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This shit is the BOMB, no pun intended because it's a Lebanese place either. Every time I visit Montreal, I make this my first stop, and this time I took 9 other Los Angelino's with me to experience this gastro-phenomenon.
I've had EVERYTHING on the menu at one point or another. I like the way they toast the pita sandwich so that it doesn't fall apart - nice touch. The home fries and mayonnaise is worth the heart attack, and the owner is super nice and friendly.
So the place is a bit dirty, so what - don't lick the walls. Take it to go and eat it elsewhere, but just eat here period.
It's 3:30am and after karaoke-ing, Lebanese food sounded like a perfect way to end the night.
Boustan's is a teeny eatery situated downstairs from a nightclub, a spot where all the drunkies go to post partying.
Oh but boustan's isn't just good for post-drunk meal, (i.e. dennys lol), their food is absolutely delicious.
The staff looks like they've been there for too long, but hey they're doing something right with their food.
Tried their potatoes had this yummy creamy garlic sauce atop. Also tried their chicken shwarma pita. The pita was toasted warm, crunchy on the outside, and soft inside. Their mix of veggies they throw in there definitely adds more life to that pita.
One thing I didn't fancy was that they went overboard with their garlic mayo sauce. Wayyy too much of that in there, but you'd hate to ask for an amended version because the main guy here reminds you of the soup nazi. Like, this ain't BK, it would almost be rude to have it your way. Nonetheless, all the food was good, and cheap.
Better than many of the LA spots that serve similar food, but certainly still not the best. Solid 4 stars here.
I was so excited to eat here! I remember a really friendly staff and awesome food. I ordered some food to go.
My sandwich was awesome, I really love the veggie option here with spicy sauce. 5 stars to the veggie sando.
However, I suggest not ordering the potatoes to go as they heat them up in the microwave in a Styrofoam cup, I do not like Stryrofoam to begin with, but heated up?!? who knows what is released into my potatoes when they zap that thing in the microwave. yuk. - 2 stars (yes it's that off putting!)
I am going reduce Boustan from three-stars to two-stars.
I had two shawarmas: one chicken and one beef.
The exteriors of both were warm and crunchy and therefore started to disintegrated after the first bite.
The interiors were cold and dry; the vegetables chilled and the meat, at best, lukewarm. The beef is already pre-cut and drawn from some metal storage tub-it is tasteless, stringy, and dry.
This place is filthy-dirty; food on the floors and trash spilling out of garbage cans. I see very little good about this place apart from the quasi-reasonable prices.
I'm going to disagree with most of the 4 and 5-star ratings here.
While Boustan is good, it is at…
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I was in Montreal (for the first time ever) this past weekend... We arrived in the city just past 10:00 pm, and quickly took a cab to rue Sainte-Catherine. The cabbie suggested that we *not* go to Amir's, but instead go to, in his words, "the best middle eastern" place in all of Montreal.
We did, and he was right.. although I have no basis for comparison (at least with other places in Montreal).
The chef owner was friendly, and seemed genuinely interested in "taking care of us". Three of our party were vegetarian (one of whom was vegan). He prepared a vegetarian wrap, sans falafel (which was served on the side with rice.. .great touch).
I got the chicken shawarma plate. It was as good as any I have tasted (although the saurkraut and garlic yoghurt stole the show for me).
Loved it so much that we went back the next day for more.
Go for the food, stay for the service !
Ask for "The Creation". It's not on the menu and never will be, but it's the best thing you'll ever eat.
Tasty, inexpensive Lebanese food. Perfect for a light lunch after hiking around the Museum Quarter.
I shared the falafel sandwich and the mixed shwarama plate with a friend. Everything was fresh and well-seasoned and the hummus is great. All in all, we were very satisfied. The staff are a highlight of this place: very friendly and very courteous.
True, the place is a little less tidy than your average North American eatery, but the food and the staff more than make up for it.
I don't understand why so many people seem to be orgasming over this place. The food isn't that good. Sure, it's pretty cheap, but the food is mediocre, especially if you've ever been anywhere over the Atlantic.
I had a falafel sandwich while I tried food off of the plates that my friends got. My falafel was fine, but nothing special. It was cooked in a rather interesting way; the pita is pretty thin, so they make it like a wrap and then stick it in a contraption and grill it. It holds together pretty well. The other food that I sampled was also fine.
Reading the reviews, I thought that this place might be akin to L'as du falafel in Paris, but this place is nowhere near the same level. Good for a cheap, adequate meal, but not much else. Definitely not worth a visit if you're just visiting Montreal.
cheap and good eat
Montreal has plenty of cheap lebanese fast take out places but Boustan is definitely the best! It's cheap, the service is great, it's open late, they deliver, and the food is delicious! Not much atmosphere to sit and eat in there, but the quality of the food more than makes up for it and you can always get it delivered or take it out.
I have only ever had the shish taouk (or chicken shawarma) but their other options look equally good. I recommend getting it spicy! Their hot sauce is great!
It is well deserving of the great reviews.
Don't go for the dirty trays, the lack of napkins, the visibly overflowing garbage bins, the enormous television, the predictably forgetful counterman with one whole customer standing at the counter ("Was that for here, or to go?" Twice, now.) and the tepid level of heat your tongue inevitably finds at the core of the sandwich. No. Go for the way their beef shawarma *tastes*.
That would be the beef shawarma in pita. With hummus. No white sauce. Go for the unique, alien flavor of it, imparted by Cthulhu-knows what spices they use in the shredded lettuce, and whatever the hell those red pickled things are that they add to the garnish. The taste of the stuff is mesmerising.
