La Khaima

Good ambiance. Food wasn’t tasty.

L’endroit était plein à craquer mais parmi les restos de cuisine de l’Est et du Nord de l’Afrique à Montréal, c’est l’un des moins savoureux que nous ayons essayé. Selon ma compagne, seul le bœuf était savoureux. Le reste était fade sans assaisonnement, même les options végé. Le décor est rustique et à améliorer. Le personnel est très sympatique et sont la raison de laisser un pourboire.

Unique décor, warm service, and delicious food!
The menu’s fixed and served family style; everyone shares from the plate. Portion size is pretty much the same, regardless of the amount of people you are. I think it fills a group of 3 pretty comfortably.

Honestly, I get why people like this place. I do. But I was just underwhelmed but the whole experience.
Décor is cool, it feels mostly authentic, but it does looks a little worn and tired. Restrooms are sad (think super thin toilet paper, grimy sinks, supercheap bright pink soap) — but not disgusting or uberfilthy.
Our hostess was friendly and nice, quick and eager to explain everything. Essentially, as others have pointed out, you get some sort of soup, then tajines to share, and dinner ends with tea and dessert. All this, for 25 $ per person.
Now, this sounds like an awesome deal — but I’ve had the same type of meal for roughly the same price with much more frills and thrills (and better appetizers). Granted, it was not Mauritanian, but it was either Moroccan or Algerian, which is close enough to compare.
Soup — lentils & spices. It was tasty, it wasn’t so much hot as flavorful. Buuuut. It was just missing a little something. It came with pita bread on the side. Which was just dry and flavorless. I actually saw the guy in the back take them out of a bag and cut them up. It was the same kind you buy for the cheap at the grocery store. Meh.
Tajines — we had 3 varieties, all in the same plate to share. It’s essentially couscous with something else. We got vegetable, chicken & olives and beef/​lamb with dates (what dates? I didn’t see any). That was pretty darn good. Highlight of our meal, for sure. It was quite savoury. But… I don’t know, our plate didn’t feel exciting or very jazzed up. Presentation was ordinary. From reading the previous reviews, I was sort of expecting more.
Dessert — some kind of almond cake (or was it orange?). Nothing to write home about, it was a little dry. Good, but nothing special. Came with traditional mint&green tea. Tea was pretty good, but quite sweet.
All in all, we had a good time. Definitely deducting star for cleanliness. Half of the glasses at the table were dirty — and I mean fingerprints and little bits of crusted food.
So to me, this place is no more than a 3 (and if I take into account overall cleanliness, maybe even a 2.5). It’s comfort food for cold weather, and the berber tent getup can be fun for a group. It’s inexpensive, but it doesn’t feel like you get your money’s worth. So will I be back? Probably not, but I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea.

Absolutely delicious food from the owner’s native Mauritania. Very short menu, but don’t let that deter you. Everything on it is superb! Vegetarian and gluten-​free friendly as well. The owner’s hospitality is genuine, refreshing, and knows no bounds. You feel as if he has invited you to his home. The shoes-​off policy and batik-​draped décor make the experience that much more warm and fun. Good for romance as well as large parties. And so cheap; you get a lot of food for just 25 CAD! I cannot believe more people have not rated this Montréal must! Allow sufficient time for the personalized service though.

We had a pleasant experience here. We got in early and were seated right away. The waiter (owner) was very friendly to us. The menu is very short, catering to everyone’s taste. There is a veggie, chicken and beer option available. We had to wait a while to get our food and we were the only ones in the restaurant. But no big deal really. What really will prevent me from rushing back quickly was the price. We each got a soup, shared a dish of cous cous and had some tea for $ 50. Kind of a rip off. But worth checking out! It’s hard to find cous cous.

My family’s experience here was truly spectacular. This small place has a warm and authentic feel with colored fabrics hanging from the ceiling and other Moroccan décor, with two rooms: one with low benches around tables, and one where you sit on the floor to eat.
The owner (I presume) was very warm and came out to greet us right away. The entire menu was just what he had written on a chalkboard for the day, which he carried around with him: soup, a vegetarian entrée, chicken, and beef. We couldn’t decide what to get since they all sounded amazing, so he suggested getting a sampler of everything on a bed of couscous, and we ordered that for just $ 25 per person. (The owner speaks perfect English and French.)
The first course was the soup: lentil and chickpea, with cumin and other spices. Delicious. Next was the main course, which came out on one huge platter for all four of us. The beef was my favorite — cooked with dates, apricots and plums, and so tender that it fell apart effortlessly with a fork. It ended up being the perfect amount of food for four hungry people.
When we finally finished, we were ready to go and asked the waitress for a check. She agreed, but the owner came back and said «No, no, please, we still have tea and dessert for you!» A few minutes later he came by with hot, sweet tea served with a flourish (poured into the glasses from several feet up), paired with teacakes.
All in all, the incredible ambiance, warm and generous owner, unbelievably delicious food, and the great value for the price combine to make this place a wonderful destination that I couldn’t recommend highly enough.

