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    BALOS

    3.5 (15 reviews)

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    Grilled octopus
    Daniel B.

    It could be better, unfortunately. Balos is a restaurant unsure of its identity. For elevated Greek cuisine, Montrealers have many options. The menus are very similar across establishments. You have Greek salads, grilled vegetables, fish sold by the pound, fried eggplant and zucchini, and grilled octopus to name a few. Balos is trying to be considered in the upper tier of these restaurants like Milos or Ikanos. At least that's where the prices on the menu hover. Salads are 20-25$, a small plate of sliced octopus is 36$, fresh fish is easily 50$/person, and a plate of lamb chops is 46$. At those prices, you expect an impeccable fine dining experience. Instead, the vibe is more of a simple neighbourhood bistro/eatery. Our meal started with some complimentary dinner rolls which were warm. They give you a small plate of oil and balsamic to dip. It was fine, but there was nothing particularly Greek about it. How about some grilled pita or bread with oregano? That would have been more fitting. Compared to Lezvos/Molyvos or Mythos, the grilled octopus portion was small. This was unfortunate given the unjustified high price. The spanikopita was not nearly crispy enough nor was it bursting with dark green spinach. It seemed limp and slightly grey. The lamb chops ( which I had also ordered for takeout a month earlier) were quite large but unfortunately tasted distinctly like lighter fluid on both occasions. A Greek restaurant which prides itself upon simple yet fresh ingredients lives and dies based upon the quality of their grill. Something is clearly amiss here. My wife's scallops were tasty but again overpriced at 42$ for 4 scallops each the size of a toonie. Vegetables served with the food were steamed. Our waiter was very friendly and gave each of us a shot of sweet tentura for free at the end of the meal. Service was quick and attentive. That said, there are several neighbourhood restaurants that serve this same food at a better price without the mishaps. I know they are open across from Westmount Square and are hoping to get business from the residents there. Fortunately for them, there were quite a few people there on a Saturday night. There is an undeniable convenience factor at play here. I don't think Balos would do as well if located on Park ave. I don't see it as destination dining. I hope they are nevertheless successful given that they aren't delivering on the luxury/fancy night out aspect that is missing at this price point.

    Grilled calamari Perfection
    George K.

    Greek Cuisine travels well during quarantine @restaurantbalos @bobbymichailidis will make your takeout perfect every time. Now we went there last night and were spoiled silly with the great service and reasonable prices. Unfortunately for the next month it will be pick up or delivery as a great option @ BALOS

    Grilled Octopus

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    Terracotta Restaurant

    Terracotta Restaurant

    4.7(19 reviews)
    3.5 km•Plateau-Mont-Royal

    We took a chance on Terracotta our first night visiting Montreal as they had amazing reviews and…read moreI've never tried Tunisian food so I was looking forward to it! We didn't have a reservation but the sweet man who greeted us found us a table very fast. This is a family owned business and you can tell how much pride and love they put into it. Both of the owners explained all the dishes to us and were so helpful in making our decisions. We started with the lemonade which is house made by their own mother every day. It had a different type of sweetness to it, almost like it was made with honey instead of sugar but I really enjoyed it. We also got the Trio of Salads which were so good! A few of them were a bit spicy but nothing we couldn't handle. They also kept the bread coming which I never hate! We also split the Tuna Brik and it was amazing! For our mains we had the Honey Lamb which was covered in pistachios. The lamb fell right of the bone and was so tender. We also tried the Ojja which is more of an elevated Shakshuka - dipping the bread in the sauce was a highlight at the end. Overall, this was such a unique meal with wonderful flavors. The owners service was the true stand out of this meal. They really do provide a wonderful experience for all of their guests.

    Greeted by very friendly staff! They were excited to share their culture and delicious food with…read moreus, providing delicious recommendations. Everything was just divine! This might be some of the best restaurant eats I've had in a long time. The lamb was just falling off the shank. The bread was warm and sopped up all the delicious juices. I would come back if ever in the area again. There's even an option for traditional seating. Highly recommend!

