Mauvais Garçons — Restaurant in Montreal

Mauvais Garçons - A St-Henri Gem with the Best Espresso Martini in Town. Mauvais Garçons, nestled in the vibrant St-Henri neighborhood, is more than just a restaurant; it's an experience. From its inviting ambiance to its exceptional culinary offerings and, most notably, its outstanding bar program, this spot truly stands out. Ambiance & Atmosphere: The decor at Mauvais Garçons strikes a perfect balance between sophisticated and welcoming. It's chic without being stuffy, making it ideal for a romantic dinner, a celebratory evening with friends, or even a stylish casual meal. The lighting is just right, creating a warm and intimate atmosphere that encourages lingering. Culinary Delights: The menu at Mauvais Garçons is designed for sharing, featuring a fantastic selection of tapas and small plates that are both innovative and incredibly flavorful. Some standout dishes that consistently impress include: Tuna Tataki Tacos: A delicate balance of fresh tuna, crispy texture, and zesty notes. Fried Chicken Sliders: Pure comfort food elevated, with a delicious blend of textures and a kick of flavor. Arancini: Perfectly crispy on the outside, creamy and rich on the inside, often with a delightful hint of lemon or spice. Burrata: A fresh and creamy delight, often paired with creative and delicious accompaniments like basil-arugula hummus or a confit tomato relish. Truffle Fries: A classic done right, elevated with the irresistible aroma and taste of truffle and parmesan. Their "Menu Expérience" is also highly recommended for those who want to sample a wider array of their best offerings. The Bar & The Best Espresso Martini: Beyond the fantastic food, Mauvais Garçons truly shines in its cocktail offerings. They boast a creative and well-executed drink menu, but there's one particular highlight that demands special mention: Jonathan makes the best espresso martini in the city. His espresso martini is simply unparalleled. It's perfectly balanced – strong enough to give you that delightful coffee kick, but smooth and exquisitely blended, without being overly sweet or bitter. The frothy head is consistently perfect, and the overall taste is a symphony of rich coffee, a hint of sweetness, and a potent, yet refined, alcoholic base. It's clear that Jonathan possesses a masterful touch and a deep understanding of what makes this classic cocktail truly exceptional. It's the ideal way to cap off a fantastic meal or to kick off a lively evening. Service: The service at Mauvais Garçons is consistently attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable. The staff are clearly passionate about the food and drinks they serve, and they go out of their way to ensure a pleasant dining experience. Jonathan's excellent bartending skills are a testament to the high quality of the team. Overall: Mauvais Garçons is a must-visit in St-Henri. With its beautiful ambiance, delicious and well-crafted small plates, and especially, the undisputed best espresso martini made by Jonathan, it offers a memorable and truly enjoyable dining and drinking experience. It's a place you'll want to return to...

We went here for our annual holiday get-together and found out if the recent influencer hype is justified. It's important to note we did not try the new "menu experience" because they lacked the items we wanted. So we picked our own. Firstly, we were greeted with, quite honestly, subpar service for a place with a menu at those prices. We realize the place is called "mauvais Garçons" , but the service was fitting of that. Apparently, "May I take your order?" has gone out of style and been replaced with an uninterested and lazy, "So what are we doing? What's happening for food?". But that's subjective; maybe I'm too old-fashioned or snobby 🤷‍♂️ Our tabletop was also loose and kept shifting by serval inches every time we rested our elbows on it.

As for the food itself, the sliders were by far the best thing we tried, and we have had better. We also don't understand how the menu says "à partager" but each dish is an odd number (3) of items. Yet, the tables are for 2, 4, or 6 people, not triangles or nonagons. Given the elevated price for the small portions, this is a problem for us. We ordered 3–4 plates each, a drink, and a dessert, spent $120 each  (no GST/TPS that day), shared, and left hungry anyway (actually ate again elsewhere).

The dessert was also tiny and subpar in taste.

You may have seen some hype around the $65 7-course "menu experience". We suggest trying that if it includes all the dishes you want to try. But it's for a minimum of two people, so $65 becomes $130 to share one extra item (the plates will have 4 instead of 3 from what we saw in the reels). It's not as ridiculously cheap as advertised, but still slightly less overall, and maybe you won't leave hungry. For our experience,  unfortunately it did not live up to the hype and was not worth driving through Montreal's Saturday dinner-time traffic.

We apologize for the mostly negative review, we understand that our single, isolated experience may not be the norm at this...

Excellent flavours, seasoning and apportioned food. Staff extremely courteous and friendly. Cozy outdoor terrace (albeit on astroturf), but nicely lit comfortable. We ordered the tasting menu for four ($65/head at time of writing), and while a bit pricey there is really a lot of food. In fact, my one comment to the restaurant would be to consider offering two versions of this menu, one serving perhaps 6 (vs 10) courses at a slightly lower price ($45?$50). I have a good appetite and even I found the 10 courses too much to fully appreciate. That said, each dish was distinct and well seasoned. I especially enjoyed the opening salads. The chicken slider I found a bit sweet and at that point did not need the bun, but my dining companions were unfazed and enjoyed it as is. The penultimate dish (slices of braised flank steak) I thought could have benefitted from a more traditional salt and pepper only type dressing but again, others with me enjoyed it as it was prepared so this is just personal preference. The non-alcoholic beer offerings were slim (Oshlag, blonde-alas no IPA) but the wine list was well curated. They even made a mocktail version of their Lavander cocktail for my daughter. Overall the dining experience was very pleasant, the pacing of the dishes well timed and it is a fun way to enjoy a wide variety of dishes without having to make more than a single choice. The grand finale - carrot cake - was delicious and we all found a little more room in our extra...