Chez L’épicier Restaurant Bar à Vin

We loved this place! The ambience is so nice and we really loved the wine. The beef tenderloin entrée was incredible and definitely not too small, as I have seen in other reviews. The garlic Rosemary butter that came with the bread was so good too! Staff spoke great English and was very nice, even though we were late to our reservation.

Très bon restaurant avec le menu de dégustation qui nous fait découvrir de nouveaux produits et des bonnes saveurs. Place assez romantique et très calme pour un bon moment de partage.

Not worth the money anymore.
l’Épicier has slipped for certain since my last visit 5 years ago and we went to some much better restaurants including: Le Club Chasse et Peche, Bocata and Au Pied de Cochon.
I came to Montréal for a few days from NYC and was excited to eat again at l’Épicier for the second time (the last time was ~5 years ago).
We paid up for the extensive tasting menu after tasting an amazing goat cheese macaroon. Unfortunately, that was the best item on the menu. The rest of the food ranged from decent (the foie gras and Cobia Crudo) to the absolutely inedible scoop of cheese that they tried to pass off as a cheese plate.
The service was fast and friendly, but just could not make up for the weakness of the food.

This is the Best French dining experience I’ve had hands down. Fine dinning with a really cool rugged, casual and vintage atmosphere…
The tasting menu is a perfect blend, very unique and artistic both visually and in taste.
All of the unique dishes had a lot of delightfully surprising components. Perfect and
Beautiful blend! Who would have ever thought a tomato sorbet would ever go so well
with a cheese based dessert… Lastly, but definitely not least, the service was beyond amazing.

After agonizing over where to have our one upscale meal in Montréal, we decided on Chez L’epicier. We were glad we did. We did the tasting menu will wine pairings (note that 2 courses do not come paired) and our «journey» included a savory macaroon amuse bouche, gazpacho, gnocci, cod, goose, foix gras, and more. The tastes were small but hearty, most with a delicious inventive sauce. The wines were great and ran the gamut of classic French wines, and were well paired.
The service was perfectly paced, with our server prepping our next course and pouring wine, and another server serving and explaining each dish.
We were able to get a same day reservation on a Monday night. The space was about ¾ full, and the meal took 2.5 hours due to the numerous tastings and relaxed pace. The décor is modern chic, and there is a bar area to do bites/​drinks.
Dress code — you will not feel out of place if you aren’t in a jacket — but I’d recommend making this your dress up night.

Fantastic meal!
We didn’t have reservations but I called the day we wished to visit — the restaurant was fully booked but the gentleman on the phone said if we didn’t mind sitting at the bar he promised it would be just as fun.
My fiancé and I had no problem with that, we always feel we get more attentive service at the bar in an upscale restaurant and the turnover isn’t that high so we could just relax.
We started with cocktails — I had a caesar with the best maple glazed bacon I’ve ever had. My fiancé had a classic scotch — both were tasty.
A complimentary macaroon filled with mulled olives and creamed goat cheese arrived in front of us, I found the savoury macaroon delicious — my fiancé not so much.
I couldn’t decide on what to eat, many of the times we are at home, in Toronto and I cannot decide I just allow our server to choose and surprise me — I didn’t feel as comfortable here as the menu, while beautiful, didn’t explain the ingredients the same way our server did.
I settled on the seas scallops with corn and Lima beans. The most fantastic scallops!
My fiancé had the chefs special, sea bream with wild mushrooms on the side. Also fantastic!
We were so stuffed we had to pass on dessert — but the menu looked liked they covered off something for everyone.
Wonderful evening that I would suggest making a reservation for if you wish to have a table.

Went with 3 other people two of which are gluten dairy free. I had the porcetta which was excellent as were the oysters and cod. The shrimp with endive was disappointing. For dessert we had the crème brûlée sampler and sorbet sampler. While the sorbets were excellent the different crème brûlée flavored did not work for me especially not the saffron one.
Service was excellent and very accommodating.
Would go back and recommend.

Was there with a group of 8 for a bachelorette.
We had an excellent service from the staff.
The amuse-​bouche was a sweet and salty macaron, interesting and good taste.
They gave the wrong salad to a friend of mine and just gave us another salad so I was given a free salad for apetizer lol.
I shared their specialty meal that night, which was beef ribs that the server explained was for 2 – 3 people, for 120 $.
I would say it is easily for 4 – 5 girls… or maybe 3 guys.
We had a waste some food, sadly, but it was really good.
The deserts were generous. The sorbet was really tasty and we preferred the basilic flavor. The different crème brûlée was flavorful, but a bit too sweet.
It’s easily over 50 – 100 per person.

