New Montreal Restaurant Thread

[montreal_monk01]

Another keeper: Douro Restaurant on St Laurent

The name: Douro
The address: 6518 Blvd St Laurent
I've just discovered this portuguese restaurant at the entrance of Little Italy.
Pure magic: from their awesome paella to the "sea food casserole", you can easily guess that they have one of the best talented chef in Mtl. Btw, their seafood soup is exactly what a seafood soup is supposed to be: tasty, unique, flavourish and savourish!
Only minor downside: The decoration of the restaurant is romantic. Problem is that the restaurant can get noisy which is kind of awkward given the cute romantic setup of the restaurant. Has nothing to do with the restaurant though...has to do with the ppl.

 

[ParChance]

Yeah I went there & it's not good at all. Value or otherwise!

To give an idea of how bad it was, I can't or don't want to remember what I had.

The others in my party also didn't enjoy their meals

 

[chef]

...............
The torchon of foie gras was good but not really worth the price unless you're from Chicago, (foie gras is banned there, im serious).......

Yup, the ban was spearheaded by Chef Charlie Trotter, the former foie gras king. Fortunately Montreal has Martin Picard (Au Pied de Cochon).

 

[Special K]

Cafe Eggstase (twice) & Irish Embassy

A couple of restaurant reviews upon my return to Beantown. First up, the best thing in breakfast since the invention of the egg.

Cafe Eggstase: 3036 Rue Masson

Decided to try something new for breakfast on this trip, so along with my friend I plugged in my GPS system and started out for Rue Masson. About 15 minutes later we arrived at a new resto opened by a gentlemen known here very well as -----. Walked in and wow!!! I was very impressed with the way the place had turned out. Very classy and nice. The first thing I noticed when we walked in was the beautiful brunette waitress / hostess who greeted us. Yes, ------ definitely has a knack for picking out beautiful help Also working this day was another stunning curly haired blonde gal and both looked incredible in their signature Eggstase outfits. The only downfall was this brunette beauty that greeted us wasn't well versed in the English language so we were handed off to Hugo to take our orders and serve us. Once seated I took my eyes off the waitresses long enough to notice that there were 2 huge plasma tv's mounted on the walls, open air front section with the large sliding windows that open fully and approximately 20+ tables throughout the resto as well as a somewhat private section toward the back right.

Taking a look at the menu (in french) I needed some assistance from our friendly server Hugo to interpret a few of the items. I decided on the Charcutiere omelette which consisted of eggs, sausage, tomatoes, ham, and cheddar cheese, it's possible I might have missed an ingredient as well. Portions were very big and actually I didn't really come close to finishing. Two large slices of toast as well as a side of very good potatoes made for an excellent breakfast. My comrade ordered the Mediterranean omelette which came with eggs, olives, feta cheese, tomatoes and some other things. He too was very impressed with his meal.

I also asked to meet the proprietor of this establishment when we arrived and it was quite a pleasure to meet the man himself, ------. Very cordial, nice gentleman. I introduced myself as K******* and he immediately made the connection to Special K saying..."ahhhh...Special K" Lol. Perhaps it was my Boston accent and Red Sox hat I was wearing? To top off our breakfast ------ brought out a very nice dessert and wished me a Happy Birthday.

After this first wonderful experience I decided I would also take my friend that was visiting from Boston later that day to this same establishment the following day. Again, we ventured out in the late morning / early afternoon for Eggstase. The beautiful brunette waitress/ hostess had been replaced this day by another gorgeous young blonde gal as well as the curly haired blonde from the previous day. Again, ------ was at work as well. He generously delivered 3 very tasty smoothie type beverages which I still don't know what consisted of but they were good. I enjoyed the spinach and cheese omelette, again, not finishing the entire thing. My friend from the previous day ordered the charcutiere omelette and my newly arrived friend ordered a fabulous spinach / ham benedict which will definitely be the next item I indulge at here.

In closing I would highly recommend Cafe Eggstase. We were there only for breakfast but they are also open for dinner, which I'll have to indulge in next time I'm in town. I'm also looking forward to seeing the evening "help" as well.

Will edit a bit later and add my Irish Embassy experience.

 

[Special K]

Irish Embassy Pub 1234 Rue Bishop

Enjoyed a very nice lunch at this newer establishment in Downtown Montreal. Located on Bishop between Rene Levesque & St Catherine the IE Pub is a very large, resto / bar. There's a huge terrace in the front as well as in the back I believe. Upon entering I ordered a Guinness which was served appropriately after settling. For an appetizer I went with the Fried Calamari, turned out to be a very good choice. Might be considered by some to be a little bit too greasy but I found it quite delicious with the aioli dipping sauce and more than enough for 2 people. My main lunch consisted of a thick, juicy burger which I requested to be cooked medium, it came back on the well side, next time I'll know to request med. rare. Very tasty burger, one of the best in the downtown area which really isn't saying that much. It came accompanied with french fries which were also quite good. Overall a definite repeat experience is in order at the Irish Embassy.

