La Cale - pub zéro déchet — Restaurant in Montreal

I went here for lunch today and left pretty disappointed. I ordered the medium poutine and the ramen bowl with braised pork. The poutine was ok at best, I thought the sauce was way too watery and not at all enough. I ordered a medium and it was the equivalent to a small everywhere else and was so little for $12. The ramen was straight up bad. The noodles were clumped into one tasteless and undercooked mass. The broth was sour and way too salty. The pork, despite being advertised as braised, was just pork belly that was scorched. Also, for $19 it was easily half the size of any ramen bowl elsewhere in the city. I don't know who came up with these portions and prices.

Service was friendly but it took way too long for us to be served (the place was empty) and none of us got any water throughout the meal.

Sometimes we don't like the food but can admit that it just wasn't to our taste. Rarely, we can say that a place was objectively bad. Unfortunately, this place was closer to the latter. I left 2 stars because at least the staff was polite...

A friend from work suggested this spot for our recent visit to Montréal. It was extra appealing for their accommodations for dietary restrictions, since we’re traveling with someone who can’t have lactose or gluten. We were initially seated at a high, very small table. When we asked to switch to a booth, we were accommodated as soon as it was possible. The waitress was very attentive and helpful.

Our friend was very happy with having “low gluten” options, which he is okay with. The options and transparency on the menu makes it perfect for the dietary restrictions.

The vegan poutine was good, as was the Eggplant-Ricalstta alla Cannelloni. My cauliflower wings were fantastic. (And we might just be traveling with someone who doesn’t appreciate poutine. We will forgive him).

Loved the drink options for cocktails and beers, ultimately went with the original cider which was perfect.

The dècor and atmosphere was great, nice lighting, cool posters, and live music was starting as we were leaving. Very cool scene, good food and...

Update: Went there as a group for dinner. Service was on par. Nice drink menu and house cocktails were excellent. On the food side, the "Montréal à Table" menu basically offered an extra salad for a not-so-worth-it price. Salad was ok (the vinaigrette was nice). The main dish was disappointing: what was supposed to be gnocchi with pumpkin and butternut squash mixed with pesto was pretty much only pesto. Random greens didn't fit much with it. The dessert was the only actually good part. Would I go again for drinks? Yes. For food? Meh.

Original review: Went there for drinks and hoping for dinner after getting many glowing recommendations. Everything was doing great until there was a staff change and we got completely ignored despite being pretty much the only customers for a while. Even got empty glasses picked up without a word or question. We ended up going somewhere else nearby for dinner and more drinks. Might give it another go...