I always had great culinary experience in Trois-Riviere including this time. Mr.Butter is very considerate and looked up for vegan friendly restaurant. I thought it would be an impossible task in non metropolitan city but I guess I am wrong!

Elephant is presented as a vegan friendly non-authentic Indian restaurant. The fact that they acknowledged the non-authenticity of their cuisine, I was able to open my heart and enjoy this experience without scrutinizing on trivial matters such as “authenticity”. I almost realize how snobbish or close-minded it is the whole “authenticity” factor. Food is food. As long it tastes delicious, who cares? Elephant, you made me wiser.

The whole evening, I felt like I was back home, at the plateau/Mont-Royal. The décor is very hipster and the staff is perfectly bilingual. The place was buzzing as well! Party of 4 and more needed reservation if not, they send you off! They did that apologetically, of course. Lucky for us, we were only 2!

Samosa

I never liked Samosa. I thought they were too dry. I think Elephant noticed that too, so they added mango sauce on top of it. It was a nice balance of sweet and savory. I was marveled.

Popeye and grilled halloumi

Look at how green it is! No wonder they call it Popeye. It’s almost like a saag paneer or is it? The spinach was pulverized to a paste with some semi-hard cheese. I went for the spinach, and the taste was very earthy. Mr.Butter would have appreciated if the cheese was cut into smaller pieces so it could be more evenly distribution with the spinach.

Green curry with coconut and tofu

This tasted more like a South Eastern green curry, like Thai or Malaysian, which I love! At first glance, the portion looked small. But really, I became full very quickly because they were so generous with the tofu. I had it with rice and it was so satisfying. The next day, I made my own rendition (but obviously, it did not turn out as good as this one).

Elephant is loved by many. I saw different age group and with their bottle of wine. Oh yes, did I say it was a BYOB?

Zuuchini