Bar St-Denis draws largely glowing feedback for its vibrant atmosphere, open kitchen energy, and creative tasting menu that often highlights seafood and bold, well balanced flavors along with a strong wine program. Many diners describe friendly, attentive service that enhances the evening, though a number note occasional lapses in attention, pacing, or value, and some dishes feel underseasoned or overpriced given portion size. Standout dishes like razor clams, scallops, labneh, and duck appear frequently, while some meals praise the roominess of the venue and the lively bar scene, and others mention a bright early evening lighting that can feel a bit stark for a first date. The tasting menu is repeatedly a highlight, with inventive combinations and strong pairings, yet a few visits recall missteps where certain ingredients overwhelm others. Overall, Bar St-Denis is seen as a top Montreal dining option, celebrated for quality, hospitality, and a sophisticated yet approachable vibe, while some reviews remind that price to quantity value can be uneven.
Really enjoyed our dinner here. Spotted up at the bar - cool, unassuming, & unpretentious for how good the food & drink are. Don't miss the pork, potato, or the labneh. & save room for very sizable, delicious desserts (sticky toffee pudding).
Lovely meal. Spacing for dishes was a bit weird, we ordered 4 dishes from the cold section & fries. The asparagus & fries came last with about 15-20 minutes after the 3 other cold dishes. If I'm ordering fries I'd want to eat them through out my meal.
Baked Alaska was so so..not worth the price & a bit too sweet. My mom was also in the bathroom but they didn't wait to bring it out, for an ice cream dessert & a place with this price tag I expected a bit more tact. Not a big deal though!
Scallops, razor clams, & tomato were all amazing! Would come back overall.
Jul 1, 2025
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On a choisi le menu dégustation. Lors de notre passage, il s'agissait d'un menu de la mer. Huître, couteau de mer, moules, salades, homard, flétan & un dessert extraordinaire!! La nourriture est excellente, imaginative, combine des ingrédients simples & une technique impeccable des cuisiniers.
En plus de la nourriture, c'est une expérience, une ambiance & un service hors du commun.
Beaucoup trop cher pour la qualité & la quantité! Nous étions 4 & nous avons pris 9 plats & deux desserts sur les recommandations de la serveuse. Nous avons donc goûté pas mal de plats. Deux ou trois sortaient du lot mais dans l'ensemble, c'est bof… & surtout vraiment trop cher!
Les saveurs étaient quelconques pour plusieurs plats, rien d'original. Des sauces plutôt lourdes, pas grand raffinement derrière tout ça. & des portions ridicules. Aucune générosité derrière ces plats.
& les prix… 😱. 60$ pour 200 à 250gr d'agneau accompagnés de deux asperges blanches coupées en tronçons. Agneau qui par ailleurs était plutôt coriace. Le ris de veau, qui était dans les plats qui sortaient du lot, a coûté 45$ pour un petit ris de veau accompagné de feuilles d'ortie frites. Le « pain plat » à 12$ est une ridicule galette huileuse avec un peu d'ail à l'intérieur.
Ok, le décor est bien mais il y a tellement de places où l'on mange nettement mieux & pour moins cher!
J'ai vraiment été déçue. Il n'y avait aucune complexité dans les saveurs, tout était bland (j'ai partagé avec des amies les pétoncles, cardeau, porc, labneh, falafel & tarte à l'oignon). TOUT était décevant. Le dessert était délicieux par contre (le cheesecake). Le service était bien aussi. & c'est définitivement dispendieux pour ce qu'on reçoit en retour.
We got their chief menu which was around 80 a person & it was amazing. There was 6 of us so we got around 4 plates per course (2 duplicates of 2 dishes), which was a solid amount of food for the amount we paid. You are able to see your food being prepped which adds to the atmosphere. Every dish we had was excellent though the beef heart & the halibut were the star for sure along with the dessert which they bring out on & set on fire. Would recommend going to & grabbing a drink or two at the establishment. Also their washrooms are quite cute as well.
Food was amazing, up to the dessert which was flambé with the wrong alcohol. Upon sharing our feedback, they advised us that they will make the change for all upcoming orders. However, still charged us for the dessert on the basis that we "ate it". We mostly ate the pistachio ice cream to not waste it... Overall, great restaurant, service could be improved & menu on website is not reflective of menu in restaurant as it changes often.
May 6, 2024
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They change menu every week wish they have better plates next time. Dessert pana cotta was the best among what we've ordered. Pétoncles were sweet tasting like toffee. Pates aux Bourgots were good & pork chops' flavour was not my type
Overall a great experience! I was very excited to try out the place. Decor is fantastic. I love the open kitchen «inside» the restaurant idea. It was incredibly fun to watch the chefs do their magic. We had the tasting menu with wine paring & two cocktails to start. The cucumber spritz with homemade cucumber syrup was superb. The blueberry foam tequila drink was less interresting though. It tasted mostly of tequila.
Overall the food was great, but not mind blowing. I really enjoy their effort to not use a lot of meat & mostly use vegetables. However sometimes I found myself eating grilled onions & leeks without much flavour to it. Again, good food, but not mind blowing.
The wine pairings were all excellent, however. The tasting meny ended with a dessert paired with a fantastic Madeira sweet wine.
With this we (two persons) left with a bill of $410.
