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Continental Bistro
Categories: Restaurants Modern European Restaurants Canadian (New) Food Modern European, Canadian (New), Food [Edit]
4007 Rue Saint-DenisMontreal, QC H2W 2M4
(514) 845-6842
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
9 reviews for Continental Bistro
9 reviews in English
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Review from Francisca W.
8/26/2009 6 photos
was driving around hoping to find L'Express w/o the exact address on hand. ran into this part of St. Denis, which seemed rustling and bustling on a sat night. parked car and walked idly till we saw Continental Bistro. looked good; walked in.
was a bit taken aback (again) as we stood by the entrance for minutes without seeing anyone with intention to greet us. the place was happening but it was not like no one could spare the time to notice two standing patrons. but by the 4th day in montreal, i realized this laid-back attitude and the general lack of host/-ess may be a local custom. so instead of walking out like we did the other day at the other place, we stayed put and were glad we did.
bf chose outdoor seating, which was covered by a large canopy--and a decent amount of spider webs. the arachnids weren't making descent or anything, it just wasn't a pretty scene to look at while you eat. the wooden petitions on both ends allowed for privacy yet letting air breathe through; the street-facing side was open so we could people-watch while people watched us. interior decor is modern w/a bit of retro feel; the geographic maps on walls/floors bring an aviation/exploration sense to the design. bf said their lavatory facility was excellent, too. i would've paid a visit myself if he hadn't taken so long (lol).
service was great after sitting down; waiters were polite, attentive, and professional, if a bit "chaotic" in a sense that multiple people serve multiple tables instead of following a territorial system like in the US. we didn't mind either way as long as they had communication amongst themselves; certainly don't mind double servings of bread, either. haha.
food was of great quality, from drinks to dessert. not all of the dishes suited our taste exactly (ex. dessert was too sweet), but one could tell they were made with fresh ingredients, and tons of culinary experience and skills.
drinks: tanqueray + tonic ($6+) was good; cosmo was lovely w/its pinkish color and the sweetness in it, but the glass was a little smaller than a regular (american?) martini glass. well it cost about $7.75 instead of $12 so i guess you get what you pay for.
appetizer: beef carpaccio with manchego cheese (in a "pesto" sauce made with sorrel & parsley, sprinkled with sprouts), $10.50-- beef was fresh and sliced perfectly thin. the shaved manchego cheese was strong but added the right kick. "pesto" and sprouts added to both the flavor and the texture. it was fantastic.
for entree, i had the barley risotto w/mushroom and parmesean cheese ($19.95). bf had the leg of lamb in garlic sauce w/cous cous and ratatouille ($20.50).
the barley risotto is more "pearly" and "beady" than the italian grains that we're used to; it's rounder and a bit more "bouncy" in the mouth-- which contributed to the fun part of eating it. i don't know which kind of mushroom they used, but i'm sure it was the good kind--it was abundant in aroma and flavor. they also used a stronger (sharper? more aged?) parmesean cheese, which added tremendously to the richness of the dish, and the flavor. reminded me exactly of the flavor in the salad w/tuna chunks i made at home, in which i freely sprinkled some aged parmesean cheese. regrettably, the thing w/risotto is that it was so thick and rich, you can only eat so much. at the end i did finish the whole thing, but i had wished i could stop when i was about half done. so it might have been even better if it was in an appetizer portion--you get all the strong flavors in small dozes, w/o having to OD yourself.
bf's lamb was excellent as well; lamb was cooked till bones fall off, the sauce was flavorful. too bad i couldn't eat or comment too much on those bc my risotto was so overpowering. it looked really good and he liked it very much, though. ok, moving right onto dessert.
one of the 2 or 3 desserts of the day (around $7 each) was a baked apple tart sort of thing topped with vanilla ice-cream. when you hear "apple pie" or "apple tart" in montreal, do not expect the kind of apple pie we have in the States--the kind that's filled with mushy apple pieces bathed in its own hot, steaming gravy. the kinds here are on the drier, less sloppy side. the tart pastry was baked (exactly for 12 minutes, as the waiter emphasized) with the apple pieces on, then drizzled in syrup and topped with ice-cream. the apple pieces, while "dry" (i.e. no gravy attached) on the outside, was soft and super sweet inside. too bad this super sweetness didn't just come from within the apples themselves; seemed like they've been soaked in syrup for a good while. they even turned into the color of the said syrup! it tasted heavenly, just too sweet for our taste. now the vanilla ice-cream became the "wash" between bites.
total bill came to $80 before tips; within reasonable range with that kind of decor, location, service and food. only complaint: spider webs! there was a HUGE one right at the front door too! somebody do something!!! -
Review from Rachael T.
Toronto, ON
9/12/2011
Is it just me or do restaurants in Montreal just like to take their sweet time?
Arriving after 8 with a party of 12, we were told that it was a busy night but things shouldn't be much later than usual.. fair enough.
After our server skipped passed us many many times assuming that we were waiting for some people when we had told him we weren't waiting.... we put in our food.
