Modavie is a timeless place that brings us back to our roots, where ladies & gents gather and eat in a lively atmosphere caused by great conversation, live music and the wooden scents of a vintage room. Born in 1997, it quickly became popular among locals & visitors, and is now considered a Montreal institution.
Treat yourself to refined French fare in an antique & dimmed corner locale spawning two floors. From the classic beef tartare, to tasty sweetbread, to the famous ratatouille, your cravings will be easily satiated.
Reviews describe Modavie as a warm, lively Old Montreal bistro with a welcoming vibe and memorable live jazz that enhances the evening. The menu is praised for classic French bistro dishes like mussels and fries, duck confit, lamb chops, steak frites, and seafood, with generous portions and fresh ingredients. Attentive, friendly service and a knowledgeable staff are repeatedly highlighted, helping guests feel cared for in a vibrant setting enhanced by a diverse wine list and craft cocktails. Overall, the atmosphere, food, and music combine to create enjoyable dinners for dates, friends, and celebrations, making Modavie a reliable choice in Montreal.
We recently dined at Modavie & had an unforgettable experience. The lamb shank was absolutely amazing-tender, flavorful, & cooked to perfection. Our server, Alvin, went above & beyond to accommodate a gluten allergy, ensuring a safe & enjoyable meal. His attentiveness & support truly enhanced our dining experience. The atmosphere at Modavie is warm & inviting, with the added charm of live music that set the perfect tone for the evening. We felt welcomed & relaxed throughout our visit. Highly recommend Modavie for anyone looking for a delightful dining experience in Montreal!
Lovely dinner, the server is not good at English so he ended up avoiding our table, which was a large group of 7 & we spent around 100 each in wine & dine so I think it was not so bad to get a lame servicd. Water is not refilled & in a rush to finish us up (& our reservation & got pushed back 45 mins later so not our fault we came 2 hours befote last call). The server mentioned the lamb is specialty of restaurant but it clearly did not executed well, there is still unpleasant lamb smell. But the duck is clearly the star of this restaurant, we got the seared duck & the winter pasta (foie gras & duck meat & truffle) which is absolutely amazing. We will come back just for the pasta. Steak also very good, mashed potato is creamy just enough. As travellers, understanding we went to Quebec but hopefully the server can be a bit more proactive (I mean, doesn't really need to speak any English & just being attentive to refill water or give us some lights on the table in the dark corner?)
Oct 28, 2024
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Our server Patrice was very friendly & helpful. He provided us with an excellent Merlot to compliment the lamb chops & was very attentive without being obtrusive. A most enjoyable evening!
My friends & I were celebrating my friend's Bachelor Party/Trip on labour day weekend in Montreal, & I insisted that we get authentic French cuisine seeing as how we came all the way from Toronto. Modavie exceeded every expectation everyone had. The Atmosphere was very pleasing, with low noise volumes that I found quite nice as loud environments tend to make me uncomfortable, along with the decor & lighting being very well done. The service by Quentin was absolutely exceptional, making us feel quite at home & being attentive to our needs. He suggested another establishment for an evening drink as our reservation ended & the resturaunt was full & we found our way there based on his description. The food itself was absolutely out of this dimension. Never before have I tasted anything as refined as the bone marrow, garlic snails & duck confit. The flavors of each dish were lovingly curated like a selection of the finest paintings at the Louvre. The creme brulee was the perfect dessert to finish with, with its thick, stain glass worthy shell & it's decadent, eye widening pudding. I will recommend this establishment to everyone I know is going to Montreal, & bragging about it to everyone else. Merci beaucoup, Modavie!
The dinner & jazz band experience upstairs at Modavie seems very hard to top in Old Montreal. The service was extremely attentive & friendly, frequently checking on us & providing us with recommendations for a cocktail lounge following dinner. The food was exceptional; we had the lamb burger & steak & fries accompanied by Montrealer cocktails. The upstairs dining room was serenaded by a decent jazz band with a vocalist. The views of the street below were nice.
