larrys — Restaurant in Montreal

I am sad to write that last night I had one of the most surreal experiences in my life as couple of friends and me went to Larry’s for dinner!

Initially, when ordering, one of my friends asked for a steak well done and surprisingly the waiter lectured her on how the meat should be cooked and even told her that they “only served it medium rare”!!! Though my friend tried to explain she liked the meat well done, without success my friend finally decided to go with another option, chorizo sausage (who was not well cooked). I order polenta (which was nice) and trout, which was not fully cooked so I kindly asked the waiter if it could be added a few more minutes in the oven. For my surprise I was also lecture on the way the fish was cooked. For a moment I felt like an idiot specially when I have been feeding many friends and myself for more than 20 years but mainly when I have been taut by people whom are trained and passionate about cooking! But not wanting to make a fuss (and continue to be lectured) I just simply justify myself by saying “I am pregnant so I can’t eat anything raw” (which is totally true)! Finally the waiter accepted to take the food back to the kitchen … My friends and me continue chatting and I told them a joke, I used to have with my friends back in Belgium, about complaining at the restaurant and waiters spiting on your food … and suddenly I have the waiter bringing my trout and scolding me about spitting on the food!!! Incredulously at first I was not been able to understand what the waiter was talking about and when my friends and I tried to explain her that she misunderstood and misheard a conversation … it was worst!!! She got aggravated and I kindly asked her several times to please leave me alone, to be served by another waiter what awkwardly it only seamed to fuel her! In any moment management or any other waiter showed up trying to calm her down and I truly felt bullied and harassed!!! After asking her several times to be left alone, I was pushed to my limit … I should have asked for the manager or call the police to present an harassment complaint but at that moment I just wanted to be left alone and I only could asked her to “shut the f** up!” but amazingly I continued to be lectured until she abruptly left! No other waiter or management approached us at any time except when we asked for the check, which we paid, then we were offered a timid apology.

Lessons learned on this very unfortunate episode … I highlight: As a restaurant manager to have in place good recruiting and screening processes and offer employees some basic training on customer service As a future mother, definitely teach my children not to listen to the conversation they are not involved or invited to join, as they will never be able to see the full picture!!!

Thank you...

Haven't been to Larry's in a long time, since they were still downstairs at least. New menu is much less interesting and very run of the mill Wine was a highlight but staff aren't very knowledgeable, and once the bottle was left on the table our water and wine glasses were totally ignored by the team for our entire visit. We ordered a few small plates to share, which for the most part were tasty if not a little boring.

Long story below; tldr Very dissapointed this used to be one of my favorite spots in Montreal and I won't be coming back again

We ordered the beef tartare, which came out bland and lacked care in preparation. We then attempted to speak to a server, all of whom seemed shocked that at 6pm on Saturday the restaurant would have most of its tables full.(not even a full house) We weren't able to even ask for salt for 25/30 minutes, at which point the tartare was warm and not very desirable as it was. We finally spoke to someone who did not inquire if we wanted anything else to drink even though our wine was done by the time and once we asked for salt they just left the table before we could ask ourselves. They then promptly forgot to bring the salt, we waited another 10-15 minutes before asking someone else. We were then brought a salt shaker full of sugar! Eager to finally eat the tartare we put some of what we thought was salt on the dish and quickly learned it was not what we wanted. The dish was taken away and by that time we didn't want to wait any longer so we didn't take the offer of something else to replace it. The bill was brought promptly, however the tartare wasn't even taken off.

While the service was friendly before a few more tables sat down (less than 20 guests for 4 foh staff) the apparent disorganization and lack of training or confidence was very frustrating. Saturday nights in the summer do get busy but the atmosphere from the service was very...

I'm giving a 5* because I can't give a 4.5* but they don't deserve a 4* according to my experience.

First this place does something every restaurant should do: the tip is included in the price. (Expect prices to be inflated compared to other places and the vine prices bite a little).

I go to a restaurant for the food, not to be faked treated like a king, a good service is expected and I don't want to have to think about how much waiters deserve to be paid, they should make a decent salary no matter my food experience or mood. As long as they bring me the food and are polite, the job is done.

And guess what, they delivered a great service and the food was delicious!

I loved that we could take several small dishes and share. The portions were just right and the mains/sides tasted fantastic.

The place is also nice , it's not too big, feels intimate yet we were not squished. There is a nice bar, big windows. it's a nice cozy place.

I had however 2 downsides:

1. I was a bit disappointed with the dessert (strawberry trifle) it tasted a bit chemical and was not at the level of the rest of the food I had, not bad but I'm sure they can do better. It just tasted like something generic I could have on a Disney cruise.
2. the vines are good but quite expensive, having a bottle makes the final price a bit too expensive, would be appreciated if they offered more options that don't require us to have to sell our kidneys to come here again.

Despite that, I'm still rating them a solid 4.5* meaning 5*

Now imagine if they also include all the taxes, that would be the dream !

Also since the tip is included I hope the salary of the waiters are adapted...