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| - What a wonderful way to spend our evening! To start, however, we got a bit lost. Our taxi driver wasn't familiar with the place so all he could do was drop us off somewhere on Saint-Paul O street. The address is a bit misleading, in my opinion. I called the restaurant and the hostess kindly talked me through navigating the streets and getting to their restaurant. It seems to be actually located on St. Laurent street, towards the water. Tell your taxi to drop you off at the intersection of Saint Paul and St. Laurent, then walk 1/2 a block towards the water. You'll see it, has an awning. We were seated right away without a reservation. Our waiter immediately greeted us and asked which bottle we'd like to open first! Yes, it is BYOW and we had two bottles in our party of 4. He also brought us English menus, although the French versions are written on a chalkboard on the wall. We had several questions about the preparation of some of the items and our waiter was incredible knowledgeable. He provided his honest opinions and he didn't disappoint. I had the Steak Frites served medium rare, although I would admit it was a little on the medium side. I was really nervous about ordering mine MR, although everyone else in my party did. Theirs was definitely more on the reddish center than mine, so I'm not sure if the waiter said something to the chef and he specifically cooked mine a bit longer. Either way, it was one of the most tender pieces of meat I've ever eaten. Others in my party agreed. We also had him get us the 4 most popular deserts and we shared them - the lava cake was to die for.
I'm giving this 4.5 stars because I loved the interaction with the waitstaff. All so friendly and even taught us a little French. I wish I could give it 5 stars, but honestly this wasn't better than some of the absolute top steakhouses in the states. This was similar to a Smith and Wollensky, I'd say. I think we're known for our beef so it's difficult to expect Montreal to compare to best of the best, located in say....Omaha, NE. Eventhough it is a chain, it's something I would definitely recommend. The BYOW part is the best...being able to drink the wine you know you love and not paying the 300% markup at restaurants is awesome. That alone made it worth it!!
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