A surprisingly good meal and a great waiter in Old Montreal - check out Modavie

MONTREAL - Sometimes it's good to be surprised.

My wife and I were on our way back from Halifax to Toronto and opted to stay the night at the Residence Inn at the Montreal Airport. I thought we should stop in Old Montreal and eat dinner on the way, versus trying to find a place out in Dorval.

I had written a story about Rue St. Paul for the Star not long ago, so that was my natural starting point once I found a place to park. (And while I'm thinking about it, who's in charge of parking in Montreal? The signs make no sense. I drove in circles trying to find a place to park on the street but couldn't tell if it was legal. Then, when I followed the signs for what I thought was a city parking lot on the waterfront I ended up in a small lot across from the Science Centre that cost $8 an hour. The signage was abysmal.)

Anyway, we walked up from the port and the first restaurant we spotted was a place I had noticed earlier this summer, a wine bar called Modavie. I'm usually suspicious of places that call themselves a wine bar as I feel the food won't measure up, but the menu had beef and lamb galore and we had just finished eating every kind of seafood we could find in Halifax, so we decided to give it a try.

A waiter quickly came over and escorted us to a table and proceeded to charm us to death. His name is Lorenzo, and he was smooth and friendly and chatty and personable and knowledgeable about the menu and the wine list. Possibly he's the best waiter I've ever had, and I mean that sincerely. Just a tremendous guy.

The lamb chops were good but the lamb shank was out of this world; tender and smoky and resting in a lovely sauce with perfectly cooked veggies and a small wedge of potato.

Perfect food.

There was a jazz duo as well, and the singer was quite good, so that was a bonus.

I noticed on the menu that the restaurant has a twitter feed (@modavie), so I fired up my Blackberry and sent out a tweet and acknowledged the great service. Two minutes later, Lorenzo came over and said the owner of the place, Bruno, had spotted the comments and wanted to give us a free glass of wine to say thanks.

Very nice, and very much appreciated, Bruno!

I don't know about the rest of the menu, and I can't promise you'll get Lorenzo to serve you, but I highly recommend the place. It feels like Old Montreal without being too touristy, and it's perfectly situated on one of the greatest streets in North America...

 

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