Impasto — Restaurant in Montreal

Quick last minute Montreal trip: dinner at @impastomtl - amazing service and incredible food. Everything was super delicious 😋😋😋. . Antipasto Misto - 3 Homemade charcuteries, 1 cheese, condiments: you can't go wrong with good cured meats! These were really nicely done - not overly salty. Delicious flavours. The cheese was good too. Not too bold (which I like). . Polpo - Octopus, lentils, pancetta, gremolata: this octopus was grilled perfectly. Very tender! Loved the bits of pancetta 🤤🤤. . Insalata Misticanza - Boston lettuce salad, endives, radicchio, hazelnuts: beautifully presented, and tasted super refreshing! Really loved the hazelnuts. . Focaccia - Homemade focaccia bread, olive oil: they had some of the fluffiest focaccia I've ever had! Delicious 😋😋. . Casarecce - Mussels, cherry tomatoes, cannellini beans, saffron: I always love a yummy seafood pasta, and this casarecce dish was absolutely delicious! . Gnocchi di Ricotta - Tomato & basil sauce, parmigiano reggiano: pillowy soft gnocchi with a tasty tomato based sauce! Can't go wrong 😍😍. . Papardelle Bolognese - Bolognaise sauce, porc, veal & beef, parmigiano reggiano: a classic sauce with perfectly done papardelle! . Costata di Manzo - Ribsteak 32oz, red wine sauce: this steak was 120$ - definitely made for sharing. Super tender and full of flavour. Perfectly cooked medium. The only minor criticism is that I kind of feel like that for 120$, it needs to have something more unique than just a steak. . Porchetta - Pork, endives, pear & gorgonzola, salsa verde: delicious dish! But I thought the porchetta might have been a bit too fatty for my liking. The other elements of the dish were super yummy too! . Rapini: good side dish that came with the steak dish. . Tiramisu: a classic Italian dessert - this was nice and light. Not too sweet. Not overly soaked in alcohol....

We reserved at 5:30pm on a Friday. Reservation stated bar seat which we were fine with. Upon arrival, the place was empty so we asked if we could get the table next to the window. The man told us it was reserved and the people were coming shortly. An older couple arrived maybe 20 minutes later and the other waiter asked if they’d be ok to sit at the table I had just requested. So basically, the never specifically requested that table. It was clear it was the first time they came to the restaurant, they were all lost and wouldn’t have minded sitting anywhere. The other waiter just didn’t want us to sit there, most likely because he wanted to make money off our backs serving us at the bar instead of listening to our needs.

The two men at the bar were rude and condescending from the start. The first one was avoiding us after we ordered a bottle of wine and appetizer.

The second one, we asked him specifically for fleur de sel and he gives us regular table salt thinking we wouldn’t know the difference. Not because we aren’t wine connoisseurs that we aren’t chefs. Don’t judge a book by its cover.

We had also ordered a second appetizer and it never came. We asked them for the bill and to cork the bottle so we could take it to go. We did not want to continue eating there. The whole atmosphere with the men staff was just so bad. It was so hard to ignore they were not interested in catering to us, that we had no choice cut out evening short. We were not going to spend one more penny at a place that where the staff makes you feel completely unwelcome.

Side note, the two women waitresses were doing a fantastic job. If they would have been service us, we would have had a completely different experience with no attitude, no condescending comments and no lack...

Usually very hard to get into - book online at bookenda

Porchetta Del nonno (translation: pork like nan made?) -first time, it was everything I love about food in one plate. Crispy, tender sweet and spicy - soft and perfectly cooked. Honey glaze with pear - its insanely good. They use a fennel seed for spice that goes perfect with the sweet asparagus and pig meat.

Ricotta Gnoki (tomato sauce and basil) -I've never had Gnoki before. It's soft, small bites, just the right amount of oil. tastes great with the complimentary foccacia bread.

Stuffed Calamari -perfect texture - stuffed with a mixture of the tentacles and bread crumbs - this is what real calamari should taste like. Goes well with the wine...but I'm already drunk, blorfendork.

Wine - red nebbiolo grapes. Very smooth, some might sense an acidic flavor (not me, I can't taste a difference between red and white wine). If you go down the country in the Appalachians, where the grapes in this wine are from, there are hundreds of grape varieties - just so you know.

Amaretto - smooth, lemon zest inside - strong citrus fragrance, goes great with the desserts. More alcohol? Great, now that my inhibitions are gone, I can start taking pictures of the kitchen staff cooking.

Ice nougat - just a fancy ice cream sundae. Really delicious, but nothing special - skip the desserts here and go to Dairy Queen :P

Had a great time here - 3 people, total was $333, thank God a friend paid... I didn't fight too hard...