Hayat — Restaurant in Montreal

Hayat is my ultimate favourite restaurant EVER! I love this restaurant so much I don't even know where to begin raving about it! so if you have the patience read on because I'm gonna write my full love story with Hayat here ⬇️ (note: i dont know the owners or anything, I'm just a super pleased customer)

I'm based in Toronto and was in Montreal for a visit, I was looking for good arabic food with vegetarian options when my partner stumbled upon Hayat's impressive menu: Fattet Betinjan with impossible beef??? say no more!

It was a lovely summer day so we chose to be seated at their beautiful patio, there was a DJ that day and the vibes were lively and elegant and from the first impression we knew we were in for a good time (also been there for indoor dining, the interior is fabolous as well).

Our server was super lovely, I regret not remembering her name, however having been back since I have to mention that all their staff are very friendly, warm, attentive, highly skilled and professional.

For food we started off with the cheese borek, they advice you to have it right away while the cheese is melty, and man how divine those hot boreks are! the crispy dough and delicous cheese that melts in your mouth and comes with a delicous sauce! We also got the fattoush which as a Syrian I have to say is truly authentic, fresh veggies, crispy fried pita, the dressing, just perfect!

For the main ofcourse I had to get the Fattet Betinjan, I had been craving this dish for the longest time but being a vegetarian its never been an option for me to have it in a restaurant. I REALLY appreciate that Hayat offers this wonderful dish with impossible beef, AND to absolute perfection!! the yogurt, eggplant, impossible beef, topped with fried pita, pomegranates, pine nuts..a symphony of flavours, textures, warmth, freshness..it was everything I had hoped for and much much more!! (note: the impossible beef was prepped in a way that made me paranoid it was actual meat that I had my meat eating partner try it and he was confused as well and said its best to double check with the server because he really couldn't tell..after asking: it was in fact vegetarian, I also had my sisters try it since and they were impressed as well that it tasted like the real deal, and how yummy this dish was overall)

Then to finish off I had their ice cream wrapped with halawet jbn, an exciting twist on traditional halawet jbn that is usually filled with ashta, which again was JUST PERFECT specially on that hot summer day.

I left Hayat extremely happy, looking forward to come back to Montreal just to eat there again. Which I did! Its now a MUST on my to do list whenever I'm in town, and I've been bringing family and recommending it to friends here consistently proud to introduce them to a place that never fails to impress! having tried more dishes at Hayat by now, all I can say is you can't go wrong with any of their offerings.

I have to mention thay I tend to be a very picky eater, I'm not easily impressed and rarely finish my food at restaurants. At Hayat I have the biggest appetite and happily devour all the food without any discomfort! just pure bliss.

I truly wish the team behind Hayat all the success, and hope one day you'll have a branch in...

Dinner with Mice - My Experience at Hayat

My friend had just come back from her vacation, and we decided to celebrate by going out for dinner. We were both very hungry and wanted to book a table at a nice restaurant. We chose Hayat. I had heard a lot about this place, read good reviews, and thought it would be a great idea.

Atmosphere and Unexpected “Guests”

We sat on the terrace, and within minutes the evening took a turn for the worse: mice started running around near our table. This was my very first time experiencing something like this, and honestly, I panicked. The staff moved us to another table, but the situation didn’t improve - the mice kept running right by my shoes. When I spoke to the waitress, her “explanation” was: “Welcome to Montreal.” But I’ve been living in Old Port for years, often going to different terraces, and I’ve never seen anything like this. On top of that, we’ve sat many times on the terrace of the restaurant right across the street, and they’ve never had this problem.

When we first arrived, I even told the hostess that my husband would join us later in the evening. We were given a table for four at the beginning, but after being moved due to the mice, we ended up at a table for two. To make things worse, no cutlery was brought to us after the move, my friend had to wait so long for her fork that she finally took one from an empty table nearby. In the end, we left so quickly for another place that it no longer mattered.

Food: Chaos and Disappointment

Unfortunately, the food didn’t save the evening. The service broke all etiquette: we were served our main dishes first, and only afterward the starters. I ordered hummus and shawarma. The meat was acceptable, but the hummus was almost inedible, far too much tahini. I absolutely love hummus: I always have it in my fridge, and I often try it when I travel to Middle Eastern countries. Here, I simply couldn’t eat it. Maybe for someone less familiar with this dish it would be fine, but for me it was a failure.

My friend’s dish was better overall, but the babaganoush was sour and bitter. Clearly, the eggplants had not been soaked before cooking, which is essential to remove bitterness.

Drinks

The cocktails were forgettable, bland and lacking character.

Final Impression

We planned to spend at least 2 hours, but in the end we did it in 30 minutes.

The evening ended with me still hungry and deeply disappointed. Mice on the terrace, weak food, and poor drinks turned what was supposed to be a nice dinner into a complete disappointment.

And one small piece of advice: don’t take away the bar menu from the table right after the first order, guests are much more tempted to get a second cocktail if the menu stays in...

Truly one of the most baffling dining experiences tonight on the (beautiful) terrace at Hayat. My husband and I were thrilled to secure a reservation at such a beautiful venue on a lovely day however the service left quite a lot to be desired.

What we ordered: 2 drinks (Mojito, Aranassade) 2 appetizers — Hummus Schwarma and Kibbeh 2 entrees — Eggplant Halloumi Kebabs and Short Rib

The drinks were fine (though notably we did not get the chance to order another as our server did not return until it was time for the check — our water cups also remained empty for the last hour we were there)

Food was extremely slow to come out (we considered just leaving money for the drinks and going on our way) but the patio was busy on such a nice day — the first dish that arrived, we assumed was the Hummus Schwarma. We thought it tasted nothing like hummus, but it was fine. While we ate this dish, we noticed the employees running food to tables were CONSISTENTLY bringing food to the wrong tables (without exaggerating, this happened no less than 10 times during our meal at Hayat, perhaps more) and we noted it seemed like no one had any idea what was going on or how tables were numbered.

After at least 20 minutes, two more plates arrived — the Hummus Schwarma we ordered, which was a completely different dish than the one first served to us, and the Short Rib we did order. We were never brought any other plates (nor given the chance to explain the mistake as again, our server never returned) and we were left feeling super bummed to miss out on the Halloumi Kebabs + Kibbeh, our two most anticipated dishes. The 2 ladies seated directly to our left ALSO received a fully incorrect meal, similarly voicing their disbelief at how poorly the service was running.

When the server finally returned, she asked if everything was to our liking — I explained the situation and she went to correct the check however she kept placing the (more expensive) Halloumi Kebabs on the check...which we didn't get. It took three tries to finally get the check and the third time the server explained that she couldn't figure out what we got so she just removed a dish from the bill and left it at that.

The food we did get was good and sometimes great (that short rib sauce was nuts) however we both left with a very bad taste in our mouths due to the lack of care from the service staff. Beautiful patio, but I...