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| - It was a gorgeous summer's evening last week when my girlfriends and I met up for dinner at Jardin Nelson. I had passed the beautiful botanical restaurant many times when exploring the Old Port but never had a chance to try it.
As this restaurant does not accept reservations, we queued up in a long line for about 40 minutes! Once entering through the leafy doorway, it was evident that this place was definitely worth the wait. From the outside it looks very small as you can only see a few tables on the exterior terrasse. However, once you go through the entrance, it is huge inside, a vast open courtyard circled by two levels with lots of tables! On Saturday evening, it was completely packed by couples, families and friends... This restaurant is a perfect setting for any type of adult gathering.
I immediately fell in love with the gorgeous ambiance... It was like walking into an enchanted garden surrounded by greenery and pretty flowers, whilst the melody of soft live jazz music filled the air.
Our table was located by a huge tree that stands over the restaurant and is decorated with tiny lights - under a summer evening sky, it really was the perfect setting for a delicious meal.
Now on to the food. For appetizers we had the Nachos Nelson, roasted shrimps and fries basket. For a group of 4 girls, we were unable to finish! The nachos portion is huge and very very filling. I have never had nachos like this before... An entire layer of 3 cheese melted together over crispy nachos which lay on a bed of cranberry salsa and beans... So good I could have it as an entire meal! The fries were presented in a tiny deep fryer basket which was cute but quite a small portion.
For the main course we shared the Du Marché pizza and Eggplant al forno. The pizza was a mixed vegetable pizza, tasty but let down by the artichoke which I felt did not work with the rest of the flavours. The oven baked eggplant was interesting - very fresh whole eggplant baked for some time with cheese and tomato sauce. Worth trying if you are an aubergine fan!
The restaurant prides itself in its vast selection of drinks so I opted for the Fruité mocktail which was a combination of sweet and tangy.
Overall, I had a wonderful meal and experience at Jardin Nelson. For a moment, it gives the feeling as if you are somewhere magical and far away from the noise and bustle of city life and construction. The ingredients definitely were very fresh and cooked to perfection. Our waitress was extremely hospitable and courteous which made us not want to leave the place.
Despite it being a popular touristic spot, I definitely recommend it to local Montréalers. Cannot wait to visit this secret garden again!
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