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| - One of our best meals in Montreal was at Bocata. This hole in the wall place, which is a bit dark and warm in summer, served up some creative and interesting food. Plus, the service was nice and some great wine was to be had.
As one of the other reviewers pointed out it is best to approach Bocata knowing what you are getting into, which I agree with. They do serve wine in two sizes by the glass and the prices are a bit high, but get a bottle! Tell the sommelier what you like, and he'll recommend a bottle. This is what we did and got a lovely spanish wine that we hand't had before and now I'm dying to find. Our server was very nice, informative, pleasant and just plain did a good job.
The food is served tapas style, small plates, but are a bit different than traditional spanish tapas. No patatas Brava for example, but don't let that stop you, there is some good flavors and creativity here. We started with some Iberian Negra ham, a real pleasure and hard to get in the states so this was a good treat. The bread served with it was out of sight. We also had the heirloom tomato salad. Fresh and amazing flavors. Not too heavy and the flavor of the ingredient really showed through.
After that we had the beef cheeks, the halibut & mushroom duxelle, and and the veal with manchego. The beef cheeks were tender, amazing complex flavors and the roasted shallots were a nice counter point. The halibut was one of the best things I've had in a long time and probably one of the reasons I'm giving them 5 stars. The fish was cooked perfectly, the mushrooms Devine and earthy, and the broth it was served in was a bit of genius and worked so well with the flavors. The veal, well the veal was a disappointment. The meat was cook properly and fine, but the polenta was not what I think of as creamy polenta and the manchego's flavor was lost in the polenta. This dish needed some work or maybe my expectations were too high because of what came before.
5 dishes was more than enough for dinner for two. I would rather have 2 or 3 bites of something amazing than a whole plate of one thing, so Bocata fits the bill for me. Can't wait to come back and eat there again.
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