Chez Lionel - Montréal — Restaurant in Montreal

The service was excellent but the food was really really bad. If you are visiting out of town I would recommend that you don’t visit this place. If you do so, please make sure to do so at your own peril. There are places with much better food for better value. I considered asking for a partial refund but given that they served all the food I decided not to email them and write this review instead.

I dined in on Sunday, October 19th and ordered three dishes. They all left so much to desire. This is sad to report but the French food I have had in Vancouver was miles better than the food served at this French restaurant in Montreal.

The only thing I liked in the cheese board was the cheddar cheese and it was not that good compared to cheese you can buy from a fromagerie. The Brie and the other cheese were not tasty at all.

Beef carpaccio was OK at best. I was able to finish the dish but what was supposed to be green peppercorn aioli looked and tasted like regular mayonnaise bought from a supermarket.

The final dish was a big letdown. I was hoping the main would be at least fine but the dijon chicken was the biggest disappointment of the night. The texture of the chicken thighs was so rubbery and gummy that I pretty much had to take out all pieces and just ate the green beans, peas, and the mashed potatoes. I agree with the other diners who said some of the dishes were drenched in grease. This dish pretty much just had grease collected at the bottom and besides the mashed potatoes or veggies it barely had any flavour.

I feel sorry for the gentleman who served me and helped me with charging my phone but the quality of the food was very very poor. Given the quality of the food and how much I paid ($97.48), I was very frustrated. I don’t recommend this...

I've already been to this restaurant several times, with friends and colleagues, as I work in the adjacent tower block. Always a warm welcome, great food, friendly staff. That said, Saturday night was a very bad experience. Everything was going well right up to the bill. We were billed for an extra bottle, no problem, mistakes happen. We asked for a refund...it seemed like sending a rocket to the moon... That said, the problem was the manager in place that evening. A condescending, aggressive tone. The mistake was theirs, but Madame was probably in a hurry to leave. We've never been treated like this, whether in restaurants like Maison Boulud, L'europea, Mariott Champlain, Bar George, Marcus or others...This person should think about changing jobs, especially in Montreal downtown, where the competition is fierce and customers deserve respect, like everywhere else. Next week, my colleagues and I will go elsewhere, no doubt. It's a pity, because the place is beautiful, the food very good, and very well located, but when you have 4th-rate staff like this person, it ruins everything. I would like to say that our sergeant had nothing to do with this behavior, nothing to reproach him for. Good luck for the future.

Translated with DeepL.com...

Chez Lionel is a French bar & restaurant located at the southeast corner of Drummond and Rene Levesque West. It is located directly across the street from the Sheraton Hotel and close to the Bell Centre.

The spacious restaurant was opened around April 2025 and occupies two floors. The manager, Nick, explained the second floor can be used for a private function for about 100 guests.

We tried some of their classic French dishes. The appetizers, escargot and foie gras, were delicious and full of rich flavour. The server also gave us slices of complementary baguette and a jar of mini pickles.

For main course, the duck breast, the Basque chicken and sole meunière did not disappoint.

The restaurant gave us a crème brûlée to help us celebrate a special anniversary occasion.

Chez Lionel is a great French restaurant serving locally sourced ingredients. We enjoyed our dinner. Highly...