The prospect of choosing the ideal lunch spot for my recent 18 hours in Montreal was very…read moreoverwhelming, as my preparatory research yielded many seemingly great options. After much deliberation, I settled on Le Butterblume, which checked all of the necessary boxes both at a glance and IRL. The vibes, service, and food were all top-notch, leaving us satisfied in body and mind.
We came here at around 2pm on a Sunday as a party of three. My partner and I were meeting up with my partner's friend, who is from Montreal and used to live in the area. He told us that 2pm happens to be a good time to come here, because there can often be a line out the door during prime brunch hours. Though it was pretty full when we arrived, they were still able to seat us immediately. Overall, there's great energy here. Bright and lively, trendy while still being down to earth. The vibes and menu both strike a great balance between approachable and refined.
I should say that my partner and I are American and had not explored the Montreal dining scene prior to this point, so it's possible that some of the menu offerings are fairly standard here. That said, for us, some of the preparations seemed super unique, and creative -- not wholly unfamiliar but also unlike anything we had tried previously. We started out with the Cantaloupe, feta, lime, chili & cilantro, which happened to be one of the more familiar menu items for us. It hit the spot on such a hot day, refreshing while still being interesting and varied. I then had the Heirloom tomato salad w/ confit eggplant, fried jalapeño, sour cherry & jalapeño vinaigrette, parmesan, red cabbage sprouts for my main course, which was unbelievably delicious. Super fresh, perfectly executed, so much variety within one dish but not in an overcomplicated way. The confit eggplant in particular was just outstanding.
Though I did not try either dish, my partner got the leek, cheddar & bacon cake, scrambled eggs, lemon & confit garlic sour cream, zaatar crumble, herbs while his friend got what he called the "signature" brunch dish here, which is the French toast with blueberries and almonds, lemon and white chocolate chantilly, thyme maple syrup, graham (homemade!), blueberries from QC!, roasted almonds. Highest marks from both of them as well.
I mentioned it briefly at the beginning but the service here was also great. Everyone we interacted with here was kind, welcoming, and personable, and the meal itself went efficiently.
