Holder
SuggestionsView All
Info & Location
Located in a beautiful turn of the century building in Old Montreal, Brasserie Holder's design makes good use of its high ceilings and wide open space creating a sense of European charm that is hard to find anywhere else in town. Specializing in Old World European cuisine, Restaurant Holder is famous for its vast selection of brasserie-style seafood, pasta and meat dishes. Sample Menu items at Holder include: grilled beefsteak, steamed clams, salads, tartares, etc...
Amenities, services & more
Restaurants NearbyView All
Suggested Articles
on GoogleBest Old Montreal Restaurants
Events Nearby
Montreal International Black Film Festival 2025
Sep 24, 2025 to Sep 28, 2025
Le Grand Poutinefest - Old-Port Montreal 2025
Jul 16, 2025 to Aug 3, 2025
Reviews often mention
Display Allfrench(69) recommend(41) steak(40) tartare(39) beef(39) confit(38) dessert(37) duck(37) soup(36)Page 1 of 2 - 33 Reviews
Gabriel
It was absolutely amazing.
The chicken mousse reminded me of my childhood where my grandmother would buy duck liver in the can. It tasted the exactly same, I highly recommendedView more
Jessie
We had a nice dinner at Holder in Old Montreal. The ambiance was lively & stylish, & the service was friendly & attentive.
Here's what we ordered:
🥩 Beef Tartare: Flavorful & well-prepared, though a touch too salty for my taste. Still enjoyable overall.
🥗 Mixed Vegetable Salad: Light, fresh, & a great starter - nicely balanced & refreshing.
🐮 Braised Beef Cheeks: Tender & deeply flavored, one of the best dishes of the night.
🦆 Duck Confit: The skin was crisp, but the meat was a bit dry. Could use a bit more juiciness.
🦞 Lobster Ravioli: Rich & creamy, with a generous amount of lobster. A standout dish!
Overall, a solid dining experience with a few minor flaws. Still a great spot to check out if you're in Old Montreal!View more
Rixon
One of the few places we were lucky to get dinner reservations...which is both good & bad. The service was excellent...well trained & knowledgeable wait staff. Ours was Anabelle & she made some great suggestions, topped off our wine & checked in on us. The food on the other hand was ok...we 4 got the Hanger steak (was cooked medii but was still tough/, Lobster ravioli (no flavor, wouldn't reco), the duck confit was good & the veal Marsala steak was the best among the 4 dishes.View more
Alison
Extremely tasty meal with wonderful service. I got the Duck Confit.View more
Julie
Beautiful French bistro
Tried the beef cheek soooo tender
& the duck salad was also very nice!
Loved the tall bartender with beard, think his name was Mike, gave us a great service!!View more
Geo
Nice ambience & good service. Food experience disappointing though. Liver pate was nondescript & tasted processed rather than home made. The duck confit was bland, soft skinned & nothing like the proper French dish with crispy skin & tasty delicate meat. The salad with lardons & poached egg was ok but the salmon was bland too & the potato purée that came with it was nothing special. The place itself looked promising but the cuisine did not deliver. Pity.View more
Tovah
My husband & I went to Holder for date night. The food & ambiance were amazing. I'm a vegetarian & there were many options for me (I got the fig salad as an appetizer & my main was the goat cheese tartlette & frites). My husband is a chef & carnivore & he absolutely loved his food (he got the fois gras as his appetizer & the duck confit as his main). We shared the lemon cream dessert & it was heavenly. I wish I could give the service at Holder a 20 out of 10. The service/our server was so attentive that it completely elevated our dining experience. We have been to many restaurants & would both say this was probably the best server/service we have ever had.
