Mon Lapin, a neighbourhood restaurant in the heart of Montreal's Little Italy. Inventive and delicious fare, all the seasonal favourites on an ever-changing menu by chefs Marc-Olivier Frappier and Jessica Noel, and team. Visionary wines, a list filled with vibrant and eclectic bottles.
Reviews describe Mon Lapin as a bold, creative Montreal restaurant that champions seasonal local ingredients in a playful shareable format with inventive dishes like the croque pétoncle, preserved leeks with smoked mussels, sea urchin and buckwheat cake, all set in a warm, intimate atmosphere with a standout wine program and consistently attentive service; reservations are notoriously hard to secure and the experience is hailed as imaginative and worth the hype, though some notes point to small portions for the price, occasional pacing issues, and nights when the wow factor is a touch muted.
Was by far the most hyped restaurant I encountered when planning for my recent Montreal trip. You see all the accolades online. #2 on North American 2025 top restaurants?
Oh la la! Previous #1 on Canada top 100? Oh la vache! I didn't know what to expect walking in. You literally have your pick from all the great restaurants in the city of Montreal. Joe beef, L'Express. You name it:
But- This place more than lived up to the hype, it absolutely exceeded it. Chef Laurent Dagenais made a video of where chefs eat in Montreal, & this place was his TOP pick. ABSOLUTELY ON POINT.
The creativity of the food was incredible. The service was impeccable. Background music set the perfect vibe. We had such great recommendations on wine pairings. I cannot wait to eat here again! potato chip + leek + smoked mussel mayo = perfection. Croque with scallops- amazing. Sourdough chicken was probably (outside of the lobster spaghetti from Joe Beef) the top dish of our entire trip in Montreal.
Be sure to snag the online reservations early because they go QUICK.
Dès notre arrivée au Resto Vin Mon Lapin, l'expérience semblait prometteuse. Les premiers cocktails étaient réussis & donnaient le ton d'une soirée agréable. Malheureusement, la suite n'a été qu'une succession de déceptions.
On nous informe rapidement que notre table n'est pas prête & on nous installe à un comptoir temporairement où on demeurera pour la majorité de la soirée. L'espace est petit, peu adapté à un repas complet, & nuit immédiatement au confort. Malgré cela, on nous encourage à recommander des cocktails en attendant d'être relocalisés… ce qui tarde à se concrétiser.
Le service laisse rapidement à désirer. Le serveur expédie les explications du menu sans réelle volonté de nous guider, certains choix semblent être faits pour nous, sans véritable consultation.
Avant même de recevoir nos deuxièmes nos deuxièmes cocktails, cinq assiettes sont déposées simultanément sur une minuscule table déjà encombrée. Une approche désorganisée qui empêche d'apprécier chaque plat à sa juste valeur.
Côté cuisine, la déception est généralisée :
* Le sando de pétoncles est fade, sans assaisonnement ni acidité pour équilibrer.
* L'oursin goûte davantage l'agent de conservation que la mer, écrasé par une mousseline de pommes de terre beaucoup trop dominante.
* Les couteaux & les palourdes sont un peu fades.
* Les pétoncles sont accompagnés de rabioles simplement blanchis, sans technique pour en révéler le potentiel.
* Les poireaux souffrent du même problème : peu d'assaisonnement & absence d'acidité, bien que les chips soient réussies.
Après avoir insisté pour changer de place, le service devient plus froid & lent. La nouvelle table, située près de la porte d'entrée, s'avère tout aussi désagréable, exposée à des courants d'air très froids, malgré plusieurs tables disponibles ailleurs.
La suite du repas ne redresse pas la barre :
* Le crabe, servi près d'une heure plus tard, semble congelé, accompagné d'un pain à la bisque brûlé, à l'amertume marquée.
* Les agnolotti sont corrects mais la cuisson est inégale.
* Le poulet est dominé par une amertume agressive, sa sauce étant à la fois acide & sans profondeur.
* Le plat de pleurotes est carrément cramé.
Le service, du début à la fin, est désorganisé & peu attentionné, contribuant largement à une expérience frustrante.
Seul point positif : le vin, qui était excellent. Nous avons apprécié qu'on nous serve des demi coupes afin de goûter plus de variété.
