McGill foodies will be ravished to hear that MTL à TABLE, Montreal’s annual Restaurant Week, is back in full force. This year’s festival runs from Oct. 29 to Nov. 8, and offers meal and drink deals for discounted prices at over 140 restaurants around Montreal. The fixed price table d’hôte menus offered at participating restaurants include three courses, and vary from $21 to $41, depending on the restaurant. Some restaurants are also offering late-night bites, or brunch options on the weekends, both for $21. In addition to sit-down meals, there are events like a chocolate and wine tasting offered by Chocolate Academy. There are also four walking tours led by VDM Global Foodies, which explore cuisine in different areas of the city, including the Mile End and Old Port.
The festival offers a chance to try cuisine at an affordable, fixed price. But with over 140 restaurants to choose from, it can be difficult to narrow down on just a few.
La Champagnerie
La Champagnerie, the urban tavern in Old Port, is offering a $41 table d’hôte menu featuring seasonal, local produce, with a range of meat and seafood dishes that appeal to a wide variety of tastes. The menu features popcorn shrimp tacos to start, pho with a mix of eight different meats and seafood, and for dessert, a bacon pudding chômeur featuring bourbon syrup, and spicy kumquat. The ambience is unique, with exposed brick walls, leather seating booths, and dim lighting. To add to the trendy atmosphere, there will be a DJ spinning on Thursdays and Saturdays. The restaurant will also be hosting a Halloween party featuring à TABLE deals on Oct. 31.
La Bêtise
La Bêtise has created a unique fusion of Asian flavors in a tapas style, intermingled with a Quebecois influence. Located in La Petite-Patrie, it may be a bit of a trek for most, but the $31 table d’hôte menu, which includes shredded duck poutine with foie gras sauce and bacon, makes it all worth it. A crispy and spicy shrimp burger, and a wild mushroom mac ’n’ cheese with truffle oil are also featured on this year’s menu. Chef Phat Hong has offered wine and cocktail pairings with each course to guide you through the full experience.
Invitation V
If you are interested in opting for a healthy, more environmentally conscious option, Invitation V is your spot. Located in the Plateau, the warm, urban space offers vegan cuisine inspired by the chefs’ travels and their commitment to healthy eating and animal rights. This year, their $31 table d’hôte menu includes butternut squash marinated layers in a crispy tempeh crust, and for dessert, a black quinoa pudding with pumpkin cream. The restaurabt blends healthy organic ingredients in internationally inspired dishes that appeal to vegans and omnivores alike.
These are just a few of the great restaurants participating this year, and MTL à TABLE is making it as easy as ever to find a place and a price that suits your taste and your wallet.
To facilitate participants’ dining experiences and accommodate different preferences, MTL à TABLE has introduced a new app in partnership with Yellow Pages called YP Dine. This app enables users to browse participating restaurants by price, location, type of food, time of day, and more. It will list the best spots for an afternoon pick-me-up or a late-night drink with friends. Users can also filter restaurants by dietary preference (vegan, gluten-free etc.), BYOB, or browse by categories like “Smokin’ Smoked Meat,” “Delicious Dumplings,” and “Cheat Worthy Cheesecake,” to name a few. For any mood, the app will help find the perfect place to satisfy your craving. Notably, all of the restaurants are rated and reviewed by local foodies, as well as popular reviewing websites like FourSquare and TripAdvisor. Making reservations for à TABLE restaurants is strongly recommended as a lot of the restaurants fill up ahead of time; and even if they aren’t full, the waiting time can be lengthy at popular spots. Reservations are simple to make as they can be done through the app, and this guarantees participants a pleasant and relaxed dining experience.
