Bivouac

Peng

2.0

So this is a place my girl friend want to try & we booked weeks in advance.

I had some business in the area so I arrived early around 6 ish & our reservation was at 7pm. I decide to grab a drink & wind down a bit & the hostess was happy to escort me to the bar.

Although the place was half empty, it took more than 15 minutes & after two more group that were sit down, I was being greeted for the first time.

Somewhat tired & a bit frustrated at this time, I order a mix drink ( whisky sour ) will awaits for my girl friend. The server did not mention any suggestion for food or bar snack to me, although he mentioned the daily Sepcial to the other groups.

During this time I witness something unusual & somewhat disturbing: the waiter was topping up a wine bottle with another older bottle of wine & put it in one of the serving station. I have to say in all my years dinning out I have never saw it been done( in the open at least) this way.

Due to that knowledge, when I notice my drink has a somewhat unpleasant odor I point it out to the bar keep right away. He took a whiff of it & proceed to making a new one, no explanation, no apologie offered. The second drink was ok at first , but after a while the same odor begin to creep back. It was at that moment I kind realized that: perhaps they were using egg white to frost the drink, which could explain the odor. But since no explanation given before or after I send back the drink, there was no way to know.

I must say the star I given for service is for the hostess & her alone. Two times I waved at her she come to my service right away: first time was I enquiring the parking situation for my girl friend's arrive, & the second time was asking her to set out table, window side if possible, & to transfer my bar tab to my main bill. All my questions were answered & all my requests were accommodated.

The runner that night was a different story all together: not only I watched him drop food in front of the guests, when he went to present the food to the table next to me, his butt was inch away from my face. Although the table was set tight in this place, a good server would never let something like this happen.

Food was ok, a lot of local ingredients were show cased, well priced & we're coming out of the kitchen in a timely fashion. Same goes to the wine selection, after the fiasco at the bar I decide to order a bottle instead glasses, a local whit wine that was well priced.

But the service was continuesly a miss. Our waiter was in badly need of some breath mint & he was somewhat rushed, first time a server was taking away our oyster plate even we still have a few that we haven't eat. My girl friend requested some bread for our appetizer spread, & again for our post main cheese plator. Both time they came shortly, nicely present but stone cold.

In all, it was somewhat below average experience & I think the place need a proper train program for the staffs.

Nic

5.0

Great choice if you are catching a show.
Service is efficiently fast.
Good variety of selections.
Unfortunately most of the wine we wanted to chose was sold out.

Marie

4.0

We had 3 very different experiences over the past year, however it does get better every time we go... our first time in winter'24 which was very disappointing: food (tartare) & wine selection were both bellow average. In summer'24, the food was excellent, great wine list, courteous staff, & finally most recently in winter'25, we were quite pleased. The food was surprisingly excellent, the ambiance very enjoyable (relaxed, dimmed lights, music, ..), the wine/cocktail list was elaborate, the service very friendly & efficient to ensure we made our show at the Place des Arts on time.
This restaurant is perfectly located for a meal before/after a show at the Place des Arts or festival event. There is also a beautiful view from the terrasse in the summer.

Cesar

5.0

It was a very good option to celebrate our anniversary. The service is really good, very attentive to offer help & options & the food is very delicious. I highly recommend the cheese platter. Good wine options. We will come back.

Jenny

5.0

Did the outdoor bubbles. Had the meal with the wine pairing . Expensive but food was wonderful & wine pairings made the meal. Had five course so left quite satisfied. The bubble made for a very private & focused service.

Pat

5.0

Had a fantastic evening at Bivouac tonight. Very much enjoyed the casually professional service, wine recommendations, & atmosphere. Had the Quebec oysters, beef tartare, lamb shank, & walleye - everything exceeded expectations. Definitely worth a visit. Will absolutely be back the next time we are in Montreal.

Alisha

5.0

First Timer: We decided to come by this place just for a quick snack kinda. It was a total of 3 of use, we ordered Red wine: 9/10 Oysters: 10/10 Martini : 10/10 Rum drink: 10/10 compliments to the bar tender Banana cake: 10/10 compliments to the chef this was absolutely amazing!! As you can see everything we ordered was just as amazing as the ambiance. It was everything & the waiter was so polite & helpful with the menu. I'm not from Canada I'm from the US & she did an amazing job. I highly recommend this restaurant. Next visit I will definitely stop by. Thank you

via Other

1 Commentaire

5.0

Fabulous food, great wine, amazing friendly staff. Already book to go back!

via Other

1 Commentaire

2.0

I had a seat at the bar for Christmas Eve dinner, a set menu of $125. I received no bar service. The bartender did an amazing job of ignoring me. Had intended to order a glass of wine with each course... but I only got his attention when it was time for the bill & he offered to refill my water which had been empty for an hour. Given how salty the dishes were, it was not ideal. Had to hunt down the hostess at the front to get cutlery because my dinner was getting cold & the front of house staff was unavailable. Montreal has the most incredible restaurants & this factory-style restaurant offered zero hospitality service. Avoid this place, anywhere in Montreal is better than this faux luxury. Would have preferred to have had dim sum down the street than waste my Christmas Eve at Bivouac. Unacceptably bad.

Andre

5.0

Loved the location with great views of Place des Arts & Festival District Loved even more the food & wine selection. Service was professional & very effective. We arrived around 1:30pm just before the kitchen closing at 2. We iordered salade nicoice & ask the waiter for wine suggestions. We wanted a local wine. He suggested a local Laval wine & it was the perfect match. Just can't wait to go back & having time to enjoy more of the place