Bistro La Franquette — Restaurant in Westmount

We were not able to eat at this restaurant because of poor reservation management and communication. For context, we made a reservation over a month ago for a birthday celebration. We received a confirmation call on the day of the reservation, which we took as a good sign. We arrived on-time and see a small queue, but were told it would only be a few minutes because a table was paying. No problem. A few minutes stretches into 15 minutes, then 30 minutes. We ask about our table and are told that two groups are close to paying, but then see other groups, of the same size and larger, get seated inside (at the bar and at tables). When we expressed our displeasure at the situation and asked when we were to be seated, we are again told that it will be a few minutes. When we asked why at least one other couple that arrived after us were seated, we were told that they had an earlier reservation (that they arrived a full 15 minutes late for, as we watched them check-in), and asked if we wanted to sit outside…as it was pouring rain. Having no faith in the staff and no trust that we would be seated within the hour, we left after waiting 41 minutes past our reservation time. We could have easily gone elsewhere, but were gaslit into staying for as long as we did because tables were ‘just finishing.’

We are visiting for the weekend and were excited to go to this restaurant, though we could have gone to any number of others in a city full of great restaurants. Waiting happens, particularly on busy weekends, but the poor table management and even worse communication really ruined the evening. Avoid this...

So I’ll start with, you should go.

I’ll get to the food in a sec but as soon as you walk in you feel the warmth. They have a cozy and intimate dining room that’s great for a night out with your favourite people.

We had the sourdough bread and halloumi starters, which were ok, but for the mains we had the ravioli, rigatoni and the hangar steak. All of them were incredible. The one large ravioli with pockets of ricotta was served al dente, it had the right amount of chew, with a tomato basil sauce which was nice and light. The rigatoni with beef cheek also was served with perfectly al dente pasta in a deeply flavored ragu, which I think sort of tasted like a stroganoff. The pastas were served together first, and then they brought out the hangar steak. Medium rare, with fries that remind you why Montreal is so well known for them, but also with some sort of a glaze or reduction which I didn’t know was there until the plate was finished and I scraped up whatever I could with a spoon. In fact, I scraped all three dishes clean using a spoon. This isn’t an Italian joint but they need to help me do scarpetta… maybe having that sour dough at the end with the mains so you can mop up the deliciousness on the plates.

Service throughout was so kind, unobtrusive but so attentive. Staff accentuated the warm and welcoming vibe of the dining room. I would go back just to be taken care of like that again.

I can’t wait...

This place is nice - the food is decent (nothing special just standard French bistro fare) - the location is nice and convenient if you live in Westmount and want a place that is walkable - if you are willing to get in the car and take a drive there are MUCH better bistros in the city. The liver mousse pate and the French fries were probably the best things on the menu - the hangar steak was fine but kinda tasteless (and given that it had herb butter melted on it in but sure why it wasn't more flavourful) - the worst part though was the service - we had to wait over 25 minute between courses for our mains to arrive after our appetizers - the place wasn't particularly busy and by the time the food came we weren't really hungry anymore - the is one of the biggest fails a restaurant can make IMO and the waitress didn't even seem to notice or apologize. Again, if you are looking for a nice Bistro that is walkable in Westmount this place is passable; if you can go a little farther afield there are much better options for this type of food in Montreal. Edit: the owner replied saying that we changed our reservation from 5 to 6 people and that was what caused the 25 minute delay - what an awful excuse rather than just a "sorry - we messed up". Half our party shared main courses - there would have been no extra work for the kitchen with 1 extra person. I have an even worse taste in my mouth for...