I’ve been here 5 times across the last 5 years and always enjoy the food, ambiance, service, setting. It’s a wonderful place with a creative seasonal menu.

If I could give 3 and half I would.
The amuse bouche was charming, and vegetarian/​gf tagliatelle Alfredo with salsify «noodles» was quite good and a fun texture.
It’s a very classy atmosphere and the big windows on the corner have a great view of the action on the street.
We came back another night and the dessert was not nearly as impressive.
Both the presentation and the execution of the desserts was more like 2.5 stars if I had to give a separate review.
The crème brûlées where all very watery and not custard like at all, plus they were terribly over-​burnt on top.
With the exception of a tasty and surprisingly not at all bitter turnip sorbet, none of sorbets were interesting, special, or executed exceptionally well.
Go here, but don’t get dessert.

We had a pre-​fixe menu because it was a large group. Their amuse bouchée was excellent. Delicately rendered egg rolls for appetizer, guinea fowl entrée (was OK) and cake for dessert.
We had some 2005 French wine which was delicious.

Was in Montréal for business last week and visited this restaurant the first night we were in — I have nothing but good things to say as it was really one of the better places I’ve ever been. The atmosphere is very classy and inviting and the service was excellent as well but let’s get down to the important part — the food:
Shortly after we sat down, we were given a savory macaroon which had a goat cheese filling and was the best macaroon I think I’ve ever had — really great! We ordered the egg roll for a starter which was filled with smoked meat and served with a housemade mustard — as a first time visitor to Montréal, was super pumped for this gourmet take on a classic and it was very superb! I had the beef tenderloin with the black garlic potato purée and this was really so unique and tasty. For desert, we had an assortment of macaroons to share and I had the medly of crèmes brûlées. Each one was very unique and tasted great!
What a treat to try this place — on my next visit to Montréal, will definitely be back!!!

Je suis très contente d’avoir eu la chance d’aller d’y aller dans le cadre de Montréal à table puisque je sais maintenant que l’expérience en vaut le prix. J’hésite toujours à manger dans ce genre de restaurant car il n’y a rien de plus frustrant que de vider son porte-​feuille pour une expérience très bof. Ce n’est définitivement pas le cas ici.
J’ai adoré l’ambiance calme, mais pas trop guindée, et que dire de la nourriture. J’ignore si les plats qui nous ont été servis se retrouvent sur le menu habituel, mais l’expérience autant gustative que visuelle était parfaite.

