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| - Arriving midnight after Igloofest this lower McGill street bistro wasn't packed and wasn't screeching with bumpcha bumpcha so we ducked in and sat on the couch against the wall and ordered giant mugs of stout, nuts, olives and homemade spicy beef jerky. The service was perfect; always there when you wanted it but discreetly disappeared when you were deep into a conversation, and even when we lost track of time and talked till 3pm we were never given the slightest hint of rush. The stout was delicious and giant mugs are both economical and swashbuckling, and the long list of beer imports certainly had me curious to come back for more. The snacks were fine, and gladly received given that the kitchen was already closed.
The decor rubbed me the wrong way. Though the lighting is sexy and dim and attractive and the space holds all kinds of potential there is this forced "modernness" that is actually very 90's dated, cold and uncomfortable. Why all these hard chairs, and stiff couches with half backs where you hit your head if you lean back? Why with the window treatment of cold angled slabs, why so much metal and white? I'd love to see more stone, wood, a fireplace, a connection to the actual space and history all around in Old Montreal and even right there in the name.
Huge potential here and I'll come back, but my quest for the perfect cozy Old Montreal bar continues.
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