Restaurant L'Express à Le Plateau Mont-Royal, Montréal vous attirera par son ambiance de bistro typiquement français. Les repas à L'Express peuvent s'étirer grâce au menu élaboré à la carte ou selon les préparations du jour. Exemple de Menu: pâté, foie gras, bouillabaisse soupe de poissons avec croûtons gratinés au gruyère, steak tartare, onglet et frites...
L'Express apparaît comme une institution montréalaise qui rappelle les brasseries parisiennes par son décor, son ambiance animée et sa carte de vins généreuse. Les plats phares évoqués à plusieurs reprises incluent l'onglet de boeuf bien cuit, le canard confit, le boeuf tartare et le boudin noir, accompagnés de classiques comme la soupe paysanne et la crème brûlée. Le cadre chaleureux peut devenir bruyant et les tables serrées lors des heures d'affluence, ce qui peut gêner la conversation. Le rituel des cornichons et de la moutarde servis à table est souvent cité comme un petit plus ludique. Le rapport qualité-prix fait débat: certains estiment le niveau excellent mais les tarifs peuvent sembler élevés; d'autres estiment le rapport correct compte tenu de la qualité et de l'authenticité. La constance de l'accueil et du service est régulièrement louée, mais quelques expériences déplorent un service peu attentif ou des écarts en cuisine. Réservations fortement recommandées pour profiter pleinement de l'ambiance et de la cuisine. Dans l'ensemble, L'Express est perçu comme un classique du bistrot français à Montréal, idéal pour une soirée chaleureuse où l'on peut déguster des plats savoureux et une belle sélection de vins.
What you'll notice immediately about L'Express is its authenticity. The room looks like it was plucked straight out of Paris. There is a long bar with a partition separating it from the dining room. The tables are well spaced, but the room has energy, so bring your own. Reservations are highly recommended. I arrived as a solo diner on a Monday at 7:45 & had to return an hour later just to sit at the bar-it was worth waiting.
After choosing my meal, the waiter set a massive container of cronichon on the table with bread, butter, & mustard. Don't skip tasting them-the cronichon are pure perfection, & the mustard is spicy & tart, a classic dijon. The real challenge is not finishing it all (though with the huge jar of pickles, it's impossible; but beware: bread is the enemy).
My order needed to be classic but not pedestrian, so I chose the cured salmon, served over a bed of thinly sliced cabbage, dressed with cream, lemon, & dill, & garnished with radish & micro-greens. Wow, this was such a surprise. I was blown away. Great fish, paired with a salad I would have never considered, a true win.
For my main, I ordered the hanger steak (Aka Steak Frites) along with a wine of the server's choosing after letting him know what I usually enjoy. The steak was great, served with hotel butter, cooked to perfection. On the side were the fries, hot & crisp, with a fluffy interior & a generous serving of mayo.
I ate everything & required a coffee just to make it to my hotel. I will be back, with reservations & a larger group next time, so I can try more of the menu, but my first impression... O la la!
A lovely restaurant with great French atmosphere. The meal was great from bread to creme brulee. In particular, the octopus was cooked perfectly & was tender; the duck confit was paired beautifully with a nice fragrant sauce; the caramelized sugar on the creme brulee complemented the custard. Service was right on time & kind.
19 nov. 2025
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By far one of the best restaurants in Montreal. Incredible French Bistro on St-Denis. The service is fantastic, the food is delicious, & the cozy atmosphere is immediately greets you.
Each table comes with complementary pickles, dijon mustard, & bread!
The duck & veal kidneys are a must have. Finally the Ile flottante dessert is massive, but delicious.
When you enter l'express, you get a rush of nostalgia & familiarity; even though you've never been there before. The decor is classic but not over the top. It has a certain type of charm.
Make sure you reserve in advance because this place gets packed quickly, we had a reservation for 4pm & there were already a lot of patrons.
Food is good, a tiny bit salty but they do provide a huge jar of
home made pickles & baguette bread a volonté to balance everything out. Its on the pricy side but the portions are big enough.
In the end, we loved the pickles so much that we bought a jar home, 30$ but it taste amazing.
Although the place is named l'express, we've never felt a rush to eat or a rush to leave. The waiters always ask if we wanted the next course or not & we enjoyed the time we had there.
Haven't been to this establishment in years so it was lovely to see that service was excellent as always. However, the steak was very chewy & difficult to cut but the fries were alright. The pickles & bread served before the meal are a nice touch! The crème brûlée was excellent!
My wife & I had dinner at L'Express on a Wednesday night during a trip to Montreal after reading about it in the NYT. It lived up to its reputation.
The staff was warm, welcoming, & skilled, making us feel comfortable right away. The meal started with pickles & bread--a simple but memorable touch. L'Express feels like an authentic French bistro, the kind that has inspired places like Pastis or Parc (both favorites of mine). It reminded me of a restaurant I once visited on Île Saint-Louis in Paris, adding to its authenticity.
We shared a green salad, steak frites, & a pasta special with meatballs in red sauce. Every dish was clean, simple, & well-executed. The restaurant was packed, with every seat filled, & the atmosphere was cozy & lively. We enjoyed the sophisticated local chatter & the charm of the space.
