L'Auberge Saint-Gabriel — Restaurant in Dorval

We stopped by for dinner during our layover in Montreal.

Food: Ordered the fish and chips, chicken fingers, and the crab cakes. Food was extremely good. We come from Texas, US, where the food is known to be a delicacy. The crab cakes contained too much herb compared to crab which was brought up by the general manager who greeted us. I suspected something was unusual about the crab cakes and I did not realize what it was until the general manager pointed it out. He knows what is being put in the food that is served - a rare trait for restaurants, especially those found in the airport.

Service: We were greeted after our dinner by the general manager Dardan, who was very cordial. He is also very self aware as he brought up his own concerns for the taste of the food. Our waitress Argyro was excellent - energetic, cordial, good mannerisms. Food came out in a fair time for a restaurant.

Atmosphere of the restaurant was excellent. Lots of crowd from all over the world doing whatever business. Interior of the restaurant is set up like a posh, somewhat higher status restaurant but is otherwise casual. Excellent ambience.

For a dine in airport restaurant, the prices are fair. They are charging you the same amount as the cold, ready-made food options but instead are providing you with a main entree that is hot and freshly prepared. The menu isn’t anything extraordinary like fine dining but is more between a mix of fine dining/fast food that you are already familiar with.

Excellent service. We do not travel out of Canada too often, however this was an amazing experience that we noticed almost immediately after being seated!

Seems like all of the staff want to keep improving the restaurant. If you are looking for a place to grab a bite, L’Auberge Saint-Gabriel will for sure earn...

I’m understanding to an extent. We were given 4 food vouchers worth $15, totalling $60. Our waitress, Anastasia, was having difficulty scanning our boarding passes as our food vouchers were on there. Which is fine, it happens, but she became frustrated, dropping one of our boarding passes on the ground and almost dropping her POS machine. My husband also had to guide her on using their POS machine?? Oh well, it happens. After attempting to scan so many times, going back and forth to her computer and colleagues, she managed to scan them. Only three. She then blames us for “wanting to add another coupon” after she inputted the transaction but no? We mentioned from the start that we have 2 each that we want to use. So she started the process again—couldn’t figure it out. So we went with the 3 she was only able to scan because I didn’t want to hassle her any further. Now, when we went to Starbucks, we were told that all of them had already been scanned? So we immediately went back to L’Auberge to speak with the manager. When Anastasia was called over, she had the audacity to count the voucher amounts “15. 30. 45$” like I didn’t understand how to count. “We only used 45$ and you agreed you would use the $15 for snacks, remember?” in such a condescending tone. Yes, but we wouldn’t be in this position if the last $15 voucher hadn’t been scanned, somehow. Luckily, AirCanada was able to rectify the situation. We had to speak to them (restaurant manager’s recommendation, thank you!), and so we did. AirCanada said that there shouldn’t have been a problem with the vouchers, and during all of the delays, AirCanada has been really smooth and seamless. The food was good and the atmosphere is nice, but unfortunately the...

L'Auberge Saint-Gabriel initially offered a promising atmosphere when I arrived — the space felt elegant and inviting, and the wait time for food was reasonable. I ordered the Onglet de bœuf with house butter, green beans, fries, and a glass of wine.

While the presentation was good, the portion size was noticeably small for the price point. I would recommend asking your server for more details about portion sizes before placing an order. The service itself was basic — professional but unmemorable, lacking the warmth or attentiveness that you’d .expect from a venue of this reputation.

Unfortunately, midway through my meal, an internal disagreement broke out among the staff and the manager. Being seated near the entrance, I witnessed the situation unfold, with staff becoming visibly distracted and leaving customers unattended at their tables and at the door. It came across as very unprofessional and disorganized, which really took away from the dining experience.

As for the food itself, the steak was underwhelming. It lacked seasoning and was quite dry, suggesting it had been sitting under a heat lamp too long before being served. Overall, it did not feel worth my...