Go because the taste of the stuff will send you to some Fritz Leiberish alternate universe. You'll be eating the fast food of Lankhmar. On Crescent.
Good, cheap, pretty average but yummy middle eastern. I like that they deliver and are friendly. I don't like that they microwave your food while in the styrofoam container, just weird and what does that release into the food?
I will probably eat here again.
Baba Ganoush, Hummus, Falafel, stuffed grape leaves with yogurt and Tabbouleh salad with warm pita made a working lunch most bearable! There were also crisp cuke slices and tomatoes along side our wonderful array of goodies.
Even though our lunch was delivery, somehow the goodies arrived warm and those that ordered falafel pita sandwiches were pleased to see that they were not soggy. I couldn't believe how quickly we gobbled up all that food! Our bellies full....we got back to the task at hand with a smile on our faces. Needless to say the Boustan delivery guy made a repeat trip the next day! I'm finding out, the easy way mind you, that Montreal has a wide variety of ethnic culinary delights....and I've only scratched the surface.
When you're in need of some quality fast Labenese food, come to Boustan. This place is open till 4am and offers free delivery, so it's never too far away.
The great thing about this place relative to the others is that the pita sandwiches get grilled; this makes all the difference in the world! Also, there are a couple off menu items that are great such as the creation and crazy juice...try both!
Yes, this has to be one of the best places to get Lebanese food. It's cheap; fast; and dirty, but in a good way. Their shish taouk is so super tasty. I'm not sure what they do differently here from other fast-food Lebanese places but it really is the best. And cheap. And good. My mouth is watering.
I just wrote a review of Sabra in Hermosa Beach and found a photo of Boustan from a month ago on my iphone... So, here I am agreeing with everyone else that Boustan is probably the best take-out shawarma anywhere with Zooba's(renamed Balbeck?) in Ottawa a close second. I think my all-time favourite is still Kababji in Dartmouth NS, but Kababji is a sit-down restaurant at a higher price point.
Best Shwarma in town.
really I shouldn't have to say more than this, but for the sake of defending my position.....
First Shwarma is a Lebanese dish, meat, often chicken or beef, cooked on a vertical spit over a vertical BBQ of sorts. The meat is shaved off the outsides of the spit as it cooks ensuring you always get crispy goodness. You can either have the meat on a plate with rice, potatoes and salad or as a pita sandwich, similar to a Donner, or souvlaki.
What Boustan does differently than everywhere else, is to really grill the finished sandwich over a fire, toasting the pita, this gives a unique taste. And Mr. Boustan is there just about every night, till closing at 4:00am or later, the man really livens up the place. Boustan's has to be good former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau ate here while he was still alive.
Listed in: Top Restaurants
Found this place through Yelp and was not disappointed. Had the beef platter and everything was excellent. In my short trip in Montreal I tried 2 other fast food Lebanese places and this one was definitely the best. (Comes with hummus, pickled/shredded cucumber, other pickled veggies, rice, meat, and a piece of pita) The best part of the entire experience was conversing with Mr. Boustan about Montreal and hearing him drop knowledge on some McGill students about the merits of keeping up with class in the short term so they can go out/party/relax on the night before the exam. Apparently he did this when he was in engineering school.
i dreamed about the chicken shawarma after i ate here on friday night. so i went back for lunch on saturday, and brought friends for dinner on sunday night (we were all in town for a conference). after dinner on sunday my friend s said, "thank you for bringing me here- this is JUST what i needed". word.
delicious, fresh, inexpensive- damn near perfect. good for vegetarians and vegans, too.
only downside is that it's 5 1/2 hours from my house!
Right in the heart of the rowdy party area of downtown, Boustan is GREAT lebanese food. Chicken and rice halal is the staple in NYC, but what I find is that Boustan offers quality and taste. Their falafel and chicken schwarma sandwiches come in a very thin pita, which is awesome and doesn't make you want to puke from being too full. At around 1am or so, the place had a decent number of patrons but wasn't packed at all. The wait was short and sweet. I heard the worker/owner tell a guy that he would give him a refund if he didn't think the sandwich was THE BEST IN THE WORLD. Now how can you not go here? I miss it already!
I love Boustan!
The food is great, the guys are very friendly and nice to talk with, it's pretty cheap, and they deliver!
Yummy yum yum. Love Boustan. It's cheap, fresh, and absolutely delicious Lebanese food. And if that's not enough, they also deliver until 4am.
Where do I even begin? Pretty much all I can say is: I LOVE THIS PLACE. Another McGill alum and I recently had a discussion about what we would give up to have Boustan in the States. It came down to one of our baby toes and a "crackberry." I never tried anything other than the chicken shawarma or the falafel pita....but they are just that good. Also, the garlic potatoes....oh how I miss those.
I went here on numerous occasions over the past 3 years. The owner is the greatest and makes every effort to prepare your dish how you want it. The food is unique and can not be matched. Waiting for a location in the United States.
I prefer Amir; the meat at Boustan is overly charred for me and the pickled vegetables are too strong. But I imagine Boustan is probably more authentic. Also it always kind of grossed me out that one employee would wear the same purple latex glove for everything - preparing food, taking money, etc etc.
Come for the shwarma, stay for the falafels. This place is one of my favorite falafel/veggie sandwiches in the world and I've stopped in regularly over the past 15 years. Family run place and you often see the owner's son or daughter working. Quality has gone down slightly when "Mr Boustan" isn't working. But if you go while he's there, action will be high. This place feels like family with everyone in line joking around. Lots of regulars spill out from Crescent. Garlic potatoes also good if you have an appetite. Or after the bars.
Montreal, QC
Montreal, QC
Montreal, QC
Montréal, QC
Montreal, QC
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