I'm starting to feel that I am out of my element.
Many things that I think are great get crummy reviews by people on Yelp, and the stuff that I think is crap everyone else seems to love.
Ah well, for what it's worth... I was quite disappointed with Le Select Bistro...
I lived in Montreal for a few years and the notion of a "French" Bistro was never thought of as something that is exclusive by any means.
I was really looking forward to this place as I had heard so many great things about it. This is always a dangerous thing as your expectations become unrealistic, but if I had never heard anything about this place I know that I can safely say that this place is not what it claims to be.
French bistro? Neah, not really.
First of all, for the starter I ordered the bean and bacon soup. Seriously, a tin of Campbell's has more on this place. Or just as much anyway. It was decent enough but a sprinkle of cheese in the middle of the bowl just won't do it for me.
Since the best bistros that I have been to over the years are known for the steak-frite, this is exactly what I was dying to try at this place and so this is what I ordered for my main.
The steak itself was as tough as leather and was totally overcooked (I ordered it medium), but that wasn't the worst part... They coated the whole piece of meat in a goopy sludge of caramelized onions which had the texture of instant onion soup mix and molasses. The main problem with this was that the taste of these onions was so sweet and potent that it totally overpowered and ruined the steak. All you could taste were these saucy onions, which tasted awful as they were. I ended up scraping the huge amount of caramelized onions off the steak altogether only to find that the steak itself had no flavour anyway. I have had a better steak at Applebee's in the States for a quarter of the price. The frits served with the steak were overdone and a little burnt and the whole experience was actually pathetic. I can think of a few places where you could place this restaurant and watch it go out of business in one week.
Best part of the meal was the crème brulee. Wow! They actually got something right! But by the end of the meal it was just too little too late.
The ambiance is the one thing that this place has going for it but I would really have a hard time justifying a return visit to this place.