Griffentown Cafe | 1378 Notre-Dame West
Montreal, QC H3C 1K8 | 514.931.5299 | www.griffentowncafe.com
Notes: Casual; very appropriate for a quick meal with (well-behaved) kids
I want to love Griffintown Café. The basic elements are there: the desirable Griffentown address, great bar and open kitchen, good tunes, high ceilings and well spaced out tables, comfortable chairs and original wood floors. A couple of cool decoration details up the ante, including great vintage light fixtures and creative plating using wood cutting boards and stainless steel bowls. Overall the combination begged me to sit for hours with a cold beer and enjoy a great lunch.
It’s worth noting that in general I am a big fan of the limited menu, which suggests that the Chef knows what he does well and doesn’t bother trying to please the masses. At Griffentown Cafe you can choose from a couple of staple salads, sandwiches, and the core dishes of a triple blend burger (duck, beef and lamb), a crab cake burger, and a trio of soft shell tacos. The caveat with the short menu concept is that when you offer a really pared down menu, the dishes have to hit the mark completely in terms of flavours and technique – and these didn’t quite get there.
We tried the two soups: the cold gazpatcho and the hot Pozole Rojo – both good, with authentic seasonings, and the tacos (black bean and cheddar, fish taco and pulled pork). Overall the dishes lacked texture, leaving you feeling that maybe all the elements were not quite as fresh as they could be, and although the Mexican skewed menu hints at vibrant, bright flavours, the seasoning is pared down to the point of blandness in certain dishes, leaving me with the overall feeling that the food at Griffintown Café was a bit generic.
In a nutshell: If the attention to detail which went into decorating the space was also put into the food, you’d have a home run here. Try the Griffentown Café on a day when you are in the mood for a great cold beer and a quick snack.
