- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Coffee & Tea |
- All
Nora Gray
Category: Restaurants Italian Italian [Edit]
1391 Rue St. JacquesMontréal, QC H3C 4J4
(514) 419-6672
- Price Range:
-
$$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Has TV:
- Yes
5 reviews for Nora Gray
5 reviews in English
-
Review from Marc C.
Montréal, QC
1/17/2012
1st official review of a Montreal Restaurant!! usually i do them when i go on vacation!!
and Nora deserves it. almost a 5 star rating, but came close
1st of all, i love the place it has a 60's-70's basement look and vibe (music in the place was good, but some might complain about it) and the staff too is a bit old fashioned!!
food was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G (except for the large pasta portion, that was too small for my liking and priced a bit high) but those meatballs... and that piglet was HUGE and delicious. also had a good (not great) rabbit. the wine selection was pretty neat but i think the prices were a tad high considering that only 3-4 wines were under 40$ (i like to have a «cheaper» bottle a the end mostly when i took 2 that were over 60$). one last small complaint... a 5$ lattè... really? hey, i love to spend money on food and boos but those small things really bother me
i had read some reviews about noise and slow service, but on that night it was PERFECT (we had the 2nd seating around 9pm)
would love to go back with a group of friends, but the place is quite smallish (i would recommend 4 to 6 people to really enjoy the place)
and my GF wants to add that Hal Gill was there and he's soooooooooooo cute!
Forza Nora -
Review from Joanne O.
Saint-Lambert, QC
12/18/2011
This place needs more reviews so people will be enticed to go there.
We were there on a saturday night for a friends birthday and we were not disappointed! Nice ambiance, good music, busy, but attentive staff. I believe the cook used to be at the Liverpool House (sic Joe Beef). It is in an odd location, which makes parking easy to find, and after dinner we walked up to Crescent Street, so not too far from the action. Impressive wine list.
My husband had the pumpkin ravioli (1/2 size is 3 largish ravioli) as a starter. It was like eating little pumpkin pies, so delicious but with a little kick. A friend had the winter vegetable salad and swears he could eat one everyday for lunch! I had the rabbit pate but I thought it was a little bland.
My husband had fish with a light tomato sauce and crispy onions, so yummy, a friend had the suckling pig with chestnuts and raved, his wife had the sweet and sour rabbit - yum yum, and I had the pistachio stuffed lamb. Oh the lamb! The lamb and stuffing were delicious, perfectly cooked, but the star of the show were these unbelievable gnocchi like morsels made with ricotta cheese, mint and peas - I think? I can't remember what they were called but what a delicious combination of chewy, salty, fresh herbiness! How delicious? Everyone at the table ordered dessert, but I ordered a side of the gnocchi for dessert. Soooo good! My mouth is watering just thinking about them!
I tasted the chocolate semifreddo, yum, the goat milk cheese cannoli, super yum, and a lovely selection of cheeses after.
The portion sizes were just right, and all and all , a delicious meal. 1/2 star off for the bland rabbit pate, and 1/2 star off because we never seemed to have water on our table, in as much as there was no carafe, and the staff was too busy to come by and fill our glasses very often. Still, I would not hesitate to recommend this place, and I will definitely go back, hopefully soon :). A keeper! -
Review from Marc L.
5/23/2012
During a week in Montréal filled with exceptional meals at places like Joe Beef, Au Pied de Cochon, Brasserie T, L'Express ...and on... Nora Gray was our best night out. We sat at the bar, and sampled several specials first; perfectly fresh, sweet snow crab, and lobster "salad" with fiddleheads, avocado and ramp leaves. Next, the veal cheek & guitar string pasta, which was probably the most delicious, deeply savory pasta I've ever had, and the snow crab tagilatelle, which was amazing as well. Our mains were branzino and guinea hen, and both great examples of how these proteins should be treated. Knowing in advance that the owners were longtime Joe Beef front- and back-of-the-house veterans, we'd expected a somewhat similar feel and cuisine. Instead we got something completely its own, from the decor (which harkens back to Wallpaper magazine in it's 2000-era heyday, in the best sense) to the food -- expertly subtle and complex yet light, and brimming with perfect flavor combinations. At one point early in our meal, my husband turned to me and said "Joe Beef was so amazing and unique, but I don't get the sense that they're trying to KILL me with their food here!" Lol. Add this the fact that we spend hours talking to partners Ryan, Emma and Lisa, sharing NYC and Montreal food stories and generally engaging in whatever that je-ne-sais-crois is that gets people hooked into this crazy business in the first place...well... It was beyond awesome. Go.
-
Review from Karine L.
This restaurant has been opened for 7 weeks now so it was the perfect time to try it. Made a RSVP at the bar for 7 pm on a Friday night. It has been packed every night since they have been open, which is from tue to sat.
The service was amazing. We were greeted by fresh bread with the most amazing olive oil, which I normal never have since most of restaurant serve old/ bad olive oil. Theirs was amazingly fresh!!!
We had rabbit pate and porcini risotto balls, they were amazing and filling! Our main course was the quails and black cod, which was just perfectly cook! The flavors were all there, really! The hunter sauce of the quail was quite something!
After describing what type of wine I like to Ryan, he recommended a 2003 Bandole which was right on! We were off to a good start! It just made our night much better! Emma, the chef, came to visit us couple times and gave us some great recommendations.
Would definitely recommend it to everyone who wants great fantastic simple tasty food with a casual yet cozy and chic atmosphere.
Run and try it! :)
PS i heard that the name of the restaurant was named after Emma's grandma's name, pretty cool!
PPS they have 1/2 portion available so you can taste more plates! Tapas style kinda. -
Review from Scott T.
Westmount, QC
3/3/2012
8$ for 3 itty-bitty- beignettes with mascarpone. Really? Oh yeah I pulled out a "really" on this one. We are talking big bucks for simple Italian comfort food at this place. Pasta bolognese $$$. What? These guys are crazy and I hope they enjoy the hype, because the place seems like a little hobby resto for the owners. I felt like I was in an 18 year olds 'living room with an Ipod tracklist playing in the background. The music and the crappy system, totally messed up the vibe. They managed to put together a nice italo-modern interiour design concept, but this is crushed by the horribly loud music that had aucune rapport with the concept. I was simply, shocked. Go here if you what to maintain your hipster image, when everybody knows you work in a bank during the day. How else could you afford anything at this resto without a real job? Selling street art? DJing? "Modelling"? $11+ glasses of wine? With no price range? For these prices, I expect a pro- DJ and an upgraded sound system. It is packed thurs, fri, sat, so you must reserve if you expect to get a table in this kleenexbox. Maybe it will improve? I hope so, because it's a fun concept.