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    Terracotta Restaurant
    Terracotta Restaurant
    Terracotta Restaurant

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    Seau de Crabe

    Seau de Crabe

    4.1(10 reviews)
    13.5 km•Laval

    What a great meal we had but the service sucked…read more We all god the same meal so it was easy half pound shrimp and you pick your sauce and heat. The part that really sucked they didn't have any corn ! Which is terrible. I had to get rice which I didn't end up eating. The lady at the counter was ignoring clients and the old people in front of us through their hands in the air when she decided to take a phone call while looking at them walking to the cash. She was just not happy to be there and very slow. Our food sat there for a little bit we kept making eye contact with her so she would know but just would look back at the food and then leave it. Someone came to take over for her as maybe they noticed that she wasn't happy. I won't lie tho the food was great the sauce the crab one with butter and lemon pepper was amazing! We all said we would all eat it again just pick up delivery or try the location in the West Island.

    Sometimes something g is good you just keep coming back to it. Away the crane in no different the…read morefood always hits the spot. I genuinely crave eating here at least once every few weeks and with price that aren't unaffordable I often give into those cravings. You can always switch up your side your mains or your favouring so there's never really the opportunity to be bored either! The staff always goes out of their way to make sure you are taken care of even though the restaurant is always busy! This spot is always a treat and worth coming to see !

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    Seau de Crabe
    Seau de Crabe
    Seau de Crabe

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    Monarque - Bone marrow topped with escargot was 10/10

    Monarque

    4.5(294 reviews)
    2.6 km•Vieux Montréal, Ville-Marie
    •$$$

    The food was absolutely phenomenal. I wish I took a picture of my seafood stew. I have never had…read moresuch incredible flavors. That's the dish I would recommend. The service was exceptional, along with our drinks in the atmosphere.

    This was my "nice" meal during my very short trip to Montreal last weekend, and it turned out to be…read morea great choice. There are 2 sides of the restaurant: the more casual order what you want brasserie side and then the fancier multi-course chef menu side. I chose the brasserie side, where I had a reservation for a bar seat - turns out that wasn't really that necessary as there were several individual bar seats open; A group would probably have a difficult time getting a seat on a Friday evening though. For drinks, I had a paper plane and a last word. Those are my two go to cocktails for nicer bars, and they pulled them off fantastically (they also knew what I was talking about which is kind of rare for the last word). For an extra nice touch, they clipped an actual paper plane to the paper plane drink. Fun! For food, I ordered the Duck Confit. It was super crispy on the outside, but the meat was super tender and juicy and melted off of the bone. My mouth is watering while thinking about it. It also came with bread service. For dessert I had the tiramisu. I would give it a 4/5 - it was a little more bland than others I've had - not bad at all, but not my favorite one of all time. They seem to be serious about their coffee (see pictures). Since I was sitting right in front of it I had to order one to go with the tiramisu. I had a basic americano, and it was a great addition. My only real complaint is the bar seating felt a little bit exposed as the main walkway through the restaurant goes along the bar seating. Drinks 5/5, Service 5/5, Food 5/5, Ambience 4/5

    Photos
    Monarque - Kitchen view from our table!

    Kitchen view from our table!

    Monarque - Grilled squid

    Grilled squid

    Monarque - Dining room

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    Dining room

    Damas - Shish Borek dumplings

    Damas

    4.7(515 reviews)
    4.4 km•Outremont
    •$$$

    Top 5 dining experience of my life! We started with the fattoush, which turned my salad-hating…read morehusband into a believer. We followed that up with the batata harra, which were spicy, acidic, crispy little morsels of perfection. We rounded out the meal with the lamb and hummus dish, along with the filet mignon and little pickled peppers. Everything was perfection. Beyond the amazing food, the restaurant itself was beautiful and service was friendly, attentive, but never intrusive or annoying. These guys are doing everything right. I don't know when I'll be back in Montreal, but I can promise I will be right back here when that happens.

    5:45 pm dinner on the patio, with nicholas as our server. the outdoor patio made for a relaxed…read moreearly evening setting, while the interior has a much more dramatic, intimate feel, with dark wood, ornate hanging lanterns, patterned tile floors, warm lighting, and rich middle eastern inspired details. it has a distinctly upscale and atmospheric feel that suits the restaurant's refined take on syrian cuisine. service was impeccable throughout the meal. nicholas and his team was attentive, professional, and genuinely on top of everything without being intrusive. the pacing was well handled, and we never felt neglected or rushed. the level of service definitely matched the upscale setting and was one of the stronger parts of the experience. we ordered the meat platter for two, which was $220. the meatballs were easily the standout for me, juicy, flavourful, and probably the best part of the platter. the beef was good, but the prime rib was overcooked and the chicken was quite dry. at $220, i honestly expected more, particularly from a restaurant with this level of reputation and positioning. the uneven cooking was disappointing and kept the platter from being the highlight it should have been. the fattoush salad was much more successful. it was light, fresh, and refreshing, with plenty of herbs and pops of pomegranate. this was actually my favourite dish of the meal. the freshness and acidity worked especially well alongside the richer grilled meats. the grilled octopus was another highlight. it was tender, nicely grilled, and had a good texture without being tough or chewy. overall, the experience was a mix of excellent service, a beautiful setting, and some genuinely memorable dishes. the fattoush, grilled octopus, and meatballs were all standouts, while the prime rib and chicken fell short of expectations. the impeccable service and atmosphere certainly elevated the evening, but given the $220 price tag for the meat platter, i was expecting a more consistently impressive meal.

