465 rue McGill | Montreal
Metro - Square Victoria
It's my last meal in Montreal and I was planning to head out to L'express for an encore meal since. I really enjoyed my first visit.
I was sidetracked. Throughout my trip I kept walking by Boris Bistro on my way to Old Montreal but it was untouchable and always packed full. This morning is different. It is noon and there are only about 4 other parties here. I guess it's a good time to try it. Someone I met a few nights ago at Au Pied de Cochon told me that she heard it was good, "if you could get in". Well, I'm in!
The nice part about Boris Bistro is the shady outdoor patio for dining al fresco. Although the patio is shaded, most of thetable have big market umbrellas offering additional comfort. The interior is also very nicely decorated in a modern, but warm style (non typical French bistro).
The menu isn't huge but features classic French bistro fare with starters ranging from C$3 - 9. The main course dishes are also quite reasonable and range from C$12 - 19 and include dishes such as blanquette de veau, pork filet with cranberry sauce, duck risotto, braised rabbit and a few seafood dishes.
For my starter I order the endive, beet and blue cheese salad (C$6.50). Simple enough, very simple, really delicious. The dish comes with cubed red beet and sliced yellow beets along with a few spears of endive. This beautiful arrangement is topped with crumbled blue cheese and an olive oil dressing. Lovely. I sopped up every bit of the delicious dressing with my crusty French bread.
For my main course I selected the duck leg confit which comes with a green salad and lentils (C$12.75). The duck leg is so delicious and has a crispy skin with meat that is so tender you can cut it with a fork. The side dish of lentils want to my liking, but I am not a lentil fan.
On the side I got an order of frites (C$3.75). I know, I known not more frites! But at Boris Bistro there is one big difference... They are fried in duck fat. How unhealthy is that? Who cares, you'll never get that in New York City. The fries are very tasty and have a sweet flavor. They are cooked dark brown but aren't very crispy. These duck fat frites are served with a side of a mayo with added ketchup and spices. It went well with the fatty fries.
Boris Bistro also has a decent wine list by the bottle or glass. The selections include wines from Europe as well as Australia with a noticible absence of California wines. Wine by the glass is offered in the C$7 range and by the bottle you can get something at around C$35.
So...
Did you think I would pass up dessert? Never! Typically I would go with the creme brulee but today I'll try something different. My choice is fondant au chocolat and I don't even know what the heck I ordered.
I think I made a good choice. At first, the serving size of this dish looked stingy. On the plate the dessert was a small cone of chocolate topped with a few caramelized pistachios and surround with a caramel creme sauce. Well, after the fact it was hardly stingy. The small piece of chocolate would fulfil any chocoholics dream. It was so thick you could barely cut it with a spoon. The caramel creme sauce surrounding the chocolate was really delicious and I remember the menu reading that it was "salted" caramel. Truely a classic dessert.
I finish my meal with a simple cafe filtre (filtered coffee).
The service today at Boris Bistro has been so friendly and cheerful. My waitress is really a gem. That make a big difference. I don't know if it is always this good, or if it's because they aren't busy. I guess people don't go out to eat on Sunday afternoons.
I have to say that I am glad that I walked by this afternoon because I originaly thought the menu seemed bland. It was far from it. Sitting out on the shadey patio with the cool breeze blowing has been a perfect wrap up to my Montreal adventure. I have to award Boris with a golden star as my favorite meal while in Paris, uhhhhh, I mean Montreal.
Total bill including one glass of wine C$42.85 (US$37). Considering the amount and quality of food I would say this is a "best buy".
For food, service and atmosphere I give Boris Bistro 4 big hearts. Now I know why it was always full everytime I walked by!
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