This is an institution in Montreal in the french brasserie category, in fact it is one of the oldest (-+ 30 years). The decor is great with it's high ceilings in a great french burgundy color, and a long bar, the front is all window, which let's in a lot of natural light and provides a view onto St Denis\n.\nThe service here is top notch, very french so everything is quite smooth and attentive, it does have a touch of the old school snobyness at times, but generally speaking this is not a bad thing, they are not condencending just quite correct and maybe too formal.\n\nThe food is hit or miss for me, I will simply tell you what I really liked on my last visit\nOs a Moelle, (it's a little pricey but if you have never tried this, do yourself a favor and start here), the fish soup is also very good and has a nice balance of flavors, on this last visit, (feb29,2012), I sample the octopus, which was boiled (as per waiter, which had me worried but I still ordered it), it was very tender to the taste and served over lentils, with onions and a vinegrette, a big winner. A goat cheese salad with endives followed and it was ok but nothing special, then a steak tartare, here we had a miss. For me the texture (seriously ground to a mash), was so unappealing, and the flavors were too mild, barely anything other than capers, at 24$ with a choice of fries or mashed, this was the big let down. \nOn the other hand the wines are great, they get all private imports which is ideal, we samples a gigondas 2008, costing 58$ that was very appreciated.\n\nI have in the past been here for breakfast, which is rather limited but always good, it is not for those looking for bang for you buck or to fill up, but it is a very pleasant atmosphere.\n\nThey have really long hours and are often opened until 1-2am so if your looking for some quality noche, after hours this is a great alternative to crap food usually available at this time of night.
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