It's easy to see why L'Express has been around for decades. The food, service, & vibe are top-notch, & the prices are reasonable for the quality. The surrounding neighborhood was also a nice area to explore. Reservations are a must. Highly recommended!
7 févr. 2025
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Just amazing have been there twice now in the span of a week the star if the meals has been the house ravioli just incredible the sauce is amazing super rich & refined I would pay the $30 just for the sauce & bread.
The duck confit is also amazing & the octopus is delicious comes with a red pepper type sauce very flavourful.
But again get the ravioli & extra bread to not waste the sauce.
Parking on that street is very rough I recommend you just take a taxi or Uber as whatever you pay for the ride is worth the lack of frustration trying to find parking.
the epitome of a french diner! started out with the bread / butter / pickles, which came with a side of the best mustard i've ever had. split the steak frites & quiche with leek for mains. quiche was good but the steak was REALLY good. fries come with mayo, obviously. really excellent meal, would go again!
came here on a sunday night, service was amazing. loved how you start off with bread & pickles, we ended up getting the buffalo cheese which was incredible. for the price of the steak i would expect a bigger piece, could definitely do with less fries but it tasted good, would do a different main next time. for dessert we got the maple profiteroles which were delicious & the creme brûlée was really good as well but the cookie on top was forgettable. one thing to note, there was no music playing which threw me off. overall a great spot, lovely for a late night dinne
Started with the bone marrow. Was good, but very very oily. The bread & pickles are complementary & for a person who is not too big on pickles I did find myself eating quite a few. For the main I had a difficult time picking between a few things I really wanted to try but ended up picking the risotto which was amazing. Super flavourful, tasted like the sea! Will definitely want to come back again to try other things.
1 déc. 2024
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Really nice place for a French meal! The liver pate was amazing. They also provide complimentary bread & pickles to eat it with. The pickles were some of the best I've ever had. The duck confit was also amazing & I'd order it again if I came back. The beef tartare was a bit of a miss though.
Had the steak & fries with the fish soup. The steak was done right to my liking & recommendation (medium rare) & the soup was good. You get to enjoy the bread & butter & the jar of tiny pickles which was awesome. Will repeat!
I totally agree with the other reviewers who say that this restaurant is worth the hype. It totally is. We made a reservation, which I suppose was a good idea, although I couldn't tell if it was totally necessary on the night we went. Also, we initially walked right past the restaurant because it's a bit nondescript & doesn't have a ton of signage. We both ordered drinks, which were well made & pretty strong, & very much enjoyed the pickles with mustard & bread/butter. Really, the only downside was that the waiter took the pickles away before dessert, so we couldn't have dessert pickles. For our appetizer, we shared the celery remoulade, which was a perfect little pile of, basically, celery coleslaw; it was very good, especially with the pickles & mustard. Our mains were the duck confit & the shrimp/chorizo risotto, which were also delicious (& also paired well with the pickles/mustard). Dessert was the profiteroles (which were maple-y & delicious) & the chocolate gateau (which was also delicious & pleasantly not sweet at all); they honestly would've paired well with the pickles/mustard if we'd still had them at the table.
Great experience overall! The food is great, the service is slow, but it was extremely busy & they seemed understaffed for a Friday night! Plus, they did accommodate for the wait by giving us two free glass of wine which was really sweet! I recommend the steak or the poached salmon as a main, it was honestly a 10/10! For the appetizer, the chicken liver pistachios with the bread is so tasty. The maple profiteroles, for the dessert, were so well balanced in terms of sweetness, 100% recommend!
19 oct. 2024
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The place amazing, i like the bread , pickles & butter 😍burrata salad & their French fries 👌 the steak was ok but not flavorful , duck delicious but salty
Great spot, felt like a refined diner. Food was really good, you get served bread & butter with pickles & mustard included in the service. Prices are for sure on the higher side but they reflect the quality of the dishes.
If you're a fan of delicious wine at great prices, a constantly replenished bread basket, & an endless supply of pickles, this restaurant is a dream come true! My friends & I have officially declared it our top spot in Montreal. The ravioli & steak are absolute must-tries, & the service? It's off the charts-11/10!
Three of us came to dine for an early dinner on Friday night. I was not a fan that they sat the 3 of us at a two person table with one of us sitting at the "aisle". It wasn't particularly busy at this time so I think we could have been better accommodated. Other than that, the food is delicious, well seasoned & perfectly cooked. Portion sizing is quite large too! We had the duck confit, hanger steak & fries & the chicken. They also provide fresh bread & a large jar of pickles - a very nice touch. We also had the espresso creme brulee to share at the end which we would highly recommend. All in all, very well done & would recommend to anyone who is looking for great french food!
The service here is so thoughtful, from pouring a taste of wine for both me & my husband to serving the perfect amount of bread with their rillettes so that we didn't have to ask for more but didn't waste anything, timing everything perfectly & being very kind during the reservation process. Also have never eaten anything here that wasn't delicious. Never fails every time! Thanks for making our anniversary dinner a special one!