Great place! The atmosphere was cozy, the meal price was fixed, and included an appetizer, main dish, dessert, and tea/​drinks. The portions were huge and you could bring your own wine, it’s such perfect :)

A little late on this post…
I ate here with a few friends this past summer… and it was an all around, amazing experience! The meal price was fixed, and included an appetizer, main dish, dessert, and tea/​drinks. As the food comes in courses, plan on spending a bit of time here. The experience is meant to be savored and enjoyed, not rushed through! Everything was absolutely delicious! Not only was the food amazing, but the décor, atmosphere, and service were great, as well. After having lived in West Africa (although not Mauritania) previously, this restaurant and the restaurant’s owner gave me everything that I missed about that part of the world — the hospitality, the culture, and the flavor.
Although I currently live in Buffalo, I will drive back to Montréal to eat at this restaurant again. I HIGHLY recommend it!

Visited this place last summer, my friend had a half-​off coupon.
The menu on the chalkboard, had what was included in the coupon, for roughly the same price, so not much of a savings. especially if you factor in the we pay taxes and tips on the full price.
The food was pretty tasty, the portions were not huge.
At first, the service was pretty quick, since we were alone, but come tea time, it took them 45 minutes to serve us, only after we flagged a waiter. The place was never that busy to begin with. He had time to serve the full tea service to his buddies who came just for that while we were waiting.
A couple came in and started making out right in front of everyone, this is an open restaurant, the vibe is like a North African tent, so they were in full view of everyone and they kept at it while we just wanted to leave.
Those two issues aside, I would go back, probably for take out.

friendly, great atmosphere. prix fixe price point a bit higher than one would expect (generous entrée but small appetizer and dessert.)
worth the experience.

We went to this place with a groupon. The owner offered us a ‘special’ meal because he supposably really liked us as guests. We would get to taste every type of tagine (chicken, beef and vegetarian)…that seemed like plenty of food for three people! They started us off with a soup. Quite tasty, but… my cousin found a thick black hair in her soup. Not ok! And then, to make matters worse, she found a little piece of bone. I don’t think this is part of a traditional pea soup, right? We complained and the waiter apologized. The owner said he would make up for it with a delicious three type tagine platter.
When we got the tagine platter, it turned out everyone around us (with a groupon probably) had EXACTLY the same thing. The owner was obviously just fooling us in telling us that he would make us something special. On top of that, the portions were quite small, really not enough for three people. Afterwards we got our desert: small pieces of almondpaste mixed with sugar (I was actually crunching on the sugar, disgusting). After this dinner disaster was over, we got our bill, paid it and didn’t leave a tip. The owner yelled something at me as I walked out the door (probably about not tipping). The whole fiasco was finally over. My advice: STAY AWAY

For those who are looking for a pleasant restaurant experience in addition to eating succulent food, this restaurant is a must. The atmosphere is original, welcoming and certainly unique.

La Khaïma is the first and only Mauritanian restaurant in the entirety of the known world and universe! This is of course according to the very charming and affable Atigh Ould. The first in the world, people, the first in the world and it just happens to be right here in beautifully sunny-​like-​the-​Sahara-​Desert Montréal! Monsieur Ould just happens to be the chef, sous chef, pastry chef, proprietor, chief executive officer, entertainment, accountant, waiter, barman, barmaid, prom king and queen, busboy, owner and chief bottle washer of this highly highly esteemed establishment. Keep this in mind when you come here and for God’s sake be patient. Seriously, all you little uncouth philistine pipsqueaks (you know who you are) impatiently squirming in your seats whilst writing on your iPhones about how you so ought to bad mouth this place on Unilocal had better shut right the fuck up if you know what’s good for you because Papa Bear is looking at you like your pretty little head is a pot of honey. La Khaïma smash! I was pretending to be Papa Bear in that fun little scenario by the way. Seriously though folks, this place deserves at least four stars right off the bat for ambiance alone … if not the full monty of five stars. Haters gonna hate and they need not apply.
Trust in me – for like George Washington, I too cannot tell a lie. This place is super super suuuuper good. The food is outstandingly sumptuous and you’re bound to have a great time if you relax and let go of time just for a little time. First of all: our anthropomorphic conceptualisation of «time» doesn’t actually exist and secondly: it definitely doesn’t exist here. Bring a bottle or two of your favourite Pinot Noir or Malbec, take your shoes off and sit cross legged or even better … lay back with your head resting in the lap of your favourite friend or lover and look up at the billowing tapestries that line the ceiling. Take a tab or two of LSD (that’s Lysergic acid diethylamide for all you trippy chemists out there) or do half an eighth of shrooms or smoke a doobie or drink a mickey of gin or get all spacey on GOD. It’s so beautiful, the colours, man, the colours! Those lamps you see are authentic from the Sahara! This place is one-​of-​a-​kind. Err’body in the club getting their Bedouin on. Where else are you going to go to for that nomadic Mauritanian Berber cuisine you so dearly crave? That’s right … nowhere else. Why? Remember? Because this is the only place in the world! Enjoy!

