Brunch Worthy of a Pasha

The Pitch

Accompanying Montreal's demographic shift as it welcomes more and more immigrants throughout the years is a parallel change in its restaurant offering.  As these diasporas settle and thrive in their new homes, so does their propensity to spend and invest.

This translates into a sharp increase in higher-end "ethnic" restaurants across various communities and neighborhoods.  What once was the domain of casual, mom-and-pop eateries has made way for ambitious projects such as Pamika, India Rosa, Ispahan and SHAY.

Joining the fray is a spanking-new Turkish restaurant by the name of Gunaydin, situated midway along Marcel-Laurin Boulevard in Ville-Saint-Laurent.  Today I accepted an invitation to try it at lunchtime on a quiet Monday afternoon.  Motorists will enjoy the strip-mall situation affording tons of parking space.

tagged:  BRUNCH TAKE THE CAR

The Mood

Walking up to Gunaydin's storefront, which shares an overhead signage with its Mr. Puffs neighbor, one thinks they'll step into a commercial, chain-y operation.  Once past the doorway, a beautiful interior reveals itself completely reversing this impression.  A massive Ottoman chandelier takes center stage, dangling over black/white marble tabletops and a mix of turquoise chairs and sienna banquettes.

Artwork and plants line up the walls, which lead to a wall-to-ceiling jungle wallpaper corner by the kitchen.  At the far end, I could not help but notice gorgeous multi-color caydanlik – two-part Turkish teapots – and hoped they would make it to our table and were not just decorative.

tagged:  EYE FOR DESIGN

The Food

Open from 9AM to 10PM seven days a week, Gunaydin suggests an all-day-and-night menu spanning breakfast, lunch and dinner.  From halal meat plates with kebab, kofta and doner to baked items such as lahmajun, pide and pizza(?), not to mention sandwiches, burgers(?) and meze, there is enough here to satisfy every taste and meet every occasion.

While our host invited us to order anything we wanted from this plethora of choices, the menu's first page – an assorted Turkish breakfast for two – immediately caught our eye.  What arrived at our table looked even better than the menu photo and was quite literally too pretty to touch.

One of those ornate teapots I was wishing for came surrounded by a dozen mini plates of olives, veggies, cheeses, jams and dips.  Accompanying this dazzling tower are eggs with sujuk, various borek, fries, bread and more.  Once I was finally done attempting to capture every angle of the smorgasbord in front of us, I very much enjoyed dipping, scooping, sipping and biting into every little bit.

The whole works as a combo contrasting salty/sweet bites in between sips of tea.  If I had to pick most and least favorite items, the menemen – eggs scrambled with veggies – stole the show with its silky smoothness, while the eggs with sujuk were overcooked.  Also of note is a boat-shaped flatbread – pide – with three sections of beef, cheese and sujuk, which we ordered extra but in retrospect was overkill.

tagged:  FEAST FOR THE EYES GOOD FOR SHARING HALAL

The Verdict

Gunaydin is the latest venture from the serial restaurateur behind Mr. Tantuni – which has been bought out and renamed – and La Medes.  His latest venture is barely one week old, but seems set to captivate the local Turkish and other communities with its impressive, showy décor and presentations.

One might expect a premium price tag for the generous spread we got, but in fact it comes down to a modest $30 per person.  The next time you're looking to spend a gunaydin ("good morning" in Turkish), give this newcomer consideration.

Price per person:  $30