O’Bol

Not all food courts are build the same. Like this one. Independent fronts like Obol serve up heaping plates. While they do have vegetarian options, the two lunch options that were suggested to me were both beef.
I opted for «The tex mex:» chili on rice. Make no mistake, it ain’t pretty. Think cafeteria gruel heaped on a paper plate. But all looks aside, it packs some taste!
Would I seek it out or crave it? Nah, but if I were in the area, say, for a beer festival, I’d definitely pad my stomach with this!

I just read the last review about O’Bol and then snuck out of the office and headed over there, looking for a healthy-​ish meal. I’m not vegan, but I’ve always been a sucker for simulated meats. You can imagine how shocked I was when I got there and saw things like ROAST CHICKEN LEG and MEATBALLS on the menu. Talk about doing a complete 180 on your original concept.
But since I went all the way over there, and nothing else in that food court appealed to me, and I’m not even vegan and therefore have no dietary restrictions, I decided that I was going to eat O’Bol anyway.
I went with the french chicken (I think that’s what it was called), which was basically a chicken stew with peas and squash, served in a bowl over rice and roasted potatoes. I also had a squash soup. The verdict? It was pretty good for a food court kiosque, and even though it wasn’t what I was expecting, I wasn’t really disappointed. It’s kind of nice to eat something relatively healthy in a food court (and I mean that in comparison to all the other very greasy and oily things you might be forced to eat in this kind of setting).
It’s probably about as homey as you can get in a food court.
Anyway, I think I’ve gone past the legal limit of the amount of times you can repeat the term «food court» in one review, so I’ll stop here. But if you’re near Bonaventure, and the idea of deciding which mediocre lunch option will leave you the least depressed, do head on over to O’Bol.

Vegan food is a beast that is hard to tame, as variety is sometimes missing or taste finds itself lacking. As a meat eater myself, it took some convincing by my wife to try O’Bol, which is a 100% vegan restaurant with no animal products whatsoever.
After tasting their Californian salad however, I was truly impressed! The blend of vegetables with «simulated» chicken strips that tasted so much better than some real meat strips, topped with a peanut sauce that marries itself so well to the Asian flavours… It was a piece of heaven!
I’ve returned only once since then as it’s out of my regular way and tucked in the Bonaventure Plaza’s food court, but just writing this review right now makes me crave for more.
If you’re a vegan that has trouble eating out with those damned meat lovers because they hate your food, this place will change their mind.