Punjab Canteen — Restaurant in Montreal

I have a couple of things that I would like to bring forward but for the time being my 5 star rating is solely for the food and the upgrade that punjab canteen has achieved by opening this location.

I am an old customer, rue liege location reminded me of punjabi dhabas. Good food, good prices and to the point service haha. I was super excited for this new location and finally was able to come from Ottawa to experience it. First of all, awesome upgrade! What a nice looking restaurant, great vibe, great lighting, good music and clean! Maza aa gya!

Now we come to the food. My fear was that now with the upgrade the food must have gone down as it might get whitewashed to appeal to a larger audience. But when we ordered, not only the presentation had elevated but the taste as well! The achari chicken tikka was so soft, juicy and flavorful.. a must have! You guys are not stingy with your garlic on your garlic naan 😄 it was amazing! Everything we ordered was great! The quantity has sure gone down but the quality has definitely progressed. I don’t think the quantity justifies the prices but it is understandable. I can compromise with that if the quality is this good :). Oh and I had the strawberry mojito.. yum yum yummmmmm!!!

Now we come to the service. The service at rue liege was acceptable considering the vibe of the restaurant but now that you have this beautiful location with such presentable delicious food, I think it is time to train the servers to match that level of service that you guys are going for. I was greeted with a smile at the front, seated nicely by the male staff. The female staff just didn’t seen to be enjoying what they were doing. The lack of enthusiasm was killing the vibe for me which the food made up for. No harm in smiling a little and being polite. I understand that it is a tiring job and we desis are sometimes not the best customers to deal with. I have worked in the service industry myself back in the days and I totally understand the type of crowd we can get sometime. But it is not fair to treat everybody the same way when you are representing a really good restaurant which is progressing so beautifully. A warm smile and a caring attitude can melt the toughest of crowds. This is the only constructive criticism I would give you guys.

I love Punjab canteen and I am very happy for all that you have achieved! I wish the best to you guys for your future! My mother is coming from India so I will see you guys soon :D she is going to drool over that Dal...

Caution ⚠️⚠️ I am truly disheartened to have to give this restaurant such a poor rating, but I must be honest about our extremely unpleasant experience. From the appetizers to the main course, not a single dish was enjoyable. Initially, we ordered Honey Chilli Gobi and Malai Chaap, which were passable. However, the gobi was burnt and not fried in fresh oil. The main course was a major disappointment and simply unacceptable. Who makes Paneer Butter Masala sweet? It was overly sweet and excessively tangy. Additionally, the Mixed Vegetable Curry was poorly executed, using all frozen vegetables and emitting a strange odor. Lastly, the Biryani bore no resemblance to authentic biryani; it consisted of undercooked rice with scant vegetables. We had to request for it to be taken back. This experience was a complete waste of time and money. Please don't be swayed by the unfairly high and unrealistic reviews. ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ Staff was really good and tried to offer complementary dessert but unfortunately we were totally upset about whole experience. Please request to restaurant look...

I really wanted to love this place but unfortunately it didn’t meet my expectations whatsoever. For starters, the menu is made of paper and is dirty, filled with fingerprints, and food stains… Even if there’s a digital menu available to scan using a QR code, it would be advisable to laminate your menu as a restaurant should follow a certain hygienic & sanitary standard. Furthermore, my husband ordered the butter chicken on rice only to receive the chicken uncooked (yes the meat was indeed pink, we were 4 other witnesses at the table). While we were eating, the employees started making a big ruckus as it was closing time soon and were passing close to us mopping the floor aggressively, basically hinting at us to hurry up and get out. I can’t believe that after all that I still left 15% tip but I did it because it’s a standard these days. No offence but you guys need to up your standards (food quality, service, cleanliness) because personally for me, I won’t be stepping foot in your restaurant again and I saw a couple bad reviews here too so I know I’m not...