Balti! Need balti!

[carswell]

As mentioned in the Shahi Palace Report -- www.chowhound.com/topics/539269 -- several of us had our first encounter with this dish, and we've been jonesing for it ever since. Problem is Shahi Palace is a schlep for centre city dwellers who have cars and might as well be in Ontario for those don't. The obviously well-wheeled hungryann reports a balti sighting at Laval's Masala Mantram, hardly more accessible to those of us who walk, bike and rely on public transit.

If you know of any more conveniently located restaurants serving decent balti of any sort, please share the good news. In the meantime, I'm going to look into making my own. No wonder it's all the rage in the UK.

[C70]

just wondering, has anyone tried the Patak's Balti sauce? It's one of the few I haven't bought yet.

[bomobob]

Well, I have some good news and some bad news.

I know another Pakistani restaurant that rivals Shahi Palace.
The bad news is that it's also on the Waste Island. I went there a few times with a Pakistani guy from work, and it was fabulous. It was, and perhaps still is (I haven't been for a few years) located where Pushap's west island branch used to be, on Gouin, just west of Sources.

[hungryann]

I think I know which one you mean and I have seen it there recently but it may have changed names. Is it Kabana buffet?

[bomobob]

Buffet? Eeeeek! Is it a buffet now? I actually don't recall the name, but it's in Pushap's old premises, just a little before Luna Pizza.
But it most definitely wasn't a buffet when I used to go.

[hungryann]

I don't know if it's a buffet per say but that is how it is listed on google maps. I will be in the area tomorrow so will report back.
I think this place Kabana is relatively new as I remember the name being something else. I don't know the old Pushap location. There was also a short-lived incarnation of Halal 786 on the same premises about two years ago.

[hungryann]

Ok, I have an update. There is a Sri-Lankan restaurant in a small strip mall on Gouin just about 1 km west of Sources; it's called Samantha and is next to Jaffna Fruits (a market). The old 786 Halal location has turned into Marche Pakeeza and that is 0.5 km west of Sources on Gouin. In any case, it appears that your runner-up Pakistani restaurant is no more.

[bomobob]

Drat.

[jkosnett]

Will be traveling to Montreal at the end of August and definitely be interested in finding a balti that;s ther equivalent of those in Brum and London; I don't care whether this is a "tourist" thing now in the UK but as far as we are concerned it's worth putting on the must-eat list for one lunch at least. Traveling by bike or metro from city centre but also have a car; if it's the honest real thing would drive to Laval.

No baltis in Baltimore, in case anyone is wondering. Or in DC for that matter.

[lagatta]

Oh, my friend from Brum didn't mean "touristy" in a bad way, as in overpriced, poor-quality food. The Balti triangle is a real draw, and a local source of pride.

Just hoping a Park-Ex place will catch on!

[carswell]

If you're flying in, Shahi Palace is fairly close to the airport. You could even start with a dosa and chaat at Bombay Choupati, scoot down Sources for a balti at Shahi Palace and then waddle a couple of doors over to Pushap for takeaway dessert...

[hungryann]

I think you mean Bombay Choupati not Palace.

[carswell]

Yep. Thanks for the catch. Have made the correction.

[Chai Latte]

"If you know of any more conveniently located restaurants serving decent balti of any sort, please share the good news. In the meantime, I'm going to look into making my own. No wonder it's all the rage in the UK."

Oh, my fellow chowhounders, can it be that none of you have had balti curries till now? Given the breadth and depth of knowledge that many of you have shown regarding all matters culinary, I'm kinda of shocked! :O

Anyway, I bring good news. There are two places that serve balti curries in downtown Montreal, brothers and sisters. One is Curry House on Bishop, and the other is the indian restaurant down the street from Chapters. The indian resto is on Peel, and is located downstairs. It's next to a pub, if memory serves. The name of the resto escapes me now.

Anyway, I use to dine relatively often at the resto on Peel, and back then they made quite good balti curries (note that I haven't been back in a long time; so what the Balti dishes are like now, I can't say). I haven't eaten at Curry House in a while, but I do remember ordering a balti dish there. If you don't see Balti on the menu at Curry House, don't worry, just ask Ben, the owner, and he can probably whip one up for you. My understanding is that CH offers some indian dishes that are not on their menu. Why they do this, I don't know. Ben, though, has told me on more than one occaision that if there's something I want that's not on the menu, just ask him. Be sure to ask him, though, as that the wait staff at CH can be a rather odd lot, and may not be as accomdating as Ben.

[carswell]

«the other is the indian restaurant down the street from Chapters. The indian resto is on Peel, and is located downstairs. It's next to a pub, if memory serves. The name of the resto escapes me now.»

If it's around the corner from Chapters, it's on Stanley, not Peel. Sounds like it must be Allô Inde, and according to the resto's website -- www.alloinde.com -- the menu includes a short selection of "balti special dishes." The description ("A very popular dish which has a traditional flavour...") is also identical to the one from the defunct Calcutta quoted by kpzoo above. Wonder if it's a connection between the two establishments, plagiarism or evidence, as I've long suspected, of an Indian restaurant mafia (how better to explain the uniformity of menus and cooking?).

[thomasein]

No idea how it compares to Shahi Palace, but Asha (3490 Parc, 514.844.3178) has a number of Balti dishes. To wit: balti chicken, balti chicken tikka bhuna, balti beef, balti methi gosht, balti goat, balti lamb, balti goat samber, balti goat dupiazza.

[carswell]

Woah. Blast from the past.

