Monday, January 4, 2010

Pushap (Montréal)

4777 boulevard des Sources
Dollard-des-Ormeaux (West Island), Québec
514.683.0105

Ok, so the title is a bit misleading. Pushap is not actually in Montréal (but on the island of Montréal) but in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, the suburb where my mom lives. In fact, it's about a two minute drive from my mom's. My sister L has been telling me about Pushap for years. Being a vegetarian Indian restaurant, Pushap is her substitute for The Himalya Restaurant in Hamilton.

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On this day, we were a total of five people for lunch. A larger group is more conducive to sharing and tasting different dishes. We started out with appetizers: samosas and pakoras. I only had a pakora and really enjoyed the variety of vegetables in the fritter. We all thought the accompanying sauce had a mighty kick!

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Samosas and Pakoras to start with.

We somehow agreed that we needed 6 dishes for five people and proceeded to pick what was appealing. The menu was broken down into two sections: the special preparations for $4.75 and the cheese (paneer) special for $5.50. From the first group, we ordered the bhartha - eggplant (L's recommendation), the aloo gobhi - cauliflower and potatoes (my request) and chana masala - chickpeas (M's request). For the paneer dishes, we ordered the palak paneer - spinach and cheese and two servings of the navrattan korma (L stating that this is as close as the vindaloo as it gets!).

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Palak paneer, naan bread and chana masala.

Everyone was happy with the dishes though none had any kick at all. The most popular dish was the bharta. The eggplant dish was creamy and perfectly spiced. I was happy with the aloo gobhi; I highly dislike overcooked vegetables but can make an exception for mushy cauliflowers. My sister who doesn't usually like aloo gobhi preferred this saucier version than the usual drier versions. The biggest disappointment was the palak paneer. The overall consensus was that it tasted bland and boring.

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Aloo gobhi, bharta and navrattan korma.

For the appetizers and six dishes mentioned above, 5 naan breads, 2 mango lassies and one portion of rice, the total came under $50, costing us $9.80 each! What a great price! Everyone was filled to the brink and barely ate dinner (well I ate a good dinner...). Definitely worth the trip to DDO, or to Pushap's other location at 5195 rue Paré in Montréal (514.737.4527).

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My very well filled plate!

Pushap on Urbanspoon

For my versions of two of the dishes:
Chana masala
Baigan Bharta

4 comments:

suzanne said...

I really like those posts from Montreal... which is my home town.

Daniel said...

I should say, as a guest in the Party of Five, that this Pushap (DDO) is better than the other Pushap. Also, the Navratton Korma was the best dish (!) though their samosas are amongst the best I have ever had. Very crispy. And @ 3/1$ on the take-out menu, let's just say it's a good thing I don't live as close to the restaurant as your mom does...

Gastronomer said...

Glad to seeing you eating so well for so cheap!

You so love Indian food ;-)

DAvid said...

I absolutely love their sweets. I need to get back there