I would HIGHLY recommend Holder 20/10.View more
Katie
Absolutely delicious food, beautiful atmosphere, & excellent service. Loved the duck confit.View more
Federico
Great space, amazing service. Food was good but nothing out of this world. Duck confit was delicious but heavy & lacking acidity in the salad to balance out.View more
Garrett
We picked Holder for is location to our hotel, but ended up wanting to go back because it was fantastic. We sat at the bar while waiting for our table & the bar staff were great. The food at dinner was excellent. The bison mozzarella appetizer was great; duck confit, & pepperedelle dinners amazing; & the creme Brule dessert was one of the best I've ever had. The prices were very reasonable as wellView more
Robin
Our quest for a delightful dining experience during our weekend getaway led us to Holder, & it surpassed all our expectations. With our server Antoine offering impeccable wine & dessert recommendations, & his attentiveness ensuring our glasses were never empty, combined with the stunning bar & exquisite cuisine, we will undoubtedly be recommending this dining experience. We recommend: -Château Garraud'18, Lalande-De-Pomerol. (For a full bodied affordable red wine. Antoine's recommendation) -The Duck Confit -Crème Brûlée -MI-CUIT Au Caramel Salé (A Butterscotch style lava cake with ice cream. This was a unique dish that is hard to compare to anything else I've had. This was also a Antoine recommendation)View more
Katy
Duck confit was good for the first time though not as crispy as desired. Beef cheek was divine. Definitely some cool stuff on the menu, a shame we didn't have time to try dessert. Fun & attentive service too.View more
Brock
Beautiful space that is bright & open. Food was good & servers were friendly, however, be sure to check your receipt. My 9 year old son ordered two crepes from the kids menu for him & his 5 year old sister & we were charged for the adult crepes (description on the menu is nearly identical, so when we received the crepes, we thought they were the kids meal). We were also charged $4.50 for Americanos even though we ordered regular coffee ($3) & Americanos weren't even on the menu. When the taxes are nearly 15% on food, these extra charges add up. The server brought the bill & machine at the same time, & though I could have made a stink, it was a birthday brunch & I ended up paying the additional $20. Duck confit was very tasty, though quite oily, the crepes were beautifully presented, but tasted day-old. The mushroom casserole & poached eggs was a good comfort food dish.View more
Achim
My wife had the best mussels & french fries (moules & frites) since Belgium. They were amazing. The duck confit was another amazing dish - & the dessert was fantastic. The service was outstanding. We will come back next time when we are in Montreal. Highly recommended.View more
Lora
Sadly duck confit was sold out on the Sunday night we visit... food was ok, I think I'm paying the atmosphere more than the food I taste. My friend was upset about the foie gras is a mousse, not prepared in whole.View more
André
Delicious French food & excellent service. I enjoyed a duck confit that was incredibly moist & flavorful, with meat that melted in the mouth. The salad dressing, enhanced with white truffle, was outstanding. A slightly chilled white wine complemented the meal perfectly on a summer night. The crème brûlée was not overly sweet, boasting a very smooth & delicate texture. Great meal!View more
Josh
First meal in Montreal & we loved it. Each dish was a hit with the person that selected it. My son can't stop raving about the Lobster ravioli! My youngest sampled the duck for the first time & fell in love. However, the star of the show was the molten butterscotch cake. We could have easily ate 3 more of them.View more
Moaeez
To start, the ambiance & look of the restaurant are absolutely outstanding. & the service was fast & the staff were very kind & helpful. An excellent choice if you're looking to celebrate a birthday or anniversary. We opted to share the seafood paella, which was listed as a main, & it exceeded our expectations. The server recommended a spicy twist on the classic beef tartare, which was delightful. However, the highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the chicken paté, which was extraordinary. For our main courses, we enjoyed the hanger steak, braised beef, lobster ravioli, & duck confit. Each dish was exquisite & worth trying, but the lobster ravioli stood out as my personal favorite. Holder is a must-visit in Montreal.View more
Andre
Steak was rubbery, duck confit was a bit too dry. Their vegetable soup was the only thing that I enjoyed.View more
K
We came for lunch - service was lovely & friendly. Refilled our waters at least 12 times. This restaurant honestly floored my expectations. Best French onion soup I've ever had, best duck confit I've ever had & best French fries we've ever had. The mussels were good but not as incredible as everything else. Also the chocolate ganache cake was incredible. All around amazing experience I highly recommend this place.View more
