Sumac

I always found it to be very overrated and overpriced. The chicken is not well seasoned at all, it lacks flavour and definitely isn’t representative of Middle Eastern food. The only good things are the salads and dips.

We were all really disappointed with our meals last night.

We've had Sumac in the past and had enjoyed it, but last night we got a few chicken shawarma plates and all of us agreed that the chicken was completely flavorless.

Has the place gone downhill over the years? Maybe they forgot to season it? You could taste the char from their grill, but that was it. Super bland. The salads and hummus were nice, at least.

Ordered through DoorDash and the prices were jacked up. The food was great overall, but definitely very limited portions for the hefty price.

Chicken Shawarma, Red Cabbage Salad, Matbucha, Hummus, Pita
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Sumac is located on 3618 Notre-Dame St W and has been serving loyal customers since 2014. Very cozy and low key spot that is serving some great Middle Eastern food.
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I love to take my friends here who have never before tried Middle Eastern food. It reminds me so much of the food that I would get when I would travel to Israel it feels like I'm their at times.
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The dinning experience at Sumac is really quite nice. There is one long communal table that sites about 20+ people along with a number of tables along the walks giving you plenty of options. Personally when I'm their I love the communal table, let's you chat with new people and enjoy the good food amongst good conversations, hopefully.
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The name Sumac actually comes from a widely used spice all across the Middle East. It has a really dark red color and the smell of it is incredible. Love using it in dressing, spice rubs and even tossed with some fries to give them some great flavour.
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The dish before you is the chicken shawarma which is nicely spiced and tender, a personal favourite of mine. It come with a choice of 2 salads, homemade pita and hummus and pickled turnips. Great thing is you can always mix and match your salads, try the kefta or falafel and even eat them in pitas.
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One of my favourite spots for Middle Eastern food. Another great hotspot on Notre-Dame, the street that keeps on giving.

I ordered the chicken shawarma plate and I found the chicken seasoned well except it was lacking in salt. The same with the hummus and harira soup. The soup also needed some fresh lemon juice (which I'm glad I had on hand). The best thing about the meal were the salads - the fennel and cauliflower, and the the spiced carrot salad. Both of these were delicious.

Très déçue! Les frites au sumac étaient froides, dures et vieilles. Elles n'étaient pas mangeables! Le poulet manquait d'assaisonnement et était également froid. Je ne recommande pas du tout. Très déçue de la qualité pour le prix.

À chaque fois, c'est toujours très bon quand nous mangeons à ce restaurant. Très goûteux, c'est une explosion de saveurs! Par contre, nous avons été déçus par les frites sumac qui étaient froides et raides. Même misent au four, ce n'était pas top. De plus, le hummous mis sur le dessus des frites devrait être mis à côté dans un contenant différent. Mis à part les frites, le reste était excellent!

Their dips and salads were really really good. The tomato walnut and pomegranate molasses dip we had was a flavor and I'd go there just for that alone!

Ordered through their online app for pickup on Wednesday, April 21 at 4pm.

It was our first time ordering from SUMAC. Came in the resto and it smelled so good! It got me all excited for our meal! Had to wait about 5 mins for them to finish packing my order. Service was super friendly. Got our meal and the bag was still warm.

Got home and our 5$ SUMAC fries were a day old fries! How do I know they were a day old fries you may ask? They were cold and wrinkly. I know left over fries because I have eaten left over fries before. If you reheat them, they stay chewy and wrinkly. Well these are the type of fries they served us.sadly.

Aside from that disappointment, thankfully, everything else was fresh!

We ordered 2 chicken Shawarma plates with chopped salad and fennel and cauliflower salad. The plates came with hummus and pita both equally delicious and flavourful. The chicken was seasoned to perfection!

Overall, great food and super tasty. We will definitely be back for more. Hopefully your fries will be fresh next time!

Ça méritait d’essayer plus de choses du menu mais un simple chicken shawarma en pita à emporter c’était top! Très bon, frais avec les légumes et bien garni!

On avait l'habitude d'y aller une fois de temps en temps à ce resto, puis avec la covid nous avons décidé de commander pour emporter. On est déçu. À l'arrivé, les frites étaient froides, peu goûteuses. Le poulet était aussi froid. Pour 50$, je passe.

Literally the best place for Lebanese food. They have a cool setup where you can sot and share food with friends. It's always full and the food is AMAZING.

Vraiment incroyable.c’était tellement bon que j’ai même pas prit le temps de faire une photo. Personnel au petit soin, mention spéciale aux keftas qui sont à tomber. J’attends juste le retour du malabi au menu pour y retourner. N’hésitez pas, allez y!

One of the best places in Montreal.authentic experience.food is delicious
Service is 5 stars too.
We just want this place to be open all week long.

Restaurant chaleureux et sans prétention. Vous commandez, payez et on vous sert la nourriture ensuite. Toujours un plaisir y manger. Les plats sont frais, savoureux et sains. Prix légèrement élevés, mais pour la qualité ça en vaut la peine. Très populaire les vendredis et samedis soir, il faut être prêt à attendre un peu pour avoir une place.

Right to the heart of middle east all the way from MTL. Amazing dip, amazing vibe, fantastic service.highly recommended

I’ve been there once a week for the past month, you’ll never be disappointed! If you’re looking for the combination of quality/price, you’ve got your spot. Good job guys

One word: DELICIOUS.
Two words: DELICIOUS & AUTHENTIC
Three words: DELICIOUS AMAZING SERVICE.

Keep it up guyz!

