Menthe et couscous — Restaurant in Montreal

Do not go if you have any place to be. Refused to let us pay and leave even a hour after we we done eating, because they wanted to force us to sit through their bad evening music performance we absolutely did not want to watch, after we told them we had tickets to an actual show at a theatre and had to leave or we would miss it FIVE TIMES. The worst experience. They were not ready for our reservation. We were seated late. We still had several hours before our theatre show. There was only one option on the menu, and it was 50$, three course with soup or salad, couscous or tagine and baclava and there was no other choice or menu available. I don’t know what menu the other reviewers had but we certainly were not given it. A full hour after our meal was done, we had already asked for the pre-made dessert and the bill to leave four times, clearly citing we had tickets to a show to go to and would be late, then after finishing the (pre-made) dessert and asking again a fifth time, we were told they would get to it… we waited even more. (Edit: we were absolutely not told to go to the counter to get the cheques) Then, super painfully loud music started blasting because they wanted to dance. It hurt, and I frantically waved the floor manager (owner?) over instead of our server to give us the bill so we could leave to escape the painful sound immediately. She told us they refuse to let us pay the bill and leave until the ENTIRE ‘performance’ blasting music was over despite us being done eating for some time, repeatedly mentioning our theatre tickers and asking for the bill repeatedly beforehand, and she said we would be forced against our will to sit through the entire thing we did not want to see, miss the start of the theatre show we paid for and possibly be locked out of the theatre, despite it being an hour past when we had finished, so they could blackmail us to be an unwilling audience for whatever god awful thing they were doing in the restaurant for entertainment. The show was only inside. We were the only remaining people inside from first seating. Every other client was outside on the patio. (Edit: Sure, they had no problem seating more for second service after while not letting us pay) The sound was so distressing I had to wait outside until their entire blasting music performance was over to be allowed to pay and leave. We did indeed miss the doors to our show, despite being done an hour and a half earlier and the show being be block away. Absolutely the...

The food is generous, delicious and the filling. The kind of food is perfect for the winter to warm your belly and soul. I've eaten here about 3 times, every time I visit Montreal. I highly recommend the lamb tagine.

However, the service leaves more to be desired. I brought my family from the states to try this unique experience, unfortunately the service left us questioning whether to order at all and although we were quite hungry from an afternoon of walking the downtown, and made the 36 minute trek on foot- we decided to walk out. We arrived 10 minutes early, I had requested if we would be able to sit and warm up and was told " well if you have a reservation at 5 come at 5" with a very direct and unwelcoming tone. I was taken aback, and said that my cousin was unwell and just needed to sit. I was told that they had just cleaned and the smell of clorox would make her sicker. Fair enough, we waited outside. At 5 sharp we returned. We were asked to remove our jackets in an abrupt tone - not to have them on the chairs yet other customers were not asked this. There is no kindness in the tone of the hostess, the additional fees to share left us scratching our heads ( appreciative of the waiter who was the first point of kindness we received all night) and the vibes were very off and unsettling.

If the owner spent 1/4 the effort on responses on the many reviews commenting on the poor service in providing better quality service instead - there wouldn't be a problem and this review could very well have been 5 star.

All 4 of us felt so uncomfortable, unwelcomed and disrespected. We trusted our gut, even though we were incredibly hungry, to find another option. If you do not mind poor service, I would recommend going for the food. If you're here for an experience- I...

Choose this restaurant as we are a group of 7 so we decided to try their group menu.

The location is very central and they have done an amazing job is making the place cozy and comfortable. While the interior space is narrow and long, it is well seated and dishes are simply gorgeous.

While the group menu seems nice , the food preparation, quality and content were much to be desired for $50/ person.

Soup/ salad. They did not ask if we wanted salade or soup, and they served salad without consulting us. Though it was not bad, too much raisin was used in the salade. Walnuts were great touch but it did not seem to be enough greens for 7 people.

2 appetizer. wine dip was not very tasty. moussaka and other amuse bouche small bowls were ok…. None of them were really out of the world and mostly are on the sweet side…… I do like raisin, but again too much were used in the appetizers …. The bread were good tho…. However if the dips were not diverse and offer enough of flavour , it was not great.

Main course, lamb meat balls were really tasty and succulent. There were served on a bed of couscous with vegetables in a oversized family plat. Merguez were dry and tasted slightly grainy…… chicken plate has white meat but again dry to taste. All plates lack sauce so they offered us sauce on the side to add to couscous…… but they are not as tasty nor veloute as merguez or chicken plate sauce.

Dessert: baklava was delicious as well as Turkish coffee.

Overall , quite disappointed switch the group menu experience. Should have just each on order a la carte and add $9,96 to have table d’hôte. Probably better taste and more diversity and...