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| - I'd say three stars overall, two if you give much weight to the price. On the plus side, it's in a beautiful building and has a great vibe, and the valet parking is a life-saver for anyone (like us) dumb enough to drive into this neighborhood thinking they'll save time.
On the minus side, the food ranges from decent, neighborhood restaurant-quality (the steaks and fish) to standard diner-level (the salad and appetizers), to supermarket-level (the bread).
We were treated to some surreal comedy by a deadpan waitress determined to hard-sell the salad:
"Are you sure you want the gazpacho? We're famous for our salad."
"That sounds nice, but I'm really in the mood for some gazpacho."
"We're FAMOUS for our salad."
"Yeah, I don't know ..."
"And our dressing. You've never had anything like it. We're FAMOUS for our SALAD."
So almost everyone ordered the salad, which turned out to be a big bowl of iceberg lettuce, big wedges of half-flavorful tomatoes, and what tasted an awful lot like Newman's Own Italian dressing. It felt a bit like a Seinfeld episode.
I was the only one at our table who took a chance on the gazpacho, which, while better than the salad, didn't distinguish itself in any way. It was under-seasoned (it hit the spot after an addition of pepper and the bacon bits they give you to tart up the bread)
The arctic char I had was competently cooked, on the conservative / flaky end of the spectrum, and well seasoned. The ribeye steak I sampled was good quality and perfectly cooked medium-rare, with very little temperature gradient. It didn't taste like it had been dry aged or that it was any special provenance. It would have been an impressive steak at a lower price, but I hope for a little more when the price goes north of $50.
We had a great time here, but I doubt I'll go back on future Montreal trips. I suspect the city has much better offerings. Gibby's reminds me of many New York City restaurants that have been around forever, and are now mostly famous for being famous. As such they mostly attract tourists (like us) who haven't done enough research.
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