The outside terrace
Our hotel is on Sherbrook Avenue. Sherbrook Avenue housed a lot of brand name stores. McGill University is also on Sherbrook. The main street St. Catherine Street is just a couple of blocks away. The location was good. The hotel was decent. The street was already dark when we settled in. We could not venture outside for too long. It took 2 cabs and a van to transport us to the restaurant.
The restaurant is inside an office building. There is a space between buildings and the restaurant built a terrace joining the outside wall of the 2 building. They add canopies to shield the sun and keep the rustic outside concrete walls of the buildings exposed. Shrubs and greenery were brought in and the atmosphere was soothing and relaxing. It was dark and we could not sit outside, so we retired to a main dining room.
The room was full. There were a lot of locals. It is strange when you listen to the patrons all speaking Quebec French. You thought you were back to France again. A big long table was set for us 14 and we requested for a server who can speak English to help us with the choice of food.
The tomato cream soup was lovely
The risotto combined with shreds of duck meet was sweet and tender
There were tapas ordered, fois gras tartlet, duck confit, roast mushroom
The lamb shank with the meat fell off the bone
The sea bass was rich and creamy endive salad
Then came the best surprise of all. The Crème Brule was absolutely delightful. It was almost the best Crème Brule ever.
It might not seem much but when you taste the texture, the creamy smoothness that runs down your throat, you will either choke or you will yell “CEST LA VIE”
Flank steak with sweet potato fries
Sea bass with Arborio rice and marinated broad beans.
We forgot about the tapas, ooh! The tapas, you wish you can build a cabin and stay at the restaurant forever.
We were full of wine and desserts and we gave our compliments to the manager on duty for their hospitality. The name of the restaurant is Boris Bistro. I had communicated with them on occasions. I always thought the name of the owner was Boris. I insisted to meet with Boris but nobody knows where he is. Indeed there was a Boris. The story goes the owner’s dog was named Boris and the restaurant bears the name in memory of this pet. My jaw drops and I do not have the courage to make jokes on this.
485 rue McGill, Boris Bistro, Montreal.
-- By David Wong