Situé dans ce qui fut la première prison de femmes, Restaurant Da Emma vous sert une cuisine traditionnelle italienne avec des spécialités romaines et vous promet une soirée très agréable. Ce lieu unique a gagné le prix de design de Montréal en 1999. Emma, toujours en cuisine, nous régale de ses agnolotti, medaglioni, ravioli, fettuccini ai funghi porcini, ossobuco, pesci...
On dispose maintenant d'une très belle terrasse.
Da Emma apparaît comme une adresse italienne de référence à Montréal, avec de nombreux avis saluant une cuisine romaine authentique, des ingrédients de qualité et des plats qui allient simplicité et raffinement. Le cadre historique du Vieux Montréal et une ambiance de cave renforcent une expérience élégante et intime. Le service est souvent décrit comme professionnel et attentionné, bien que certaines visites signalent des moments d inattentivité ou une intrusion. Les convives apprécient souvent le bruschetta offert, le pain avec une bonne huile d olive et le choix des vins, et le rapport qualité prix est mis en avant pour des classiques italiens bien réalisés. Malgré quelques critiques sur le bruit ou le prix, Da Emma est perçu comme une adresse sûre et idéale pour un dîner romantique ou un repas agréable en bonne compagnie.
Da Emma is absolute, reliable value, year after year. I was with a foodie for Milan last I was there & he was astonished by the quality & price. He essentially said; this is as good as the best places I know in Italy that serve classic Italian cuisine & it costs half of what I would pay in Milan.
As someone who has grown up in a Roman family I gave to agree. I would love to see more classic Roman trattoria dishes such as Stracciatella, Zuppa di pasta e fagioli, spaghetti cacio e pepe, but I'll anything served at Da Emma without hesitation or regret.
Our group hit one of the godawful tourist trap restaurants in Vieux Montréal the following evening ; it cost twice as much & it was so bad & unsatisfying, we all felt used & abused. I made a point to to leave that place a very bad review.
This experience in retrospect made us feel we had been pampered at Da Emma.
If you see a super expensive restaurant in that area that pretends to serve'rare' Italian dishes, run for cover : You're about to get robbed & you'll be treated unpolitely by staff who clearly see you as the loser their business was designed to abuse.
None of this at Da Emma. You'll be treated with genuine attention & respect. I'd go there everyday if I lived by, but wonderful places are best kept for when you deserve them.
25 oct. 2025
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Went today with my girl, had been a while I hadn't been to Da Emma. We chose the bar, we got served amazingly by the bartender tonight. Great experience & will come back just for this. The food was great & the drinks too.
What an amazing dinner wow. Excellent service. You're started with some bruschetta & then get bread with olive oil & balsamic. The soup of the day was delicious & I'm still thinking about it a day later. We each got a pasta & then shared a main meat dish but must say the meat dish wasn't needed. The pasta is super filling. Loved the blue cheese ravioli - such a rich yet balanced sauce. Highly recommend for a special dinner out.
The experience at Da Emma is immaculate & definitely a memorable one. Traditional, authentic Italian cuisine prepared with fresh, quality ingredients & admirable dedication. The dishes are presented elegantly in their simplicity & are exceptionally flavourful & delicious. The atmosphere is invitingly warm, the service is stellar & the cuisine is absolutely divine. Compliments to the chef ; I will certainly be back.
The setting is so mediterranean that it blows my mind everytime we come.
The servers are excellent, the atmosphere is so scenic & unique, truly a european breath of fresh air & to top it off, the food is of the highest quality.
24 sept. 2025
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Can't beat the ambience! Our server was great but over-assigned so not as attentive as I like. Very nice & friendly tho. The food though varied was smaller in portions but the suckling pig was to die for! The meatballs were as tasty as I remember though this time a tad dried out. I will go back to try again as the food has been better before & as I said you can't beat the ambience.
Fantastic experience. Food was fantastic I had the lamb & it was phenomenal, service was excellent our waiter Franco knows what he's doing, making us laugh the whole night & giving excellent service. Would recommend
Déception. Nourriture correcte, mais sans grande originalité pour un prix élevé.Très bruyant. Nous avons commandé du vin & le serveur nous en a proposé un autre, supposément meilleur pour le même prix. Au final, le vin était trois fois plus cher. Nous n'aurions pas dû payer, mais c'était une fête & nous avions baissé notre vigilance. Je n'y retournerai plus jamais : (
Very noisy to have a conversation with friends. Food is good but not for the price we paid. Maybe my expectation is high , Use to much better before, came many times years ago, now I feel the quality dropped . Anyway, still very appreciated.
Visited Da Emma recently with my girlfriend. While the food itself was solid, the overall experience left a lot to be desired.
Right off the bat, we felt like we weren't taken seriously, maybe because we're young, but that's no excuse for dismissive service. I asked the waiter to surprise me with a drink since I'm open to anything, & instead of a recommendation or even a suggestion, I got a flat,'I don't know, it's your choice.' Not the end of the world, but it's not exactly rocket science to pitch your signature cocktail or something you're proud of.
What really took the cake though, cash only. In 2025. With zero heads up until the bill arrived. I don't carry $500 in cash around, & being told to walk to the dep up the street to grab cash? Completely unprofessional.
There are plenty of great places in the city where hospitality is actually part of the service. I'll be supporting Beatrice instead, where we're treated with respect, not judged by age.
30 juil. 2025
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Will be telling everyone who goes to MTL to try this restaurant!! First glance at the menu doesn't give enough credit to how delicious this restaurant is. The roasted lamb was so yummy, is very large easily shareable. We also got the Gorgonzola pasta which looks small but is very filling.
The soup of the day was a pastina & reminds me of home, might have been the best part of the meal. The artichokes were marinated in oil & were also very delicious
Nice outdoor setting, relax atmosphere, italian music.
Great cocktails & amazing wine list. Bruschetta was tasty, a very nice touch to start the meal.
Food was ok. Aragula salad seasoning was good, mushrooms pasta was cooked to perfection (but the portion was so small), tiramisu was delicious. No bread was offered to us, we had to ask for pepper & cheese. I had to refill my glass of wine myself, the staff was busy chatting with each other.
Service was not attentive, it could have been better. A little detail, the hostess at the entrance was dress sloppy ( baggy jeans, large hoodie & flip flop!), very odd for a refined italian restaurant. Restroom was dirty with no toilet paper, had to chase a server for it...
Maybe it was just on off night & i was not lucky but i dont think that i will be back...
