Salle Climatisée — Restaurant in Montreal

An otherwise promising dining experience was overshadowed by inattentive, dismissive service that left us feeling disrespected and unwelcome.

We began the evening with three appetizers and one main course, hopeful that despite an initially unwelcoming atmosphere, the quality of the food might redeem the experience.

A male staff member with glasses approached our table and began clearing plates without first checking if we had finished. We mentioned that we had ordered bread and hoped to enjoy it with the remaining sauce from one of our appetizers. Rather than responding with courtesy, he chose to mock our comment. We let it slide.

Later, while waiting for our main course, we were discussing our next destination with a phone placed at the center of the table. He returned and, without a word, placed the main dish directly on top of our hands and phone. No apology, no acknowledgment. He then began explaining the dish in French, despite the fact that we had been conversing with him and the rest of the staff exclusively in English throughout the evening.

The interaction reflected a surprising lack of social awareness and professionalism, which affected our overall experience.

This experience was reflected in our tip. To which, our server later approached us to address it—condescendingly informing us that “in Quebec,” a 15% tip is customary and that, due to low wages, staff rely heavily on gratuities.

Having lived in Montreal for over a decade before recently relocating to Ontario, I can say with confidence that no Quebecer would feel compelled to tip 15% after being treated so poorly. But I do understand the assumption that, because we were speaking English, we must have been unfamiliar with local norms.

To the Salle Climatisée team: while a 15–20% tip is a widely accepted guideline, it remains at the guest’s discretion and is contingent on the quality of service. There are a number of negative reviews across your Google page, that closely reflect our experience with him. If this behavior has been brought up before, I hope management will consider how it impacts the guest experience and how it will inevitably be reflected in future tipping behavior.

The food was good—but regrettably, not worth the experience.

PSA: Adding to the irony, a restaurant named Salle Climatisée seemed to lack any effective air conditioning, leaving us physically and metaphorically uncomfortable throughout...

Overall a 8.5/10 for me. A great restaurant to try in montreal, with an intimate vibe, great food, but not revolutionary. The wine to the glass selection was extremely limited, but the overall selection to the bottle was well diverse and we loved every single wine. Our favourite dishes were the chicken dish, the boudin, and the sticky pudding. Overall a bit pricey for what you get in my opinion, but still worth the detour.

We took the complete menu to share amongst 4 people, which included

1. an appetizer of matane shrimps, which was tasty and fresh , but lacked texture and balance in my opinion;
2. the fennel plate with the sauces on it was well mastered and innovative. Really nice in taste, but a certain “crunchiness” would have added texture to the plate ;
3. the beef tartare with the grapes and greens was perfectly mastered, a must try!
4. the potato dish was a bit of a miss for me. It lacked both flavour and texture, and wasn’t on par with the quality of the other plates in my opinion.
5. the chèvre with basil and tomato was a quite simple dish, but the freshness of all ingredients really made the flavours pop, but again, some textures would’ve been fun, such as with some pecans. Personal taste for this one though.
6. the boudin was simply great. Flavouring, preparation and the sear on the boudin were perfect.
7. the fish dish was interesting, tasty, but lacked complexity.
8. the chicken dish really was the highlight of the night in my opinion, with a perfectly cooked chicken, with a delicious crunchiness of the skin, and an extremely tender meat. The veggies in the middle mixed perfectly with the rest of the dish. Way better than the similar dish plate I ate at liverpool house.
9. The deserts were a really nice finish, albeit a big heavy in cream and sugar ( but hey! It’s a desert). The sticky pudding really...

An amazing culinary experience at the restaurant Salle Climatisée (Instagram: @salle.climatisee) located in the Little Italy neighborhood of Montreal, Quebec.

Got to experience their delicious French fare on their patio, located in the front of the restaurant, on St Laurent Boulevard. I managed to try most of the menu which was offered on that day, and I wish that I were able to squeeze in a few more, as each dish ended up being more intricate than the one before and offered increasingly unique flavors.

It's really hard to describe the flavours of each of the dishes, so I would just recommend that you give them a try yourself to see exactly what I mean.

I will just mention that the chicken and chanterelles dish was pure perfection, as was the Bavarian cream dessert which was perfectly balanced and unexpectedly light and smooth.

On the menu: • R.D.V. chicken (Instagram: @f_rosedesvents), chanterelles, Physalis. • Corn, chamomile, tarragon. • Beef tartare, peppers, anchovies. • Parselle tomatoes (Instagram: @parcelles.austin), smoked eggplant. • Leeks, sunflower vinaigrette.

Dessert • Bavarian cream, blueberries, hazelnut, maple.

The overall service was great, interactive and really fun. A big thank you to the whole team for making it a...