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Venti
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Very Loud
- Has TV:
- No
11 reviews for Venti
11 reviews in English
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Review from Jules G.
5/11/2012
I've been to Venti twice and left in a euphoric food glow both times. Their inspired wine selection may have had something to do with that glow as well, but really the food is solidly fantastic here.
The first time, I was in a big group and we sampled their cured meats platter, asparagus and egg appetizer, burratino and broccolini salad (with a delightfully salty dollop of anchovy paste on top), as well as several of their pastas.
The wheat spaghetti with lemon-butter sauce and mussels, as well as the tagliatelle with mushrooms are memorable.
So memorable in fact, that the lingering smoky flavor of the shiitakes brought me back the other night.
We shared the octopus salad to start: firm and meaty, not rubbery and chewy as many of these tend to be. And the salty capers blended well with the lemony undertones of the sauce.
I got the potato gnocchi with (what else?) mushrooms in a cream sauce with peas, and my date got the ricotta gnocchi with fresh tomato sauce and basil. I know they both sound like pretty simple, "been-there-done-that" dishes, but as far as ingredients and technique, the dishes were all all they could be.
Dessert was the only part that didn't blow me away the second time around. We ordered the torta mascarpone, and it was a bit on the dry side.
The first time I went though, we had the semifredo with Nutella ice cream and that was delicious in every way.
Lastly, service and atmosphere are casual and pleasant, and on weekend nights it tents to get loud. Great place for a large group! -
Review from Belle D.
Montréal, QC
3/3/2012
Sicily is one of my favorite places on earth. Why? It's beautiful, the people are supernice, island = beaches, and of course, the food is insane. The Sicilians have it right - no-fuss traditional southern Italian cuisine. If you want haute and nouveau, you're totally missing the point.
As much as I love eating at chi-chi restaurants that often have more style than the people eating there, I usually don't like my food to be overly fussy. I believe in fresh seasonal ingredients prepared in a way that makes them shine. That's why I was so impressed with Osteria Venti.
A traditional osteria is a simple traditional Italian "eat & drink" place serving uncomplicated food. And although trendy and located in a "happening" area of the city's Old Port ,Venti is exactly that. It's raw, simple, slightly rustic, but still clean and modern. Some may think the space lacks charm, but I think it's exactly as it should be. The space and atmosphere reflect the cooking - real Italian. Like, from Italy. You know what I mean... No whitewashing or false pretention. Here, it's 100% about the food.
Keep reading: http://belledenuitmont... -
Review from J.F. H.
Venti is across the street from my office so we go there with clients regularly for business lunches.
Venti's isn't bad, the food is usually very good, the service is adequate but as soon as more then 4 tables have people at them the noise level just gets uncomfortable if your trying to have a conversation
They have a new lunch menu everyday that includes 2 pizzas and 4-5 other main dishes and 3-4 appetizers. I've never had something that was bad, I've had dishes I didn't think great but that was more a question of taste then a question of quality.
The service is a little slow for a lunch time crowd and if I was going to eat there without clients I would probably be pushing them to bring out my order much faster then they do. They run lunch like they would an evening meal where you have more time to spend eating with friends.
The bigest issue with this place is the noise! The acoustics in this place are horrible, as soon as there are then 10 people in the restaurant and you won't be able to hear the person sitting across the table from you. But for a quiet tuesday lunch it's a nice place to go and the price for the table d'hôte isn't outrageous as they can be in old montreal. -
Review from Lesley T.
7/20/2011
Planning an evening out with a group of boisterous friends, lively conversation, good food, and a few glasses of vino, and not too worried about having to wait between courses because you'll be busy chatting it up anyway? Excellent choice. Planning a romantic, quiet, well-paced dinner for two? Maybe not so much.
Last night was my second time at Venti. The first time, it wasn't too long after they opened, and although the food was wonderful (the melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi de ricotta was the best gnocchi I've ever had), the service was a little off. The food warranted a second try though, and this time I had a fabulous evening (and better service) with a group of friends. We laughed, ate, and drank all night long.
The cod crostini was the perfect mix of creamy and salty, and the cornish hen was full of flavour. My boyfriend raved about the veal meatballs. The only thing I would skip if I returned is the arugula salad (I've had better).
The menu is divided into many courses: crostinis, antipasti, primi, secondi, sides, and of course dessert. The mains (secondi) don't come with any sides, so order a side dish if you want some veggies. For big groups, it's worth considering the timing of the courses, since it's unlikely that anyone will order each course. Ordering a bunch of dishes and sharing is a good way to go.
Venti also has a great Italian wine list: we had a lovely, crisp Prosecco to start the night, and a juicy Amarone with our mains. -
Review from pascal t.
Montréal, QC
12/24/2011
We went there with a group of 8 people. This review will mostly cater to the vegetarians out there.
Basically, Venti is not a good choice for us. We all took the tasting menu, and I was pretty shocked when I saw my friends get a very substantial appetizer with plenty of food and choices of meats, and for me they brought me the most basic and simple salad of all time.
One type of greens, a couple of pine nuts, and an under seasoned dressing. Really? Is that all you can make? It was very bland and felt like they just threw in something in a bowl real quick in the middle of making the "real food" for others. I could have easily made a better salad at home and I never even cook.
