Dunya

Dunya is a Lebanese falafel and shawarma joint in the heart of Montreal — sandwiches, fries, and homemade ice cream turned out with real finesse by a young chef who came up the fine-dining way. Rami Nassim grew up in Lebanon, trained at the Ferrandi culinary school in Paris and the two-Michelin-starred Le Clarence, then sharpened his craft in Montreal at Vin Papillon and as sous-chef at Heni — before deciding what he really wanted was to build something from the ground up. "I love to build, and I wanted to start at the base," he explains; the idea was simply to make falafel, though Dunya turned out to be less simple than he'd imagined. A perfectionist by nature, Rami keeps items off the menu until they meet his standard (if you don't see the smoothies yet, that's why), and he approaches even a spice blend like a study — a dozen or so spices season the beef, worked out through research and testing until the very first tries hit the mark. He runs the place with a small, devoted team: childhood friend from Lebanon Imad El-Nawam, his partner Megan Heckinger, and the skilled cook Michael Kassabji.

The heart of it is the shawarma, treated as a craft rather than just a dish — beef laced with lamb fat on the spit, tender and deeply flavoured, dressed with tarator, onions, tomatoes, and parsley; or chicken with garlicky toum, pickles, and fries tucked right into the wrap. Falafel fans get a choice of a vibrant, 100% gluten-free plate or the classic sandwich, fried in a beautiful copper cylinder imported from Tripoli and adorned with calligraphy — a small piece of theatre in the middle of the room. On the side there are fries to dip in one of six house-made sauces (or all of them), and a fattoush for something lighter, while Megan's homemade iced tea, sodas, and other softs round out the drinks. Don't leave without the homemade ice cream — the honey-and-pistachio is the one to beat. There's also the Dunya Deli line of house dips to take home — hummus, mhammara, mtabbal, and baba ghannouj — available in store and enjoyed everywhere.

Best of all, the prices honour the spirit of the food: "In Lebanon, this cuisine isn't expensive, and we wanted to respect that," says Rami. Expect a falafel sandwich or plate and the shawarmas to sit comfortably in the single digits, with fries and a fattoush as modest add-ons. Precise, generous, and genuinely affordable, Dunya brings the most iconic street food of Lebanon — done simply, but with real finesse — to 2 rue Sherbrooke Est. It's the kind of unassuming address that quietly turns into a favourite, and the bet is a safe one: you'll be as won over as everyone else has been.