‘Is Party-Restaurant Buonanotte Still Good?’ Ponders Critic

The founder of its particular genre of supper club and butt of jokes for cooler-than-thou Mile End types Buonanotte is in the critical limelight this week as the Gazette’s Lesley Chesterman pens a fun review. Staples like “model-pretty waitresses [and a] party-hearty ambience” still figure prominently in the discotheque-like space. The food gets a decent (although not knock-out) reception. A “luscious” tuna salad, standard Italian meatballs, and a mozzarella pate all get thumbs up. Mains are mixed — a pork porterhouse gets major props for succulence, but pizza-adjacent piadina is “a little bland”. Desserts — a too-sweet key lime pie, and gummy molten cake, bring it all down, and Chesterman would recommend sister restaurant Fiorellino more, but it’s still two stars. [Montreal Gazette]

Patricia Brochu

Jean-Philippe Tastet is back from vacation and for Le Devoir, he’s starting off at Hà in Old Montreal, the brand new second location of the Plateau Vietnamese restaurant. Positive (but not a rave), Tastet declares it “relaxing and delicious”. Tastet’s assessment is that it’s exotic but friendly to Western (or perhaps white) palates — green papaya salad and a spicy beef tataki salad get nods, while a grilled chicken dish goes too heavy on lemongrass. Novel dishes at the new Hà also do well, namely pan-fried cod on vermicelli with a yogurt sauce. Avoiding a common Tastet gripe, Hà’s desserts, including a coconut tapioca pudding, shape up — three stars. [Le Devoir]

Le Serpent

Le Journal de Montréal critic Thierry Daraize revisits the Club Chasse et Pêche group’s Italian-leaning Cité du Multimédia restaurant Le Serpent this week, and positive exclamations abound. The highlight appears to be linguini with speck, almonds, cauliflower and truffles, which Daraize dubs “a symbol of true class, elegance, and professionalism”. But everything else, from mouth-melting albacore tuna with yuzu to an “intelligently thought-out” burrata and beef carpaccio dish, fares almost as well. Four stars. [Le Journal de Montréal]

Bâtiment B

Lastly, La Presse continues its summer outside the city as Marie-Claude Lortie visits riverside Terrebone gastro-pub Bâtiment B. The terrasse is spectacular, Lortie writes, while the service is not, and the food is somewhere in-between. A classic mozzarella-tomato salad is “impeccable” and pan-fried trout with carrot-zucchini chutney are among the successes. But grilling is not a great cooking method for oyster mushrooms, Lortie says of another plate, and a spaghetti squash dish is well overcooked, in what’s overall a not exactly good, but not exactly bad review. [La Presse]

• Buonanotte carries the torch for the Main's heyday [Montreal Gazette]
• Plateau Vietnamese Spot Hà Now Has An Old Montreal Location [EMTL]
• Hà, le nouveau du Vieux-Montréal [Le Devoir]
• Le Serpent: Respect! [Le Journal de Montréal]
• Bâtiment B: manger presque sur la rivière [La Presse]