The Cosmopolitan Blog

Four of us went to the Tavern on the Square in Westmount, Montreal. To start with, this is the perfect location for this high-end bistro style restaurant. It’s classy and chic, friendly, very lively. I feel in love with the interior, it was visually soooo pleasing. The right lighting, nice art, great floral arrangements, a funky martini bar, a quaint quiet couch waiting area, tables at different levels, a beautiful floor-to-ceiling wooden wine “cellar”.

When I had called at lunch, to book for dinner (reservations ARE required), it sounded like very loud background noise, and it’s true, the place filled up so fast for dinner (it was a Friday night), the noise was definitely up one level, but it added a lot of warmth to the experience.

A word about our waiter. I should have asked his name. He was the perfect waiter, always available, always smiling, fast and efficient, knew his specials, knew his wines, joked with us.

Actually, now i think about it, there was something very familiar about everyone. Over the evening, i noticed so many guests getting up and saying hi to someone they knew sitting at another table. And because we were there quite long, i saw at least one table be turned over at least twice, so by the end of the evening, i feel like i saw the whole of Westmount stream by… and a very chi-chi elegant crowd they were too.

So, i should probably talk about the food. Fabulous would be the word. Starters: one of us had oysters, cutely served on a deep square plate, on ice, with all the fixin’s… I had breaded shrimp, slightly sweet with a small taste of honey, and sitting on a vinegary cucumber salad, was yummy. Two people had what they affectionately called KFC, Korean Fried Chicken, it was a special of the day. They both said it was a little spicy (good spicy), but was a lot of food.

Main courses: well, 3 out of 4 of us had the lamb, because it’s description was so awesome. It had figs, sweet onions, and amazing chickpea fries. Again, though, waaay too much food for one person (the dish that arrived in front of me actually didn’t look like it was a lot, but actually, it was quite filling). The fourth person had the daily fish special: grilled bar, apparently was fantastic, but i will say, i think with his oyster starter being really light, and then this main course, he probably felt like he could have had a little more.

A couple slightly negative points: the menu is not HUGELY varied, in fact, it all fits in one short page. But the specials really were worth listening to, and added 3 more options for starters and 3 options for mains (well, that wasn’t quite a negative, then, huh?)… and the other negative one.. real biggie this one (not!): they could be more generous on the butter portions that come with the bread… oh, and we did wait a little long between starters and main courses.

A note about deserts… they were really good. creme brulée was perfectly done, and i LOVED that you could pick a small or large portion, because i will say, after all that food, all i wanted was a few bites of desert. Lemon tart was very light and fluffy. and they had at least 3 items on the menu containing chocolate… always a plus there.

overall an awesome experience, a feast for the eyes and the taste buds, definitely recommend it. A little pricey ($50 per person), but well worth it.

Tavern on the Square, 1 Westmount Square, Westmount, QC, H3Z 2P9 – 514-989-9779 – 11:30AM-3PM (lunch) 6PM-11PM (dinner, but will stay open depending on crowd)- RESERVATIONS REQUIRED.

I went to FondueMentale for the 3rd time in 5 years, and it was great, as always. But i wanted to write a review this time, because i found the perfect combination of dishes to order. We were 4 people and went for dinner on a Friday night. It is recommended to make a reservation.

When you walk in, the restaurant is very quaint, you have to walk up a few steps and pull an old heavy door. The romantic atmosphere can be felt as soon as you walk in, with wood and candlelight visible from the entrance foyer. There are stairs that lead to the upstairs level, but we were seated one the first floor (I’ve been upstairs before, it’s nice too, more of a modern feel whereas here below, it feels nice and retro).

Fondue is originally a swiss dish that comes in very different varieties, but the 1 common thing is that it’s about putting a piece of something onto a long fork and placing it into a pot of a boiling liquid and leaving it there for a little while.

There is the cheese fondue where you put bread into liquid melted boiling swiss cheese. There’s Chinoise and Bourguignonne ones where u put raw meat into either boiling oil (bourguignonne) or broth (chinoise) to cook your meat. then there’s the ever fabulous chocolate fondue for desert.

So, at Fondue Mentale you can choose any one you like, there have different variations on each. And of course, if there are many of you, you can each take something different for a variety of samples. But what i really recommend you should do it take the menus, you have to be a minimum of 2 people for each menu though.