Years ago, Asha was my go-to Indian resto in the downtown area. Then farther flung, less formulaic eateries -- not to mention my own kitchen -- proved more appealing, and I haven't set foot in the place in, oh, 15 years. The baltis have been added in the interim.. Have you tried any of them? Will have to pay a return visit. I suspect that Shahi Palace's may be hard to beat but look forward to finding out.

Thanks to everyone who's provided suggestions.

[thomasein]

I have tried the balti goat (dupiazza and regular). I enjoy it, and if you are a fan of goat I suspect you will as well. Incidentally, if you do make your way to Asha be sure to try the begun bhaji puri appetizer. It is excellent.

[hungryann]

I am racking my brains trying to think of something closer for city dwellers but all I can come up with is Tandoor Plus in VSL on Oxford St that has a whole menu page devoted to Balti:
http://www.restomontreal.ca/restauran...
I will look this evening at my indian take-out menus to see if there is something more central.
Unfortunately, none of my Park-ex regular haunts has it.

[kpzoo]

> Tandoor Plus in VSL on Oxford St

Love some of those dish names. In particular - "Vegetarian's Nightmare" & "Balti Wicked" (French translation - "Balti Radical").

Must try this place. Thanks!

[C70]

I ordered from them once. very meh on the food and the portions were ridiculously small. no depth of flavor in the meats, leading me to believe they were tossed into some sauce after ordered. ick.

[hungryann]

Good to know. I was planning on trying them out for some time but I always wind up doing Kuljit take-out or going to the WI or Parc-Ex when I get my Indian food cravings.
BTW, I ordered from Amara, it was decent and there was indeed lots of food but I prefer Karoun for shish taouk.

[C70]

yeah, don't bother. really.

the guy who answered the phone was a bit of an ass too- he asked me how much my order was before he agreed to deliver.. and his menu says DELIVERY.

Unfortunately Karoun with no car won't happen. :(

[hungryann]

No worries, they do delivery in VSL; give them a call and see if you are in their radius.

[kpzoo]

They had awesome balti dishes at a place on Victoria Ave. but I'm not sure I can remember the name right now. Jolie?

Edit: this was a couple of years ago. Don't know if the place is still there. It was just a bit south of Van Horne, on the east side of Victoria.

[BLM]

Restaurant Jolee?

[carswell]

Wouldn't be Jolee then because it's south of Côte-Ste-Catherine. Unlikely anyway since it specializes in Sri Lankan/southern Indian cuisine, and balti hails from northern Pakistan (some would say via Birmingham, UK). Could you be thinking of Dev?

[kpzoo]

Sorry! I found the card & menu - it's Restaurant Calcutta - 5955 Victoria Ave, 514-342-2219. Like I said, I have no idea if it's still around, but worth calling if you're craving balti! They have a whole balti section on the menu with balti shrimps, chicken, beef, lamb & vegetable dishes, described as "a very popular dish which has a traditional flaour. Cooked with fresh onions, capsicums, tomatoes and with a large quantity of coriander. Normally eaten medium hot; can be served mild or hot."

They also have a section with "korai" dishes, which also seem to be hard to find in Mtl, as well as a section of Bangladeshi specialties (a half-dozen set menus) which require a 25-person minimum, and a page of Sri Lankan dishes including "kottu roti" and "devel beef."

Good luck!

[BLM]

The restaurant doesn't exist anymore. I remember that restaurant(I have still have their takeout menu somewhere).

[hungryann]

It has been replaced by a south Indian restaurant, Sagimahe.
BTW, Jolee has yet to get its act together:
http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/pa...,

[Moosemeat]

Sagimahe is Sri-Lankan as well, not Indian.

[hungryann]

Yes, sorry, I was in a rush. S.Indian and Sri Lankan.

[lagatta]

I believe Balti is a Birmingham UK dish devised by Pakistani chefs in that town. I met a prof at Birmingham U not long ago and we had a chat and a laugh about Balti, which has become a draw for tourists. It seems to be a fusion of curry and stir-fry.

Any Balti in Park-Ex?

[carswell]

Balti is the name of the cuisine indigenous to Baltistan in northeast Pakistan, the wok-like pan (round, cast iron, two handles) favoured by Balti chefs and by extension a family of spicy but not fiery dishes freshly cooked in the pan. In the 1960s, an emigrant to Birmingham opened a restaurant to serve the local emigrant community. The phenomenon took off in the 1970s and soon there were many imitators, over 100 within a decade in Birmingham alone, few of them run by Baltis. I've been reading references to balti, the dish, for several years -- most recently in Ian Rankin's *Black & Blue*, a Rebus novel set in working-class Scotland in the 1990s -- but wrongly assumed it was ersatz Indian through a British lens and thus not worth tracking down. Silly me.

[bomobob]

"Fancy some Balti?" is something I always hear from my friends when I visit them in the UK. The term has taken on a life of its own there, and has become completely ubiquitous. Scan the "ethnic" shelves at Tesco or Safeway, and all you see, it seems, is Balti Balti Balti. There are Balti restaurants, Balti cookbooks everywhere, Balti pastes, Balti pret-a-manger. Been like that since the early 90s, and still going strong.

Just one word. Yum.

[SnackHappy]

My memory is a bit fuzzy about this so I think that calling to make certain would be in order, but I believe that Porte De L'Inde on St-Laurent had balti on their menu. I seem to recall seeing it on their take-out menu.

Porte de l'Inde‎
5195 St Laurent
[phone]‎