The menu listed on the website is no where near whats on the real menu. The on site menu at the resto was far better.

 

[chef]

Dining With the Emperor

Saturday, 9pm, Old Montreal - where to eat? With memories of good reviews here, I took my charming dinner companion to Bonaparte. We managed to get a table with just a short wait, sitting on the "balcony", next to an exposed brick wall. Very warm surroundings, which I enjoyed.

On perusing the menu I almost walked out. I don't like to see long lists on menus - long before Gordon Ramsey was advocating them, I always gravitated to restos with brief menus; that way the chefs do a few things very well. As well, seeing "Sauce Grand Veneur" was a turn-off as it smacked of dusty, centuries-old recipes.

The Table d'hôte looked interesting, but we both wanted lobster bisque, so ordered à la carte instead. The bisque was nice and smooth, with a pronounced lobster taste, and the ginger made its presence known by its piquancy. However, it was heavy compared to Europea's light confection - their lobster "capuccino".

We then shared an appetizer of snail rolls. The rolls were pedestrian (tasteless), but came with a really nice green (watercress?) sauce; I used some bread to mop up the sauce.

Then we waited, we twiddled our thumbs, waited some more, twiddled our thumbs some more, then finally the mains came out. We had ordered the venison and the duck confit. The venison was nicely done, but was served smothered in a nondescript brown sauce. My duck had the same (?) brown sauce on it. Damn ! When I order duck confit I want a crispy skin, I don't want it soggy with sauce. The veggies were also swimming in the sauce. This was a case where kids have it right - Mr. Green Beans should not be touching Mr. Brown Sauce. The confit was a generous leg, but was tasteless; I did not finish it - a first for me when it comes to confit. The best duck confit I have had in Montreal was in Toronto !

Need I say we skipped dessert ?

When I got the bill I shuddered as I could have eaten like a king at my favourite place for the same money.

A definite no-repeat !

 

[bond_james_bond]

Firegrill - http://www.firegrill.com/header.html

1490 Stanley

On the first floor of an ultra-modern, shiny, silvery office building near the Omni. The inside is all mahogany, leather, and cherry wood, with a slightly trendy touch. It reminds me of Houston's in the US.

The hostesses wear black, while the wait staff are ties and shirts. The uniforms remind me of Romano's Macaroni Grill in the US.

Food is standard North American fare. Pricing is moderately expensive. It's not as expensive as Queue du Cheval. $20-25 should get you a good lunch-dinner.

 

[super hiro]

It's not as expensive as Queue du Cheval. $20-25 should get you a good lunch-dinner.

How is the steak compared to Cheval?

 

[bond_james_bond]

How is the steak compared to Cheval?

I don't know, bro. I had the roast pork and it was awesome, perfectly soft and juicy. I'm guessing the steak probably isn't as good as Cheval, but good enough.

 

[Ben Dover]

don't know about you guys, but I cannot get enough of the ladies working at Bueno Note... They know how to hire!!

 

[MG_mtl]

Firegrill - 1490 Stanley

On the first floor of an ultra-modern, shiny, silvery office building near the Omni.

Actually it's a Condo building (there are 2 towers, one at the corner of Stanley and Maisonneuve, the other one at the corner of Drummond and Maisonneuve).
http://www.imtl.org/edifices/Tour-Lepine--1200-Maisonneuve-Ouest.php

 

[Special K]

Firegrill - http://www.firegrill.com/header.html

1490 Stanley

On the first floor of an ultra-modern, shiny, silvery office building near the Omni. The inside is all mahogany, leather, and cherry wood, with a slightly trendy touch. It reminds me of Houston's in the US.

The hostesses wear black, while the wait staff are ties and shirts. The uniforms remind me of Romano's Macaroni Grill in the US.

Food is standard North American fare. Pricing is moderately expensive. It's not as expensive as Queue du Cheval. $20-25 should get you a good lunch-dinner.

BJB...Could you give us a rundown of what you ordered and how it was? I see in another thread you had the roast pork but anything else, side orders, desserts, what your companion had, did you try it?

Thanks,

SK

Thanks!

 

[bond_james_bond]

BJB...Could you give us a rundown of what you ordered and how it was? I see in another thread you had the roast pork but anything else, side orders, desserts, what your companion had, did you try it?

Thanks,

SK

Thanks!