L’ aventure is the cheapest, at $29 per person, and there’s also La Romantique at $33 per person. We were four people, so we took one of each. For starters, you get a cheese fondue (a smaller portion), but still it’s a very filling dish, and we puposely ended up leaving a little at the bottom of the pot, to save place for the rest of the food. The good thing is, since we get 2 portions of Cheese Fondue (since we had 2 menus), we had a different type of cheese in each fondue.

Then came the fondue Chinoise, where we got dishes of raw beef and chicken (L’ Aventure) and a dish of raw beef, chicken, shrimp, salmon and calamari (La Romantique), that you have to place at the end of your long fork (you get 2 forks per person so you can be more productive)…

Of course, I made sure to tell my dinner companions that, when i was in Switzerland, i had been taught that the rule for fondues was: if a piece drops off your fork (i.e. you pull your fork out of the pot and there’s nothing attached to it), you have to pay a penalty… and the penalty can be anything from kissing your neighbor to handing over a piece of food in penalty

Oh! and rule no2 (way more important if you care about your tummy): with cheese fondue, NEVER drink ice water while eating the fondue, because then the melted cheese solifies in yuor tummy and well, not good! So, ice with no water (small sips only, otherwise effect will be the same, and you’ll be full by the 4th bite) or better yet, a nice bottle of white wine (always good to use this as an opportunity to try a german or swiss wine).

Desert was a fruit fondue, perfect end, a little pot of hot melted chocolate and a plate full of cut up fruit to dip into it. FABULOUS!

Anyway, so, conclusion: for this restaurant, my tips are: go with a group, be adventurous, come hunry, stay away from too much water, stay close to lots of wine, and find a way to maximize the different dishes you end up with. The menus are GREAT ideas because they are designed for maximum sampling. HAPPY FONDU-ING!

FondueMentale is located at 4325 Saint-Denis (between Marie-Anne and Rachel) – (514) 499-1446 – http://www.fonduementale.com/ – open from 5.30 to 10pm (weekdays) and until 11.30pm (weekends).

This is my no1 favorite place. Period. The fact that this Iranian / Persian restaurant’s main clientèle are all Persian should tell you something: it’s not a tourist trap or a hyped up commercial venture. It’s a hole-in-the-wall place, but just walking in makes you so hungry, the smells coming from this family-run restaurant and kitchen are amazing… The menu has all the essentials. It’s hearty, large portions, perfection!! …and it’s so cheap, you have a complete meal for $10!! (and i’ve taken some home for lunch the next day, cuz i had too much on my plate).

it’s like going home to your mom’s for dinner (and i’m not even Persian!!)

The rice is so savorful, with the saffron and melted butter, i’ve not tasted anything like this before in any other Iranian restaurant. The dish you MUST try is the Crazy Chicken (seriously, that’s what it’s called). Ask for the boneless version. It’s grilled, but has saffron and lemon and it’s so moist it melts in your mouth. When they ask you if you want soup or salad to start (yes, it comes with every main course), say soup, regardless of if it’s summer. I’m not a big soup fan, but this is SO good. It’s very hearty and thicker than your average soup, but it has lentils and noodles, and a hint of vinegar and it’s so tasty, it’s really, like the best comfort food you could get.

I’m so lucky to have this place next door to me.

Edit – 16 July 08: Thanks to my loyal readers for pointing out the lack of an address… DUH!… Here it is:
820 Avenue Atwater – Montréal, QC – Tel: (514) 933-0933.

You’ll spend on average $10-$16 per person. There are soft drinks, but no alcohol, and you can’t BYOB. They take cash only, i believe. You can also order take out, and if you ask nicely, they’ll call a cab for you and deliver it to your place (you pay for the taxi, obviously).

A group of us went to this restaurant because of the all-you-can-eat buffet, and what i find is this: know what to expect and you won’t be disappointed. This is the ideal place for a large group with various tastes and budgets. What this place will NOT offer: a grand culinary experience, a trendy atmosphere, service excellence.

But it’s a decent meal out if you plan on concentrating on the company of your friends / family.