Then, for the main meal, they brought the mains for everyone else and left me waiting 10 minutes for mine. They had forgotten about me. So they threw something else together real quick once again. What I got was a really weird combination of yet another salad and a side of lentil.... salad.
Needless to say I left Venti with a very unsatisfied feeling that I had just gotten ripped off. The food was extremely lackluster and I never felt like I was eating in an italian restaurant.
How about putting some thought into what you serve vegetarians? Italian food has so many great options for people who do not eat meat!! I suggest taking a stroll to DNA to know how to use your regional ingredients better and for a slew of creative and satisfying vegetarian dishes.
Another strike for Venti.. the noise level is completely unbearable. We could not even hear ourselves think. My wife was sitting next to me and I could barely hear her. I am not sure what they could do to help this, but it's just not an environment conducive to any sort of social interaction...
On top of all this, the service was very subpar. I had to ask 3 different waiters to bring me lemon for my water before I finally got it. We had to wait around 50-60 mins for the main meal and the waiters' manners would get a B- for their tendencies to forget things, hit the plates on the table when setting them up, etc..
I rarely ever write bad reviews of restaurants but on a personal level there was nothing to feel good about at Venti. I highly recommend you go somewhere else.. there's plenty of much better options in and around Old Port. -
Review from Anthony K.
Montréal, QC
4/25/2011
Brand-new Old Montreal Italian osteria specializing in pasta dishes of all sorts at a reasonable price.
I've only visited Venti for a special occasion with chef Sara Jenkins (Porchetta, Porsena, NYC) during their first week of operation, so I haven't gotten a full sense of chef Michele Forgione's talents in the kitchen and the service was still a little rough around the edges. But, that said, the menu looks great, they're one of the only restaurants in Montreal with a pasta extruder (meaning they can make dried pasta in a range of finicky shapes [like strozzapreti!], in addition to making fresh pasta), and they appear to have a strong team in the kitchen (two of the featured pasta dishes that night--artichokes, sweetbreads, mint, and tagliatelle & strozzapreti with lamb sausage and mustard greens--were perfectly executed and rank among the best I've had anywhere). -
Review from Sean P.
11/10/2011
Here from Seattle on business and was craving Italian. It was packed for a Wednesday night. I sat at the bar and had great service. I had the Spaghetti nero di seppia con polipo e seppia and it was wonderful.
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Review from Reid R.
1/28/2012
By far the best Italian food in Montreal. NOT the type of Italian food you get in plates big enough for five people but the type that you would get if you were actually in Italy. I should say that I come from a real Sicilian family. I know what the food tastes like and they do a great job. I highly recommend this place. I am removing 1 star because as other have noted it does get a bit loud. If they were able to fix that I would give it a 5.
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Review from Marcella D.
Montréal, QC
8/10/2011
The best Italian food in the city! I'm telling you.
The homemade pasta is unbelievable and Chef Forgione and his team make everything from scratch. You have to try their cured meats dish, out of this world!
Don't forget dessert, the Tiramisu is to die for. And if you're lucky, Chef Forgione will have some of the best biscotti on hand. Ask him about them, you won't be sorry! -
Review from Laine K.
9/4/2011
Normally when I travel for work my meals consist of Sonic and Subway. By chance I happen to be traveling with a coworker for once and he insisted we go into the city for some decent food. Good call my friend good call! I felt it was pretty loud and voices definitely carry in this place but the food was so good and my companion was bordering on annoying after two drinks so I didn't mind. I had the heirloom tomato salad and beet ravioli. The salad was good but it had large chunks of salt that made it jarringly salty. The beet ravioli was so fantastic! I loved everything about it. I'm hoping to either A) find the recipe online, B) track down the chef and beg him for the recipe, or C) go back to Venti on my next Montreal plant trial. I will be doing C for sure. I loved the open kitchen and the racks of wine and jarred ingredients around the area. This was a great place to eat. The service was so-so but we sat at the bar and it was pretty busy. The staff was very helpful trying to direct us to a different bar and back to our rental car. This may become my standard go to Italian-craving-satisfied-while-in-Canada place.
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Review from m g.
5/19/2011
I went here last Thursday for lunch because i thought it looked so adorable from the outside. I ordered the Piadina panini and my boyfriend ordered the asparagi milanese and gnocchi di ricotta. My bf's dishes were incredibly delicious . . .very light and flavorful. My panini was not very good and I didn't care to finish. It was very salty and dry - not a good combination. I gave Venti three stars because I thought the lunch menu was expensive. The pasta, for $15, was not very big and the salad was 3 spears of asparagus and a fried egg for $10. Also, the service did not do the restaurant justice. Our waiter seemed to be just going through the motions. The lunch menu says "dinner menu also available", so we asked for it and made our original selections from that menu. When we ordered, the waiter said we could not order from the dinner menu. very odd . . . why did he give us the dinner menu then? I believe we were the only patrons there during lunch hour. Either no one knows about Venti or they know something that I don't. Anyway, I think this place has great potential and when I visit Montreal again, I may give it another shot. But my first experience was definitely a 3.
