Modavie
Wine BarTop Pick
Modavie
Wine bar with live music & an old-timey jazz vibe, plus an eclectic menu with lamb specialties.
11:30 am - 11 pm
| Monday | 11:30 am - 11 pm |
| Tuesday | 11:30 am - 11 pm |
| Wednesday | 11:30 am - 11 pm |
| Thursday | 11:30 am - 11 pm |
| Friday | 11:30 am - 11 pm |
| Saturday | 10 am - 11 pm |
| Sunday | 10 am - 11 pm |
Brunch:
Saturday and Sunday
Info & Location
About us
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.
Amenities, services & more
Capacity: 160 We accept: Master Card, Visa, AMEX, InteracBrunchCozy AtmosphereDeliveryDinner & ShowGood For GroupsGreat selection of winesHappy HourLive Entertainment / ShowsLoungeNon-alcoholic Drink OptionsOnline OrderingPrivate RoomResto-BarWine Bar
More details
Saturday and Sunday
Affiliated Restaurants (6)
Photos (23) More
on Google
Press
Events Nearby
Martinique Gourmande Festival Montreal 2025
Sep 9, 2025 to Sep 21, 2025
Reviews often mention
Display Allmusic(199) lamb(165) live music(117) jazz(100) recommend(79) french(65) wine(62) soup(55) band(53)Page 1 of 2 - 48 Reviews
Tanya
Onion soup was good, however the fries were disappointing: the taste of oil made them bitter. The steak was quite nice.View more
Paul
Loud even before the music started. Good location & quite nice inside (quite modern) but lacking je ne sais quoi for Old Montreal. But it was the food that let it down. My onion soup was wierd, it looked like French onion soup, it had the layers of French onion soup, but it had some other stuff in it that made it just wrong. My lamb chops were just OK, nothing out the ordinary. Prices were on the steep side. I wouldn't go back.View more
Lina-Marie
Very delicious. We ordered the snails, salmon tartare, & onion soup for appetizers & they were all amazing.
For our mains we got the duck & lamb pasta, both were so delicious.
Would recommend.View more
Sisca
Got a recommendation from reddit. Tried this place. Getting there was long because it's right in the middle of the tourist area. Lots of stop signs & people crossing plus rush hours. So if you have a reservation, go there earlier.
The place itself it very nice, large seating area. Live music at night. We got there for early dinner. Food were mostly good (ordered onion soup, tuna tataki salad, & rack of lamb). Onion soup was different from the usual but in a good way. I had tuna tataki, but they have anchovy (too salty for me, & i didn't realize it comes with anchovies). Service was awesome. Very friendly. Kids friendly, too. Good place to try!View more
Theresa
This was definitely one of THE BEST soupe a l'oignon I have had in the world (including Paris, France!)!!! Quaint decor & friendly staff. Highly recommend it! (& have the soup!)View more
Tiffany
Awesome first meal visiting Montreal. We got the foie gras, fried calamari, garlic snails, & French onion soup for appetizer; lamb chops, lamb rack, & mushroom risotto for entrees. Everything was flavorful & we got a seat quickly with a walk in reservation. Lovely atmosphere - take it easy & enjoy the live bands (bring cash tip)!View more
Shirley
foie-gras was outstanding as was the onion soup. The scallops were goodView more
Alexey
Great service & atmosphere! Onion soup was good. Snails are delicious!View more
Xinhong
The drink is great.
Lamb shoulder is good.
Snails & beef is okay.
