My relatives came for a visit last week. Our family wanted to show them the best of Montreal and also introduce them to the Euro-North american flair of the city, since they live in Europe. I picked two restaurants that I thought they would like: L'Avenue and L'Express.
L'Express
I've walked by the creamy façade of L'Express on St. Denis so many times without noticing. It's been a mystery to me: where is this French bistro that I've heard so much of?
The second I walked in, I was impressed with the large and extravagant rosewood bar. (The bartender behind, a James Bond look-alike in black and white, was even more attractive!) I would recommend splurging and getting starters and wine for the full experience, you won't be disappointed. The goat cheese was perfectly warm and not too sour or dull, served on crunchy toasts drizzled with olive oil (I could actually taste the difference between this fine olive oil and your regular supermarket stuff). The steak tartare was delicious and cooked like it should be...yet we couldn't help stopping the waitress and blurting out, "Excuse me! It's red!!" The poor waitress stood there shocked for a moment without a word to say. By the time she recovered and was about to explain that steak tartare is in fact supposed to be cooked like that, our laughs gave it away that we were just playing with her. She laughed along with us, yet I have a feeling some tourists might seriously complain about their bloody meat. A passing waiter, just as put together in tidy black and white uniform jumped a bit out of character and voluntarily admitted that the look on his colleague's face was "awesome" and "it was worth saying that just to see her expression!"
I had paella, which was just as good as my Spanish host-mother's paella, though I like it with all types of seafood besides just shrimp. The home-made pasta got high-reviews, the octopus was presented like a piece of art, and our 3 and 5 year old dinner companions shouted "You're not allowed!!!" when we tried to steal their golden fries or a piece of chicken. We did have trouble getting used to the taste of the Californian white wine, it wasn't to any of our tastes. My Auntie, an expresso-lover, was eager to indulge in one at the end of the meal. This is a woman who travels all over Europe for business...including Italy...still, she turns to me and says the expresso is the best she's ever had, and "smooth and rich, not like battery acid!"
L'Avenue
Victoria has already wrote about L'Avenue, so I decided to check it out.
We went later in the afternoon on a weekday so that it would be less busy. Our waiter Alphonso looked Italian, spoke British English and Quebecois French. We sparked up a funny and long conversation with him about accents, since at the table included, we all had different accents. We're lucky he had the time to chat! I was especially surprised that the club sandwhich is SO HUGE. Definitely worth your money. The burger is delicious too! Near the end of the meal, we saw Alphonso, another waiter and a waitress doing shots behind the bar (early afternoon, mind you ;)) Loud enough for them to hear, we said, "Only in Quebec!" They replied, "Only at L'Avenue!" and promptly asked us if we would like to join them. So before leaving, my Uncle had a tequila shot with them...and then of course there is nothing more wonderful than the image of Alphonse smiling and waving goodbye to us on the steps of the restaurant at the end of the meal. I'm not sure how much we tipped him, but that could have been something to do with it.
;)
Only in Montreal!
K8
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