Restaurant Pret À Manger
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
1809 Rue St. Catherine OuestMontreal, QC H3H 1M2
(514) 931-8889
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 12 am
Fri-Sat 11 am - 1 am
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Has TV:
- No
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
12 reviews for Restaurant Pret À Manger
11 reviews in English
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Review from Rob B.
2/27/2012
I just love the Chinese food of Montreal. And now I know why. It seems that the northern regions are inhabited by, you got, it Northern Chinese. Hunan and Scheuan dishes abound and it's not the kind we have back home in the South.
Today I had the hot and sour soup though thick with ingredients was surprisingly not that hot or sour. The cumin beef however was wonderful. Salty yes, as some have commented but when you enjoy it with the plain white rice and shredded iceberg, it's perfect!
Love to go back with a crowd and try more items on the menu. I would shoot for the specialties and anything with a chili next to it. -
Review from Dean A.
Montréal, QC
11/16/2011
So I thought this was a another french bistro on Mont-Royal, but it's a bona fide through-and-through Shanghainese restaurant that runs with the best of them.
You walk into the usual predictable "decor," and I use that term loosely. Tables, chairs, white walls, a photo or two of the motherland, a few tchotchkes on or around the cash register.
The food, though, is incredible for two things: One, you order and it nearly instantaneously comes out of the kitchen piping hot. My first reaction was that I was just screwed into eating a reheated pile of leftovers sitting around, but it was, in fact, totally whipped up on the spot. Two, the food is bloody good. Beijing duck, hot chicken pot or whatever it's called, sesame beef, spicy eggplant, it was all excellent and totally delicious. And cheap too - four people, $62 tax in. Not bad at all - when's the last time you ate well for under a twenty in this inflation-riddled city?
The discerning Chinese guy in our group of friends gave it a big thumbs up. If that's not an endorsement, then I don't know what the hell is. Enjoy! Well worth the trip! -
Review from Anabel L.
Toronto, ON
8/31/2011
Did I ever tell you how I feel about Chinese food? Let me be frank (I feel like we're there) it is never my first choice. In fact, I almost never sugget it. My budgie Cracker hates it...so does my dad.
Anyway, after a long day of biking and walking around, my sister and I headed over to Kazu for dinner. We got there at 9:31pm. It closed at 9:30pm. Sad...so sad. (N.B. It may been 9:01 and 9:00...but you get it.)
I was hungry. My sister was hungry. We no longer cared what we ate.
My sister suggested P.M. She said it's the only Chinese restaurant in downtown Montreal that she and her friends will eat it.
When it comes to ambience and environment, a Chinese restaurant is like the average girl. You do one, you've done them all. Sorry, was that too brazen?
P.M. is no different. It had the usual white table cloth and that subtle clean but unclean feeling. Nothing some tea can't fix. Service was just as quick-quick, but friendly. I ordered up my favourite dish: "gong chow how woah wow" (my Chinese friends are REELING right now...I totally butchered their language, meh). The waiter knew what I was saying - beef fried rice noodles, and eggplant and tofu.
The food was good, a little better than average. I didn't take photos because when my sister asked if I was going to post about P.M. I said "no...it's Chinese". But then...random friend of a friend asked me if there were good Chinese restaurants in Montreal. Ding, ding, ding. I always forget that there are people out there who love them some Chinese.
For me, the best thing about Chinese restaurants is that you tip small, leave full, and your wallet's still heavy. -
Review from Lisa B.
1/4/2010
I came here with a Chinese friend who eats here all the time. We were a large group which was great as it allowed us to try a lot of different dishes. My friend ordered and chose a really good variety of dishes: oyster mushrooms with some kind of greens (I didn't try this), eggplant with tofu, fried halibut, chicken and ginger, lamb with cumin and some kind of green pod thing and baby bok choy. I really liked the eggplant-tofu dish; the tofu was very silky and the eggplant soft-textured and deliciously garlicky. I loved the lamb; it was a unique preparation that reall worked. The fried halibut was really good; the sauce had a carmelized flavor that wasn't sweet and very good. The bok choy was excellent, very tender but still crunchy.
The best part was the price: roughly $18/person including tax and tip. -
Review from Rémi D.
Saint-Basile-le-Grand, QC
5/21/2009
This is where all is going well.
The price are excellent the food tremendous. the staff is nice and it is one of the rare place you can be served in french. The chicken and seafood hotpot is a must. The variety of plates is endless -
Review from Lorraine L.
9/6/2010 1 Check-in Here
In all honesty, it's been quite a few years since I've had Chinese food. Mostly I got tired of eating out at the greasy dives back home. We were wandering around the neighborhood and figured what the hell, we're on vacation and the reviews on Yelp were encouraging.
