MARCUS Restaurant + Lounge — Restaurant in Montreal

Overall Marcus is a good restaurant, over the times I have been there I have had overall pleasant experiences. The interior is beautiful and sends you back to the Gatsby era or the belle époque, with some beautiful marbling, well dressed staff and great seafood and drinks. The location has some wonderful views, and the greenery against the window adds a homely touch. Yesterday though, on a Monday night, we decided to have dinner there. Our waitress was impeccable and everyone at the table’s food was just about perfect (I had a taste of a bit of everything😉). The steak I ordered medium rare though came way over cooked; medium well. When I mentioned this to the waitress she seemed to agree with me and told me she HAS to show it to the manager. A little strange but alright. The manager then comes back- after raising an eyebrow at our request for ketchup with our truffle fries- and explains to me that the steak was not anything above medium -perhaps implying that it was in fact medium rare- and offers to bring me a new steak. Of course that’s the least I expected, but what I don’t understand is why he wanted to convince me that my understanding of the temperature of the steak I was given was in fact wrong, and though he was happy to keep me satisfied with a new steak, he had to convince me that I was wrong. Why? Why serve me what is essentially roast beef and call it “saignant”. If you’re gonna bring me another steak what reason do you have to explain that to me than to protect your own ego or that of the chef. A restaurant of this caliber should understand the first rule of customer service, shouldn’t it? I’ll attach the photo of the steak and let you judge for yourself. The second steak I then received was rare on the inside, almost “bleu”, I would agree that it was actually bleu. How the kitchen didn’t do that on purpose baffles me. At that point I just told him it was fine to avoid the chef coming storming out to explain to me that a steak that still moos on the plate is in fact perfectly cooked. I of course still paid for the steak. In both instances, the asparagus was perfectly cooked and the jus mouth-watering and perfectly seasoned.

Then again, our waitress was impeccable. She saw what I and everyone else at our 6-person table saw, and even brought us some complimentary drinks to apologize for the whole thing. She really seemed to be someone who knew her craft and did it well.

When your restaurant is within a world renowned hotel chain, you have a certain name or a certain price range, it really IS the little things that make or break you. Maybe just a bad apple and two bad steaks, but Marcus is still a place I would recommend. Try to stick to the...

Probably one of the worst experiences ive ever had to deal with. Frances ( the manager at the lounge) is a TERRIBLE hospitality worker. Very condescending, messed up the entire reservation. Only got served for food 1 and 15 minutes later. During that hour and fifteen minutes, I asked 2 waiters, a somelier and a bus boy to get me the waiter of the table and a manager. The manager walked away after I only said 4 out of 6 drinks and I went back to him. He was very rude. I was being told things such as “ it’s not a wedding, it’s a birthday”. To have a “ positive attitude” after I get terrible service, terrible attitudes and egotistical men. They should have 0 egos, as they are WORKERS at Marcus and I’m a CUSTOMER of Marcus. I PAY, you get PAID. It should be ME with the ego. Although I’m a very calm and generous person, I still paid for the hotel, dinner and lounge bar, after Marcus did everything to mess it up. I have NEVER dealt with such terrible service in my ENTIRE life, and I made sure that they knew it. If you ever have a chance to work with Frances, I would suggest to go to another manager. He is rude, he has a bad tone, speaks over you, does not respect woman at all ( because of the way he spoke over me constantly), just overall a terrible attitude. Each time my party planner was on the phone with him he was huffing and puffing, he was bored by the conversation. Although it should’ve been me that’s mad, since I’ve called 8 TIMES for the SAME THING and they keep messing up, they’re pissed? There was also another manager, he was short, completely rude. Walked away from me, I’m telling him to get me a waiter and he goes and talks to someone else and starts laughing and giggling. I also got help from David, he is a nice gentleman. He didn’t do much though. He was just mansplaining everything. “ calm down, be positive, have fun tonight” as if they didn’t mess everything up. Whatever, he tried his best. He talked to me with respect. Which Frances lacked. As I’m talking to Frances, other people were coming to him to complain. So I just let my party planner deal with it. Anyways, don’t do your birthday here because they only value clients who spend millions of dollars apparently. That’s what Frances told my party planner! I will do everything in my power to make sure people know, how terrible Frances is. I wish I was joking. This man is lost. He’s a joke. Pathetic.

I would suggest for all hotel Services ask for Mammoune, Neil and there’s another guy, I just can’t remember.

By the way, I’m only 20 years old. You know it’s bad bad when a 20 year old leaves a review…....

Oddest service I've ever had, and the food is... Pretty bad, the more I think about it. Presentation is uninspired. This is Montreal- standards are high, and there is much better to be had for much less. I would never want to go back!

We sat down, and orders for coffee were taken 20 minutes after we sat (we were earlier in the day so it was not busy at that point), which struck me as impolite for the supposed caliber of the restaurant.

We had the bagel tower, which was nice enough. Mostly because its food not made by the restaurant, I guess!

Smoked salmon was of decent quality. Salmon rillettes were bland. We finished eating then waited maybe 40 minutes (quite a long wait) to get the second course. I picked the Eggs Benedict which was decent, just a little too hard on the vinegar. To be honest it was very odd to be served a plate with just eggs benedict plopped down on it. It felt unceremonious. I know we already had fruit with the bagel tower, but it would have been nice to have a little crisp salad with vinaigrette or something - for visual contrast, to cut and balance the richness of the dish, to add some variety... Instead it was bite after bite of heavy, fatty food. I guess this is why they added red wine vinegar, but it didn't cut it for that purpose.

What really got my goat was that a many of our friends ordered the scrambled eggs, including a larger friend of ours. And she was served egg whites. She did not ask for egg whites. Everyone else got whole eggs, scrambled. Hm.

We then waited another 50 minutes or so for dessert. Unfortunately I don't think cream and this particular sour passionfruit jelly was a good combo. Though they pulled it off as well as possible, the acidity combined with the dairy gave the impression of... Curdling, and other things. We didn't finish the desserts.

I had the Elephant in the Room as a cocktail, and it was actually lovely. It gave the impression of a fresh, green Thai curry, which I'll be trying to recreate for myself. The presentation was simple and beautiful (even though the attempt at clear ice failed). Props to whoever came up with that one.

I still had a good time because of the company, but little else. Clearly a place people only return to in order to be seen. The only positives are the good drink and...