Ok, so about the food. It’s a good size buffet, there’s a chinese food section, with about 20 different warm choices, and 20 appetizer choices, as well as about 4 choices of soup. I recommend the schezuan shrimps, the crispy chicken and the soups. Then there’s the sushi section. I consider myself relatively educated in matters of sushi, and if that’s how you consider yourself, then don’t go there for the sushi. There’s your basics only: california, kamikaze and a couple other combinations. There are about 2-3 vegetarian rolls, and your basic nigiri sushi: salmon, shrimp and eel the day i was there. The quality of the fish is mediocre, to give you an idea, it’s just one cut above the boxes of sushi you find in the grocery stores.

And if you haven’t stuffed yourself enough, there’s a full salad section, and a full desert section. Personally, since i don’t have a sweet tooth, i would have liked to see more choices in main courses or sushi, rather than desert, although everyone seemed to recommend the jello

Service is decent, and fairly efficient. Note that on groups of 6 or more, then added a 12% service charge straight onto your bill. The prices are what makes this place worth it: buffet is $10 at lunch (less seafood choices) and $15 for dinner.

1240 Stanley, Montreal, Quebec H3B 2S7 – (514)871-8099

Anyone else been to this place? what did everyone else think of true ?

Located on trendy McGill Avenue, just on the edge of Old Montreal, an area I really don’t know that well, but really want to discover, it really has the latest and hottest places to wine and dine.

So Holder is trendy without over doing it. It’s a french brasserie style place, high ceilings, lots of wood, noisy, lots of activity, cute waiters offering efficient service with an accent and wearing the typical french towel/apron over their black pants, fancy dishes and beautiful plating… I went on a Tuesday and it was bustling. They have a bar, and what i liked about it was that the bar wasn’t to one side, it was right there, in the middle of the hubbub… I recommend their Kamikazes, super lemony, not very french but oh so yummy.

So we had a couple drinks, and then moved on to our table. Great thing about this place is that it’s really, really busy, and yet, they didn’t seem to have problems seating us, once we were ready to go to our table, they were ready to show us there.

The menu is not extensive, 4-5 dishes in each category (appetizers, soups, salads, fish, meat…), but some classics. Presentation & plating of each dish was impeccable. The only negative, which i found out later, was that our waiter forgot to tell us about the specials, they were actually up on a big black board on the wall, but too far for us to read, and, had he told us about them, i might have actually tried the entrecote out.

One of my friends had the beef cheek (sounds weird, but it’s a super tender part of the beef) in bourguignon sauce, a twist on a french classic, very nice. Another person had the salmon, the menu said “on a bed of mashed potatoes” (oh, sorry, no, purée potatoes ), and they weren’t kidding, it really was a bed, very generous portion. Another friend had the seared tuna, I can’t remember the description on the menu, but he wasn’t as excited as we were with our dishes. He was expecting something very saucy, but like i pointed out, tuna rarely is in sauce, and this seemed really good, it was lying on a bed of lentils, peppers and other grilled vegetables, and again, a generous portion there. My dish was the lobster ravioli, it was delicious. Good portion, very rich (but not too rich), and i appreciate that they kept the sauce to a minimum, it really brought out the lobster flavor.

Oh, i should talk about the appetizers. I had the goat cheese, and I recommend it, seriously. It was perfect warm temperature, and filled our mouth in a way that only goat cheese can. It was on a crispy biscuit, and was served with a delicious and very generous portion of olive tapenade. Very yummy. Other apetizers around the table were, the classic and Holder favorite steak tartare. Being 1/2 french, i’m used to having the waiter prepare it table side, but here, they don’t. They take your order and ask you if you want it spicy or not, and then it comes already plated. This would never fly in France, but then France can be snooty that way. This was efficient and perfect.

A note about deserts, we were all so full by then, that we could only go for one desert to share. We chose the trilogy of creme brulées, and what a good choice…. Very yummy and good for sharing, just ask them for extra spoons. I saw on the menu they had a selection of french and Quebec cheeses, which was tempting too.

Wine list was very decent, wines from all over the world, with no specific emphasis on France (just how i like it). All the cocktails you could want from the bar. Pricing is extremely reasonable, my lobster ravioli was $19, the beef cheek was $22 i think.

Only thing i can suggest for improvement is the sign on the door. The door is actually the entrance to the office building 407 McGill, but it’s not at all obvious that it will take you into the restaurant as well… You have to actually walk up the couple steps before realizing they have a tiny sign there. But hey, if that’s the only nitpick, then really, shows what i great time i had… I’ll definitely be back.

Holder -407 McGill – 849-0333 – $30-$40 per person for 3 courses, not including tax or drinks.