Mon Lapin

Irene

2.0

Sevice was amazing! Food on the other hand was not amazing! Food was cold. Bread was stale & they even charge for the bread! We ordered 5 shareable dishes. Each dish was very small portion! The duck had 3 super small pieces & one red pepper with sauce.. They couldn't put 4 pieces.? 38$ for 3 little pieces of duck? What a rip off! There are so many other better restaurants in Montreal.. Don't understand how this was voted number 1 in Canada. I don't recommend it.

WE

4.0

Like everyone else I wanted to try the #1 restaurant in Canada. Not sure if having guaranteed customers has now changed the quality of food but I would say it was pretty good if not the best meal I've ever had. Everything is executed well & I imagine this is fairly consistent given the place runs like a well oiled machine, from the time you step foot in the place to the time you leave. I must have had 5-6 servers at my table as they bring out new plates for every course & clean the table. Service is their claim to fame.

The dishes I got were: the eggplant & cantelope which was a cold appetizer. Very delicate flavour & eggplant is cooked to perfection which I always appreciate. There is a sauce which accompanies the dish which definitely adds value. I also had the scallop & cheese grilled sandwich which was super decadent (meaning fried in about a pound of butter). I didn't taste the scallop at all but that might have been my allergies (slightly stuffed nose) but the person I was with did. But the accompanying dip (avocado I believe with teeny tiny white petal edible flowers) was to die for! Was perfect match for the sandwich & really made the dish pop.

For the main we had the Artic char which was seared lightly so mostly raw in middle & the pork. I'd say the pork dish with sausage was the major disappointment. Two 2-3 inch long, thin slices of pork & one 4 inch sausage. Because most people share you get 4-5 bites. Just so you know the sausage was amazing & pork just average (warning pork is pink but tastes cooked). Again the sauces with each dish were spot on & added another level of refinement. I think the sauces are what sets this place apart from the many high end places out there.

Mon Lapin may not be the best food wise but they certainly know what they are doing. Too bad the portions could not be bigger. For example, at Nora Grey you'd get a huge pork chop for the same price but they don't come close to the flavour at Mon Lapin. Nowadays this is the dilemma...there is always a trade off.

The buckwheat cake was very nice. Tiny pieces of what tasted like brittle in the mascarpone light light cream was sweet but good. The wafers on the sides of the cake were soggy & fell apart when you picked it up...not great.

As I wrote in my review of Beba (where service & respect was lacking), Mon Lapin sets a very high standard in service & you wish all restaurants could pay this much attention to detail & more importantly provide the care & respect to their clientele as they do. So if you are hankering for some TLC while dining (although be warned it is extremely noisy when full) & don't want to be stuffed when you leave this is the place for you.