Café Toranj is a Persian restaurant in the NDG neighbourhood of Montreal.
Online prescence good, clear
Wait time to be seated: none at 8:30pm saturday
Seating availability: there were at least 60% or more of the seats available at that time
Menu clarity: good
Sensory experience: 5 senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch)
Noise: moderately loud (80db) Arabic music, people talking loudly, decided to put my earbuds in to dampen it
Light: bright spotlights above the tables, bright flashing LED OPEN sign reflected off the window in my field of vision from where I was sitting
Decor: black ceiling, walls visually busy
Smell: good food
Touch: big comfy chair at the table I sat at, other tables were wood, my chair bottom was saggy, you sink down
Taste: good, I got the beef meatball stew, the sauce was very intensely flavored, fruity and acidic, too intense for me (and I'm a sensory seeker so I typically like intense flavors so this is saying something!), I had to put the yogurt provided into it and mix it in to tone it down. It was under salted to my taste but then again I like things very salty (salt cravings due to POTS/OH). The meatballs were very firm and hard to cut with the spoon provided, there was also a fork but no knife, and they were too big for me to comfortably put a whole one in my mouth. The flavor of the meatballs was of mild curry, I enjoyed them. Even with the yogurt mixed into the sauce I had to be careful not to take too much sauce with each bite of meatball or the flavor of the sauce would overpower the flavor of the meatballs. The rice was very good, plain jasmine with a tasty crust on the top. I didn't enjoy eating it with sauce as it didn't contribute much flavor and I didn't enjoy the taste of the sauce on its own as it was slightly overpowering. I liked the rice on its own though. They have a large selection of herbal teas, which I appreciated because I don't drink caffeine. I got the Rêve de la Vie tea and it I loved it! Slightly minty and floral. Great with the little sugar cubes provided. I poured the tea into the little saucer under the teacup to cool it faster to drink it with my meal. The tea bag in the pot was inside a strainer and the tea bag was tied very tightly, not letting much room for the plant matter to swish around, and I'm a meddler, so I had to stir it and squish the bag several times after it had steeped 5 minutes or more to make sure I got the full flavor of all the plants. I took the rest of the sauce and the rice to go, will add salt at home and see if I like it better. No salt and pepper shakers were on the table so I couldn't add any. There was no ice in the water, which I appreciated as I don't like ice water. They had a big bowl of tiny little candies wrapped in iridescent plastic next to the cash register and I grabbed a handful cause they were so pretty, and the flavors were really good too! Not your standard fruit flavors, something else. I couldn't tell what fruits they were. Food 7/10.
Food accessibility (can they make modifications for gluten free, etc.): they had vegan and vegetarian options on the menu
Service: excellent, except they didn't check how my meal was or if I needed anything once served
Payment options: cash, card
Overall experience 7/10 for a sensory-seeker, would probably be 3-4/10 for a sensory avoidant.