    Photos
    Damas - Interior

    Interior

    Damas - Rack of Lamb

    Rack of Lamb

    Damas - Hibiscus sipper

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    Hibiscus sipper

    Guilt & Ivy - Lobster risotto

    Guilt & Ivy

    4.2(5 reviews)
    1.7 km•Westmount, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

    My new favorite seafood restaurant in Montreal…read more.. we met up at 6pm on friday night, during happy hour. The happy hour specials are one dollar oysters and ten dollars for cocktails. It is very satisfying. One caveat though, the oysters tend to have shell bits in them so be careful. I ordered the risotto as my appetizer even though it was listed as a main. My main dish was octopus. The risotto was perfect, the rice was just right, mussels, tiger shrimps, calamari and lobster tail. it was well proportioned, you could have seafood in every bite until the last bit of rice, just perfect. The octopus, came with onions, capers and olives, not my favorite combo but I did enjoy the tanginess at the end, it did grow on me. Dessert was lava cake with ice cream. We asked to have it with ice cream and it was amazing. Already planning my return...

    Always get excited when a new restaurant opens its doors but was very disappointed by this place…read more There's was nothing exciting about this place decor wise or even food wise. First when I had to reserve at this place they wanted credit card information which is fine because some restaurants do that nowadays but what I didn't like was that the cancelation should be done minimum 2 days in advance if not they charge you 25$ for each person, I find that ridiculous because last minute emergency do tend to happen sometimes. Second when we got there the hostess asked us if she could seat us at the bar saying that the bar is beautiful and all. The brings us to the bar section upstairs and seats us at a tiny little bar which seats 4 ppl(nothing amazing)... The 2 other ppl that were already seated at the bar had taken 1/3 of the space leaving us a very tight area to sit and we were not comfortable sitting there. We asked to be seated elsewhere, the place looked packed but there was a table available on the floor but they told us that the only other table they had for us was a table downstairs, we agreed because we didn't really mind where to seat as long as we had more space to breath. Also something that we didn't like was that the bartender asked us if we only speak English, so we weren't quite sure why he did that remark because he was able to converse with us. When we went downstairs we realized that our table was next to the open kitchen and also we were the only ppl from the restaurant that were seated there. Which we found really odd and felt like the outcast of the restaurant. We didn't want to complain to much because we always try to give the benefit of a doubt especially when it comes to new restos. I have this place a 3 star because of the drinks, they were very well made. I definitely recommend to get the east and ivy if you like lychee and also the guilt and ginger if you like ginger. For food we got the oysters, these were really good and opened by a girl just next to entrance by order. The oysters were fresh and I love the dill mignonette, which was different then other places. For mains we got the mussel and fries. Which was okay eatable, nothing amazing. We got the new York strip and asked for medium rare but the steak came medium. The pepper sauce was too thick to my liking. We also got a side of onion rings and mushrooms, the mushrooms were good, the batter of the onion rings were have any flavor and it was bland. The waitress was nice but not really attentive, like I said before we got seated alone downstairs and we were isolated from everyone so I'm guessing she wasn't really reminding herself to come check up on us more frequently I guess. The food was average nothing spectacular about the food here. Also we didn't really like the atmosphere. I don't know if we just went on a wrong day or this place is always like this. Overall it seems like this place is good for big groups and I also heard that this place is considered a superclub. The music we were hearing was mostly techno. I give them the benefit of doubt of they moving us to a bigger space and also the men that moved us I think it was the owner checked on us twice to see if we were okay which we appreciated. Personally I would not recommend this place nor I will go back. For the price the food is not worth it.

    Photos
    Guilt & Ivy
    Guilt & Ivy
    Guilt & Ivy

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    BALOS - seafood - Updated September 2026

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