Category Archives: $$$ ($50-$100)

$50 to $100 per person dining experiences – upscale, but not insane

Gibby’s – Easy to recommend for the consistency – Year after Year


The challenge – come up with a suggestion for family, friends, out-of-towners that want a good meal, in surroundings that say – old Montreal. One easy choice is Gibby’s. The room is so lovely – stone walls, wooden floors, gleaming silver, white tablecloths, and sparkling glasses. It’s beautiful. And so ‘special occasion’ friendly. The free valet parking is handy, and the signature Bloody Caesars never disappoints. We actually once went in Uniforms and dresses that would have been in fashion in 1812. It totally worked.

But cheap it’s not. The meals – which are basically complete – come with your choice of appetizer including a nice size salad, the main course which is short on veggies, but long on Monte Carlo potatoes, and a palate cleaning sorbet. My ‘Gibbys Cut’ Ribsteak was huge. I shared it with my grand-daughter, and even so felt totally stuffed for hours afterwards. A note on sharing at Gibby’s, they charge for the privilege, but they also give you an extra potato, and an empty plate. So it works. My husband had the Single sized Beef Wellington which was delicious.

For dessert my husband ordered the Key Lime Pie – it was very good for a Canadian version – no artificial whip cream and nice and tart. My grand-daughter loved her creme brule – I thought the portion was a bit too large.

Bottom line – choosing Gibby’s is safe. Your out-of-town guests will love being in Old Montreal – and the free parking is a nice bonus. Plus if they aren’t busy, the valets will kindly suggest that you take a walk after dinner – leaving them in charge of the car. Nice.

Gibbys on Urbanspoon

Gibby's Restaurant on Foodio54

Cocagne goes Sugaring Off


One of these days I’m going to have to try Cocagne for dinner – I was pretty impressed with what the chef put together at a recent brunch during the Festival of Lights – and isn’t that the point of the Festival – to get people out of their comfy hang-outs – and into new and perhaps exciting places like Cocagne?

The advertised meal was the chef’s rap on Sugaring Off – so he started with the traditional meal (check out my blog on the Festin de Compagne) and went from there. There were pickled beets – sliced so thin it was a challenge to get them off the plate – and instead of deep fried Oreilles de Crisse – the chef offered Prosciutto style ham slices sitting on a maple glaze. The omelette – while not the glorious fluffy concoction I had up north – was interestingly seasoned.

Portions were ample – so that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that he didn’t go far enough – neither the feast of a Cabin a Sucre – nor the extremely elegance of a complete departure from the offerings of a Cabin. Instead it was pleasant, the company was nice  – overall – I didn’t get blown away.

This was clearly not the winner in the battle for my heart – the lack of the inspired group of musicians was enough to put me off. And there was no jug of maple to pour as required – instead there was a tiny metal bowl partly filled for the table to share. Just doesn’t say – Sugar – to me. And there was no Tire of course. But even though I can’t say that Chef Alexandre Loiseau won my heart with his maple based creations – he did intrigue me. I’ll definitely go back some day soon for dinner – just to put his pedal to the metal so to speak.

Bistro Cocagne on Urbanspoon

6 Tips to getting the best from the Montreal Festival of Lights


There are literally dozens of gourmet experience offerings during the 10 days of the Montreal en Lumiere festival – and picking and choosing which meal to enjoy (and spend your hard-earned dollars on) is not a simple job. So many choices – so few evenings, such limited funds.

So – to help you out – here are the Montreal Madame’s quick guide to making great choices:

1) Old age isn’t good for a chef. Don’t pick a meal where the ‘guest’ chef has a huge reputation, and has been doing this a long time. Why not? Because in my experience, these chef’s have little left to prove – and a lot to lose if they take risks. So you can bet the meal will be on the safe side of dreary – with an expensive price tag to boot. Better bets are elsewhere.

2) Up and Coming means Exciting. A young chef who has just gotten a serious award is probably still trying to prove he’s worth it. And those meals can be some of the most fun. Just bring an open mind – molecular cuisine is huge – and not to everyone’s taste.

3) Never pick a meal that goes on for more than 2 days. Why not? Because in my experience, the chef shows up for the first day – trains the team – and then leaves. You end up eating a meal cooked by quickly trained newbies – and pay the celebrity chef price. That’s no fun.

4) More courses – more better. Meals with lots of courses tend to be a better deal. You’ll get smaller portions of course, but the odds that something will be spectacular increases when the chef has to do more work. Logically it seems the opposite should be true – but experience has shown that making the kitchen sweat a bit is the best way to get the best experience.

5) Don’t let price keep you away. Ok – seriously expensive meals may not be in your budget, but don’t toss away meals in the $50 to $80 bracket. They are often the best ‘bargains’ – a great restaurant, a hardworking kitchen team, and a fun approach.

6) Don’t be discouraged by the lack of description. Sometimes the chefs don’t even know what they are going to be doing until they arrive in the city. In fact – if the description mentions a specific course – unless you are seriously interested in trying that course – steer clear of that offering. It means that there’s not going to be a lot of creativity happening – and tried and true, while safe – can be boring.

If you have other ideas – comment away – these are just some of the clues I’ll use when picking where to spend my money – you may well have ideas that are even better.