I ordered a green salad @ $6 and there was NOTHING in it except greens that seemed like it had come from a boxed salad from Costco. I had asked for a large portion but he indicated that it was quite big, forming a ball. Too bad this ball was pretty much full of air as the greens had no extras - cucumber, onion, tomato... JUST GREENS.
While our table was split into 2 groups of 6, the consistency of service was terrible. Table 1 got appies, and approximately 5 minutes after, table 2's main course had come out.... which is understandable because they must've been super hungry (probably after 9). As we were finish our appies, our server said that he didn't want to rush us and asked if we would like our main courses to be put in. We were so hungry - of course yes. We thought he was going to bring out our main courses.... but NO. he had not even punched the order into the kitchen yet! ......... it was probably another 40 minutes before Table 1's mains came out, and by then Table 2 is already eating dessert. We were so hungry to the point that we were not even hungry anymore.
When we called the waiter over, he looked so nervous and had no answers for us as he hurried back into the kitchen in the hopes to get us something to eat.. let me say that all our food options were either raw, rare, or lightly seared. Not sure what took so long.
The mains came out probably 10:30. We were not hungry anymore. My salmon tartare with avocado and lemon oil was sub par. It was 2 /3 avocado puree and the lemon oil tasted like water. Although other people thought the food was good, I could have really had a good meal elsewhere without the wait time.
Not going to write anymore. There's nothing more to say. The thought of thinking about this makes me sad. -
Review from Raahul K.
Toronto, ON
7/3/2011
Decent place for a late night dinner - I came across this place on a Friday night around 11p when most of the restaurants in the area had already closed. At that hour, we could the restaurant surprisingly busy - maybe catching some of the late night eaters like myself.
Pasta Carbonara, good but nothing special...
Spare Ribs (Cotes Levees) - was a special for the evening, this was delicious, the meat fell right off the bones and had just the right texture and flavour. The fries that came along with it were nothing special, but the veggies were done very nicely.
Overall we found it to be a nice place, but for the price and considering the other restaurant options in the area, not a top pick. -
Review from Haiku-Project H.
8/17/2011
Simple. Perfect. French.
Dine in style al fresco.
You'll be well treated. -
Review from Bessy N.
Halifax, NS
11/21/2010
Excellent atmosphere.
Our food experience was fabulous as well. Try the tartare (yum!) and mushroom ravioli. -
Review from N D.
4/23/2011 1 Check-in Here
My favorite French restaurant in the world. Beef flanksteak is amazing as well as all the appetizers.
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Review from Dorise G.
7/7/2009
After calling about 10 places at 9pm on a Saturday night trying to get reservations for 9 people an hour and a half later, Le Continental was the first place to hook us up with a large ad hoc reservation.
Some of us arrived earlier than others so we could savor a drink first - my friends were happy with the staff's wine suggestions, and I thoroughly enjoyed my cosmopolitan.
Since none of the 9 of us spoke a lick of french, receiving a french menu in a french restaurant we were trying to discern what exactly it was we were looking at in terms of food. The handsome, good-natured waiters brought us out some english menus, and though people ordered a wide variety of food items - the lamb, the duck, the steak frites, the flank steak, apps of calamari, figs, and beef carpaccio, all of us were extremely pleased with how tasty everything was, as well as how reasonably priced it all was (save for the Canadian tax, which is shockingly high, so it winds up evening out to still solid American pricing). We all split up desserts - I had one of the largest creme brulees I've ever seen, and some other folks got the house layer dessert. We ate dinner from 10:30pm until 1:00am, never felt rushed, and the best part was that they had already split up the check for our large party, even with distinctions of half-desserts on each bill for those of us who had split them!
Le Continental may not have been the first place we called or even that 9th, but my cosmo, flank steak, and creme brulee were all extremely delicious and even after tax and tip I only had to shell out $42 Canadian at this ritzy jam.
Highly recommend to anyone touting around Montreal - they were great to our large party - accommodating, sweet, and the food was totally worth it. -
Review from Dawen H.
9/11/2010
My wife and I had a great time there. The food was extremely delicious and the service was very nice as well.
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Review from Ganda G.
7/11/2010
We went to this place because we didn't make it for our reservation at Au Pied de Cochon. Saturday night traffic in Montreal was really bad coming from Vieux Port de Montreal after Cirque du Soleil show. On the other hand the restaurant is not within walking distance from our hotel, Le Centre Sheraton. It was 12:15 when we arrived at East Duluth and Au Pied De Cochon kitchen closed at 12AM. We found that the only restaurant that still open was Continental Bistro. Both of us don't speak french but our waiter was friendly and spoke english well. I ordered Duck confit (one of my favorite) and my friend ordered lamb shank. Both of them were delicious. For desert we ordered desert du jour to share. It was raspberry and white chocolate tart. We ate at two different French restaurant and this one was the best. Unfortunately they don't open for lunch. I want to order duck confit again before I leave I highly recommend this restaurant. Surprisingly not many people write review about this place.
