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.
Modavie comes across as a warm, lively French bistro in Old Montreal with inviting lighting, timeless charm and nightly live jazz. Reviewers consistently highlight friendly, attentive service and a welcoming staff that makes celebrations feel special. The menu features crowd pleasers like duck confit, rack of lamb and lamb chops, escargots, onion soup and mussels with fries, with many dishes praised for bold flavors and generous portions. The atmosphere blends old world charm with modern warmth, and the two level space with live music creates a vibrant yet conversation friendly setting. While busy nights can bring a bit of hustle and occasional slower pacing, the overall experience is described as memorable and well worth returning for.
Lors de notre visite au restaurant Modavie, nous avons été ravis par l'expérience culinaire. Nous avons commencé avec la soupe à l'oignon gratinée, qui était parfaitement équilibrée entre le fromage fondant & le bouillon riche & savoureux. Le steak frites, cuit à la perfection, était tendre & juteux, accompagné de frites croustillantes. Quant au poulet basque, il était délicieux avec des saveurs authentiques, évoquant le sud-ouest de la France. Mais ce qui a vraiment rendu notre soirée mémorable, c'est le service exceptionnel de Georges. Attentif, chaleureux, & professionnel, il a su rendre notre repas encore plus agréable. Nous reviendrons certainement !
My partner & I made reservations for my birthday, & unfortunately had a really underwhelming time. We asked to sit with the live music, but were put literally right in front of the band where it was impossible to hear each other or our server. We asked to move, & had to wait a bit, which was completely understandable because it was packed. We got to move to the other room, & it was much better. We were really excited, but our excitement was quickly quelled. We were basically forgotten about the whole time. We ordered soup to start & asked for a bit more time with the menus to decide on our main courses. The soup was delivered by a food runner, & our waitress never checked in on us, except to walk by quickly & snatch the menus that we had yet to order main courses from as she walked by. She clearly forgot about us, & when we asked to order main courses, she said she'd be back. She had stuff in her hands, & it was totally understandable, but she quickly forgot about us again. We had to flag her down again after about 10 minutes. It wasn't just about the time we waited - she was just also unpleasant. When she finally did take our order, she did so by asking, "Okay, tell me." She spoke perfect English & I speak French, so it wasn't a language issue. I was looking at my phone while waiting to pay, looking for a bar to go to nearby, & she said, "You should switch your phone out with a dessert menu." It was said in a judgy tone, as if being on my phone was ME behaving poorly. In all fairness, the food was very good. The onion soup was exactly what it's supposed to be, & my steak frites was great. Well seasoned, the bordelaise sauce was rich & delicious (albeit a bit cold by the time it arrived at the table but it didn't affect the flavor), & my partner's pasta was good. Not amazing, but good. We had to wait forever to even ask for the bill, & then waited another 15 minutes with our card in the check book, waiting to pay. It was just not a pleasant way to spend my birthday & we couldn't wait to leave.
Aug 13, 2024
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I heard this is where the locals go to hear jazz music n have great food. We were lucky to get a reservation! Bread is served warm, the onion soup is amazing w 1608 cheese. Very unique. The salmon tartare is very good, the Niçoise salad was over dressed. The filet lignin was excellent. We were too full to order dessert. Great place.
Fantastic place, enjoyed every moment in there. Delicate, polite service that doesn't interrupt you when you have a full mouth of food to ask how it is (as it is in Toronto) but rather wait until we finish the meal & then ask how was the dish. Professional, superb. My wife loved the onion soup a lot, I also tried escargot & it was the best I have tried so far. The bagel with salmon is great as well - very balanced with a quality fish.
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!
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.
Une attrappe ? le menu table d'hôte moins cher affiché à l'extérieur ne mentionne pas qu'il s'agit du menu du midi. Nous l'apprennons sur place. Bouffe & service excellent. Prévoyez entre 250$ & 300$ avec le vin pour un souper. Suggestions au propriétaire pour la musique: encourager les artistes francophones
Jul 19, 2024
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I went for early dinner with 2 daughters to enjoy French onion soup, mussels, & creme brulee. We were told that we had our table for 2 hours, though right after an hour the waiter came & put the check in front of me, did not even offer or given a chance to order dessert. To say I was shocked - is not to say anything. Food is very tasty, but will not be back for such service 🙈
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 !
