Honorary president of the 2007 Montreal High Lights Festival, Chef Boulud has established ties and a longstanding affinity with Montreal. “I'm French by birth but have made North America my home for almost three decades. As a chef and restaurateur, my approach definitely bridges both European and North American traditions. This is not unlike what so appeals to me about Montreal, a city that embodies this mix of cultures perfectly and makes me feel I'm not far from my own home town of Lyon,” he added.
Maison Boulud is described as a refined French dining destination where the cuisine is consistently polished, the service is impeccable, and the setting is elegant yet welcoming, with praise for inventive dishes, refined sauces, attentive staff, and standout desserts like madeleines; the ambience ranges from a bright glass-walled veranda to a warm intimate dining room, making it ideal for special occasions and business meals, and the wine list is noted for its extensive selection and thoughtful pairings; some reviews mention occasional main courses feeling lighter or brunch experiences being mixed and pricey, but the overall consensus is that the experience is exceptional and memorable, justifying repeat visits.
Our friend treated my partner & myself to dinner here while we were visiting from Nova Scotia. It was a first visit for us all. My friend wanted to eat inside & since he was paying, I didn't argue. We were the only ones in the main dining area as everyone else were outside or in the private rooms. This made it quiet, but I couldn't people watch... keep this in mind when making reservations. Our first server Lena was wonderful, but she had to hand off to Guillaume as her section changed suddenly. She explained this, but we were sad to see her go. Guillaume never introduced himself, odd not to do in such a place, & he didn't have Lena's personality. The service was still brisk & on cue at all times...I'm a slow eater & I could tell they were always checking to see if I had finished. As soon as I would, boom they took our plates away, they were well coordinated. I ordered the cold squash soup, which was ok.. it needed pepper. I then had the lamb & eggplant, which was tasty...I left the two pieces of okra on the plate... okra is not a good choice. We also shared the roasted potatoes & mixed vegetables, tomatillos I believe, they were tasty. My partner had the foie gras & the halibut... he enjoyed it. Our friend had the heirloom tomato appetizer & the risotto. He's a super fussy person, but his only complaint was that the tomato appetizer was overpriced for what it was. I consider that a good outcome for him, lol. They provided bread & butter; thankfully, the mains are gourmet sized, so you can fill up on bread. We didn't order dessert, but they brought complimentary madeleines; a nice touch. Overall, it was a nice experience, I only wish we ate outside.
Formidable expérience. Nous avons pris une entrée, un plat & des desserts à la carte. Service rapide & exceptionnelle. Personnel pas intrusif & sachant gérer son timing. Les plats étaient incroyable ! Une expérience que je recommande. Si vraiment je dois trouver une critique, les prix était un peu plus élevé qu'en Europe notamment avec l'ajout des taxes & des tips. Mais nous sommes dans une grande ville, en centre ville cela peut s'expliquer. Vous pouvez y aller les yeux fermés.
Aug 5, 2024
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Très bel endroit où la musique n'est pas trop forte. Après quatre visites, je peux affirmer que la nourriture & le services sont impeccables. Tant sur le plan du goût que de la présentation, vous vous régalerez. Le service est parfait. Seul bémol: on sent une pression de la part des serveurs pour consommer... c'est agaçant, car je constate que c'est une consigne qui vient de plus haut puisque c'est arrivé les 4 fois sur 4. Se faire demander 2-3 fois si on veut du vin, un café ou un dessert & si on est bien certain... ça agace.