En résumé, malgré un bon départ côté cocktails & une carte des vins réussie, l'expérience globale est extrêmement décevante. Entre service déficient, gestion chaotique & cuisine inconstante, la soirée laisse un goût amer.
Notes finales :
Vins : 10/10
Nourriture : 3/10
Service : 3/10
May 6, 2026
on Google
🍽️
Know where to eat in Montreal before everyone else.
Get the first look at the hottest openings, secret menus, and RestoMontreal.ca's weekly top picks. Join 50,000+ foodies.
Vin Mon Lapin completely exceeded every expectation. We (3 people) went on April 15 at 8:15 for my birthday, & from start to finish, everything was outstanding.
The service was exceptional, & Nino made the whole experience even more memorable. He was incredibly attentive, knowledgeable, & had such a strong understanding of both the menu & the wine list. What impressed me most was how well he read the table & understood exactly what we needed. He gave thoughtful recommendations, accommodated my shellfish restriction perfectly, & still made sure the other two guests in my party had plenty of amazing options.
The food was honestly incredible. Every dish we ordered was delicious, but our favorites were the scallop toast, the gnudi, & the lamb tartare paired with the strudel. Really, everything we had was amazing.
The ambiance, the service, & the food were all just perfect. It is rare to leave a restaurant genuinely speechless, but that was exactly how I felt. Vin Mon Lapin is hands down one of the best restaurants in Montreal, & I highly recommend it. A must-try.
Fabulous experience. There were two of us & we had the tasting menu. The chef catered it to our requests & included a few things that were not on the menu such as the roasted duck & sausage filled duck hearts.
The seating is pretty intimate & can get a bit loud. Some would say it adds to the ambience.
On est allés avec des amis & on a vraiment fait un tour de saveurs. Le menu change souvent, mais il y a beaucoup de créativité dans chaque assiette. On a essayé plusieurs petits plats à partager & tout était très bien équilibré. Le service était chaleureux tout en restant professionnel. Comme expérience, c'était très satisfaisant autant pour les saveurs que pour l'ambiance.
Apr 21, 2026
on Google
🍽️
Know where to eat in Montreal before everyone else.
Get the first look at the hottest openings, secret menus, and RestoMontreal.ca's weekly top picks. Join 50,000+ foodies.
From the moment we arrived, the service stood out. We were greeted warmly, offered drinks & were able to watch the kitchen in action while we waited for our table.
Our server, Rose was exceptional. She was knowledgeable made great recommendations & went above & beyond to coordinate with the kitchen to have a number of the dishes modified so I could try them as a vegetarian.
The attention to detail really set this place apart - plates & glasses were always cleared, drinks were never left empty & the pacing between courses was spot on. Overall a polished, thoughtful & FUN experience & will definitely return next time we're in town!
Vancouver foodie here, I'll list everything I had below with English Translations. I still dream about this meal as it's simply the most memorable & delicious experience. Absolutely love the a casual setting with the freshest farm to table ingredients, almost feels like a home.
WHAT WE ORDERED:
• Biscuit Vert Radis-Parfait de Foie (Green Biscuit Radish with Foie Gras Dip)
• Petoncles des Iles, Rhubarb, Buerre Noisette (Island Scallops, Rhubarb, Brown Butter)
• Croque-Pentoncle, Rouille Classique (Grilled Scallop'croque' sandwich)
• Agnolotti d'ortie, homard-beurre de morille (Agnolotti, Lobster, butter)
• Volaille fermiere au levain pour la table, palourdes (Farmhouse Chicken in Sourdough Batter, Clams)
A beautiful, modern, & contemporary space, enhanced by subdued lighting & pleasant music that creates a relaxed & inviting atmosphere. From the appetizers to the mains & dessert, each dish was creative, unique, & thoughtfully prepared. Everything was beautifully presented & delicious. The service was both professional & genuinely friendly, making the entire dining experience even more enjoyable.