The roast pork platter came with mashed potatoes that were nice and thick, and vegetables that were juicy and buttery. I was alone, and I didn't have anything else because I was pretty full.

The couple next to me had a full rack of ribs and fries (each). That looked good, and if I go there again, I'll probably get the ribs.

 

[super hiro]

Sorry if this has already been posted but I couldn't find it. I keep hearing Cheval is EXPENSIVE for steaks. What price range are we looking at?

Is it better than Moishes?

We normally go to Angus (?) and have no problems paying $50-60 for a good steak.

do they have an online menu? All i found was this? http://www.queuedecheval.com/

 

[EagerBeaver]

Chez Cora on rue Drummond

Chez Cora New Location: rue Drummond, at the Best Western Europa

The Chez Cora that used to be on Stanley and its staff has moved to a new location a little over a block away in the basement of the Best Western Europa on Drummond. I had breakfast there one day last week, and upon entering it became obvious why they moved: they have a lot more space in the new location, as opposed to the very cramped quarters they had on Stanley. The food hasn't changed, and I ordered my favorite here which is the Beautiful Beaufish - smoked salmon on a Montreal bagel with cream cheese, tomatoes, red onions, and capers, surrounded by a large mound of fresh fruit including grapes, watermelon, banana, cantaloupe, strawberries, apples, pineapple, kiwi fruit and even starfruit. It costs $13.95, I believe, but is well worth it.

This was one of two great breakfasts I had last week, the review of the other place (which was even better) will be coming shortly.

The Best Western Europa can now claim to have one other thing going for it besides great location: best hotel breakfast in the downtown corridor.

 

[bond_james_bond]

Thanks, EB.

I was wondering where that Chez Cora went.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Cafe Eggstase

CAFE EGGSTASE, 3036 MASSON

Last week I managed to catch Special K and Voyager on the tail end of their trips to Montreal, and they both convinced me to join them for a late morning breakfast at the new breakfast eatery operated by the legendary Martin of XXXtase - Cafe Eggstase. It would prove to be the best breakfast I had on this trip and in recent memory, for that matter.

It is located in a French section of Montreal, somewhere in the east end, a 10-15 minute drive from the downtown. SK drove us there and I think I was in the general neighborhood only once before.

As you enter Cafe Eggstase you have the feeling of entering a champagne room (you will see what I mean when you get there). This place has Martin's touch all over it. Two 50" wide screen TVs are mounted on each wall, and as we entered, one seemed to be tuned into sports programming and the other to CNN or some news programming. I took note that there was a young lady working away on her laptop, so there is obviously WiFi as well.

The only disappointment was that there is no English menu, but since I know some of the French words for the things I like to eat, this did not seem to be a major problem (although more on this later). I recognized what I wanted, "Pain Dore et fruit", which I suspected meant French toast with fruit. The waitress, a pleasant and very attractive young lady, confirmed my suspicion, and that's what I ordered. Initially there was a mixup with the order, but I eventually got my French Toast, and it was superb!!!!! It was made with a high quality bread, I am not sure what kind exactly, but it is the kind of bread everyone should make French Toast with. The French Toast was surrounded by a nice mound of fresh fruit, including bananas, blackberries and chopped apples. I also received a small jar of a very thick maple syrup, which was quite good. It was the best French Toast I have had in some time, and a very plentiful portion as well (did not finish, but came close).

Special K got some kind of egg creation which was served in an oval casserole dish. It looked like poached eggs of some kind with a hollandaise sauce and spinach over it. I am not sure what you call that in English or French. Strangely, I can't recall what Voyager got to eat, but I seem to remember seeing a lot of potatoes on his plate

The service and food were excellent. The only 2 disappointments were not getting to meet the top dog, the grande chien, Martin, who is now clearly a successful restaurateur in addition to being a successful agency operator, and not having an English menu to look at. While I can read and understand a few French words, it would have been easier to have an English menu so I could have understood all the components of each dish. Martin, I understand most of your customers are probably local French Canadians, but if you print a few English translation menus, when the unilingual Anglophones come in like SK, Voyager and me, we will be inclined to order more food and spend more money if we can fully understand everything you are serving.

In any event, I highly recommend Cafe Eggstase. Although it's a short drive from the downtown, it's well worth it. Martin, great job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[hormone]

Here is my contributions...

