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It was a pleasant and welcome surprise that we happened by Ta Pies after the restaurant we'd originally planned to go to for lunch was closed for the entire week (with little notice). I say their loss and our absolute gain!
Walking down avenue du Parc towards Mont Royal, I recognized Ta Pies from a long time ago, having previously bookmarked it in my head (but inevitably forgetting about it, as one would expect). I wouldn't have bookmarked it in my head if it wasn't good, so I told my partner, hey, why not? We were due for a big dinner before 6, so what seemed like a casual, light lunch seemed like a really good idea.
The space is small and packed! First impression, let's see - the owners have accents from the land down under; Milo & Tim Tams are for sale; plus Hugh Jackman is in a picture (with the owners) on the wall. Yup, it's as authentic as they come!
My partner and I had the following warm single-portioned pies to start: the butter chicken, which packed plenty of meat and is currently my partner's favourite; and the steak and mushroom (which is less flavourful than the butter chicken and a bit drier, but still delicious in its own right).
Because the space is pretty tight - we had to wait a bit before we got a spot, and even when we did end up seated by the bar seats near the entrance, we had to make sure we weren't blocking anybody (to the washroom in the back). In that sense, it's probably best to take these pies to go.
For around $7 a pie, they were pretty filling and definitely good value. The pie crust is light and buttery & the filling packs a punch in flavour! Pretty damn good pies! We were sorry we didn't have a cooler in the back to take some of the frozen pies back home to Ottawa (a mistake we won't make again, I assure you), so we did the next best thing.
We took out another two pies to go: another butter chicken and the lamb rogan josh, which is my personal favourite (as it has a bit of a kick, but not too spicy).
It didn't end up being a "light" lunch, but it sure was tasty! No regrets; we'll be back (and with a cooler next time!)
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