Brasserie 701 — Restaurant in Montreal

I never thought I’d be writing a review like this, but my experience at Brasserie 701 was so disgusting, I feel obligated to warn others. Overpriced drinks, awful service, and disgusting food aren’t even the worst of it—vomiting was the central theme of our entire evening. If you don’t want your night to end with you literally throwing up, do not go here.

What should’ve been a celebratory birthday dinner for a friend turned into an absolute nightmare. It took over three hours for us to receive our meals. But that was only the beginning of the horror.

The waiter who took our initial order was swapped out mid-service, and from that point, the service went completely downhill. The new waitress was completely silent, inattentive, and nearly impossible to find. We felt as if we were annoying the staff with our presence.

Now, let’s talk about the food. Where do I even begin?

The Escargot Persil was basically a bowl of chopped-up olives with a few snails thrown on top. No flavor, no richness, just an oily mess.

The foie gras was tasteless and underwhelming. It felt like they didn’t even try.

The escargot with beef marrow was an absolute joke. Each piece had barely half a teaspoon of marrow. I couldn’t believe they served it.

The filet mignon was ordered rare but arrived raw, swimming in a pepper sauce that was so overwhelmingly spicy it was completely inedible.

The second steak had the same issues.. undercooked and ridiculously spicy for a marinated steak.

I ordered the duck confit, which was a disaster. The entire plate was overly sweet, with half of it served cold, as though it had sat around for a while before being brought out. The so called “black truffle mashed potatoes” turned out to be a burnt, cold mess with zero truffle flavour. They didn’t even resemble mashed potatoes.

But the worst part of the night was the gnocchi with lamb, which made my girlfriend throw up multiple times in the bathroom. We weren’t alone in this either. The woman at the table across from us was also throwing up, unfortunately she didn’t make it to the bathroom on time. The place literally became a vomit zone. While they mopped the floors around us, we could still smell the sourness of what was happening. It was beyond disgusting.

We had to leave the table and find another bathroom for my girlfriend. But the nightmare didn’t end there. As we walked through the restaurant, we had to pass through a cloud of vape smoke because the waitresses were vaping behind the bar while people were literally vomiting and getting sick from the food. I wish I could say I was shocked, but after everything we’d witnessed, it somehow seemed fitting.

Brasserie 701 doesn’t deserve a single star. The food is revolting, the service is appalling, and it’s clear they have zero regard for their customers’ health and safety. If you want to avoid spending your night in the bathroom throwing up, stay far, far away from this place. It’s an experience I will never forget for all the...

Went back and the experience was a lot less exciting. Maybe the server wasn't interested but overall it was a miss. Did basically a repeat of the last experience and found everything to be very middle of the road. The drinks were ok but didn't wow like the last time.

The tartare was the standout of the dinner and really hit the spot. Moving to the marrow and escargot everything was perfectly cooked and well seasoned. The gnocchi was good and the peas were perfectly crisp with a nice balanced sauce. The bouillabaisse was also good. Perfectly cooked and balanced well also. Portions were massive and we left a lot on the plates.

I would probably go back again as this time was pretty lackluster. Maybe it was an off night.

I absolutely loved Brasserie 701. Seated quickly and started with drinks. A Cosmo and Capitaine Rubis were a start. The Rubis was really a fantastic cocktail, well balanced and that last taste of maple was really the best part. I'm not a maple fan but that cocktail is something everyone should try. I tried 3 if that's any indication of it's quality.

Next up the Escargot and Beef Tartare. The escargot was perfectly cooked, well-seasoned and better than expected. As good as any I've previously experienced. A fantastic order. The tartare was really fantastic too. It's one of those dishes that really should be something you order.

We chose a trou normand and the sorbet was quite refreshing. I think that's more of a take it or leave it but we enjoyed ours.

The main course: I chose the risotto with lobster tail and my companion chose the lamb shank. Both were perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked and a great portion. The gnocchi with the lamb was the best surprise of the meal. Perfect density and that sweetness was just right. It was a fantastic meal that I'd rate among the best places that I've eaten at.

Desert was the creme brulee and a cafe au lait. The bitterness of the coffee and the sweet creme brulee hit so perfectly in balance I have never been so happy to order desert.

Service was great. Very attentive, not rushed at all but the timings were perfect. I felt like our server was excellent and a true professional.

The environment is really nice for dining. It's about the right lighting although I needed a light to read the menu. But I'm old so it is what it is. The volume is surprisingly good for conversation.

The price is amazing. In the US I have paid 3X for similar quality food. I'll be eating here every time I'm in Montreal. It's a staple dining...

I rarely give one star reviews because even if one thing is bad, there’s usually something that was good, but not here. Where to start…I ordered the daily soup - cream of asparagus and the duck confit - a dish that any good French bistro should be able to execute with their eyes closed. The soup was much too thick and the duck confit came with soft, gelatinous skin. Duck confit must be served with crispy skin - this is duck confit 101 so I flagged down a server (they never came to ask how everything was at any point of our lunch) and I sent it back so the kitchen could fix it. This is an easy fit - it simply requires it going back in the oven, skin side down until the fat renders and crisps up. Ten minutes later they return with a different, smaller confit duck leg that had the exact same soft, gelatinous skin. Again, I had to flag down a server to send it back. This time I said forget it, just bring me the same lamb gnocchi in cream sauce my date was eating. They returned in under two minutes with the dish which was very suspicious. It was clearly a dish that had been sitting and then was nuked in a microwave. Within two minutes the heavy cream split into a disgusting oily mess from being nuked. It was so visually unappetizing with giant puddles of split, oily cream i again flagged over a server and asked him if this is how the dish is normally served, knowing that it was indisputably bad. He said no and offered to get me another. At this point, I was really turned off and said forget it. The service was so poor that they never even asked us if we wanted coffee or dessert and at no point did they ever come ask if we wanted another drink or refill our water. Again we flagged down a server to ask for a coffee (they were all just standing behind the bar talking). The coffee came with a very overcooked brown shortbread cookie - another easy miss. At this point the server brought us two complimentary desserts - a lemon meringue tart that was sadly room temperature and too sweet and a raspberry financier which was just ok. They still charged us for my main course which was shocking. Overall, such a disappointing experience with some of the worst service I’ve experienced in Montreal. With so many good French bistros in Montreal, no one should waste their time or money...