McKiernan Rôtisserie — Restaurant in Montreal

We went there expecting to eat the comfy food of the regular daily menu, as seen on different reviews, but we learned on the spot that in the evening they serve a different menu. They seem to not believe that sharing more information on their website would be useful (their website has basically no info). I found it a bit annoying, in this era of radical transparency... It would be nice to have an idea to what to expect before going into an expedition in this industrial corner of the city with major construction work in play.

The evening menu is more expensive and, from our experience and perspective, not to the usual high standards of David McMillan's places (my girlfriend and I went to all its other joints and were enjoyed all of them, specially Vin Papillon).

The menu was lacking any kind of description and didn't even leave place to the imagination so we had to ask the waitress about each item. She was overall not particularly friendly.

So the 5 small chicken croquettes the size of an index finger were good but not so much considering the price ($14).

The rapini plate (about 1/4 of a rapini bouquet that must not have weighted more than 50 grams for $8) was tasty but the portion was so small that we could easily see the bottom of our small dish before even having eaten one croquette. The cost of food on that plate must be close to $0.75...not a joke.

The french fries ($6), the highlight of our evening, were crispy on the outside and tender inside, sprayed a touch of cheese over. No sauce or mayo though.

The porchetta was a way too large cut about 2.5 inches high, with a bit of veggies on top of it. It was cold basically at room temp, full of fat parts not eatable, not tasting much and devoided of any sauce of even simple mustard to spice up the taste. We had to asked the waitress to reheat it but it came back barely warm. The crust was so hard that I couldn't eat part of it. Not worth the $29 it was priced.

My $12 glass of wine was way to soft and pale.

The desert, Paris Brest, was excellent and was worth the $10 but not more.

Just while we were finishing our desert, we saw two clients beside us enjoying what looked like some delicious and copious plates, including a massive and beautiful salad. We asked the waitress what were those items on the menu since we couldn't figure it out. To our deception she told us that the items were not on the menu and that the clients were probably some friends of the staff...

The space is original, a huge loft with beautiful arch windows. But you do sit on benches, being at the mercy of the movement of your neighbors, and eat at what looks like picnic tables with knife having plastic handles and cabane à sucre plates.

Overall a disapointing experience considering the food, the price, the setup and the location. Wouldn't recommend it for the evening until, hopefully, at least important changes are made to the menu.

With all being said, I must mention that hey had the kindness and professionalism to not charge us for the porchetta which did ease a bit...

A friend from high school took me here for dinner. She had said really good things about this place of business so I was really excited.

From the moment we sat down, to the moment we left, we were rushed the entire time.

When the waiter came around after we had ordered our cocktails, he had asked if we were ready to order. I said that we hadn’t really looked at the menu yet, as we were still conversing. The waiter told us to « hurry up and pick a selection as there was another party coming in directly after us ». Okay. A little odd but we made our dining selections and continued on with our evening.

When our food was brought to us, we continued to eat and converse, as you do at dinner with people you’ve been friends with for decades.

Once half my plate was finished, the waiter offered to clear my plate. He then offered to clear my friends plate, she was still working on hers. Any wanted left overs were boxed up. We were then rushed to check out and pay our bill. We did so. I was still working on my cocktail.

Another person then followed up with us 5 minutes later to let us know we needed to leave as another party had arrived and needed the table. She had offered to seat my friend and I at the bar so we can continue our night. We agreed. She left for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, ANOTHER women approached our table and asked how our evening was, and once again, when we were leaving as another party had arrived. My friend told this women that we had been told bar seating was being made available for us in order to move to a different area (because at that point our presence at that particular table was not welcomed) and we were just waiting on the previous women to show us where. This women replies with « well, who told you that? we don’t have any bar seating available and need this table cleared ».

At this point, we had been dining for 2 hours on the dot. All of the tables around us had been seated prior to our arrival and were still dining and had not been pushed to leave in the same way we had.

The entire experience at McKiernan was a disappointment. In 26 years, I have never felt so rushed or unwelcomed in an establishment. The food was good, but bad service has ensured that I will never return to this establishment again. A thorough...

We went to this rotisserie as a group of nine, and unfortunately the service left a lot to be desired. From the start, the server didn’t take the time to properly explain how the imposed family dinner plan worked and made us feel like we were bothering him when asking questions.

We were also given misleading information about the price. We asked multiple times and were told and reassured that it was $65 per person, taxes and tip included (the 18% tip being paid in advance). However, when the bill came, the total was much higher, closer to $90–$120 per person, depending on drinks. While we understand beverages add cost, the discrepancy of $20–$25 more per person felt dishonest given how many times we confirmed the price.

On top of that, the service itself was not adequate for the mandatory 18% tip. There were no check-ins, little explanation, wrong drinks were served and our waiter was rarely in sight when we needed water, napkins, or anything else. We were also told rather harshly by a busboy that we weren’t his table when asking for more water and he didn’t give us more help in that regards, ex; going to get our server.

As for dessert, the quantities were uneven, which meant we couldn’t even share everything equally among the group to be able to have a small taste of everything. The food itself was good, but the overall experience was disappointing.

The lack of clarity and accountability, inattentive service, and the unpleasant surprise with the bill really soured the evening since we had inquired multiple times and been giving false information, haven had the right information from the start would have saved us the surprise, which dampened the night.

Finally, for the leftovers, everything was packed into just two bags for the nine of us. At that price point, we would have expected the portions to be divided more fairly so everyone could...