On a beautiful and sunny Saturday, I spent the afternoon at Laurier Park. I still hadn’t picked where I was going to eat dinner and I was calmly browsing through the RestoMontreal.ca website. I finally quit my search when Monsieur B was the first restaurant to call me back with an available table for the 9pm service. I was happy to read that it’s a «Bring your own wine» place as I was only a few steps away from a SAQ store.

After this already amazing day, my friend and I decided to walk to the restaurant, which is located right on the corner or Villeneuve and De Grand Pré streets. The tiny space has 36 seats for its clientele so it’s a must to make a reservation or to call before showing up. The tables are small, conversations quickly fill up the place but, let me assure you, you will have a wonderful time here.

Despite the limited space they had to operate, the owners were successful in brilliantly using the floor space. In addition, they offer two services during weekends: the first one is at 6pm and the second one is at 9pm. The latter, who also own Les Infidèles and Ô Thym, wanted to continue offering a French-inspired menu, quality meals and a friendly service. I am happy to say that they have succeeded.

The menu has two options: a tasting menu or a la carte dishes. If it’s your first time here, I suggest you go for the tasting menu to fully experience their creativity. The tasting menu includes appetizers, soup or salad, entree of your choice, trou normand, main course and dessert of your choice, all for 55$. This is a great deal.

Before getting the meals we ordered, we were served a small bowl of soup of the day. Today it’s an arugula and leek soup, which pleasantly helps us to patiently wait for our meal.

Since we opted for the a la carte menu, we start with the salmon tartare the waitress recommended. It is prepared with spicy mayonnaise, a fennel salad and arugula. I can frankly say that it is one of the best I had the pleasure to taste.

Then we picked the entree of the day, which consists of three large homemade raviolis, stuffed with lobster meat with a light butter sauce. It was consciously imagined as to not mask the delicate lobster flavour and the pasta is perfectly cooked. It’s delicious!

For the main course, we hesitated for a while because everything was so tempting! Since it was still pretty hot and humid outside, we decided to go for something light and refreshing. For myself, I chose the Albacore tuna steak served on a salade niçoise. The tuna was lightly seared, the portion was generous and the quality was exceptional. My friend settled for the herb crusted cod filet, served with caramelized onions, crushed topinambours and lemon sour cream. The combination of flavours is original, well-balanced, surprising and absolutely exquisite. We weren’t hungry anymore, but everything is so tasty that we still finish both our plates.

For a perfect finish, you can either go for a dessert or a cheese plate. The options change according to the chef’s creativity and your waiter will be happy to let you know what’s available. We would’ve gladly brought a dessert to eat later at home, but everything is prepared in Mason jars so you have to eat it on site. This will just give us an excuse to come back for a sweet treat.

Don’t hesitate to bring your favorite bottle of wine to enjoy with their delightful cuisine.

Bon appétit!