Lebanese cuisine is notable for its use of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, starches, fresh fish and seafood. It also includes high amounts of garlic, olive oil, chickpeas, and parsley. Restaurant Boustan matches this definition of Lebanese food. Boustan offers Lebanese fast-food and they have a variety of meals at reasonable prices. They offer takeout, delivery, and have a small sit down area at the 2020 Crescent Street location. Restaurant Boustan has a total of 19 locations in Montreal. The restaurant has been around since 1986 and has been serving up the unique tastes of the Middle-East and Mediterranean ever since.
The day Grace and I decided to go to Restaurant Boustan started off late and little lazy. We didn’t end up getting up and out of the dorm until around 2 pm. Then we also had the genius idea to not eat anything before leaving on our new adventure to trek into new food territory. So needless to say by the time we met our good friend Zach at a Starbucks near the restaurant we were starving and a little more impatient than intended. Luckily for us, we were getting fast-food and were not going to have to wait for our food too long like at a traditional restaurant. Neither Grace or I had ever eaten shawarma before so we were in for a fun new food experience.
This specific Boustan location is in a lower level, underground basement of the large building above. Once we walked in we saw that the set up of this place is much like a lunchroom line. Many other fast-food places do a similar layout in order to organize its customers and keep lines from getting too out of hand. Our group took its place in line as we checked out the posted menu on the walls. All the ‘Plate’ options on the menu list their price and have a lovely homey picture of everything offered in the meal. This was super helpful considering the menu wall was all in French. I then ordered the Kabab plate since I have had Kabab before and absolutely loved the taste. I really wanted to see if a fast-food place could turn out the awesome savory intensity that I had experienced before when first having Lebanese food. Zach had ordered Chicken and Grace had the beef. Both the beef and chicken were marinated, skewered, and cooked on large rods in the back of the immediate kitchen space. This unique and honestly confident display of meat is quite mesmerizing to watch while waiting to order your food. The rotating mass just leaks a heavenly aroma and you can see with your own two eyes how soft the meat is.
Ordering the standard chicken or beef plate is the fasted way to get food at Boustan. They are the two types of meat always cooking in the back and for good reason. The two are the most popular options on the menu just by sitting in the restaurant for a little over an hour. Grace’s and Zach’s food came out before mine. Ordering the Kabab means waiting a little longer for them to heat up the meat on the grill top. However, once all our food was out we tried our food then the other two dishes at the table. The immediate consensus was that the chicken plate was the best option out of the three. I have no clue what they marinate that chicken in but my god was it mouthwatering delectable goodness that I could die for. Second on the unanimous listing of favorites at the table was my Kabab plate. The long, thick, beef patties were cooked medium well and were more of a mouthful than the chicken. Even so, it ultimately gave me the satisfaction of knowing that Restaurant Boustan could cook up quality Kabab meat even in a fast-food setting.
Honestly, the only downside I can realistically see is that there aren’t more locations of Restaurant Boustan around. The current 19 locations aren’t close enough for me to justify going on a regular basis like I want to do. Between the price, amount of food, and locations Boustan is a very worthwhile fast-food joint. It is not every day that I get to experience a quality, fantastic tasting quick and easy meal.
Ratings
Leanna’s:
Dragon Age Inquisition
Grace’s:
Dragon Age Inquisition
Atmosphere
Small Room with easy visual access to the Kitchen in the upper right-hand corner when walking in. The layout is slide-tray style with the Cash register on the rightmost wall of the Kitchen display case area. You order your food when in line and it is presented to you as you pay at the end of the line.
Sound
Small conversations from people of all walks of life while TV plays in the background. Sound doesn’t carry as much as one would expect in the smaller space.
Menu
All items available on the menu are displayed up on the wall with pictures. Names of dishes are only in French but easy to read or translate to English. Main dishes get images while side options do not. However, their website gives more images and information for the dishes available.
Price
Most main dishes vary from 10 to 15 dollars.
Open
All days of the week 11:00 am to 4:00 am
Wheelchair accessible
Not at the 2020 Crescent Street Location