À La Table d'Outremont

Thibault

4.0

This my second visit to À la table d'Outremont.

This is a small, young restaurant in the less posh, lower part of Outremont. Staff is limited to owners Chef Michel & Front of the House Lead Amélie, who are life partners as well.

Both Michel & Amelie have an obvious passion for creating & sharing tasty, authentic French food. It shows in the dishes they serve.

The first time I ate there, I had a delicious boudin (created by Chef Michel from scratch) with mashed potatoes. The second time, I tried the amazing guinea fowl, server with gratin dauphinois. Who knew guinea fowl tasted that good? Both of those main dishes were exceptional.

One of the likely reason for this is that Chef Michel sources local ingredients & adapts the menu based on availability.

desserts appear to have been made by a completely different person from the mains. I had tarte tatin, one of our table mates ordered a crème brûlée. Clearly, these desserts need some work. The tarte tatin was ok-only, with a micro serving of icecream. The crème brûlée was skimpy, very thin, & felt cold inside, as if coming from the freezer. Disappointing.

Portions for bread were visibly measured.

This is a'bring your own bottle of wine' restaurant, which may enable big potential savings.

Amélie's service was friendly, attentive & prompt, but could be more confident.

The restaurant is clean, but the decor is not memorable.

The music choice was very much in the French classics register & it was not too loud (a good thing!). For me, eating old world style French food, all the while hearing Edith Piaf or Joe Dassin singing in the background went a long way in dredging happy memories, boosting the atmosphere factor. Good choice!

In short, a restaurant is about food before all else. On that chapter, À la table d'Outremont, with its concise menu, fresh, expertly prepared, classic main dishes, scored high in my book. desserts need work. BYOB is a nice feature.

I hope À la table d'Outremont does well. The owners clearly show passion & intention.
It is on the right track, even if there is room for improvement.

Samuel

5.0

Great authentic French food, amazing service by the host & her husband who is the chef! The music, the ambiance, the recommendations the host gave, the tiny details, made dining there a unique experience!