For my final MTL a Table dinner, I went back to the Old Port to another longstanding member of my «need to try» list — Laurent Godbout’s Chez L’Épicier. About to open a sister restaurant down in Palm Beach, Chez L’Épicier has been a highly regarded restaurant in Old Montréal since its opening. A friend of mine continues to states that one of the best meals of his life has been here. Talk like that has made my visit long overdue. Hype level was high which can be scary when dealing with restaurants. There is nothing worse than overly heighten expectations setting you up for a disappointing experience. In these instances, you just need to go in and have faith that the restaurant can shine through with excellent dishes and a fine touch.
Pre-​starters, we were greeted with a cocktail of maple syrup and apple cider as well as an olive and goat cheese macaron amuse-​bouche. Loved the combination in the cocktail — the acidic nature of the cider dull by the maple syrup while keeping the sweetness level strong. The macaron was a interesting idea — I had never had an non-​sweet macaron before. My hatred of olives had me skeptical however the use of the creamy goat cheese eased that olive taste which I despite. Very nice level of technique.
Our first starter was a squash velouté poured over homemade sour cream, onions, squash seed nougatine, parsley juice and brown butter vinaigrette. Cool little presentation element as the velouté was poured at the table over the bowl of accent ingredients. Loved the smooth and earthy nature of the soup and how each extra item brought a nice element to pair with the squash. A perfect fall starter.
Our second starter was a slowly cold smoked trout filet with a miso and maple reduction, shallot fingerling potatoes and a maple vinegar mousse. Wonderful flaky texture to the trout with a subtle hint of sweetness from the reduction. The mousse was a quirky but nicely flavoured addition and the potatoes brought some more heft to the dish. Very good.
The first of our mains was a sea bass fillet with herb polenta, lobster juice bouillabaisse and vegetables glazed with water butter. The real star here is the bouillabaisse — if only because the lobster juice overpowered everything else. The fish itself was solid. I am not a big fan of polenta up front so while this one was well done, it didn’t speak to me in any way. The vegetables were good but nothing to write home about (which is ironic as I am writing about them). Overall an okay dish. I feel like the fish should have had more of an impact in this dish.
Our final main was beef shoulder lacquered with orange and olives served with onion and rosemary butter brandade and reduced juice with Cointreau. Huge winner in my eyes. The beef shoulder was cooked perfectly — to the point where you early had to touch it for it to fall apart. Great richness to the beef and the hints of orange and Cointreau came through nicely. The brandade was excellent as well.
The first dessert was a carpaccio of compressed apples with tarragon granita and caramelized pecans. Sadly I didn’t get to try it because my friend finished it off so quickly which one can definitely take as a good thing. Loved the concept overall — the tarragon being an interesting addition to apples and pecans.
The other dessert available was a tempura brownie with greek yogurt cream and white chocolate jelly. The brownie itself was moist and chocolatey — a key for me with any brownie. Personally, while the tempura was well done, I’m not sure how much of an addition it brought to the dish other than texturally. It kind of felt like an afterthought — added at the last minute to make the dish «unique». I enjoyed the smoothness of the yogourt cream as well as the presence of the white chocolate and strawberries. A solid finish to the dish.
I had high expectations for Chez L’Epicier and they were mostly met. Very high level technique was visible throughout the meal — the highs were oh so high. However a couple of dishes had a few elements that left us wanting more. Not things that were a big deal but when compared to the rest of the dishes, they stood out more than they should have. All in all, I was quite happy to finally cross Chez L’Epicier off my list. Looking at the regular menu after my visit, I was intrigued enough to want to come back which I suppose is all that needs to be said.
Cheers!

Location: St. Paul East in the old port. The closest subway is Champ-​de-​Mars and it’s less than a ten-​minute walk. Street parking is available though sparse, and there’s a lot not too far from the restaurant, but I think the going rate is $ 15.
The place: Gorgeous! Very classy and cozy, with high ceilings and windows facing out onto St. Paul (we totally lucked out with our table).The restaurant isn’t huge by any means, but it’s spacious and you don’t feel claustrophobic when it’s a full house.
The food: We went for MTL à Table so the menu was fixed. Now, let’s discuss how the good folk at Chez L’Épicier thought it would be nice to start us off with a complimentary maple syrup cocktail (refreshing!) and some lovely amuses-​bouches (olive + goat cheese macarons = HELLO chef!). I went to three restaurants during MTL à Table and none of them did this so I thought it was a nice touch.
To start, I had the squash velouté (homemade sour cream, onions, squash seed, parsley juice and brown butter vinaigrette) — it was divine. The velouté was silky, thick and creamy, and meshed perfectly with the other ingredients. Loved this! My friend had the smoked trout filet (with miso and maple reduction, shallot fingerling potatoes and a maple vinegar mousse). She really enjoyed her dish as well.
For the main, I went with the sea bass filet, crusted with herb polenta, lobster juice bouillabaisse, served with glazed vegetables + water butter. The fish was fresh, and the crust was light — it wasn’t heavy or oily at all. The broth was really flavourful, and the vegetables were cooked to perfection. Fantastic dish! My friend had the macreuse and said it was delicious as well.
For dessert, I had the tempura brownie with Greek yogurt cream/​white chocolate jelly. I’m pretty selective when it comes to brownies because so few people get it right — I mean, if it’s not decadently chocolatey, then it’s not a brownie, as far as I’m concerned. On this point, L’Épicier did not disappoint. The brownie was the perfect level of chocolatey without being overbearingly sweet or rich, and the tempura was simply a thin coat of batter, making this dessert relatively light (surprising, right?). The cream/​jelly were the perfect accompaniment and I thoroughly enjoyed this dessert, even though my belly was full from the starter + main!
Service: Very good. The staff were present and ensured that the menu + additional options were explained to us, they kept our water glasses full, and they made zero fuss when my friend let them know that she has Celiac’s disease. It sounded like the chef had taken this into consideration when preparing the menu because no substitutes were necessary. Each dish was introduced to us with an explanation of what it was, and the ingredients that were used. Top notch.
Price point: The fixed menu was $ 39 + tax, and you really can’t beat that price considering the exceptional quality of these dishes + the service received.
Laurent Godbout has a great thing going here — I highly recommend this place!

