ASHLEY’S RESTAURANT

 WORLDLY FLAVOURS IN EXQUISITE VEGETARIAN CUISINE

On August 22^nd 2017, something miraculous happened in the world. Ashley’s Restaurant landed in Montreal’s Notre Dame de Grace neighbourhood. Arriving with it was Ayesha Gidwani, a remarkably gifted chef whose vegetarian cuisine is tongue wagging wonderful.  Together with owners Chantal and Sina, Ayesha created a menu that has elevated vegetarian meals into Nirvana magic. Here Asian, Indian, and a moment with Mexican flavours turn casual dining into an exciting experience of discovery.

Twenty-five divinely-inspired dishes deliciously demonstrate Ayesha’s awesome talent and instinct for ingredient combos that create the “wow” factor.

Each food-fabulous creation attests to Ayesha’s long-time love affair with cooking.

“When I was a child, I was always playing in my mom’s kitchen back in India. She was a great cook, and I watched what she did.”

 Since moving to Canada (2002) after a 14-year-stint as a Bollywood costume designer, she became Montreal’s “it” girl for vegetarian cuisine, creating veggie menus for several restaurants – her biggest coup was as Executive Chef at Cantley Suites for six years.

“I live, breathe, walk, talk and dream about what I do. I am very passionate about cooking and I do it from my soul. Here, at Ashley’s I have created vegetarian and vegan options using flavour fusions from Asia, India and beyond.”

Novice Designer Makes a Notable Impression

The Zen appeal also resonates in Ashley’s décor. Sina was responsible for its interior design.  It's hard to believe that Ashley’s was his first design project; it’s nothing short of genius. The result is outstanding, even daring. “I wanted to create a cozy, authentic place using the old and new,” said Sina.  Seemingly incongruous elements – both organic and modern, blend beautifully. Its visual aesthetic conveys an eternal feeling of serenity.

 

Natural wood restfully warms the restaurant in every space: the walls, benches and irregular shaped tables. Leather, brick, ceramic facades, even a peek-a-boo tall black column distinctly enhance the dining areas. Highlighted by top hanging lighting, Ashley’s embodies fluidity in aesthetic appeal.

Sina went all out in the loo rooms. They’re outrageously whimsical and colourful.

             Take a peek.         

Menu Health in Exotic Ingredients

Never mind that the dishes come with some pretty funny names: Avo’Cuddle toast, Umami Burger, the Bodhi Bowl or Jungli Yogi Bowl, the irony is palpably pleasing. Each wondrous dish is composed of nature’s most coveted flavours and ingredients. Everything is naturally grown, devoid of sugar (natural maple syrup is used) and almost zero % gluten free. Common to almost every plate is the extraordinary variety of different foods that go into each dish. I counted an average of 20 different ingredients for each, including a maze of veggies, grains, mysterious Asian and Indian roots, peppers, berries, seeds, noodles and more. One of Ayesha’s signature sensations resides not just in the presentation factor but the many hidden layers of differing foods that add never-ending surprise to the eating experience of that particular dish. Herbs and one-of-a-kind Asian dressings – served on the side are blended to perfection; the taste is exquisite, the texture sometimes crunchy, such as in the three different chef-inspired macro bowls. Each instantly brings a wealth of vitality and exoticism to the name, ‘salad’. Sensually addictive and creamy gorgeous both in taste and colour is the main dish, “From Berma with Love”. One of four favorites and an Ashley creation, this meal consists of coconut spiced lentil curry on konjac noodles, hash browns, roasted chick pea tofu, onions, roasted chilli, garlic oil, smoked sweet potatoes, coriander and lemon juice. This dish is heavenly. If you could taste love, this is it.

Eating Splendidly

My companion and I started with two salad dishes. I had the Urban Hippie Bowl whose 20 ingredients included purple kale, pilaf quinoa with a fig, yellow beets, kombucha dressing, roasted tumeric papaya, faro salad, roasted chickpeas, apples crisps a smattering of nuts and pumpkin seeds and more – topped by a big orange dollop of harissa hummus at the centre of it all. How’s that for healthy!

My companion dove into the Jungli Yogi Bowl – a sure bet for healthy eating accented with Greek, Mexican touches: Kalamata olives, cilantro lime dressing, mango house chutney, and heaps of kidney beans with alfalfa sprouts, spelt salad and cauliflower rice.

What’s great about this place is vegetarians and vegans can dine together since options are always there for family members to choose. As a peanut-free establishment, 85% of the ingredients are also organic including the sunflower and olive oil in the dishes.

 

That could account for the totally non-greasy pan-fried leek and vegetable dumplings we ordered for starters. I loved the house tamari and sesame sauce. We gobbled up the four on the plate as fast as we munched away in surely the most extraordinary side dish I have ever tasted: Mumbai Bhel. 

