Sky High Restaurant Earns Rock Bottom Review for Rotten Service

Montreal Gazette critic Lesley Chesterman this week offers less of a review and more of a detailed saga of lousy service at Les Enfants Terribles Place Ville-Marie (the one that’s 44 storeys above the city), in the space formerly occupied by the reputedly tacky Altitude 737. The view would appear to be the only positive here: the food lowlights were “sad” salmon tartare, an overcooked and beefy-tasting lamb burger and a “feeble” pouding chômeur. Chesterman ekes out some compliments for the shepherd’s pie but it doesn’t save the sky-high eatery from a rock-bottom review. The no-stars-ever score is clinched by “shoddy” and “patronizing” service. Left on a chilly terrasse and with customers seemingly jumping the no-reservations line in front of her, Chesterman drops the “I’m a reviewer” bomb on the servers. A handsy and sycophantic manager then swoops in and does not succeed at fixing anything. No stars. [Montreal Gazette]

Over at Le Journal de Montréal, the ever-bombastic Thierry Daraize heads to the Laurentians, visiting a Saint-Sauveur restaurant with a mouthful of a name, Chantal et Tony Bistro a Vino. He loudly applauds the Italian-cum-French spot’s commitment to their customers’ satisfaction, even if that seems like a pretty basic metric for decent restaurant service: “Vous êtes en présence de restaurateurs qui veulent votre bonheur.“ Though to be fair, Daraize is assessing the restaurant as an out-of-towner in a spot where restaurants could get away with treating tourists not so well. Anyway, he finds eponymous chef Tony LaPalerma’s food excellently non-ostentatious; beets with salmon gravlax and éclair and feuilleté desserts stand out, while the gnocchi is a touch heavy. Four stars. [Le Journal de Montréal]

Neither over-stimulated nor hopping mad is Ariane Krol at La Presse, who visits Paul-André Piché’s Hochelaga BYOW restaurant La Tannerie. Open for around six months now, Krol deems their modern takes on some well-worn dishes mostly successful, particularly a Scotch egg-like entrée and “cushion-like” mushroom gnocchi main. It’s not without flaws, as the beef short ribs are “rétive et fibreuse” and a bean side resembles low-grade sugar shack food, but Krol would eventually return, she writes. [La Presse]

And finally, Jean-Philippe Tastet grabs some Indian food at Old Montreal’s Gandhi. The restaurant has been there 15 years, and there’s not a whole lot to add since Le Devoir’s last visit in 2001. The food, biryani in particular is good, the wine list is a little scary but beer is a good option, and overall it’s a gem in an otherwise desolate touristy zone. Three and a half stars. [Le Devoir]

• The view is not enough at Les Enfants Terribles PVM [Montreal Gazette]
• Des clients traités aux petits oignons [Le Journal de Montréal]
• La Tannerie: à peaufiner [La Presse]
• Belles casseroles indiennes [Le Devoir]