My enjoyment of Middle Eastern cuisine is a very recent occurrence. Part of that was never being exposed to it younger outside of bad shawarma at fast food joints. Hard to enjoy something when you’ve only known the bad stuff. My discovery of Sumac a few months ago peaked my interest in this cuisine and I’m now more inclined to try some stuff I perhaps wasn’t previously. This came into play a few weeks ago when a friend of my girlfriend’s invited us to a restaurant for what she called the best eggplant dish ever. The catch was she wouldn’t tell us where we were going! The day of, she told us to meet her at Parc and Mont-Royal. Because I couldn’t resisted guessing, I thought about possible restaurants nearby where an eggplant dish would be likely. My reasoning led me to Kaza Maza which is exactly where she brought us. I clearly have a little too much knowledge of Montreal restaurants at the moment!
Kaza Maza is located on Parc Avenue in a non-descript brickhouse. The space is sparse but nice – very much in keeping with the neighborhood and the building itself. Brick walls, white crown moldings, old wood floors, an old fireplace, minimal artwork and some nice chandeliers. There is also a bar which is nice but because of the layout of the space, it is not really intregrated with the dining room.
The menu is a variety of Middle Eastern dishes – most of which I had no clue about prior to entering the restaurant. As a starter, we went with a trio of spreads to go with some pitas. First was the mutabbal betteraves – roasted beet puree with tahini, yogourt, lemon and garlic. The vibrant pink colour of this dish is a clear indicator of just how much beet there is. I am not a beet fan generally speaking but I loved the flavour of this puree. Not overbearing in the least. The inclusion of the yogourt provided a nice smooth consistency.
The second spread was the mouhammara – ground walnuts with bread crumbs, pomegranate molasses and spices. A grainier consistency than the previously one and a much different flavour profile as well. Much more nutty and spiced with that hint of sweetness from the pomegranate molasses. Very enjoyable.
Our last starter was the one I already knew prior to this meal – Labneh. A thick yogourt, this was a rich, creamy and slightly sour spread that provided a perfect constrast to the other two.
Once we finished off the spreads, our mains arrived. First we had the arrayes kefta – Grilled pita stuffed with spiced minced lamb served with hummus and pomegranate molasses. To me, this dish was a slight miss. Compared to what we had so far, this felt fad and lacked strong flavour which is a surprise given the use of spiced lamb.
The grilled octopus with lentils was a much bigger success. The octopus was grilled perfectly….I simply wish there had been more! If that is my only complaint, you know the dish works well.
The final main was the catalyst for the whole evening – The fattet makdous – layers of fried eggplant, crispy pita bread, yogourt tahini sauce, garlic tomato sauce, pine nuts and almonds. Yeah…. this is an excellent eggplant dish. The use of crispy pitas seems weird when you read it in the description but it works beautifully to add some crunch to the mix. The sweetness of the tomato sauce, the creaminess of the tahini sauce, the nuttyness of the almonds and pine nuts – all of it works well with the fried eggplant and makes this a very satifying dish. Is it the best eggplant dish in Montreal? Not willing to go that far but it’s top of the list for now!
For dessert, we had classic baklavas as well as. The baklavas, thankfully not drenched in honey, were just sweet enough without getting on my nerves – an issue I’ve always run into with baklavas. We also had what I believe to have been halawets – our waitress told us but I honestly forgot the name. Pretty good as well – once again, not too sweet and a nice creamy texture.
Kaza Maza was a great meal and a wonderful introduction for me to new Middle Eastern dishes. In cases like this, it is always great when I can order a meal of almost entirely unknown dishes and have a great night. I know that Middle Eastern cuisine isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I highly recommend you give Kaza Maza a try and yeah… don’t forget the eggplant dish.
Cheers!
Kaza Maza
4629 Avenue du Parc
514 844 6292
Ramblings from the Complex Mind of a 30 Something 
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