This restaurant is my favourite in Montreal. I had the pleasure to visit yesterday & today. For appetizers I highly recommend the French onion soup & sweet bread. My friend said the escargot was the best it contained the perfect seasoning balance. The lamb chops are amazing & so is the duck confit. Every cocktail I tried was delicious. Don't forget to get the crème brûlée. The server was meticulous & Lorenzo took great care of us, what a gem of a person! I will definitely be back when we visit Montreal next!
Alexandre # 1 nous avons passé un excellent souper super agréable. personnelle super sourient nourriture service ambiance super Merci Alexandre pour ton excellent service ....
May 1, 2024
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One of our favorite places in Montreal & some of the best food hands down. We went twice & both times had the lamb pasta because it was THAT good - we also had the steak frites, French onion soup, Caesar salad, crème brûlée, & seasonal sorbet - all excellent as well & the drinks were very good. Very cute atmosphere with live music at night. Staff were so friendly & welcoming - we went to maybe 12-15 restaurants throughout our trip & none came close to Modavie.
Fantastic. One of'many' great places to eat in Old Montreal. Having said that, Modavie stood out as being one of the best. Service was excellent, the decor & live music was great as well. The food......perfection! French Onion soup & the Duck Confit were both the best we've had yet. The'huge' bowl of local muscles was also the best. Highly recommended!!! 😀
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.
Service was good & the vibe was nice, but the food was just not great. I'm always happy to pay for good quality food I enjoy, but for 2 adults & 2 kids, we paid $160 before tip & did not enjoy any of it! The poutine & French onion soup (which is basically why we went!) both tasted strange (my 6 year old who loves poutine said it tasted "sweet" & wouldn't eat more than 2 bites. Our pasta meals were just ok. Would definitely not return.
Mar 11, 2024
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Lovely bistro with incredible service, delicious brunch (especially the onion soup!), & talented live musician. If we lived in Montreal, we'd visit every weekend. Special thank you to George for the excellent attention & service!
The vibes here were amazing, super elegant yet homey & cozy. Everyday they have an accompaniment for music & the day we went had jazz playing while we were eating. The apps (escargot & soup) were 🤌- both were not your standard snails or french onion soup. The soup had an extremely rich flavour shine through that came from the deep caramelization of the onions. The accompanying garlic butter & cheese that was paired with the escargot was salty which was good. Onto the mains, the table favourite was the duck confit. The duck was so tender & when paired with the sweetness of the walnuts & the acid from the pickled cabbage, it made a wonderful bite. The lamb chops were great as well, the meat was cooked to our liking. We do wish there was a sauce to accompany the lamb, perhaps a sweet red wine sauce to cut through the saltiness of the veggies & enhance the lamb taste. As an aside, the potatoes were delicious LOL. The lamb pasta was amazing as well, flavour-wise. We wish there would have been more lamb in the pasta as the portion of meat felt lacklustre. The pasta was perfectly cooked & held onto the sauce very well. Lastly, the drinks were delicious- perfectly balanced between sweet & tangy. The service here was phenomenal, they consistently checked up on us & made sure we were well taken care of. Overall, the restaurant was a great experience in MTL, a good place to go to if you're in the area & are looking for a more expensive dinner.
Great find! Had live music great bartender & the foods amazing. Def a great date night spot. Great attention to my lemon allergy. Had the duck one of my fav & hubby had the rack of lamb. All good. Hubby loved thr French onion soup.. For me it had great flavor but to chunky I perfer more broth
Everything was really good! Tasty food (we ordered onion soup, escargot, mussels & duck, wine, additionally they brought hot delicious bread with butter). Really nice service & amazing atmosphere with jazz music.
Good lunch at Modavie, in which I could appreciate the professional staff, the warm decor & some good food. In particular, I enjoyed my salmon dish with various vegetables & I also enjoyed the broccoli soup that they brought us as a complimentary entrée. For a dish each, we paid around 90 CAD (taxes & tip included) which is not the cheapest thing but aligned with the quality & general atmosphere of the place.