Lingchao
It is a decent French restaurant. A bit expensive (reasonable for being a French restaurant). The steak is not the best. The salad quite salty. The duck confit is okay. Not my personal favorite. Took almost 30 min to wait for the dishes. No waitress refilled our water.View more
Jillian
Staff were very nice. The place was upscale & a lot of people were there for business lunches etc. we had the duck confit & the onion soup. The duck was good but not as crispy as expected. It was also a bit oily. The soup was good.View more
Janice
Food very good if you ordered it but service was lacking. The server assumed that we wanted steak when we wanted duck. The server also had it well done when we preferred rare (like everyone else at the table). Due to lack of time, we accepted the steak but it spoiled our appetite & desire to stay.View more
Paria
The stars I'm giving is mainly for service, which was top notch. The food was not so good. The duck & the rack of lamb were one of the worst I tried, Hanger steak & the veal were fine. Duck confit was dry & did not taste good. Rack of lamb was not cooked well & the smell was bad.View more
Nicholas
Had a fantastic experience here, food & service was top notch! Our favourites were the warm goat cheese entrée, beef tartare, & duck confit. The butterscotch mi-cuit was amazing as well. Will definitely come again next time we're in the city.View more
Zsuzsa
Excellent service, quickly served & polite waiters. The food was unbelievably delicious! We had beef tartare as an entree, then I had the duck confit which was very well seasoned & tender, & then we had crème brûlée for the first time & it was very good!! Highly recommendView more
Richard
A great experience for my first visit. I loved how the sophisticated decor & subdued lighting created a very pleasant ambiance, perfect for a social evening out with friends or a romantic dinner. Service was professional & refined, yet still engaging. Our server, Julien, was most outgoing & charming. His enthusiasm & positive attitude truly personified the entire evening's experience. Delivery was speedy, which was good, as we were in a bit of a rush due to unforseen circumstances. The foie gras was delicious, not too fatty, & quite flavourful. The duck confit, however, was the star of the show. The crisp skin & succulent meat were just sublime. It was one of the best examples I've had, & I do have it quite regularly. Kudos to the chef. We would have liked to linger over dessert & coffee, but we were pressed for time. I know that this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship, & I look forward to future visits where time won't be an issue.View more
Nathaniel
During my visit to Montreal, eating at a French bistro was at the top of my to-do list. Appearance-wise, the restaurant looked like a typical French bistro but a lot bigger than the average one. When we sat down, we were famished & waiting to be attended to. Service, however, was mediocre at best, as servers were not very attentive & seldom checked up on us. It took a while before the servers took our order & a long time for food to arrive. When the server arrived, we ordered the salmon tartare, the beef tartare, the grilled salmon filet with beurre blanc, & the duck confit. For appetizers, the beef & salmon tartare were under seasoned & could use more acidity to bring out their freshness. For mains, the salmon was cooked well but bland while the duck confit was dry & sat on top of a mountain of underdressed arugula. The finger potatoes that went with the confit were seasoned well & delicious, but there were too few of them (5 pcs) as compared to the mountain of arugula. Overall, Holder fell short of my expectations from a French bistro in Montreal & I'd recommend eating elsewhere for French cuisine.View more
Mahalia
Food was absolutely scrumptuous! I had a glass of tawny porto, the duck confit served with little potatoes & a wonderful dessert some sort of Brownie topped with some sort of strawberry mouse topped with a beautiful tuile. I am salivating just writing this review & thinking about my dinner. One old couple complained about the music which for some reason they disliked... I thought it was wonderfull a mix of modern jazz. It was spot on. I highly recommend trying this place! I will certainly go again. La nourriture était absolument délicieuse ! J'ai pris un verre de porto tawny, le confit de canard servi avec de petites pommes de terre & un merveilleux dessert - une sorte de brownie surmonté d'une sorte de mousse à la fraise & d'une belle tuile. Je salive rien qu'en écrivant ceci & en pensant à mon dîner. Un vieux couple s'est plaint de la musique qu'ils n'ont pour une raison quelconque, pas appréciée... Moi je trouvais que c'était merveilleux, un mélange de jazz moderne. C'était parfait. Je recommande vivement d'essayer cet endroit ! J'y retournerai certainement.View more