It was crazy busy on a Friday night, but we only had a quick 10 minute wait for a table. Just be ready to share a table if there aren't many open spots. The staff was friendly and attentive and took time to answer our questions despite how busy they were. The hot and sour soup was amazing. We had some peppered beef and chicken with broccoli, pretty simple dishes but both were flavorful and very good. I walked out of there feeling full and satisfied and not like I just ate a big greasy meal. Which for me, is a sign of good cooking. Like Jackson Z. mentioned below, we were handed two menus one with more familiar dishes and the other with chef's specials.
Great spot with reasonable prices and hospitable staff. Recommended if you're in the area and craving some good Chinese grub. -
Review from Es P.
Toronto, ON
3/27/2011
Above average Chinese fare. Bonus was $35 (didn't order drinks, though) for 5 people. Amazing value for money especially in d/t MTL.
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Review from Joey L.
12/17/2010
Fantastic food, very reasonable prices, slightly spotty service.
I have nothing but good things to say about the food. From the hot and sour soup to the chicken with ginger, it was all delicious. The portions were huge, and the food was of the highest quality.
This would've easily been five stars except for the service. Despite not being very busy, I was seated at one end of a six-person table that had a couple (apparently on a first date) sitting on the other side. Awkward.
When I went to pay my check ($15), the owner refused to accept my debit card, despite a sign that stated "credit card minimum: $30, debit card minimum: $5". He insisted that my debit card was a credit card because of the Visa logo and would not be swayed, not even by me pointing out the word "DEBIT" printed on the card. When I paid with $20 cash, he would not give me $1 bills so that I could leave a proper tip.
Quirky service happens. The food is too good to not go back. Next time I'll bring small bills. -
Review from Rajesh M.
4/17/2011
We were the only non-Asians during dinner time and the staff spoke little English or French - it's that authentic! We ordered the Chicken Hot Pot, Beef ChowMein & Dumplings for about $24 total. Superb food & amazing value!
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Review from Jackson Z.
5/20/2010
Before I go into the review, some tips at eating at a Chinese restaurant, hopefully will add more to your dining experience. Trust me, I have been a Chinese for over 32 years, I know a bit about eating at Chinese restaurants.
1) If you seek authentic Chinese food, it's a good sign when you see lots of Chinese people eating there.
2) Most authentice Chinese restaurants have two menus, one is filled with westernized Chinese food (think orange chicken, egg foo young), the other contains "real" authentic Chinese dishes. In some restaurants they will hand you one menu as opposed to the other, depending on if you are Chinese or non-Chinese. In some places they will hand you both, which is what they do here (or was it because we had a "mixed" party, with myself and two non-Chinese people, hmmm...) At this place, the booklet menu is the western one, the oversized one-page menu is the Chinese one, and contains more adventurous dishes like steamed whole fish, so choose accordingly.
3) Family style dining is what Chinese people typically do. That means we order for everyone and we share all the dishes, instead of each person having their own plate of food. Try it, it's fun.
Now, for the review. This is an acceptable Chinese restaurant, which by my high standards means it's decent, especially considering that there's not as big of a Chinese population in Montreal, at least compared to other Canadian cities like Toronto, Vancouver, or San Francisco in the U.S., where I live. I was really keeping my expectations low, because it's also in a very touristy part of town. That said, I was just relieved that the dishes were not overly oily and sugary, which tends to be the case in many restaurants that cater to western taste. They have a decent selection of authentic Chinese/Cantonese dishes, including steamed whole fish, boiled chicken, stir-fried lobster in a ginger scallion sauce, etc. I also had a bowl of shrimp wonton noodle soup here another day, which has wontons stuffed with fresh shrimps and ground pork, along with nice and firm egg noodles.
Again, not great by my high standard, but OK enough that I would eat here whenever I'm in the area, which is saying a lot.
P.S. Fortunes from the cookies are funnier if you add "in bed" at the end. -
Review from pascal t.
Montréal, QC
1/9/2011
Best chinese food in Montreal. I know because my wife says the same thing and she is Chinese and ate this food all her life. It's about as close as it gets for her here. Even though it's not as good as you can find in places like Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, etc... it's still pretty good. Her parents came to visit from Malaysia and they like it too, and they're the toughest critic you can find.
I think we've been there 5 times in the last 4 months and plan on going back many more times. The biggest hit for me is the salty and spicy tofu dish.. it's amazing.
Great prices (7 of us ate there for $112 and the table was constantly filled with food) and adequate service.
