4415 St-Laurent | Tel.: (514) 223-2292 | Open: Mon 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Tue-Wed 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Thu-Fri 9a.m.-11 p.m., Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m. (closed Sundays)
he name, with its double-entendre connotation of a singles place, is somewhat misleading for this restaurant, which is neither a butcher shop nor a pickup joint.
warm interior, just before the lunch crowd hit
Situated on a not-yet trendy part of the Main near Mont-Royal, it’s the traditional Main “long room” with the window that opens onto the sidewalk. The pleasant, angular interior is off-white and burgundy with hardwood floors and ceiling halogens. There’s a plasma TV in the corner playing CNN with the sound off. Various forms of reggae and innocuous trendoid plays on the sound system. The black leather chairs, sometimes whimsically draped with cowhide, make you very relaxed and reluctant to get up.
The theme here is basically sandwiches, with burgers and a couple of salads intervening, at least on the lunch menu. The sandwiches are all slightly off the beaten track; a Pollo Loco comes with grilled chicken, green olive tapenade and pesto mayonnaise, while The Emperor comes with Calabrese sausage, salami, prosciutto, provolone, grilled eggplant and tomato confit. The grilled chicken is the most expensive item on the menu at $8.25. All the rest, featuring smoked ham, roast beef, smoked turkey or smoked meat, among others, are $7.25.
The special the day we were there was annoying, but only because I couldn’t decide between the choices: a marinated bavette sandwich or a cheeseburger. Since I’m always on the hunt for the best burger in Montreal, I had to go for that, with the steak sandwich having to wait for another day. My companion, fellow food-scribbler Shelley, chose the Over the Top: Smoked turkey, bacon, American cheddar, dill-cucumber (not a pickle) with a honey-lemon-Dijon dressing. There should be an expression for how one feels about not having ordered something else after one has already ordered; could it be “resto-remorse?” In this case, it was “sandwich-envy.”
minestrone soup, bit of pesto floating on top
There are nice touches here, which indicates the kitchen is thinking about the details. The espresso came with a tiny carafe of warm milk. Some of the sandwiches come with Japanese mayonnaise, something with which I am quite familiar – it has a rich, slightly horse-radishy side note that is irresistible. The beer comes in a tall beer glass, not some cheap off-the-shelf mug.
And the food? A minestrone soup was hearty and had obviously never seen the inside of a can. The hamburger was thankfully not one of those half-pound monstrosities that are impossible to finish, but was a nicely done egg-shaped patty on a grilled roll with crispy bacon, a roasted tomato and good cheese. I would have to say it approached and with the roasted tomato touch even surpassed La Paryse’s offerings, though that’s open to interpretation.
Shelley’s turkey sandwich was heaped with thinly sliced turkey and yellow cheddar with dilled cucumbers and bacon between two pieces of a panini-style roll and was rated as an 8 out of a possible Montreal 10. The sandwich-envy quotient was high here.
nick's burger with roasted tomato
that girl from vancouver had a turkey club sort of thing...
The skinny, crispy fries were both sweet and regular potato – another nice touch – with a house-made mayonnaise dressing.
The dinner menu features many of the same sandwiches - just more expensive - but branches out with items like “meat on a stick,” which comes with a variety of marinades and spice rubs, all made in house, and more burgers.
This is a restaurant I will be returning to, because along with the friendly service and relaxed atmosphere, I will be conquering my resto-remorse demons one sandwich at a time. – Reviewed by Chef Nick
