Sesame - Gatineau

I absolutely love this restaurant. The food is fantastic, and as a vegan, I really appreciate the wide variety of vegan options they offer. It's definitely one of the best vegan-friendly restaurants I've been to, and their dishes are exceptional. Plus, the cocktails are phenomenal! Honestly, if I weren’t with my family, I might have indulged a little too much on a Tuesday morning. The only downside is that the restaurant can get quite loud. My grandfather, who is partially deaf, had some trouble hearing me because of the noise.

The food was passable, but it definitely lacked a bit more seasoning. Unfortunately, the service was quite disappointing. We arrived at 8:50 PM and had to wait 15 minutes for a server to bring us the menu, another 15 minutes to take our order, and then an additional 10 minutes before we received our lukewarm soup. It took another 20 minutes for the rest of our meals to arrive, plus an additional 8 minutes before we were given plates to serve our food. When we finally asked for dessert, the waiter told us that the kitchen was closed, even though dessert and tea were supposed to be included in our order. There were no discounts offered. We paid our bill and left feeling let down. I was hoping for a lovely dinner in a cozy setting with my wife, but it turned into a frustrating $117 experience for the two of us.

The aspiring manager and waiter appeared to be more interested in their phones and a young woman than in attending to the customers. Despite having more staff members than diners at our table of four, the service was surprisingly disappointing. Our food was left sitting on the service counter because Mohammed was too busy flirting with women.

As there is no reply option, I’ll respond to the owner’s message here: 1) If you’re not the same restaurant, why are you answering on their behalf? 2) Each dish comes with its own unique ingredients; adding anything else seems arbitrary, like putting bacon in a shawarma. I might have thought about retracting my comment if you had offered better customer service and expressed an apology instead of being rude. Wishing you all the best.

I absolutely adore their Tofu General Tao; it's truly delicious! I've seen other reviews mentioning that those who ordered the Chicken General Tao found the chicken to be dry, so keep that in mind if you prefer chicken. The dumplings are also fantastic. I'm really disappointed to learn that the Gatineau location has closed, and I hope it reopens soon!