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Le Commensal
Category: Restaurants Vegetarian Vegetarian [Edit]
1204 Ave McGill CollegeMontreal, QC H3B 4J8
(514) 871-1480
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Very Loud
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
21 reviews for Le Commensal
Review Highlights
21 reviews in English
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Review from sue k.
8/25/2011 1 photo
commensal is a must for vegetarians in/visiting montreal! this buffet is ilke the whole foods hot bar on crack- and just as expensive (as whole foods...not crack). there are just so many delicious options that it's hard to stop loading your plate with a little of this coucous or a taste of that curry. luckily, they offer student discounts and especially at this location are pretty nice about giving them to anyone who looks reasonably student age. my only real gripe is that you have to have a separate plate for dessert. i don't know why that annoys me but if i want to eat my deliciously vegan chocolate cake with some tofu on the side...i should be able to!
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Review from Seb A.
10/6/2011
I'd give it one star but there is still a pretty good selection of food here and you don't feel sick after eating it. It's a buffet - you get a plate and stack some edible items onto your plate. However, here's what I don't like about this place. First off, the weight thing. This isn't Soviet Russia. I don't want to pay for my food based on how heavy it is (yes, you have to do this). I dare you to try not spending 8 bucks on a pitiful pile of spaghetti. The food is good, but never good enough to justify the expense. Would you go to a restaurant where the concept is essentially, "We are going to give you a meal that will leave you hungry once you're done and will cost an unknown amount, but probably more than you can afford"? I don't think so.
I'm a stickler for customer service. Now I'm aware you don't technically have to tip the people who work here, but they could at least pretend they like their jobs. I usually tip anyway (I don't know why, because it is usually completely unearned). Don't act like you're going to fight me when I ask where I can get some water - that would be a start. Side note - I read a lot of reviews in Montreal on Yelp from ignorant tourists/Anglophones that think that they got shitty service because they can't speak French. This is nearly never the case; however, it is almost always a case of inadequate customer service and shitty business practices. How about you hire people who like their job? And how about knocking the prices down a little bit?
Here's what my average experience here has been like (when I used to go): I'll be hungry and I'll walk by this place, and I'll remember that I'm vegan and decide to go in. I'll fill about half my plate with some mediocre food. Then, I'll walk to the cash register, and the cashier will look at me like I started the Holocaust as she tells me that I owe her $18.23. It's not like you can change your mind and put the food back once you realize how much everything actually costs. There's no way to even guess how much it's going to be. Then, I sit down and shamefully eat my too-shitty-to-cost-this-much vegan meal and I realize I'm still hungry. Now I can either go take the metro to some other vegan restaurant or lose more dignity by buying more food here. Usually, for some reason, in the past I would choose to buy more food at the buffet because it was more convenient. Then one day I realized that Commensal offers a line of expensive food at the grocery store that you can buy if you're in a bind. It's expensive and not as great as if you make it yourself, but better than feeling like you're eating lunch at a prison.
Paying by weight is as ludicrous as tipping a waiter based on how many footsteps they took in bringing your food. You worked like a dog for your money - unless you're dying of starvation and/or rich and/or masochistic, go spend your hard-earned cash elsewhere. -
Review from Michael Z.
Montréal, QC
1/10/2012
Overpriced and nothing to write home about. The place was amazing when it opened (in the 80s or 90s) but like many places that have become staples they no longer try. And there's nothing worse than cynical, overpriced food.
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Review from Daniela P.
1/4/2012
Nothing special other than the range of veggie selection. Not cheap either.
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Review from Jane X.
5/7/2011
If I wasn't shocked to see that my food cost me $13.50 CAN, I would have given this place 4 or 5 stars! My plate wasn't even that full and it cost that much.
The food that I had was all very tasty (didn't get dessert due to the pricing again) so no problems with the taste.
The staff seemed bizarre and unfriendly (wait they are French Canadian!). The customers seemed cool though.
Based on cost alone I would not return and I had a hard time finding vegetarian food in Montreal and Quebec so next time I am back in Canada, will return to just eating out of supermarkets.
What they really should do is offer an all you can eat price for a flat fee of like $15.00 where you can go back and forth. Paying $13.50 for what I got on my plate was ridiculous. I should have taken a picture just to show Yelpers what $13.50 CAN gets you here at lunch. -
Review from Joel P.
