À La Catalogne
March 10, 2008
311 St. Paul Street East
Price range: Moderate to expensive
Food: Good
Service: Good
Décor: Excellent
This restaurant, offering Old Quebec and French cuisine, is situated in the heart of Old Montreal. Windows on two sides offer a good view of the passing scene. The interior is artistically decorated in authentic early French-Canadian style with hand-woven curtains of catalogne cloth, blending tablecloths, walls of granite blocks, brick and fieldstone. The appetizers are most attractively served — the Coquille à la Catalogne ($2.85) in a shell on a service plate with lace doily. The tourtière (85 cents) is absolutely first-class (good pastry, delicious filling). The Entrecôte Catalogne, a recent special on the menu, is a tender steak garnished with an artichoke on top. The lunch time beef casserole contains tender pieces of beef in pan gravy. Cauliflower au gratin is quite acceptable, but some vegetables have a canned flavor. The maple desserts are delicious and the tarte au sucre (60 cents) is outstanding. Except for one house special at lunch, the menu is à la carte. Attentive and courteous service begins the minute you enter.
À la carte main dishes at lunch $3.75 to $8.75, dinner $5.25 to $11.50; table d’hôte lunch $3.50. Open every day of the year, noon to midnight, Mon. thru Sun. Reservations necessary. No special group arrangements. Fully licensed. Honors AC, AE, CB, CX, DC, MC.
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Notes for 2008 readers:
This restaurant, reviewed in 1976, no longer exists. Laurent Godbout’s acclaimed Chez L’Epicier now occupies the same location.
Share your memories of this restaurant in the comments. If you have period (1974-1979) or current (2006-2008) photographs of this location that you’d like to share, drop us a line at gyron.malloway@gmail.com.
