Trattoria Bellamore — Restaurant in Laval (administrative region)

Unfortunately we walked out before we even had dinner. Several days prior to our dinner date we went directly to the restaurant to make reservations. Daniel welcomed us and advised that the restaurant offers dining in 2 seatings ...One at 5:30PM and the other at 8:30pm. We explained that we were receiving out of town guests and neither times worked for us. After a short conversation Daniel said he would honour our request for a 7PM reservation for 4.

Upon our arrival on dinner night we were placed at a far corner table (next to the bathrooms) !!! But we didn't complain since the restaurant was full.

Daniel came by shortly and provided us with verbal details of the daily special etc. However the table behind us was very loud and we had some difficulty capturing all the details of the daily special. Regardless, we asked for the menu so we could make a decision. He said they don't have a paper menu and pointed to the wall several tables away where the menu was written in white chalk on a blackboard. Due to the distance, the location of our table and the dim lighting of the restaurant I had to walk over to the board, take a picture with my cell phone and walk back to our table where each of our party took turns reviewing the menu.

Daniel came back shortly and asked if he could take our order. I explained that we were not ready yet due to the menu sharing issue etc. Again I asked for paper menus and again Daniel advised they don't have any but he asked me to sign into Google and he then took my phone and looked up an on line menu. As a side note why did I have to use my mobile data instead of the restaurant giving me access to their internet.

So once again we had to pass my cell phone around the table to look over the menu.

Again shortly after Daniel comes back and asks for our order....Now we feel rushed and uncomfortable.

In addition this time he strongly suggested that we start ordering appetizers to kill some time because there would be a 1 hour wait for our main course.

At this point I expressed our disappointment with all this and told him that we were not willing to wait that long for our food. He quickly became defensive saying that the restaurant was at full capacity and that’s why the long wait etc. etc. He accused me of being aggressive??? He also took the opportunity to mention that he was the owner....as if that would make any difference in my poor opinion of this place. And at that point we walked out.

Goodbye forever Daniel and Bellamore Restaurant

In closing....Dining should be a pleasurable experience. We never wait in line for lengthy periods of time or frequent restaurants that operate in a set number of seatings regardless of their stature.

We don't like that formula and stay away from restaurants that operate that way.... Its not white table cloths and a pricy menu written in a foreign language with English subtitles that make a restaurant great. That technic is outdated and no longer appealing.

Its the food and service that counts.

Sadly I do not recommend this restaurant.

Opposite Bellamare is Ken Ching a Chinese restaurant. Also a bring your own wine specializing in Cantonese & Sichuan dishes. So we walk across, enter , were immediately seated without any reservations!!! Within minutes we were served. Good food and generous portions ( we ended taking some home) and at a fraction of the cost. And fortune cookies too......Guess what mine said.

Wishing You...

GO TO SCAROLIES! :) Thank me later!

Small, dark, overpriced place wanting to give the illusion of classy and elegant place. Tip to owner(who was our waiter): professionalism, respect and politeness is important if you want to have a respectable upscale, high class restaurant. It's not just about putting up high prices on the menu and some fake plastic candles (that don't light the place up enough).

Awful experience. Incredibly arrogant waiter/owner. I fail to understand why slightly opening ONE curtain is impossible(when another one at another table was open) for the comfort of their customers. If we're paying customers (esp with prices that are higher than average) and have such a simple request, I believe it should not be an issue. Some people have eye problems and have trouble seeing, add a obscurd lighting and its basically painful. I've been to my fair share of candlelight restaurants in my life, but truly, their restaurant is too dark. FYI THE RESTAURANT WAS PRACTICALLY EMPTY. Not like a little light would have thrown off the whole atmosphere. To me, I 'like my restaurant to look a certain exactly like this', is an irrational excuse to why you cannot accommodate a client that cant see well. I read other posts mentioning the same thing and reading the beautiful (I'm being sarcastic) responses from the owner is unfortunately expected after the service and reaction we got there. No professionalism whatsoever. This owner/waiter seemed to be extremely insulted and aggressive in their body language over such a small request, makes me wonder how they live on the daily with that attitude. Maybe it just wasn't his day, but the waiter, who btw is the owner (he liked to repeat that a lot) was disrespectful!!!!!! He came to our table started naming all their entrees and main courses, and not slowly at all eh. He did it fast, he then ask what we wanted, I answered I needed a moment to just see the menu that was far away on a white board in the dark atmosphere, and he literally JUST WALKED AWAY. He said nothing, rudely just walked away as if he didn't have the time. The whole having the curtain cracked open request occurred afterwards. Just FYI I'm literally saying a little open not wide open. We did NOT ask for the curtain to be wide open, nor did we ask for the center part, just on one little end. Incredible to be denied such request. The waiter/owner kept saying that even though it is hard to see for us, that this is how he likes HIS restaurant and it is HIS restaurant, and will keep the curtains like he wants. We got up and wished him a good evening. Makes me question how they've been open for 12 years. Maybe with time his attitude changed? Not sure but i don't care enough to wonder. All I do know is that with this attitude it's not going to go for another 12. Although I truly wish the restaurant to succeed...

For a first experience, I was quite pleased for many reasons:

Food was very good and the portions were quite generous. The price was reasonable considering it is a bring your own wine restaurant. You can get anything à la carte or you could choose from their table d’hôte menu. The menu is actually on their website with the prices if you want to anticipate what you’d like to eat.

They do offer many complementary things to your table, which is quite a nice surprise once you receive it. At first we weren’t sure if it was a mistake, so we asked to be certainwe didn’t get an order that wasn’t ours! A very nice touch from the owners, meaning they take to heart the satisfaction of their customers.

Once we got assigned to our table, we had the chance to be very nicely greeted by (I believe) one of the owners of the restaurant.(The restaurant is a family business, son and father).

They ask you right away if you’ve brought wine so they can immediately bring an ice bucket to your table or put it in the fridge if you have many wine bottles. (White & rosé bottles of course!)

However, there is only one thing that could be improved (nothing too major though):

We called in to say we were going to be late for our reservation, but the other person on the line only answered and greeted us by saying: ”hello”. It was only a bit disorienting at first, since we weren’t too sure if we were calling the right place. Again, not a big deal, it is probably just a force of habit of ours to be greeted by the name of the company/restaurant when we call. Otherwise, the person on the line said there was no problem at all.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience and I will definitely come back and recommend this place to all my friends who enjoy Italian cuisine. A good find in Laval and totally worth a shot as it is minutes away from highway 13. Very accessible for people who come from Montreal!

If you are reading this and are still debating whether you should give it a shot or not... I say: definitely do! Many so-called Italian restaurants aren’t all that good... especially in Laval, so the relief of knowing there actually is one is fantastic! My only regret is to not have known about this place since it’s been open for about 8 years! Don’t forget to bring your own wine and enjoy the experience!

Thank you to Trattoria Bellamore for the good food and good customer service.

I will...