I've had several meals at this restaurant, & this review is from my most recent visit (May 2024). I ordered the "Discovery" tasting menu, which consisted of 5 distinct meals (& dessert) chosen & created by the chef. I also ordered the wine pairing, an additional $120, with wines chosen by the sommelier. The food came out in the following order: carrot soup, snow crab, salmon, risotto, sea bass, chocolate dessert. The food was delicious, but the problem is this was not a "Discovery" of the chef's menu. Nearly every course had a seafood theme & didn't reflect the variety of dishes on the menu. Pate? Beef? Pork? Lamb? Quail? All items featured on the menu but not part of the tasting. The risotto was a filler dish, a hefty serving resembling family style meals. Almost every course was heavy on fennel, too. The wine pairing, all white wine. Toward the end of the meal, when the sommelier was pouring the last glass of (white) wine, I finally asked him, "no red wine tonight?" He blushed & said the "Discovery" menu tonight is seafood based. Really?! I would never have guessed. A pinot noir would've paired nicely with the sea bass, too, & offered a palate change from the white wine. Why not call it the "Seafood Discovery" menu? It felt as though the selections were based on what the chef needed to make to clean out the kitchen before the food went bad, & not a reflection of the variety of items to sample on the menu. I've never had a wine pairing where all the wines were white. It's a bit....boring. If the chef is throwing out seafood items, I would expect a sommelier to realize the lack of variety & try to be more imaginative with the pairing. At a cost of $700, I was expecting more creativity from the chef & sommelier.
I wanted to love this place. I thought it would have been at the level of a Michelin restaurant, but it fell just short. It was good, but not great. The atmosphere was distorted a bit by the bar. I'm just not used to a Michelin level restaurant having a large bar. It detracted from the atmosphere. There is a bar in the hotel lobby, so this was not necessary. Service was good, but a bit generic. They did pay attention to small details, such as replacing a napkin that fell to the floor with a new one, but I was not blown away by much more. The pacing of our experience felt off, with awkward gaps of time in between some courses. We got the degustation menu. It was decent. Generally at these restaurants, you'll be tempted with a series of amuse bouches that sets the tone for the evening. That part was skipped. So we went right to the menu. The only course that was not good was the sea bream carpaccio. It tasted overly fishy, & the shaved celery was an odd pairing. It got better from there, with the standout being the duck foie gras. The only other miss was the dessert, which was a tasteless chocolate brioche crisp with a lemon sorbet. This was an unfortunate ending to an otherwise good meal. Again, decent meal, but would not be worthy of a star if Michelin were to come to Montreal. I think most courses were good on their own, but they didn't match with each other. It was a bit confusing. I'd prefer the experience to tell a story, or feel more purposeful.
Simply wow. We sampled many different dishes starting with an amuse bouche consisting of some caviar & mushroom arancini, both of which were delectable. The fresh complimentary bread offered to the table was also deliciously pillowy & warm. We followed that with the hamachi appetizer. It wasn't my favorite. The black truffle pasta was super rich & indulgent. For mains, I tried the scallops while my boyfriend ordered the duck. My bar for scallops has now been set so high I will be scared to order scallops from anywhere else ever again. They were so so rich & buttery. For dessert we split the chocolate coulant. The dulce de leche ice cream which came with it was the perfect complement for the rich, sweetness of the cake. The staff were also all incredibly friendly. I had a terrific night.
Mar 6, 2024
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Une soirée & une expérience mémorable. La brigade est bien rodée,le voyage commence dès qu'on met un pied à l'intérieur. Belle atmosphère, déco chic mais pas tape-à-l'oeil, éclairages feutrés & recherchés favorisant les tête-à-tête.
La dégustation de champagne est une excellente idée, mais la facture grimpe vite. Il ne faut pas trop s'en faire à cet effet, nous sommes dans un très grand restaurant & on vient ici pour se gâter. Oui les prix sont élevés mais on est dans une classe à part. Bien sûr les attentes sont hautes mais elles ont toutes été dépassées.
De l'entrée au dessert tout est maîtrisé, magnifique, délicieux & d'une fraîcheur impeccable. Le chef Riccardo Michele Bertolino est en plein contrôle de sa cuisine à laquelle il insuffle toutes ces racines Méditerranéennes, accents sublimes & parfaits, chaque plat est un tableau en soi, un pur bonheur.