I don't like the soupView more
Thomas
The best onion soup & the best croque I've ever had, along with great service. Highly recommended!View more
Manuel
The Onion Soup & Creme Brulee were the best things. Overall great food, lovely ambiance & nice staff. It is a bit pricy but well put for the quality of food. Our Steak & Fries was a little hard to chew but overall it was great.View more
Tristan
We ate here for lunch. It was excellent. I had the onion soup it was very good but a little bit too thick for my tastes I like it to be just a little thinner but flavor was spot on. The poutine that I had was excellent. I've had it a couple of different ways I normally don't like having meat added to it or anything like that. I like having it done the way poutine was always done. If I would give any slight suggestion would be to add a little bit more of the cheese curds to it other than that it was fantastic some of the best I've ever had. Now Richard on the other hand had the Sweetbreads. Hopefully people sophisticated enough who are reading this would understand what sweetbreads are they are not sweet bread. For his main course he had the duck confit. I basically had a little bit of his food because I didn't want to overdo it because we were going to dinner that night at Bonaparte. So I wanted to have a nice empty stomach. For lunch it was an excellent lunch. Dinner looks to be just as good if not better. We actually did order off the dinner menu but the portions were slightly downsized for lunch size.View more
Meredith
Best French onion soup & duck dish I've ever had! It was amazing. The jazz was also really good. Our service was really on top of it but he was a little rude & made a comment about only ordering one appetizer. Otherwise though we highly recommend the place. The mousse was the best dessertView more
Vishaw
We were two people. Had two bottles of red wine & four food items in the dinner including 12 oysters/1 salad/1 French onion soup/1 steak frites, & the total came to $240 with taxes & plus 18% tip was added/paid. (Just two wine bottles were of $120 plus tax). It was nice speaking with Daniel, the bar tender. Food was fresh. It was an alright experience.View more
F.
Nice atmosphere, included live music. The drinks were delicious. The bone marrow was unimpressive. The French onion soup was terrific!!! Mushroom risotto has WAY to much cheese sauce compared to the rice. The rice was swimming in the cheese sauce. I would try again.View more
Dana
Stopped for lunch, fantastic onion soup & wine list.View more
K
My boyfriend & I loved this restaurant. Their drinks were really creative & delicious. They were also reasonably priced. We had the French onion soup & snails as an appetizer, & then tried the duck & the lamb for our mains. Everything was delicious & fresh. I had the raspberry sorbet as a dessert & my boyfriend had a chocolate mousse cake. The service was good & our server even took the time to write a list of other restaurants he recommended in downtown & old Montreal for us to visit during our trip. The restaurant was very cosy & they even had live music playing. It wasn't too loud & we would highly recommend this place for your next date spot.View more
Julia
It's worth trying their duck confit & mussels & fries, the sauce on both dishes was so good! We also ordered onion soup & beef tartare for starters, the soup was a bit salty & the toast served with the beef was a bit hard. They tasted good but weren't as good as the main courses. Their bread basket was so delicious btwView more
Dany
Un resto à découvrir pour l'ambiance & le bon service. Par contre la nouriture ne nous a pas impressionnée. La soupe à l'oignon sans gout particulier & le confit de canard beaucoup trop sec. Le groupe jazz était vraiment bien.View more
Chad
All I can say is incredible place. The food is immaculate. The Best French onion soup I've ever had. Their Lamb Rack was pure perfection. Ambiance was pleasant. Music was great, & also.. Had the pleasure of seeing a certain celeb from the Jacka** series enjoy the place! I'f you're newly local or visiting, you have to take the time to treat yourself to this fine digs. Service is prompt, polite, & also down to earth. You will not be disappointed.View more
Ella
Amazing onion soup & gnocchi. Also their hot coco is lovely.View more
Amanda
My husband & I came here on the recommendation of our walking tour guide & we're so glad we did! I had the salad niçoise & my husband had the onion soup & a small Caesar salad. All our food was delicious - do NOT come here & skip the onion soup. It's unbelievable. The bread & butter they served before the meal was also fantastic. Highly recommend!View more
Kathleen
Probably the Caesar salad & French Onion soup hands down! Oh & the truffle fries were amazing! Our server Yaan was awesome!View more
CN
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 !View more
Jeanne
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.View more
Tiffany
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.View more
Vladimir
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.View more
Madeline
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!View more
Jean-Paul
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.View more
Sofia
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 🙈View more