Our waiter was really great & attentive. We liked the vibe & the live music was great. All the drinks were delicious. The food was solid comfort french food (everything was good but not extraordinary). We had the mussels, duck confit, lamb pasta, steak. All solid.
One of the best dining experiences we have had in a long time. Service was quick, attentive, & very friendly. Food was definitely worth the price, & was the highlight of a beautiful evening at the Old Port. The decor was wonderful & clean, & the live music was a welcome accompaniment to our meal. We ordered the escargot, rack of lamb, the sea bream (catch of the day), & the seafood linguine. From the mains to the sides, all of it went beyond our expectations. My father especially loved the lamb, it was of a quality very rarely found in restaurants, & cooked perfectly according to our specifications; the sauce was also very good, extravagant in elevating the meat & its pairings. All the seafood was also wonderfully fresh, & the quality of the pasta brought it to the next level. Will likely look to come again if we ever return to Montreal.
Aug 3, 2024
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Wonderful food, service, & personal experience with George. George was knowledgeable about the wine menu when we couldn't decide what to order & he was very attentive to our table. We ordered the French onion soup, seafood linguine, & steak & fries. It hit the spot! All the food came out timely & so so delicious. Because we are visiting for the weekend we asked George about local places & he went out of his way to suggest local things to do, eat, drink. Thank you for a great dining experience & fabulous food!
Service was amazing she started us off with nice words & was attentive to our needs, & ended it off by wishing us a good night. The whole restaurant seemed to match a cozy & tight style. The live music here was very good, but a little bit too loud for tables 1-3 tables away from them. The food was also good, but did not live up to my expectations. The lamb was just your average lamb, & the bone marrow was very sour. However, the pasta was the opposite of the rest. It exceeded my expectations & was very creamy while having some flavourful ground beef!
Excellent bistro. Good jazz (but often more blues) guitarist upstairs, quiet enough for conversation. Attentive service staff. I had onion soup & mussels + frites, all of which was great. Wine selection was good, a bit more expensive than comparable places. Not an issue for us, but tables do turn - they indicated when we arrived that we only had the table for two hours.
Excellent dinner with live jazz & reasonable prices for good food! Our waiter was Patrice & he was fantastic, he was funny, attentive & made our experience that much better! Give that man a raise!
Jul 3, 2024
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Just enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Modavie. Despite the fact that it was a holiday (unbeknownst to us), they graciously accepted us as guests without a reservation. There was live entertainment upstairs which we enjoyed immensely. We started with onion soup. Although it was not what we anticipated, it was still delicious & flavorful. They are known for their lamb dishes, so we had the lamb chop dinner with seasonal veggies & the rack of lamb. Both enhanced with a side of foie gras. The lamb dishes were cooked to order "saignant." Both were seasoned perfectly. The rack of lamb came with a sauce that really set off the flavor of the beef ! Service was attentive & friendly. This restaurant is a 5/5 rating in service, food & ambiance. Although not inexpensive, considering the USD to Canadian dollar exchange rate, it was actually very reasonable when you consider all things put together. So yes, I highly recommend trying Modavie when you visit old Montreal - you won't be disappointed !
We had an amazing meal at Modavie. Our server, George, gave us great suggestions from the wine to main dishes to desserts. Everything was on point. He was very attentive & friendly. Go for the lamb chops. They are to die for! My son has the mussels & my husband had the duck- both superb. In addition, there's live music which gives the experience a nice touch. We wanted to have a great French meal & Modavie did not disappoint. ❤️❤️❤️
Our server, George was great - attentive, friendly & easy going. The meal was good. The apple tarte for dessert was delicious. The live music was really nice. The atmosphere was great!
