Iberica — Restaurant in Montreal

Given the overall rating of this restaurant this review will certainly be a dissenting opinion; nevertheless, here it is.

Let me start by saying that the restaurant is very stylish and glamorous, presumably exactly what the owners were going for. That alone can lead one to be hoodwinked, and understandably so, into forgiving many of the shortcomings of this restaurant.When this place first opened I was very exited to try it out; unfortunately, it was an underwhelming experience.

When you first enter you are certainly struck by the beauty of the restaurant. That is a great plus and is certainly needed in order to be competitive in such an area of downtown Montreal and with very strong competition next door. While it is apparent that a genuine effort went into portraying this place as a trendy restaurant that fits in downtown Montreal, that effort fell short and came off as pretentious, probably since the restaurant failed to deliver where it really counts: the cuisine department.

Soon after you enter you are greeted by a very friendly hostess. Credit must be given where credit is due, and so It must be noted that the staff were very friendly and attentive.

The menu itself is quite extensive which may be seen as a pro or con depending on your point of view.

In a few words the food overall was okay, but nothing exceptional from my point of view. The food lacks character which it seemed to have lost on the journey to reinvent (and dare I say "trendify") Spanish gastronomy.

In more details: it was difficult to choose many items from the menu so we sampled the Ferran Adrià’s liquid olives, Patatas bravas, Grilled Galician octopus pintxo, and Rustic chicken croquettes for entrees. I had the Grilled Cornish hen for the main course, while my partner had the Paella de mariscos. The Patatas bravas consisted of a stack of thick cut fries topped with mayonnaise, smoked paprika and tomato bravas sauce. While the presentation was interesting, the taste was off the mark but not by much. The Rustic chicken croquettes were rather enjoyable, and the liquid olives were also pleasant, but nothing to write home about. Unfortunately, the octopus missed the mark by quite a bit: the portion (as with many of the other entrees we ordered) was surprisingly small for the price and the seasoning was off. The Cornish hen was too dry, and while the paella was pleasant, it was nothing special.

Price wise: overpriced given the experience I had, but not unreasonable had the food been on point.

Overall, I had a rather disappointing experience instead of what could have been quite an extraordinary one. That being said, don't write off this restaurant just yet. It is still new and has a lot of room to turn things around. Moreover, if the overall rating is anything to go by, then it is certainly worth trying out for yourself! I will certainly be giving it another shot in the near future, and I will update this post as needed.

With that I will sign off and wish you a great...

All style no substance AND we got ripped off. I don’t usually leave reviews but this place was such a disappointment I had to leave one. First I have to say the restaurant itself is beautiful and the selection of ingredients is great. The beauty of the restaurant and emphasis on fresh Catalonian ingredients is misleading as it doesn’t come together on the plate. The paella was lacking flavour. It needed some more salt and saffron or some kind of spice or fish broth or something tasty..this was bland. The rice was over cooked and the seafood was just ok, nothing worthy of the $60 price tag. The people I was with had the grilled seafood platter for two the seafood was alright. The side dish of rice was dry and tasteless. The fish in the platter was great BUT the waiter dared charge us an extra $15 over the advertised $95 price on the menu (this was advertised as a set price not market price)claiming that they gave us a bigger piece of fish than usual. That’s a total rip off. If you advertise one price that’s what it should be, I don’t care that you decided to give us a bigger piece without asking us first. Looking at the pictures on here it looks like we got the exact same size as everyone else. So their bigger piece explanation was Total BS. No one ever asked us at any time if we were ok with the surcharge before serving us. At no point was this ever brought up until the bill came. Yes $15 is not much but I wonder how many more clients they do that to. This felt like a total rip off. I wonder if they’re trying to sneak in some surcharge for the Grand Prix weekend..at least be upfront about it. Already the meal itself wasn’t that good and then they add a very sketchy fee on top. Also the waiter kept coming back speaking in English, which is fine with me but the people I was with are francophones. I would constantly answer the waiter in French and even told him to speak French for the other ones at the table yet he would leave and come back in English. Worst part is the waiter was francophone himself..this whole experience was ridiculous. Maybe I should make a complaint for the suspicious charge at the OPC and one for the...

We were very excited to eat at Iberica when we noticed that they are participating in Montreal A Table this year.  We had a delightful experience last year; the service and most importantly the food were on point. So much so that we made it a point to come back. Unfortunately, this year, our experience has left little to be desired.  One star is for our waitress who took the time to listen to our constructive criticism with care and empathy. The main reason for our displeasure were the portions and quality of the food we were served. The portion sizes were frankly insulting for the price we paid.  We understand inflation and the struggle of restaurants. With that being said, the prices have increased and the portions have significantly decreased.  We had the Montreal table menu. The tartare and the croquettes were very tasty as starters. The second star is for those two dishes as they were delicious. For the main course, we had the white fish, the portion was literally one bite, it was under season and blend. It tasted like frozen fish. Very disappointing.  We had beef cheeks  as well. Which were mediocre at best and once again the portion was for a toddler. We asked to speak with the manager to voice our displeasure constructively and politely but it fell on deaf ears and he frankly couldn't care less. Not even an apology. We were not looking to have a free meal or anything like that. We frequent restaurants often and are willing to pay for a good meal. But the portions are an absolute rip off for the price you pay. If a restaurant chooses to participate in Montreal A Table, the quality of the experience should not be compromised. Especially since it's at a higher price point.  Unfortunately, after recommending this restaurant to friends and family we will not...