Montreal Restaurants

Verses Review

The setting—a stone-walled room overlooking the hubbub of rue St-Paul—is the most romantic in the Old City. And the food is poetic—especially the pan seared elk. But the reason for this restaurant's name is that it's housed on the ground floor of Hôtel Nelligan, named after the Romantic Québecois poet Émile Nelligan. Start with the princess scallops served with celeriac puree, Granny Smith apple, and kohlrabi salad with maple smoked ham emulsion; and for a main course, sample the truffle crusted beef tenderloin with Anna potatoes and seaonal baby vegetables. Wash it all down on the rooftop terrace with a pitcher of Verses' signature drink, clear sangria. There's free valet parking at lunch, where the table d'hôte is $25, give or take. Weekend brunch is elegant, with à la carte options galore.

    Restaurant Details

  • Reservations essential.
  • Credit cards accepted.

Member Reviews

  • BillJ, from California
    10/22/11

    This place was really good. Great ambiance and presentation of the dishes. DW raved about the salad, which we shared; a “diabolic mesclun, crispy parmesan, pecan crumble.” She had lobster with artichoke hearts, wild ginger bisque and confiit fennel. I had Wapiti (Elk) medallions with roasted parsnip and butternut squash with a honey-pear reduction (Excellent). Our shared chocolate mousse desert was dynamite. Recommend this place.

    Ratings details: Food: 5 | Atmosphere: 5 | Service: 4 | Value: 4
  • Shaoolin, from Montreal
    10/7/07

    Went there this Sunday for brunch. Started all nice, with crispy crab cakes and a nice sauce. Then my wife did the unthinkable, she ordered one of the most complicated dish sunday-brunch restaurants can have on their menu: eggs benedictine ! What a mistake ! Not only were the eggs cooked hard (hey chef, or whatever you are, poaching an egg is 3 minutes, not 10 !) but it turned out that this is the first version of egg benedictine that comes ... without sauce benedictine !!!
    We returned the plate to the kitchen and asked for poached eggs and the benedictine sauce. 15 minutes later, they came back with the same sh*t, except that this time they had added bacon on top of the eggs. The eggs were still not poached properly and the sauce was missing. Even the waiter was ashamed.
    Not to mention that of course they had served me first and I had been waiting with my plate in front of me for 15 minutes. My dish was Beef tartare. Well, someone has to explain to the idiot that runs the kitchen on Sundays that steak tartare does not come all dressed and ready, straight from the kitchen. It's supposed to come as a do-it-yourself dish (to prove the freshness of the meat and let the customer adjust the seasoning) or in upper-class restaurants it's being done at the table.
    We had it by then. Luckily, their waiters were nice and not half as bad as the cook. They told us they'd take the bill. We didn't eat the main course and left. I would discourage every person I know to get there. Not being able to cook eggs benedict and you want to charge me $30 for the whole brunch ? You have to be kidding !!!

    Ratings details: Food: 1 | Atmosphere: 2 | Service: 3 | Value: 1
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