Appetizers:
• Linzer lapin au foie de volaille
• Le croque-pétoncle, rouille classique
• Céleri-rave farci - petit lait - shiitaketini
• Poireaux comme des moules, chips
Mains:
• Échine de porc, charcutière topinambours
• Bar rayé sauvage, ortie à la crème
Définitivement mon resto préféré à Montréal pour toutes occasions! Le menu est diversifié, créatif & mets en valeur la fraîcheur des ingrédients. Il est régulièrement renouvelé selon les produits de saison & l'inspiration du chef. La sélection de vin au verre est absolument magnifique & judicieuse pour permettre des accords parfaits avec les plats. Le service est chaleureux, attentionné & convivial. L'ambiance décontractée de resto de quartier rend l'expérience encore plus authentique & agréable.
Next time, I'm hoping for an earlier reservation. The only table available was at 9:30 p.m., & I was already feeling tired by the third course. That said, the food was delicious & completely worth it. The wine list is impressive, with lots of great choices. Service was excellent. Highly recommended.
We visited Vin Mon Lapin on April 7 as a party of 4.
Atmosphere:
Lovely restaurant with charming decor. Warm & relaxed atmosphere. Wish the candles were real, not battery powered!
Service:
Overall, excellent. Our main server & sommelier was wonderful - passionate, friendly, & had wonderful suggestions for wine for the table. The other servers (I believe we had 5 total?) were friendly as well, except for one - he seemed rather unhappy to be there!
Food was thoughtfully brought to the table & explained, they seemed to have had the food before & genuinely enjoyed explaining every dish to us. Plates & cutlery were changed with each course. The service added positively to our overall experience.
Some minor notes (as this is the #2 restaurant in Canada!):
- we noticed staff taking out the garbage in view of diners
- pacing of the dessert course was lost in translation. We ordered a savoury with our desserts & were told it would come first - instead, it came with all our dessert at once
Food:
The food was excellent. We ambitiously ordered every dish on the menu, & 3 of the desserts. We also shared two bottles of wine at the recommendation of the sommelier.
The dishes were very thoughtfully coursed & well paced, we ended up having approximately 4 savoury courses. All dishes were solid, some were exceptional. The crab salad & bone marrow, linzer, mushroom, duck agnolotti, sea bass, ice cream sandwich surprise, chocolate tourte & sarrasin cake were all wonderful, the entire table raved about them all. We appreciated the use of local ingredients, as well as the beautiful presentation of each dish.
Other dishes were well prepared but not to our taste. The leeks felt like a bit of a miss, but overall nothing truly failed.
Our two wines, one white & one orange, paired beautifully.
Overall:
This restaurant is worth a stop. The reservations are hard to get, for good reason. It's a wonderful dining experience showcasing local ingredients to their fullest. Service is excellent. We all thought that in a few more years, with ironing out of some service kinks & balancing out of some flavours, Vin Mon Lapin could be worthy of a Michelin star.
Apr 8, 2026
on Google
🍽️
Know where to eat in Montreal before everyone else.
Get the first look at the hottest openings, secret menus, and RestoMontreal.ca's weekly top picks. Join 50,000+ foodies.
Obviously the food is next level & the wine list is something else. Could not find a single flaw in anything we ate or drank - truly exceptional. But actually what we were most pleasantly surprised by: how brilliant the service was (big thanks to Nino in particular for looking after us).
The atmosphere has this warmth to it that makes you feel like a local coming back for the 50th time rather than a tourist who got lucky with a reservation. Likely the best all round dining experience I've had, ever
- 10/10
Quelle magnifique soirée, nous avons été accueilli chaleureusement, les plats étaient tous délicieux & bien expliqué en détails. Ce sont des plats à partager & les portions/prix sont adaptés aux nombres de personnes à la table. La salade rose est un coup de coeur succulent & les pétoncles & tomates un plat fabuleux, frais & savoureux. Bravo!
J'y suis allé une 2e fois hier & tout était encore sublime. Guillaume, aux vins, nous a conseillé de façon parfaite.
I was thrilled to get a reservation here for my trip to Montreal. The food was so good that we were laughing at how we felt sad that our meal was coming to an end. We sat at the bar, which partially overlooks the kitchen. Our bartender basically curated our meal & wine & we just loved everything. The atmosphere is so nice. A cozy neighborhood restaurant. It truly lives up to its reputation. I would go back in a heartbeat!