Plats raffinés, service impecable
Pour l’entrée, j’ai pris un filet de truite fumé doucement à chaud, réduction d’érable et miso, pommes de terre ratte à l’échalote, mousse de vinaigre d’érable, pour le repas principal: macreuse de bœuf laquée à l’orange et olives, brandade d’oignons au beurre de romarin, jus réduit au Cointreau. J’ai royalement bavé pour la brandade d’oignons.
Pour le dessert, brownies en tempura, crème au yogourt grec, gelée de chocolat blanc
Dans l’ensemble, un goût subtil, savants mélanges, une belle surprise

Our second visit here and this place will definitely be a prominent fixture in our trips to Montréal. What I love about the food is that it doesn’t try to get too experimental for the sake of being cool but still exhibits creativity, competency and most of all FLAVOR…
Let me tell you about my Bouillabaisse. It is a dish I love to order but is usually a bit heavier than I like in the end. This version was more or less deconstructed with outrageously well prepared seafood sitting in a thin layer of the richest most flavorful broth I have every tasted.
My other half had a truffle gnocchi which makes you sit up an take notice of the difference between truffles and truffle oil. This was the real-​deal and was unusual in that the pieces were very small and delightfully light. We sat at the bar and enjoyed cocktails and banter with the bar-​tender which is just the way we like our upscale dining experiences.
The sample of four crème brûlée was a perfect end to the evening.

Very good food
Duck and steak tartar is awesome
Deserts was also good
Service was fast and accurate
Nice vine selection and food presentation

Very pleased for Montréal en Lumiere
It was a perfectly pleasant meal, I ordered the wine pairing and found the selections to complement the food really great. It was our first visit and we were very happy with our choice. Parking right out front was easy. It is a top restaurant here in the Old Montréal and is as I would expect. The food is turned out to a high standard, well executed, served in a timely manner, excellent judicious service. Well-​paced meal. I would return. The night that we visited ²⁄₂₅ (Tuesday) we had guest chef Luc Vaillancourt and not Laurent Godbout.

I sat at the bar and had the tasting menu with the wine pairing. As is typical with a tasting menu, some items weren’t as good as others, but overall this was a fantastic meal. I actually would have preferred slightly smaller portions for some of the courses because I was so incredibly full afterwards. I’d say this is more accurately a 4.5. Great for a special occasion.

OMG… Un conseil d’une amie m’a apporté à ce restaurant. Vous devez essayer cette merveille. Un chef dont le nom est connu mais que je n’avait pas eu la chance encore d’en essayer leur œuvres…wow et les desserts accotent facilement ceux des 400 Coups. Bravo et bravo au service

Not bad at all but somewhat overrated based on my personal experience there. $ 63 seemed excessive for 3 kir royals that our party ordered
Apps were fair. The ceviche seemed likely mostly veggies and little tuna.
Entrees were good but lacked flair.
Male server pleasant but lacking any warmth or enthusiasm.
Female who brought our dishes and described the preparations was warm, pleasant, and informative.
Nothing wrong with this meal but it was by far our most expensive in Montréal and it really was not memorable in any way.

I know that it is hard to go wrong finding a good restaurant in Montréal, but some places are just better than others.
A co-​worker, who lives in Montréal, took me here on a Tuesday night. He told me that we would likely never get in on a weekend night. Based on the food, I can see why.
The location is in Old Montréal, which can have touristy places than border on bad food. The décor is also not quite as fancy as the four $$$$ that Unilocal lists this place.
In fact, I would not call this a $$$$ place. The menu changes quite a bit, but there were plenty of meals under $ 40.
Service was helpful and attentive. Recommendations on wine, entrees and dessert were excellent:
–Wine list is good… heavy on French and European — with lots of price points covered.
–I had a simple mescalin salad with dressing. Other than the fact that it was enough for two, it was a great start to the meal.
–My dining companion had the tartar mixed with beets. He said the beets gave it an interesting flavor and texture.
–I had the scallops. Presentation was beautiful and the various textures/​flavors were to die for.
–Finally, we shared Chocolate Bavarois. There has never been a better combination of cocoa!
The last point I would like to make on this excellent establishment is that the chef must like foie gras. I counted no less than 6 menu items that contained it. The amuse bouche had it. My scallops were flavored with it. At the beginning of the meal, we remarked that we thought the butter was flavored with it (it isn’t — it was simply butter with olives in it). This chef really knows how to cook!

