halal 786: a different kind of spicy

southeast asian culinary traditions, with its interwoven histories, are often lumped together and commonly referred to as ‘indian cuisine.’  at least this is how it is in montreal.  the restaurants here, whether pakistani or sri lankan, will often advertise themselves as offering indian food.  is it a marketing strategy?  possibly.  after all, indian food is one of the better known cuisines of the region. however similar the food may be, there are differences.  whether the differences lie in unique dishes or subtle nuances in common dishes, they exist and should be celebrated.

in celebration of regional distinctiveness, i decided to finally check off a restaurant that has been on my to-do list for years. after braving the rain, it was with wet pant legs and humidity-altered hair that my friends and i climbed the musky stairwell that led to halal 786.  the decor could use some sprucing up — the boat theme is a relic from the greek restaurant that used to occupy the premises — but we were there for the food.  in my mind, food almost always trumps ambiance!

in all honesty, i’ve only had pakistani food a handful of times.  this is why we relied heavily on the opinion of the one person in our group that hails from pakistan.  not only is she from there, but she’s also eaten at halal 786 before.  since we were only three, we had the difficult task of ordering just enough to sample the food and not so much that we would end up with exploding tummy syndrome.  in the end, we settled on three dishes that we shared family-style.

the main reason for our visit was the lahori fried fish i had read so much about when researching this place.  a whole tilapia, covered in spices and fried — i had to try this at least once in my life and it is only available here (or so i am told).  the menu offers a small fish and a jumbo fish.  we opted for the small.  what was brought to the table was a fish close to 30cm in length with a crispy crimson red skin.  if this was the small, i wonder what the jumbo fish looks like…  so was it all it was cracked up to be?  it was delicious, but it didn’t blow my mind.  the skin was crispy but tough in a way that it didn’t fall apart when you went at it with a fork.  you definitely needed a knife to cut through the skin and sometimes the provided butter knife just didn’t cut it.  although the spices on the skin were quite delectable, some parts of it were just hard to swallow texture-wise. the flesh was another story.  beneath the tough skin hid moist and tender flesh.  the best part was the fatty belly bits.  being a rarity on montreal menus, this is something to try, but i wouldn’t order it more than once or twice a year.

another dish that was new to me was the chicken achar karahi.  a chicken and pickled vegetable curry dish cooked in a karahi (a wok-like cooking vessel).  the chicken was moist, the pickles were crunchy, and the sauce was spicy and vinegary. it all played an interesting symphony in my mouth.  to mop up the juices, we ordered three naan.  glistening with ghee, the perfectly round bread was spongy on one side and crispy, almost hard, on the other.  it was the first time i’ve encountered naan like this.  it was great for mopping up the sauce, but the lack of pliability on one side made it hard for me to pick up the pieces of chicken with it. maybe i just need practice with their naan.  i ended up spooning the chicken onto the bread, the way you would top a cracker.  i tried really hard not to laugh at myself as i thought i had mastered the art of eating with my hands!  i have never used a fork and knife so much while eating this type of food before…  as a side not, three naan were way too much for one curry dish. we ate 1 and 1/2 naan at most.

for our third dish, i had my mind set on sampling their chicken biryani.  those who know me know that i prefer pakistani-style biryani over the indian kind.  i’m aware that there are regional differences in indian biryani, but i’m referring to the style served in a pakistani versus an indian restaurant.  as we ordered the chicken biryani, we were promptly told that only mutton biryani was available that day. the mutton version is a special served on saturdays only (the day of our visit).  perhaps they just make one big batch for the day?  even if they did, the quality didn’t seem to suffer.  the grains of rice stayed nicely separated and the pool of oil that usually accompanies the biryani i get at indian restaurants was noticeably absent.  another way this differed from its indian counterpart is in the spicing.  i think i tasted some start anise, cardamom, cloves, black pepper…  it definitely had a distinctive taste that was only enhanced with a drizzle of their complementary raita.  sadly, the on-the-bone meat didn’t taste like much of anything.  i don’t think it added much to the rice and to tell you the truth, it tasted exactly the same as the chicken biryani i had at another pakistani restaurant that has since closed.  i wonder if it would taste the same if i ordered just the biryani rice.  something to consider on skinny wallet days…

to wash everything down, i ordered a mango lassi.  this was the best lassi i’ve ever had.  it was thick, but not to the point where your cheeks hurt from trying to suck it through a straw.  it was sweet, but not cloyingly so.  it was cold, it was smooth, it was good. it was also the perfect remedy to tame the heat on the tongue.  although the menu advises patrons to inform the waiter of the spice level they would like, we didn’t say a word.  i’m assuming they just brought us everything the way it should be served.  i am happy to report that not everything was tongue-numbing spicy.  the fish was the tamest, followed by the biryani that had a little more heat to it, and then the chicken achar karahi that was a little more like a kick in the taste buds.

we were waited on by ridiculously attentive staff.  our water glasses never dropped below half full and we were asked a couple of times if everything was to our liking.  as our pace was slowing down, somebody came to ask if we were finished, expertly doggy-bagged our leftovers, and presented us with the bill.  after paying, we were left alone to linger at our leisure.  some people might find this intrusive or even pushy, but i thought it was just about right.  neither absent nor overbearing. our little trip to halal 786 was a nice dining experience overall.  will i return?  of course!  i still need to taste their chapli kebabs and sample some desserts.

as you can probably guess from its name, the restaurant is strictly halal, so don’t expect to wash down your food with any alcohol. another thing that’s worth noting is that they have takeout specials.  on thursdays, you can get chicken biryani for $4!!! for other specials, check their website.

halal 786
768, rue jean-talon ouest
montréal, québec
H3n 1S2
T: 514.270.0786
www.786halalrestaurant.com

payment methods: cash, debit, credit cards

hours:
daily 11h30 – 23h15