Le Jardin de Panos — Restaurant in Montreal

Another update: future customers, please read the owner’s second petty response to me. I have receipts and photos from over the years of dining at your restaurant. You are also hiding your identity behind the screen. Regardless, people I know have all said the same thing; prices have increased but taste and dishes have decreased in quality and flavor. It’s not a good sign when people are dumping salt on the steak because all the “seasoning” came off during the grilling process.

Just because you can’t handle constructive criticism, doesn’t mean you have to go all “soup nazi” on me. Oh wait, maybe that’s who you aspire to be?! Again, don’t waste your time at this poorly run establishment. They are rude, disrespectful and overpriced. Don’t believe me? Read the comments from the owner below mine. Plenty of other flavorful options nearby.

Update: since I can’t respond to the owner, I’d ask future customers to read their despicable response to me below. Keep in mind: my friends and I have spent thousands at this restaurant. Completely unprofessional response by Le Jardin. Plenty of better spots nearby on Duluth. Don’t waste your time or money.

I’ve visited Le Jardin de Panos with friends over the years on several occasions. In the past, it was always a great place to have a nice steak with greek potatoes and a salad at a reasonable price. But the last few times I have visited, the quality and service has plummeted. Most recently, we were rudely greeted by the hostess, and then expected to sit in an area that was in between two large parties despite their being tons of room in the dining area. Once we “settled” in our terrible seats, I ordered a medium rare steak. What I received was a rare steak that was poorly seasoned, unevenly charred, and dry potatoes. The steak also had way too much fat in comparison to my friend’s who had a significantly better cut of the rib steak. When I told the waitress that I wasn’t satisfied with my steak, she got the manager. He didn’t listen to us or even offer us an apology. Rather he gave us a lecture on why Rib steaks are fatty and cooked as they were. As a cook, I didn’t appreciate his tone or assumption that we don’t know about steaks and good cooking. I don’t plan on returning to this over priced establishment that serves poor quality food. And this makes me sad as a long standing...

I am sad to rate this once fabulous place 1 star but it needs a complete overhaul! I used to go here a lot about 10 years ago as it was by far the best Greek restaurant in MTL, but that is about when this place stopped trying. The outside seating garden area was sad looking(most of the plants were dead and dried out) and in desperate need of attention. The tables and chairs are outdated, stained, painted over one too many times and needs refreshing. The food was not good- can you imagine going to a Greek place that does not serve Tsaziki, pita or feta?!?!! How can you eat Tirikaftiri without pita?!?!?! The calamari were greasy and flavourless, the house salad (which wasn't Greek salad btw) was drenched in dressing so it was soggy, the potatoes tasted boiled before they were roasted, the souvlaki was dry. Even the bread they had on the table was terrible. The bathrooms need a desperate renovation. At the entrance, you walk through the servers area so you see the back of the house and all the goings-on which needs to be separated from where the patrons go. I'm afraid to know what the kitchen must look like considering the lack of care they have for the front of the house and the quality of the food. This place is a great candidate for one of those "restaurant 911" shows that could easily bring this place back to life. My "foodie" group went here on my recommendation, needless to say, I was embarrassed by suggesting this as it was far from the great place I told them about that it used to be. At this point, I'll never go back and will not recommend. Hopefully this review will help motivate the owners to renew their passion and bring it back to greatness.

Update: I got this reply below last week and penned my own reply back that I hope shows up in this thread. Just so we're clear, I did not review the wrong resto which I visited early September when the temperature was in the high 20's low 30's and the flowers everywhere were in full bloom. I firmly stand behind my review- even more now after having received such a reply.

To the owner: please read my reply to your comment and let me know if you would like to continue the conversation, as "just writing anything" isn't my goal when I leave reviews, but rather, it's to let you know about my experience so that your restaurant can be as successful...

me and my family have been going to this restaurant for 39 years, multiple times a year, never a bad meal. that was pre pandemic. so i just ordered the aaa steak angus, the serving girl says we don't do the cut anymore but we have a replacement, so i ordered the steak, i ordered it rare, it was off, the blood and fat tasted of spoilt meat, i started feeling sick, i sent it back. then the poor underpaid waitress comes back and says "the chef says do you want another steak or do you want to order something else", i say " wait so you're telling me that they're not throwing the whole tray away and are going to serve the rest of the contaminated meat" she replies "i don't know" but her body language implied the opposite. needless to say but i didn't order anything else after that. as i was leaving i walked past the kitchen and noted that their old chef and team has been replaced. i can't believe that the restaurants management allowed for the server to deal with this situation by herself. any manager worth their salt would have come personally to apologize and made every attempt possible to make it better. that is how a good restaurant operates and since no attempt was made i can only assume that they aren't interested in my families business anymore. it's such a shame they used to have the best food and now the owners have run it into the ground. they have not made their father proud. he lived for that place. also the owners response of "the meat comes individually wrapped", okay so is cargil pre marinading the meat for you aswell? and with the same marinade you used for 30 years? either way using pre sealed factory meat is not the win that you think it is. now nothing differentiates you from chain restaurants like casa greq. and just to clarify, when i said "underpaid waitress", i didn't mean you don't pay her enough, i meant her pay grade isn't high enough to be expected to deal solo with a irate customer claiming that your restaurant served spoiled meat. that should have either been the "chef" or the managements job not hers. your response tells me my business is going elsewhere from now, you aren't taking this...