Nestled in the heart of Old Port, Modavie stands out as a culinary beacon, even if you have to navigate through some construction to get there. The diverse menu caters to a variety of tastes, ensuring there's something for everyone. I had the pleasure of trying the Lamb Cavatelli, & it was a delightful fusion of tender lamb & perfectly cooked pasta that danced on my palate. The live music added an extra layer of charm to the experience, enhancing the already cozy ambiance. It's not just about the food at Modavie; it's about the entire experience. The service was impeccable - attentive & timely, without being intrusive. It's clear that Modavie values its customers & understands the essence of hospitality. Whether you're a local or just passing through, Modavie is a must-visit spot in Montreal's Old Port. Don't let a little construction keep you from this fantastic dining experience! :P
May 8, 2024
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My friend & I decided to have dinner at this place due to the high ratings on Google. Now, after analyzing all the reviews, I realized they must be fake, since some of the images are repetitive. Everyone was raving about the food! First, the good things - the service was indeed excellent; our server was attentive & timely, & the hostess was accommodating, seating us upstairs so we could be a part of a jazz performance. We sat down & ordered our drinks, which were great! Then, we ordered bone marrow, foie gras, & scallops as appetizers. All of them were warm & tasted mediocre. Particularly, the foie gras came on top of a piece of bread, which was soaking through in fat. I understand that foie gras is very fatty, yet I was expecting the bread to provide a balancing bite, but it was so overpowering, I could not eat it. For the main course, we ordered lamb, which was highly recommended by other diners on Google (turns out they were fake reviews), & fries. The fries were soggy, & the lamb dish came out cold with all the soggy, sad-looking vegetables. I just could not eat it & asked our server to reheat it, which he did & I ate it afterwards. Initially, we wanted to have dessert, but after such a terrible food experience, we couldn't wait to go somewhere else instead! I don't know, maybe they were busy, & we had bad luck, yet the entire restaurant wasn't full. We won't be returning!
Amazing dinner. Went here spontaneously on a Saturday at 7:30pm without a reservation with my boyfriend. Was sat immediately at the bar as all tables were reserved (totally get it, love sitting at the bar). The bartender was attentive & very talented as the cocktails we got were both superb. We ordered the snails as an app, I got the duck confit, & he got the lamb chops. We were given extra bread for the snail butter without asking. Waters always refilled. Meats cooked perfect. Live music was to die for. Got double espressos, crème brûlée, & profiteroles for dessert which were equally delicious. If I lived here I think I'd go every week.
Nice restaurant. The atmosphere is bustling. The service was good. Waiter was studious, but not very attentive. Staff to customer ratio may be the reason. The food was good. The rack of lamb was a little bit gamey. The desserts were phenomenal! We ordered the bone marrow appetizer, beef tartare, steak & fries, 2 kids menu (pasta & chicken nuggets), & the rack of lamb. Overall, the food was good. Place is clean & atmosphere is popping with the live music. Overall, a place to visit on special occasions.
This was one of the best meals I've had in Montreal, hands down. We had booked another place but decided to cancel last minute & came across Modavie & was intrigued by the menu. We were able to book a table for 5:30pm & so glad we did. We were one of the first tables in & our server, Jessica was absolutely amazing. She was attentive, recommended dishes that she vouched for (ex sweetbread) & a wine (Cotes du Rhone, Le Caillou Rouge) that paired well with our meal. We had never had sweetbread before, & trust me it's not what you think. It's a part of the lamb & if not cooked well, can taste gamey. But Modavie is known for their lamb dishes & the sweetbread was fabulous. We also ordered the lamb chops & it was cooked to perfection. It wasn't over-seasoned, had amazing grill flavour & was so tender. & of course, not gamey at all. We also tried their risotto, French onion soup, & escargots. Oh & the basket of bread. Wow. It was so fresh, so hot that I couldn't stop eating it. The only reason I didn't give'Atmosphere' a 5-star is because we did feel a bit squished in the corner, but understand that most places are like this. This was definitely a meal to remember & Modavie is now on my list of must go-to when in Montreal.
