L'entrecote Saint-Jean

2022 rue Peel | Montreal

I really had no plans to visit L'entretcote Saint-Jean but this morning I had a comment which suggested it and since I was shopping in the area I added it to my list of places to try.

The interior is decorated in a true Parisian style with burgundy banquettes, huge towering beveled mirrors, tiled floors and lighted by simple brass chandeliers with globe shades.

The menu here is simple, you have a choice of entrecote or entrecote. There is nothing else. The set menu is C$20.95 which gives you the soup of the day, a butter lettuce salad with walnuts, the famous entrecote with frites and profiterole for dessert.

The soup of the day is a cream of vegetable and is pretty good. It's not really thick but it has a fresh pepper taste. This is not a small cup of soup, it's a full size bowl. Along with the soup I am served a basket of french bread which is a bit rubbery.

The salad was simple, tender butter lettuce, walnuts and a vinegrette dressing. You can complain about that!

The entrecote is topped with a simple cream sauce and cooked to your liking. It's served with a side of frites. Truthfully, I am not a big entrecote fan and found the meat here to be no different than what I have had elsewhere. Entrecote can be a bit tough. The frites were tasty but not the best I've had. Regardless both were very tasty.

Now dessert. The dessert served with the set menu is profiteroles. My favorite. Unfortunately the profiteroles failed to impress me. The dough for the puff seemed to be made by the same baker who made the rubbery bread. The ice cream stuffed inside seemed cheap, as did the chocolate sauce. I will say that they were tasty but I am comparing them to the first profiteroles I ever had which were at a place called le bouledouge (the bulldog?) in Paris. I still haven't had an impressive dessert in Montreal yet (but I do have a almond macroon with chocolate filling in my bag...).

L'entrecote Saint-Jean is the perfect stop in Montreal when you want you "steak-frites" and your fill of Parisian atmosphere. The clientele during lunch is a mix of old ladies and businessmen discussing their latest annoying big deal. If you are lucky they will sit you next to a big mouth from Texas.

For atmosphere and service I would give them 4 hearts since everyone was so friendly and polite. May I also say that they were well dressed. For food they get 3 simple hearts. The food is good, but basic.

Total bill with wine and tax C$31.86 not including tax. That's about US$25.

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Comments

The amazing thing about L'Entrecote St- Jean is that that since they only do one thing (soup,salad, steak &fries, profiteroles) you would think that they would do it better. Perhaps they are simply bored to death with the formula.

You would have been much better of at Rosalie for Lunch.

[my backyard]

I enjoyed my lunch there last week, but I also enjoyed your review. I will check out your other Montreal postings.