Masala-e-punjab — Restaurant in Montreal

Me as a Indian living abroad always look for tasty Indian restaurant around me. Today, I passed by this new Indian restaurant opend after Shish Taouk on saint laurent. I was extremely hungry and a new restaurant was in front of my face. Could not resist to give a try. I went inside, appearance gave a look of new restaurant trying to fit modern table style, string lights and vintage fan. I think they need little time to make it perfect, but for me food and service matter a lot. I don't know why, ceiling fan was catching my attention all the time. The moment I entered, a lady came for service asking if I want to dine in or want to takeout. I choose to dine in. She came with glass of water and menu. I skimmed through the menu, I found it very cheap and there is a wide variety of north Indian dish items. Thesedays, I am on tight pocket, therefore, decided to go for vegetarian thali. Now there are two type of veg thali one is from chef's menu and in the other types you can tailor your own menu. Its obvious that if you go for tailor it would cost more then chef's choice, however I feel worth to try. I went for chef's choice veg thali. Order took almost 5-10 min to reach on my table. I was surprised to see the freshly prepared naan. With the plate I got chole chana masala, daal with tardka, palk with fried paneer, and jeera rice ( perfect amount of jeera, usually I hate extra jeera in rice). Chole chana masala was cooked well, it was tender but not very soft, I would say just right to feel the texture of chana. Spice for chana was more towards tangy with sweetness of onions. Cinnamon was bit high😬🤏🏼.

Daal was exceptionally good, I was able to taste the daal and spices together. Usually people destroy the daal with slot of spices. But here the amount of spice/ onion garlic tarka was fairly balanced. Also the consistency of dal was pitch perfect.

Palak paneer, I think I had best palak paneer in Montreal. Usually people make fine puree of palak to prepare palak paneer, it tastes good but doesn't give fibery texture in the tougue. Ideally palak paneer should give creamy and slight fiber texture in the mouth. I believe the cook is very experienced in making palak paneer. Paneer was fried before they plunged it into the palak puree. Caremelised surface of paneer with creamy paneer was absolutely heavenly.

Overall best cost value 8.04CAD ( including tax) for tasty veg thali. For me quantity was more then enough. I hope they will maintain...

TLDR: Highly recommend this place.

My first visit to this restaurant was in 2020 as a student and I remember going home content after a hearty meal that included dhaba style lamb and naan. I moved to an area a little further away afterwards so could not regularly visit. I do however, still enjoy the street food here especially the counter they have out on the street (when the road is closed to traffic for street markets) with pani puri and chat offered. Imagine having gol gappe on the street, like you would back home! This is the only place I know of in Montreal that does this.

The food is always amazing and the service impeccable. I was here at 2 AM one night with chaotic scenes on the street thanks to the vibrant night life on Saint Laurent and still the staff was doing a tremendous job keeping up with the crowd. The place remains open late into the night on summer saturdays.

On my most recent visit with a friend, we tried the rajasthani junglee maas curry with naan. The spice level was through the roof and we ordered a side of daal makhani to offset the heat but still managed to wipe the plate clean. The breads are always great and this is one of the strongest points of the restaurant. The naan can make or break the experience for me but this place never disappoints. We also sampled the Hyderabadi biryani, which the owner personally told us took several iterations before they settled on the right recipe. Suffice it to say it is one of the best you can find in Montreal. Also on the spicier side mind you, but with garam masala. I topped it off with some paan kulfi which was amazing too. And oh, you can order indian soft drinks like Limca and Thums up to round off the experience! We were lucky to have a word with the Chef himself and reminisced on cuisines and cooking styles.

The restaurant is conveniently located on the popular Saint Laurent and can be easily. Seating and ambience is good and the service fast. The prices are great too and the staff is always keen to hear your feedback. For those that are particular, they serve Halal food, and also have vegetarian friendly options. You may want to speak to staff if you have specific allergies though.

Reviewer profile: From India (Hyderabad), Recent uni graduate, now working. Not a foodie or critic. Just a regular guy who eats out at least 5-6 times a week. I do appreciate authentic Indian food though, and open to...

Ordered using Doordash.

Order: 1x Lamb Curry (standard red curry) 1x Onion Bhaji (this includes 6-8 pieces) 1x Steamed Rice 2x Naan bread

The curry was spicier than anticipated - they don't sell localized, toned-down recipes. It was a lovely red curry, very flavorful - especially those occasional bursts of extra flavor when you bit into a piece of spice. It paired especially well with the bread and rice. The meat was delightful as well.

Onion Bhajis. You usually can't go wrong with those - but even then, this place's bhajis were exceptionally delicious. It came with what I believe to be maybe a cherry sauce? It was sweet and sour and complemented the fritter perfectly well. I kind of regret not putting in 2 orders, to be honest.

The rice was par for the course. Nothing exceptional - just your average long-grain rice. It doesn't need to be anything more.

The naan bread was fantastic, though. Served very warm - I would honestly be surprised if they don't cook it per individual order.

Overall, a solid experience - and absolutely great value, as it is delicious, inexpensive and has very...