One of my favorite spots to grab some delicious Mediterranean food in Montreal.
Try the sumac fries with humos.

Every bite was delicious. I’ve heard about this place before and I totally agree with it’s good reputation.

The plates are very generous and absolutely tasty. Make sure to arrive before or after rush hour because the place is quickly full.

Excellente cuisine! Tout est frais, j’ai un coup de cœur pour le sandwich au falafel qui est gros et savoureux.

Étant moi-même originaire du Moyen-Orient, la barre était haute. Il faut dire que je n'étais pas de tout déçue par la qualité de la bouffe, une explosion de saveurs dans la bouche. Le muhammara était excellent! Je crois qu'ils font leur pain sur place aussi car le goût et la qualité du pain étaient exceptionnels. Le sandwich de falafel était délicieux. Je reviendrai une deuxième fois très prochainement!

I come here all the time. I get cravings. Don’t come here if you don’t want to come back for years to come and have people wonder what’s wrong with you for always going back to the same place. It’s THAT good.

Coup de cœur pour la soupe harissa qui est excellente, le pita Sabich qui est simplement délicieux et les frites au sumac qui sont folles!:)

Great food + service. I got the red cabbage salad and quinoa salad at the recommendation of the staff and it was delicious!

Service impeccable et courtoi. Excellente nourriture très savoureuse. On dirait de la bouffe maison. $$$

Great food! And a good place to hang out. Came here with my co-workers for lunch on a weekday and we didn't make reservation. But we got to sit down at the big long table in the middle. Its slightly busy as all the smaller tables are take.
We ordered plates and hibiscus tea. The brownies are huge.

Favorite Mediterranean place in Montreal. The food, the service, the atmosphere, the music (Hip-Hop, rnb, dance all from the 90's until today - not too aggresive)
An amazing place, the only thing would be the delivery service, they working with GOLO and one day they just forgot about my plate. When we called them both (Gollo and Sumac) nobody was ready to take the responsability, they offered me my money back or a plate send right away. I was not happy about it, but I was hungry. They call me back to give me a dessert as an apology.
That one dark spot is still on my mind so I rather go there directly

I’ve been going to Sumac almost weekly since I have moved back to Montreal. The consistency in quality and service are amazing. The menu is simple enough, yet allows for plenty of possible combinations when selecting the plate items. Be aware that It gets packed at noon on weekdays with lunch crowds, and as a result the noise level gets pretty loud and a wait is to be expected.

Another “trendy” St-Henri restaurant that is over-priced. Yes the food wasn’t bad, but I truly don’t get what the hype is all about. In fact, I saw the shawarma being cooked while waiting for my order, and it’s not even cooked on a spit, but dumped out of a bowl and fried! Not authentic. I did not at all find the food so much better than any other fast food Middle-Eastern restaurant.especially for the cost of the plate. Beef kefta at $18 with the taxes, I think I’ll stick to Boustan (which is amazing) for $12. I’m starting to think that people give these places such amazing reviews because they grew up eating plain and tasteless food.

Le repas était délicieux! C'est savoureux et frais, tant la viande que les salades et le pita. Le vin est servi dans un petit verre plutôt qu'une coupe mais c'est sympa. Les portions sont généreuses et l'ambiance est vivante! Seul mini reproche: la musique est forte et très pop.

Busy and loud not the place for a date but definitely delicious middle Eastern food. You order at the cash and then go to the table with a number so that they can find you and bring the food. They have vegetarian and meat options.

Service rapide et sympathique. Qualité et goût constant d’une visite à l’autre. Restaurant chaleureux, belle option pour souper.

I don’t even know where to begin with this review. I love everything about the food at this place. The baba ghannouj, the falafel, the perfectly cooked & spiced pita that accompanied each dish. I loved it all.

If you’re even just considering giving Sumac a try stop what you’re doing and just go there right now. You won’t regret it.

This place is a germ. Great food, everything is awesome. Great service, and so is the atmosphere. Expect to wait a little bit, it seems quite busy (which I fully understand).

Extraordinary culinary experience!

Edit: Just went back and I think they even got better. The sabich plate is simply sublime.

I didn’t take pictures of food ´cause we ate everything in 2 minutes! I don’t really like having dinner there. I find it too dark, noisy and tight. But you can always order from there or come to pick your dinner up. The menu represented at the brick wall is clear. The stuff is nice and friendly. If you want to come on Friday or Saturday night make sure to call or be ready to stay in a very very veryyyyyyy long line. This place is unbelievably popular!

One of the best restaurants I've been to in Montreal. Amazing food and extremely affordable for the quality and variety of options you get. Would recommend to anyone anytime!

C est trop chers pour ce que c est et la salade cuite poivrons tomate avait plutot le goût de concentre de tomate et les carottes trop croquantes manquait de cuissons on a pas fini nos assiettes vege a 19$

I absolutely love the food here! I got take out so I can't comment much on service however it is more cafeteria style. I decided to get the chicken which was good but was not the reason I would keep coming back. The to die for dish is the sabich! Eggplant, an egg and tahini! So good. Also their hummus fries are fantastic as well as all their side salads. Who would have thought a simple red cabbage salad could be so good? ! Lastly, their hibiscus tea is delicious too!

Giant pitas stuffed with chicken kebab meat, reminded me of so many good kebabs in the UK (this sounds like an insult, it really is not. I bloody love kebabs, even when I've not had any beer). We needed some food pretty quick because time was running out for the thing we were going to when we saw Sumac and that it was counter service, we figured we'd give it a go, I will happily make plans to head back here at some point.