J'ai eu la chance de dîner chez Donato récemment & je dois dire que c'était une expérience extraordinaire. Dès notre arrivée, nous avons été chaleureusement accueillis par un personnel passionné & attentif. Les asperges étaient tout simplement incroyables ! J'ai rarement goûté à des asperges aussi fraîches & savoureuses. Elles étaient préparées à la perfection, un vrai délice pour les papilles. Elles étaient si bonnes que j'en ai oublié pendant un instant que je mangeais des légumes. Le service était impeccable du début à la fin. Le personnel était non seulement attentif, mais également très compétent & passionné par ce qu'ils font. Leur connaissance de la cuisine italienne & leur recommandation de vins italiens étaient parfaites. Parlons de la sélection de vin : un véritable voyage à travers les régions viticoles d'Italie. Les vins choisis étaient à la fois délicieux & complémentaires aux plats que nous avons dégustés. En résumé, Donato est un restaurant italien de premier choix à Montréal. Si vous recherchez une expérience gastronomique authentique, avec un service exceptionnel & une sélection de vins italiens de qualité, ne cherchez pas plus loin. Je recommande vivement Donato à tous les amateurs de cuisine italienne & de bons vins.
Went to this restaurant twice (Sunday & Thursday night) in the last week as I like to give a place 2 tries before I make up my mind. Unfortunately, as nice as the staff & the atmosphere is, this place simply does not bring satisfaction in terms of food & value. Most things we have eaten were close to being good, but always fell short of being done just right. For the price point, I feel like the quality of the execution should really be higher. Here's what we ate: the fennel salad had all the ingredients right, but was overdressed which killed it. The grilled octopus was okay, but the bean purée it came with was bland & not seasoned at all, bringing the whole dish down. The asparagus were okay, cooked well & the Fontina & breading on top brought flavour, but overall very average & underwhelming. Salmon tartare: same thing, just fell very flat after a few bites, nothing particular, but really not hitting the spot. The lobster linguine was the biggest let down. For some reason, the lobster meat wasn't served in fresh chunks; it seems as though they just took lobster meat & stuffed it into some sort of mold & cut it up & threw it in the pasta - the shape of the meat was in these compressed little rectangles, very bizarre. Maybe because it isn't lobster season, so they use flaked lobster meat instead of cooking fresh lobsters & shucking them into the dish? Either way, the sauce also didn't taste much of lobster, which would be the case if they used fresh lobster. If it truly is as raved about as the servers say, I would suggest to keep it a seasonal dish, rather than have an expensive, disappointing dish half of the year. The filet mignon was good, but the char made by the sauce made the outside bites bitter. They also don't seem to serve their meat with any sides here, just a plate of meat, so it was very intense with the foie gras - it would've been nice to have anything to cut the richness of the dish. If the desserts are consistent with the olive oil cake & chocolate terrine, I would say to avoid desserts in general. They just fell short as a whole, nothing amazing, didn't really hit the spot. I would choose a different shape for the cake & add stronger accompanying flavor, otherwise it is just lacking. The chocolate terrine's texture was just off, kinda like a really fudgey chocolate. Not enjoyable at all unfortunately. I will say that the ragu pasta was spot on though! Execution was right, flavors were on point, portion was perfect - very satisfying. Maybe this restaurant is more of a pizza & pasta joint? In which case my ordering was just off & that's on me. But if that is the case, I would prefer they put what they are good at on the menu, & take off everything else. Having items on the menu that are barely average or below satisfaction really lowered the experience of this place. I did comment about the salad to my server, to which the chef offered to compensate with a dessert. But after everything tasted, I found it wasn't worth mentioning every little detail to the server since the issue here doesn't seem to be a one-off, but rather just a lack of execution as a whole. I find this really unfortunate, because if everything was, at a minimum, seasoned right & executed right, this place could be a solid regular neighborhood joint. Alas, I find myself full, but not satisfied, & out 500$. I do not recommend this place, but I am sending love & hope my comments can be helpful to you.
First time at Donato. Will definitely be back but if you prefer a younger vibe book a table after 8pm. Unfortunately we booked too early & got the family & retirement crowd. The service was outstanding, very informative & very accommodating. I had the pasta with seafood & it was simply delicious. Everything was fresh. Very well priced for quality of food. The restaurant is nicely decorated & very stylish. Modern yet feels quaint & warm.
Le service etait parfait, les employés tres gentils & soucient. Le restaurant est tres beau & bien situé. Malheureusement les plats mon déçu, dans ce type de restaurants, j'ai l'habitude de manger des plats plus élaboré, la présentation était bien mais sans plus.
