. "Came here for a birthday, arriving around 6:45 on a Saturday evening. There were few people but we were still waiting for our dessert at 9.\n\nThe food was mostly good, as I'd heard. I started with fried calamari, which were nicely cooked, though the sauces could have been a little more adventurous. The birthday boy had foie gras, which came with a pear compote (nice complement), and a piece of olive-oiled herbed toast, which actually detracted from the foie gras, but never mind.\n\nOur mains were the catch of the day - a fillet of dory, served with a super creamy, delicious risotto; the lamb rack with sesame seed crust and goat's cheese (the meat was beautifully cooked); and my 11yo had the guinea fowl in honey and lemon (the flavours complemented the texture and taste of the meat very nicely). The portion for my child was actually perfect, but I'm sure I would have felt a tad cheated as an adult...\n\nWe had cr\u00E8me br\u00FBl\u00E9e (perfect texture with the merest hint of lemon, just as it should be, and the correct, tepid temperature under the sugar), tiramisu with kahlua (light, creamy, very coffee-flavoured but not that authentic), and tarte tatin with ice cream (lovely caramelised apples that were cooked separately from the pastry apparently, but delicious anyhow) for dessert.\n\nWe drank an Italian Sangiovese with our meal, which was excellent, and had started with cocktails: a French mojito (yum) and a Cosmo with ricard, which had a slightly medicinal taste... We finished with great espressos that were strong and smooth.\n\nBut the service left much to be desired:\n\n- We got our cocktails quickly, but weren't informed of the soup of the day or the catch of the day before we asked. This meant we weren't ready to order when the server came over. So we had to wait again.\n\n- We didn't get bread though I saw every other table did.\n\n- We ordered the wine with the meal but, instead of getting it immediately so it had time to breathe, we had to ask for it once we'd received our hors d'oeuvres. The wait between dishes was long. We noticed this despite having gift-giving to occupy some of the time.\n\n- We did not receive any apology at any time.\n\nIn retrospect, it seems our server had a greater number of tables to wait than the other two servers. This tells me it's the restaurant's organization that is to blame.\n\nI'd really like to have given this place a better review. I loved the live jazz that adds ambiance but at no time interferes with talk, as well as the absence of the ubiquitous Montreal TVs. The food was good. The wine selection was wonderful, and the wine we chose was excellent. But going out is a total experience. If it's just for good food, I can eat that at home..."^^ . . "0"^^ . "3"^^ . "2"^^ . . "2013-06-16T00:00:00"^^ . "0"^^ .