact. Their staff told me the first time I went that they served vegetarian dishes. I told them about my intolerance, they showed me some options. I was very specific, I told them I could not eat any meat broth, lard/fat or flesh. They ensured me that it was 100% vegetarian. After eating there I got very sick. I went back a second time, I decided to try again to see if that's what made me sick. I once again just to make sure specifically asked. They said once again that there was no meat at all. I took a couple of bites of my meal, and with 10 minutes started feeling very sick to my stomach and my sromach began to bloat. I asked a different waitress and she then tells me that everything they make is made with meat. Immediately ask to speak with the owner. The owner told me that it is a grey area and that vegetarians and vegans is a complicated topic, that they eat animal fats and broth. She said she has been serving vegetarians and vegans animal fats and broth telling them it is vegetarian because she didn't think it counted as meat??? I had to explain the difference to her... she argued with me, saying that some vegans eat pork lard? So please beware if you have religious obligations, allergies or are simply just vegan...

Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs . Happy Easter everybody and to my fellow Jews Happy Passover 😊. I know that this dish is not exactly Kosher for Passover, but it sure will turn a God fearing Jew over to the dark side real quick because it's so dam delicious 🤤. . Gia Ba was one of those stumble upon happy accidents. One night I was out with some friends walking along Monkland and we had planned to eat at Al Dente. I looked up and say Gia Ba right above it with a craving for Asian food and said "let's go and take a walk on the wild side guys". . We walked in and honestly was nothing crazy, dacor was decent, sites around 30-35 people and was empty when we came. I looked back at my friends and said I think I just made a mistake 😅. Regardless we sat down and said let's give it a try. . That night we ordered 5 dishes, the fried dumplings, sweet and sour spare ribs, cumin beef, singaporean vermicelli and green beans with chili. Everything we ordered... Was a Banger🌶️🔥. . My favourite dish and the one thag game me the FOODGASMIC 💦 moment was the spare ribs. Sticky yummy sauce, fall off the bone tender... What more can a guy...

We had been a Gia Ba customer at their Monkland location before and I really liked it back then, so we were really thrilled to know that they reopened their location on Somerled. We ordered the two person combo.

This negative review is mainly on the food; we have no negative comments on the staff nor the location.

Nothing particularly bad to say about the entrees and appetizers.

Bigger issues for us were with the main dishes: we ordered two chicken dishes and the meat was not fresh. The cashew chicken also contained a rubbery texture that made it not appetizing.

My mixed vegetable was my biggest concern: the dish had a greying coloration, and had a pretty odd smell associated with it (photo attached).

Perhaps our experience was a one-off, but we certainly fell very saddened by this meal, particularly when we had to throw everything away other than the entrees and appetizers due to food...