8/7/2010
This is what people who eat meat assume vegetarian food tastes like. Bland, bland, blech.
Disclosure: I'm an omnivore with a vegan brother. I enjoy good charcuterie, but I will throw down for a plate of well-prepared vegetables. And at Le Commensal you will find neither.
If you want delicious vegetarian, head to Aux Vivres on Saint-Laurent. You will spend about the same amount of money and be significantly more satisfied. -
Review from Krsna V.
8/12/2008
I don't usually eat at vegetarian restaurants... I have to kill an animal for dinner every night. The man wanted to have vegetarian food for a change, and I agreed (I am a great bf, thank you very much!)
High end vegetarian fare. It is a chain of vegetarian restaurants around Canada. The vegetarian buffet has plenty of options. You can even buy wine in small bottles. Perfect for that lunch when you crave a drink but you cannot get drunk because you have to go back to work.
There are different cuisines in the vegetarian buffet. Asian, Indian, some African, and North American fare. The food was very good... you can tell they use quality ingredients by the way food tastes around here. Wine selection is minimal but, good.
A word of caution: it is expensive. The buffet is by the pound. It cost us more than $50 for the two of us, and we don't eat heavy during lunch.Listed in: Montreal - The land of hot…
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Review from Melissa K.
6/29/2011
Went here on a recent trip to Montreal. Did not find the prices too expensive though we kept our plates on the lighter side. Got some seitan I was not crazy about but there was some delicious veg pate turnovers. Good place to grab a quick meal and you can also buy beer and wine.
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Review from Sara S.
4/14/2011
Nothing out of this world about this place, but if you're in the mood for something, but you don't know what exactly, head over to Le Commensal and have a little bit of everything. The buffet style aspect of this restaurant doesn't exactly do anything for me, but I do enjoy dabbling. As for the food itself, OK, not great, but there are definitely some gems.
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Review from abigail l.
10/21/2008
Veggie bliss cafeteria style...
My biggest problem with this place was that I couldn't figure out what I wanted. There were so many choices and I wanted to go with a bit of a theme so my flavors weren't too all over the place. I did well by choosing from one of the many seitan dishes. I'm a huge seitan fan so that was a huge plus in my book. The one I chose had mushrooms and some gravy mixed in and tasted great. I paired it with mashed potatoes, soup, salad and a roll. Then I saw the quiche and just had to try it. Then I saw another seitan dish and some mashed sweet potatoes and had to try them too. That is where Commensal gets tricky! You want to try everything and there's at least 50 dishes to choose from. We didn't make it to the dessert section but there were at least 15 selections there too.
As far as taste goes, it's buffet so some things were a little cold, and some dishes were better than others but considering the selection everything was pretty good. I loved my salad the best, because the salad bar selection was awesome- oh hey sesame seeds yes I will put you all over my salad thanks! I probably could have done without my soup though, it was a little sweet and I couldn't tell if I liked it or not.
Go hungry and with a good bit of money in your pocket, you'll want it all. -
Review from Nicole E.
5/31/2009 1 photo
It's hard to find good vegetarian places - and I travel a lot! Le Commensal was pretty good - but not amazing.
First it's not a sit down restaurant, it's a buffet where you're charged on the weight of the food you pick. You enter by climbing 2 flights of stairs (apparently there is an elevator but it needs a key and someone to operate it). Once upstairs you enter the buffet area and pick from tons of different vegetarian options from several different cuisines. Each item tells you if it include dairy as well as other ingredients.
The food was okay - it wasn't super warm and who knows how long it had been sitting out - but I didn't each anything I didn't finish :)
The location is neat because you get to people watch those on McGill avenue below you while you eat.
Overall, I'm glad we went, but I probably could have gotten something better for the price elsewhere. -
Review from Felipe G.
4/12/2010
Every time I visit either Montreal or Toronto I always make it a point to stop at Le Commensal. As vegetarian food goes every city in the United States should be so lucky to have a place like this. This second-floor location is tucked off rue Ste-Catherine and is definitely a Vegetarian's dream come true. There is so much delicious food to choose from and all of it is vegetarian, with vegan selections clearly marked as such. My favorites have to be the seitan bourguignon, seitan curries,and tofu with ginger sauce. I always get the hazelnut cake for desert, it is so yummy!
