Narcisse Bistro + Bar a Vin

Narcisse Montreal
http://www.narcissebistro.com/

7 De la Commune st. East

Old Montreal, QC H2y1J1

Menu: Medium to upscale French

Kid Friendly: Get a babysitter

Prices: On the expensive side $75 with no alcohol or dessert! (That's Canadian you figure it out)

Atmosphere: Intimate, Live Jazz, quiet, friendly staff, efficient service

Another restaurant Lou and I visited in Montreal was Narcisse. It is located in the Old Montreal section near the waterfront. It was a little hard to find only because there was scaffolding covering the outside of the building. The entrance was strange as well. To enter Narcisse we had to walk through the connecting hotel. There was an entrance in front which looked like it should be where you enter the restaurant, including a menu board beside the door, but it was blocked by a table. This led me to believe they may open this entrance during warmer months.

The host was very friendly and greeted us immediately. There was Live Jazz the night we were there which created a nice atmosphere to eat in. Lighting was low and intimate.

Narcisse is a French Restaurant, which as I am typing this, makes me think we probably should have ordered some wine, but we went with a bottle of Aqua Panna. We had, had a late night the day before, and wine probably would have knocked me out at the table.

For appetizers we ordered the Millefeuille de tomate et feta. I asked the host what this meant and he said it meant millions of sheets of dough, in this case puff pastry with tomatoes and feta. He said don't take it literally. This was an understatement, see the picture. It probably should have been called Une de tomatoes et feta! Despite the misinterpretation, this was a very good dish. Light and flavorful, it was a good start.

We ordered a second appetizer as well. This is when my friend Kristin will probably gag, but being in a French restaurant, we thought it only appropriate to order the escargot a la provencale. I really had no idea what to expect, I guess I should have from the word "provencale" but I didn't. The escargot came in a dish with a garlic butter sauce they also had a thin layer of cheese on top. I thought the escargot tasted like mushrooms with cheese on top. They had a similar consistency and taste. As my husband has pointed out several times in the past, you can put cheese on anything and make it taste good! This dish proved his theory.

Moving onto dinner Lou opted for the Ravioles farcies aux champignons, or Mushroom stuffed raviolis and I went for the Poisson de Marche, A.K.A. Catch of the day. I think the fish was sea bass, but it was not very memorable, especially not enough to write about. It was a very average dish. The Ravioli's on the other hand were unbelievable. There were about 7 large, round ravioli's which came in a creamy brown mushrooms sauce. The sauce was definitely worthy of being sopped up with bread. The true sign of a great sauce.

We decided to skip dessert at Narcisse that night. Besides being full, there wasn't much of a selection to tempt us. Our experience all together was good, but not outstanding. The tomato appetizer and the ravioli were the show stoppers. Prices were slightly expensive for a slightly above average meal, the jazz was a nice touch.

As we were leaving the restaurant that night, we stopped in the hotel where I scanned a guest book sitting on a lobby table. The first entry I noticed was from Martha's Vineyard, a little touch of home:)