Superb and inspired by Goddess Ayesha, this wonderful dish consists of the perfect blend of puffed rice, red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, sprouted mung beans, chick pea crisps flavoured in tamarind and coriander chutney.

There is nowhere else in Montreal to find such astounding dishes that are light yet filling and oh so healthy.

Ashley's is Awesome

I could go on and on about other dishes I have eaten here; suffice it to say Ashley always has healthy surprises. Whether you’re from Montreal or Timbuktu, you must eat here. How many times can you tell someone, you just tasted gluten-free fava bean crust and you really really liked it? Where else can you boast about biting into a chocolate beet brownie with organic chocolate truffle and roasted hazelnuts? 

                                         

By the way, did I mention there’s a class-A wine list and bar?

Menu prices are low. That’s another plus why the entire family can enjoy this place, and there are weekend brunches. 

Ashley’s is located at 5942 Sherbrooke ouest, Montreal, H4A 1X7.

Call (514) 369-7566.

BALI (SMCQ) Clanging that went on too long

Four works featuring the music of Bali putting Jose Evangelista into new territory as a composer in the Asian mode was on the program this December 7^th evening.

The concert was prefaced with a far too-long explanation of the Gamelon (orchestra) by Pierre Paré-Blais who also plays the instruments that we saw on stage at Montreal’s Pierre Péladeau Centre. He said the music is based on a single melody flushed by the other clanging instruments that seem to swirl around it faster and faster. Lovely bright red and gold instruments glittered the stage -- strange looking musical percussive instruments ranging from gong keybar to martenot – the latter sounding like a Wurlitzer and synchronizer. An interesting instrument that should be heard far more than it is.

Although the musicians were impeccable in timing and speed, after a while the pieces sounded like a collective clanging cacophony that sadly was not as colourful as the appearance of the instruments themselves. The one musician who held our attention with his passionate playing of  a drum-like instrument was I Dewa Made Suparta. He is director of the entire orchestra.

The performance needed costumes and showmanship. The three dancers save, for one who looked like a lost misfit towering awkwardly over the others who were Asian -- did not help this dance ensemble in look; nor did this trio inspire us, but the two other dancers would have -- without the gawky one. She looked about as Balinese as a giraffe trying to hide among cats. I did not feel transported to Bali during this concert. Though it was lackluster, the instrument playing was expert indeed.

DO NOT STAY AT MYRTO HOTEL IN ATHENS

Nightmare hotel reserved through Booking.com.

I bought through Booking.com a two- night stay at Myrto Hotel (note that sometimes it’s called Myrtos) God forbid there might be two of these hellish hotels.

Judging by the photo of the room on Booking.com, I was supposed to get a double size budget one, I thought things would be okay.

Never judge a hotel by its Booking.com cover photo - or at least in this case. The room was so tiny, my rather small suitcase was not able to fit in it. The bed was so small with no room to get out of it except if you wanted to bang your legs against the side wall.  

There was no space at its end, or sides or head. There was just a shelf  at its end with a small noisy fridge on it; no place to put your clothes; no place to move to get into the bed or out of it. And by the way no window as it shows in the photo. No side table except a tiny gnome size-one -- not big enough to put my small laptop on. The plug sparked and damaged my mouse.  There was no hot water except if I wanted to wait an hour before the boiler would work to make it hot. That’s what the kids downstairs running the hotel told me. Now these kids were nice and tried to help as much as possible, but how do you put a broken hotel back together?

These downstairs folks were young, very nice but there was no manager on site. Oh by the way, the elevator sounded like an airplane about to take off. It was so loud and groaning all night long I could not sleep at all.

Worse still, when I asked to change rooms there was no manager around at all or ever.

Breakfast on Booking.com looks yummy. Well, old cornflakes cold coffee and sticky white yogurt was there. I had placed my coffee cup on the wood table whose top instantly toppled, flipping sideways into a 90- degree angle, thereby spilling my stale coffee with the cup landing on the floor. This was becoming the Twilight Zone. I felt unsafe.

 I left the hotel at 1 am the second night and slept at the airport to catch my 7:30 morning flight back home

I now know why the Russian owners were never in sight. They were back home drinking vodka no doubt and laughing all the way to the bank while we poor helpless Myrtos Hotel victims were feeling like we had landed in a hovel of horrors. No one can walk in off the street and book a room at this hotel. You have to go through Booking.com.  get the money before they see it is their modus operandi.

Shame on Booking .com for not investigating this hotel and using false photos to get clients to book at this shabby hotel – one  that I would not even put Norman Bates in!