All the fare is presented buffet-style, and the only knock against Le Commensal is that prices can be a little steep due to the pay-by-weight scheme. A 20% discount can be had by going late after 8:30pm on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Overall, I really like it there, and highly recommend it for any vegetarians dining in Montreal. -
Review from Bebo T.
Dorval, QC
8/20/2008
Le Commensal is the kind of place you take people who aren't vegetarians to show them that we don't all just eat salads. They have a GREAT selection vegetarian dishes (with a good showing of vegan dishes as well) which are almost all delicious. They also have some great desserts and a nice, modern atmosphere.
Le Commensal also has frozen and refrigerated diners you get at the grocery store. They are good, but nowhere near as good as the actual restaurant.
Be prepared to spend some cash because they weigh your plate after you load up on things like Veggie Lasagna or spicy tofu. Normally a fully plate will run you about $16-$18.
Highly recommended! -
Review from Mitch S.
Toronto, ON
5/11/2009
Cool concept, okay food, reasonable prices. Not sure what else to say about this place...it's a good place to go for a healthy lunch, but by no means is it extremely tasty.
Be careful of which foods you take as it's priced by weight (and everything is the same cost per gram). -
Review from Amanda D.
Ottawa, ON
12/10/2008
Oh, Le Commensal, how I love you. If I hadn't found the Green Door in Ottawa, I'd probably have made more trips to Montreal just for this food. Being a vegetarian of course means accepting a limit to your dining options. At Le Commensal, that perspective goes out the door and you go a bit mad piling delicious food on your plate. Keep in mind that your eyes should only be roughly the size of your stomach, so maintain some rationality when selecting your food since you pay by weight. I think I have yet to master this.
I would even recommend this place to my meat and potatoes loving friends. There's something for everyone and the recipes are so delicious, you may forget the food is missing an animal. -
Review from Marilyn T.
5/26/2009
This is one of those weigh-your-own buffets, and everything looks really appealing, especially for a vegetarian. There's so much innovative selection, and cuisine type ranges from Asian to French to Italian and more. Thus, authenticity of taste and preparation isn't exactly something I'd expect. The dishes are very hit or miss, so I would recommend getting a bit of every thing you're interested in, paying for it, sampling it, then going back for more if you particularly liked something. Desserts are a bit pricier, but it's a great place for lunch for vegetarians, and I wish we had something more like this in the States.
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Review from Al A.
3/16/2010
Okay food. Expensive. Okay atmosphere. Cafeteria style. Clean enough.
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Review from Liz D.
6/2/2009
Yum, yum, yum! I love this place. I am the kind of person who needs to eat lots of small course instead of one big one. This vegetarian buffet had a great variety of all sorts of food. We even went there twice during a 5 day visit to Montreal, we liked it that much. I've been to the one in Toronto and it was also good but smaller.
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Review from Marion G.
12/4/2009
Lots of yummy vegetarian food.
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Review from Kelly K.
10/15/2009
We've visited many Le Commensal's on our visits to Canada, and this one was kind of blah. The actual restaurant part was nice enough, but the food buffet area seemed kind of small (compared to other Le Commensals'), and all the food looked like it had been sitting out for awhile. Everything had a "skin"- ewww. I ate a little bit, then went back and loaded up on dessert. While I was getting dessert, hubby ran up to tell me our 3 year old needed more tortilla chips. So I put a handful on my dessert plate. Well, I learned that you can't do that. Everything is weighed, and dessert cost more than other stuff. So I put the chips on a napkin and the girl weighed them separately. They didn't really register on the scale, so she told me not to worry about it. So I get back to our table, and now my son also needs more salsa. So I go up to the buffet and put a tiny bit in a cup (like 2 tablespoons). Another girl rings me up, and that dribble of salsa was almost a dollar! Also, it would be nice if this place had an elevator (we had a stroller and MAN I got tired of carrying that thing up and down stairs).
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Review from Nora T.
4/20/2009
I would go 100 miles out of my way to eat at Le Commensal and I'm not even a vegetarian. The cold buffet is the salad bar of your dreams---I remember huge platters of avocado halves vinaigrette (plus every other imaginable salady thing, all delicious). The hot buffet has EVERYTHING from lasagnas and moussakas and real mashed potatoes to Boeuf Bourgignon without the boeuf only you won't care. The desserts look good but I've never been able to get that far. You help yourself to what you like and they weigh your plate. Strongest possible recommendation to anyone going to Montreal. There are several branches: google Le Commensal for details like locations and hours.