Great food, great atmosphere, great price. The take your shoes off bit is particularly great when you have your hefty winter boots.

The diversity of Montréal’s restaurant scene is on of the things that makes it so fantastic and La Khaima contributes to that. Being in a group we we seated in sort of booth complete with comfy pillows. The table was a little lower herethan usual which wasn’t the greatest for eating but that is my only complaint really.
The food was really good here although I can’t remember the names of most of the dishes. We had a table d’hote menu which included a variety of dishes served family style. We also had a hibiscus-​ginger drink which was very refreshing as well as mint tea which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The owner is very welcoming and does a great job of explaining the dishes to you. He also served us the hibiscus drink according to the custom from his home country which I thought was a nice touch. Apparently the pitcher containing the drink has to be put on the table for all the guests to see before you can serve it. Anyways definitely check this place out if you get a chance!

I really loved the ambience of this place and the service. It looks like nothing from the street, but it is very charming inside! There seemed to be only two guys working the room and perhaps even the kitchen and things went really quickly! The food is worth trying and I only gave it three stars because it wasn’t the right food for me… I kind of wish I could give it more because I liked everything else so much! I just wasn’t into the flavours so much, but give it a go and see :)

When in Montréal, take advantage of the presence of its many North African restaurants. The food was great! The meal (lunch at least) came with an appetizer, a tagine, and some delightful baklava and mint tea for dessert. I ordered a chicken tagine that had olives and couscous mixed in. It was awesome. My friend ordered a vegetarian tagine which had peanut sauce and some veggies mixed in it. I tried a bit of her dish and it was delicious as well. I loved the atmosphere of the restaurant, the décor is beautiful and the owner is very friendly.

This is a real special place, with a very special chef and owner– Atigh Ould. He will wine and dine you and charm you with his stories about his life growing up in Western Africa, as a Bedouin Nomad.
The food is always delicious, filling and made with love. He always has different dishes — whether you are vegetarian or gluten free, he can adjust to your needs. He ends every meal with a tea ceremony, which is always my favourite part.
He also opened a café attached to the restaurant, serving only Mezzes, his famous Atigh’s Hibiscus Juice (often he adds ginger or mint) and Hibiscus popsicles! All delicious. You will lose all sense of time here, so it’s a great place to go for a birthday dinner, or to catch up with an old friend.

BYO in Mile End that I tucked into for a friend’s bday dinner last week and couldn’t have been happier to find myself in such a cozy port in the –30 storm. We sat in the shoes-​off elevated area surrounded by big pillows beneath the billowing tapestries that patchwork the ceiling. Water was served in cool glass carafes, wine bottles popped, bowls of hot dahl served, and then giant stoneware dishes, one vegetarian, one chicken, one veal (which I didn’t try but folks raved over.) The chicken was moist and slightly spicy and the vegetarian had lip smackingly good potatoes. After the meal we were served hot sweet mint tea that was a perfect kick back out the door into the cold.
The restaurant was short staffed that night so the owner was cooking and serving and he did an amazing job juggling it all with a smile. We paid a flat $ 20 each plus tax which seemed like a fair deal for the massive mounts of meal and the great good vibes.

Perhaps the only Mauritanian restaurant in Montréal, La Khaima is one of the best options if you are looking for a place to eat in the Mile End area. The décor is warm and cozy, with cloth covering the ceiling and giving a tent-​like atmosphere. The owner, Attigh acts as server, cook, host and entertainer. He is a really interesting character and was the subject of an award winning documentary (
).
The menu varies, but everything I have tried there has so far been excellent. The cuisine is very similar to Moroccan cuisine and the menu usually includes one tajine, and one vegetarian option. You can ask for a sample platter containing the various menu items of the day.
The mint tea at the end is one of the highlights of the meal. It is sweet and intensely fragrant, and as a bonus, Attigh turns the process of oxygenating the hot brew into a fun show to watch.
La Khaima is a real treat and is highly recommended.