Ayla

Went here for Valentine’s Day and was looking to having some good Mediterranean food. The ambience of the restaurant was great and were seated quite quickly since we had a reservation. We decided to order the Jerusalem bread, the flat bread, the hummus, the labneh, the roasted cauliflower, the octopus carpaccio and the lamb shank. The bread and dips were well made. The roasted cauliflower and lamb were good but nothing that made me go WOW. The octopus however was my favourite dish. It was well balanced and very tasty. I would recommend ordering this! Overall the food was good and well presented so I would give a 4/5 for the food. The service however was not the greatest. Our server was very hard to flag down and we waited around an hour for our food :. Also, since we didn’t finish all our dishes, we asked our server to pack it to go. He told us to pick it up at the front and tell the hostess the number of our table. When we came home however, we noticed we had somebody else’s leftovers. That was pretty disappointed and because of this, I would give the service a 2/5. If Ayla improved their service, I would definitely give them a better rating.

Ayla was a sublime experience blending together traditional flavors with modern techniques. We chose to sit at the bar right in the middle of the busy restaurant - it came with pros and cons. The background sounds, bustling and chatter from behind the bar provided the perfect envelope to our own conversations. However service was sacrificed due to us being in the middle of it all. The food and drinks were all carefully prepared and presented. The toppings were perfectly selected to give each mouthful a delightful experience. Dare I say my favorite dish was the dessert - date cake a la pudding chômeur with pistachio ice cream. The branzino fish and the charred eggplant were a close second with the octopus a very close third. And lastly was the gnocchi pesto dish which was still satisfying. Ayla is the perfect date night spot to disappear to for a couple of hours and come out with fond memories.

Outstanding service. Clearly the owners have invested in hiring people who know food, wine and service. Malik, I believe was our server’s name was able to bring our attention to aspects of the menu that may interest us and gave gentle space for us to be curious by highlighting dishes and options that were beyond our original selection. He tastefully corrected an error made by the kitchen due to a dietary restriction. Appreciated being able to have a conversation on the ingredients and even though it was a busy night, the team worked well together to deliver a great meal in a beautiful setting. Food highlights grilled eggplant and muhamara dip. Hidden menu items may be available, just ask!

Cool new trendy middle eastern fusion resto in st Henri. Tried most of the veggie dishes which were light and tasty. The muhammara was delicious, the Turkish flat bread was a good choice, the eggplant was too smokey for my liking, the cauliflower was roasted so super healthy and the sauce was good but not enough to balance the bland cauliflower, the fish filet was excellent with mulberries, the vegetable taboon was well seasoned and tasty if you like veggies. For the desert, opted for the date cake which was ok, the small scoop of pistachio ice cream next to it was the best part. The service was good with new plates/utensils after every course, water refilling was a bit slow. Our waiter was busy to get attention if needed but the courses came at decent intervals on the slower side.

Had dinner at Ayla last night with my husband and we loved it. The waiters are so good at making suggestions based on food preferences. We had the 3 dips with the Turkish flat bread and everything was delicious but the muhammara dip was especially yummy. As a main, we shared the seared calamari, the asparagus with Romano and parmesan cheese and the Branzino filet with greens. The food really did not disappoint. The flavours were perfectly balanced and very tasty. Dessert was the date cake with pistachio ice cream. We LOVED it! Apart from the food, we appreciated the friendly service and how well they explained the flavours of the. food and the sommelier was amazing with pairing the dishes with the best wine! A special thank you to David and Renald for being so attentive and friendly! You really made the difference which made our evening wonderful!

Best Mediterranean food I've ever had! This place succeeded in creating an upscale shared dining experience. Service was great you are gonna need it as you'll have lots of questions if this is also your first time, while food was so flavourful and colourful. Go with your loved one!

The food was great and delicious. The atmosphere was cozy and fun. The service was a bit of a yo-yo. When we arrived, it was great. The hostesses that greated us were very nice and welcoming. Once we sat, someone came to serve us some water. But then, we felt forgotten about. They asked for our order a long time after our arrival and we were so hungry we ordered our food at the same time as the drinks. The food arrived under 2 minutes later ! As of then, we started to feel rushed: we ordered 4 appetizers to share and they all came together right away. Every 15 minutes, someone was coming to try to take the plates or drinks away, when we didn't even have more than one or two bites out of them! They didn't come back to give us water or ask us to get more drinks which we wanted!. We took our time to enjoy the exquisite food. But when our main courses arrived, we felt like the restaurant was starting to close up, when it was only 10 PM on a Thursday evenings. I would definitely come back but will try to come on a Friday or Saturday night and hope not to feel like the restaurant is closing too early !

nice decor, good food. stayed on the other side of the restaurant, a bit calmer with the kids. Seems to have a nice terrace. It's a mix of Mediterranean tastes. Appetizers are good tried the Turkish bread, Hummus. the octopus carpaccio and Eggplant were awesome. Kids liked the gnocchi. as Main from the meat side, the lamb kafta/kobab was really good. great to share with 3 or 4 after many appetizers.

Overall experience was 4 out of 5. The downfall was service which was a big 2 out of 5. Our server was simply MIA and we sat for more a long period of time before we even got some water, plates were coming in but no one took care of the empty plates. The food was the best part 4 out of 5, food would be a 5 but some portions not all were too small for the price. Overall, I would go again but service needs to be better. PS: The lamb is the picture below was incredible!

Very good service, BEAUTIFUL place and food presentation. Food is really good. However, make sure you take appetizers as you may not be filled by the mains, plus appetizers were great ! Update: Came back, food is still amazing ! Pictures added include some additions on the menu. The lamb was excellent ! And the seafood Rice was very good especially with shrimps and scallops cooked to perfection!