Sushi:
Juni 156 Laurier O (near St-Urbain) 514-276-5864 Google LINK
Zen-Ya [SIZE=-1]486 RUE SAINTE-CATHERINE OUEST (next door to FutureShop 2nd floor)[/SIZE] Google LINK
Sakura [SIZE=-1]2170 de la Montagne (near Sherbrooke) [/SIZE][SIZE=-1](514) 288-9122 Google LINK (Since Katsura closed, Sakura has taken over the lease).[/SIZE]

If you like real sushi, hands down in Montreal has to be Juni on Laurier street. Its chic, decent price for the quality and the chef is a real Itamae (Japanese Sushi Chef). I also like Zen-Ya for its setting, but the quality of the fish is not as good as Juni. If you're not too crazy about sushi but like the idea of a Japanese-Themed restaurant, then go to Sho-Dan. Being a sushi addict, I can't recommend its sushi as they don't have a large selection and to be honest don't trust it. But they offer some decent teriyaki style meals.

Let me know what you think!

I have to comment on sushi, as this is one of my favorite foods! I must say I agree!
Junichi, chef and co-owner of Jun-i, has hand picked a totally japanese crew of chefs and delivers incredibly inspired japanese european inventions. This is not your "St-Laurent fusion" of italian-sushi type stuff... His is on par with real Japanese sushi, probably the only one like this in a 1000 km (canadian) radius. Even the waiters order to him in japanese... truly an experience. Also of note, they have sakes from private importations, which you will not find in other restaurants. These vary every 3-6 months...
Zenya also has a real japanese chef, Koji, of ancient Koji's Kaizen and tokiwa fame. But he is not there all the time and I must say I notice a (positive) difference when he is there.
The Sho-Dan restaurants, there are now 3 (...), is not bad food, but truly vietnamese varietey, as most Montreal sushi restaurants. A lot more mayo and sauces, which make up the "tasty" aspect. Contrarily to real Japanese sushi, where the focus is all on the fish...

 

[EagerBeaver]

Irish Embassy

The Irish Embassy is an Irish pub on rue Bishop, serving slightly above average pub-style fare with a few more choices than one normally would expect to see on the menu. I had dinner here two nights last week with Special K, also joined one evening by Voyager. The first night I ordered Tandoori chicken and Grilled Tuscan flatbread. The Tandoori chicken was marinated with Indian-style spices, grilled and served on skewers with a somewhat weak yogurt sauce. The Grilled Tuscan flatbread was the better choice - a long oval shaped flat bread cooked like a pizza with tomato sauce, melted cheese and scallions.

The second night I ordered the crab cakes, chicken wings and fried calamari. The crab cakes were average, although the portion was plentiful. The wings were a bit saucy and messy to eat, but tasty. The fried calamari, as previously reviewed by Special K, were slightly greasy and on the heavy side, but the calamari were very tender and they were tasty.

Overall the food is better than Hurley's and the atmosphere is nice. One disappointment is that on both nights I went there they were out of my #1 choice appetizer, the smoked salmon served with Irish style bread and cream cheese.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Three Hit or Miss Restaurants

Next on the restaurant parade are three classic "hit or miss" restaurants. What I mean by "hit or miss" is that depending on what you order, you will get something that is great, or terrible. All 3 I have eaten at many times, and the first two I went to mainly because of their proximity to the Omni on evenings that were cold as a witch's tit:

Mikasa (Peel): I only go here for the sushi, because the selection is good. The traditional Japanese fare they serve is not recommended. With regard to the sushi, they have a large menu of choices but some of them are misleadingly described. For example, I ordered the "tempura scallops" thinking I was getting batter fried scallops chopped and then placed and wrapped on sushi rice. What I got was scallops that were mixed with a lot of mayonnaise and tempura crunch. In fact, a lot of the sushi here seems to be made with mayonnaise, and you should ask the waitress rather than rely on the menu descriptions. There are some good sushi items, but you have to be real careful to stick to the classic stuff and avoid the nouveau rolls that are misleadingly advertised.

Zen (basement of Hotel Omni): They have an all you can eat special for $32/person, which I only tried once when I took Karyna of Eleganza here for dinner a few months ago. I let Karyna order a bunch of things, but the truth is that a bunch of them were not that great but a few were. To me the standout dishes are the vermicelli salad and the dumplings with peanut sauce, both of which I ordered a la carte when I returned last week. Avoid the chicken satays; they are served badly overcooked.

Reubens (St, Catherine between Peel and Stanley): A classic hit or miss restaurant. If you are like Doc Holliday and order the same thing every time you go there - the overstuffed Reubens smoked meat sandwich- you will be all set. If you are like me, and experiment and order and try different things, you will see they do some things well, like their buttermilk pancakes and potato latkes, and some things not so well, like their hamburgers. I ordered the All American Burger and it was served on a stale kaiser roll and badly overcooked, with little taste. I didn't even finish it, even though I was ravenously hungry when I arrived in Montreal and went there for lunch.