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.

As some of you may know, i became canadian in january. and yesterday, out of nowhere, i got this package in the mail, i opened it, and it looked like a diploma case, you know those letter size leather padded folders that open upwards with the diploma inside? so this diploma case is green, and it’s from the House of Commons. So i open it and see this diploma, with all the provincial flags, the government stamp, and it’s signed from my MP, Marc Garneau (yes, the ex-astronaute). The text is all about welcoming me to canada and congratulating me on bahalf of my fellow citizens.

ok, so maybe this is just a marketing ploy, and he’s trying to get me to vote for him. but u know what? it just made me smile all day. because i didn’t expect this, and it just made me feel good.

So let’s take a moment to be grateful for the small things in life that make us happy.

I’m trying to keep to short posts, but stay tuned for my commentary on the entire canadian immigration / citizenship process.

For now, I’ve settled in Montreal, and it’s a food lover’s heaven… It’s got the best of London and New York at a much more reasonable price. There’s trendy, there’s fast, there’s slow, there’s I-go-there-to-be-seen, there’s ugly, there’s delicious and not so delicious. There’s every cuisine you can dream of, and generally, there’s very, very good service… Most Montreal waiters haven’t yet discovered that they work in a trendy enough city that they can have some attitude ssshhh, don’t tell them.

So I’m gonna post my restaurant reviews here, although I do usually have them published other places too… I’ll place the links as I get them.

If you’ve been to one of the restaurants I’ve reviewed and you agree with my review, then great, let me know. But if you don’t agree, then PLEASE tell me, there’s nothing I want more than a reason to go back to a restaurant to prove you wrong!! I’m kidding….