Majestique Still Nails the Resto-Bar Hybrid, Two Years In

On the heels of their second anniversary on April 10, Majestique, the lower Saint-Laurent late-night dining and drinking spot earns a strong review from Le Devoir's Jean-Philippe Tastet. Like those critics who have passed through before, Tastet attempts to define the casual-yet-classy spot from Richard Holder, chef consultant Charles-Antoine Crête and others. Is it an oyster bar? Resto-bar, or one or the other? "Majestique est un peu tout cela, et plus encore. Surtout dans les assiettes du chef Dominic Lalonde. Autour d’elles, ça vibre, ça bouge, ça respire la bonne humeur, l’appétit vorace et la gourmandise," writes Tastet. And if you can accept the noise levels as part of the restaurant's "la joie ambiante," says Tastet, then all the better.

Following two dozen oysters "écaillées à la perfection," Tastet orders six dishes that he says exemplifies the talents of Majestique's chefs who have mastered "l’art de prendre des ingrédients relativement insignifiants pour les assembler en des assiettes ô combien remarquables." These include "une assiette irréprochable" of marinated trout confit with cranberries, cherry tomatoes and spicy mayonnaise, a "superbe" vegetable tart, and tender octopus. Two delicious, balanced — and economical desserts, at $3 and $5 each — leave Tastet to conclude that, "Le bonheur, parfois, coûte peu."