Montreal Plaza

This place. Is so. Excellent. Right from the start, we could not stop looking around at the details of the space. We met our absolutely fantastic bartender/host, Carole, who promised to “make it happen” for us and our dietary restrictions. We had everything we could fit and it was all so delicious. I wish I had an actual empty leg to fit more food. I’m telling all my friends…or not. Because I want to get back in again ASAP.

Let me start with my appreciation for the passion and skill it takes to create a menu so complex and bold. Lots of unique combinations and daring dishes. The food was excellent; 10/10. There is something missing with the flow. We arrived at 9pm and ordered at 9:05pm. The server was excellent annd professional. Our drinks came at 9:15pm with the oysters. Great start! It took another 30 mins for the fois gras. Another 40 mins for scallops and mushrooms. Another 30 mins for bourguignon and salad. Each with a plate change. I appreciate the attention to detail, but you’re missing the bigger picture. More than half an hour between courses is just unacceptable for this scale of dining. We had an almost 3 hour dinner service, for 6 dishes. We were starving for 80% of our service, and tables beside us were complaining about the exact same thing. I do not fault the service or kitchen staff, this is a problem with standards and expectations of management/owners. Amazing food, great team but hopefully some reflection with your menu. I suspect having 10 daily specials on top of a regular menu filled with complex dishes/ingredients is excessive and overwhelming your young kitchen team. They delivered exceptional quality, but we won’t be returning anytime soon and I can promise half of the patrons tonight feel the same way. No one wants to eat dinner past midnight. Even for Europeans, that’s too much.

Exceptional service! Cocktail were a bit of a disappointment. For 16$ a drink you would expect either the quantity to follow either the taste to be out of this world and it was neither. Food was delicious appart for a slight misunderstanding regarding one plate. Dessert were okay. I personally chose the kouign aman and I found the fruit jam in it didn’t go with it. Definitely an experience to try but I’m not sure I would go back by choice.

Had a 9:00pm reservation for 4, arrived 8:55 and waited over 12 minutes till we were actually seated. Upon being seated another 5-6 minutes with no service until I actively asked them to come to us. Our server was remarkably friendly and really does his job really well. Food is however below our expectations. In our opinion some of the food lacks salt and is just overly simple with flavoring. It could be our own preference, but food is not the biggest issue. Wait time between dishes are up to 20 minutes. Foie gras - a rather fast dish to assemble - was in my opinion completely frogotten/omitted after we ordered, and was assembled only after we mentioned the fact that every other dish is already finished except that. Then there was the beef tartare. The portion was rather small, and the egg is not adequately mixed into the beef. Not really pleasing for it's price point. One of the plates of my friend is not cleaned properly too. I have to praise the waiter again. After knowing the unpleasant experience we've had, he handled it really well and even removed a dish from our bill. In general, the place has good vibe, good environment and some of the best servers. The indoor open kitchen design is also really neat. However, it seemed like it could need more staffing, as service is slow and in certain areas sloppy. Also food is underwhelming for the high expectations.