Un des meilleurs restaurants de Montréal! Les plats sont raffinés et le service est impeccable.
Certes un peu cher mais cela vaut vraiment la peine. Vous êtes de passage à Montréal, il faut s’arrêter souper Chez l’épicier!
C’est celui que j’ai préfèré!

L’Épicier translates into grocer in English. Although you won’t find aisles of fresh produce or a meat counter here, you will find walls adorned with various oils, jarred vegetables, and condiments available for sale.
I’ve often heard people say that you should pick a wife who knows how to pick good produce, because its a sure sign that she will know how to cook good food. Well, Chef Godbout is no woman, but he sure knows good food. Not only that, he has an eye for perfection and a passion to present his food beautifully. As I plunged my fork into the artfully crafted dishes that were put forth at the table, I couldn’t help but feel like I was desecrating Michaelangelo’s Statue of David — but I was too hungry to abstain and the food looked very inviting.
Chez L’Épicier is located in Old Montréal, directly across from the Marché Bonsecours on the same strip that is home to other much raved about restaurants such as Chuck Hughes’ Le Bremner. What caught my eye about this restaurant were the festive decorations, and big windows. I always love a restaurant that has a view of the street, let alone the cobblestoned paths of Montréal.
One thing I’ve learned about dining in Montréal, is that if you want good food, you better make sure you have a reservation! We were promptly seated and our server let us know about their feature wines and daily specials.
Shortly after, she reappeared and made wine pairing suggestions for William T. I ended up settling on a glass of martini while my dining companion had a glass of red wine.
While we were waiting, we were brought a complimentary amuse bouche presented on a spoon. It was composed of a cauliflower panna cotta with gravlax, parsley, garlic and chives. The herb mixture looked very much like a pesto.
The complimentary bread came with 2 butters, your usual plain butter and a honey mustard butter that was simply irresistible. To start we ordered the lobster bisque which is made with a cognac sabayon and tarragon foam. The lobster bisque had a full-​bodied and bold lobster flavour to it, unlike others I’ve had where all you can taste is a roux made entirely of butter and flour. The best way I can describe the flavour is as if the lobster innards and shells were liquified to make this savoury soup.
We also ordered the suckling pig fondant with mustard and truffled Yukon Gold velouté. The pork came with a crispy pancake, which still has me guessing as to what it is made of. The potato velouté was velvety smooth and the pig fondant was pillow-​y soft. The velouté really made the dish. Although I think I would’ve used a sturdier green than scallions so that it can maintain its form a little better instead of collapsing over the fondant.
For mains I ordered the osso bucco with a side order of pan-​seared foie gras. The osso bucco was surrounded by a mini-​garden of onions that were piped with a vanilla-​carrot espuma (aka foam), and an apricot-​arugula polenta. The osso bucco was not as tender as I would’ve liked, but melted off the bone. The vanilla-​carrot espuma were very tasty and visually appealing and the polenta was tasty. The sweetness from the polenta and espuma complimented a salty osso bucco very well. The foie was also very savory… Like eating liquid butter. Yummy!
William T. opted for the Alberta beef filet mignon served with a potato dauphinois and légumes. I couldn’t stop eating the scalloped-​potato meat loaf, as it was creamy like a scalloped potato should be, but infused with beef flavour. This made it hard for us to enjoy our vegetables after!
Unfortunately, we had a show to catch at the Place des Arts, so we didn’t have time to order dessert.
Verdict:
Chez L’Épicier is not a happening restaurant where all the hip and trendy hang out, but it is a place to appreciate savory food, and carefully executed plating. Its like going to an art gallery opening because you expect tasty hors d’oeuvres and wine to be served, but you are also there to see the masterpieces on display. There might not be any Monets at Chez L’Épicier, but their dishes truly are a work of art.