Jane | 744 Notre Dame, Montreal QC H3J 1M3 | 514.759.6498 | No web site | Facebook page.
Jane is a relatively new restaurant along the Griffentown stretch of Notre Dame, known mostly for its pizzas. I had heard about it from a couple of sources, and it has some good buzz, so I decided to give it a try. All in all this is a good little spot - small, nice casual atmosphere, great music, tasty food. Service was fine, but our waitress could have upped the energy a notch - there was only one other occupied table, and we felt a little as though we were all putting her out by being there, which is a comment I heard from several other people across various blogs and reviews, so obviously not just a question of a bad day...
As usual, we were travelling with baby, so we opted for an early lunch, mid-week. We started with the Caesar salad, which is made from scratch and very good - triple bonus points for the little deep fried balls of ricotta tossed in panko, which elevate it from fresh and delicious to exceptionally satisfying. Next we shared the mac and cheese, and a pizza. The mac and cheese was fine - but to get full points it has to be baked, which to me is the whole point of the dish. This combo of macaroni tossed in a rich cheese sauce is broiled under the salamander which gives the panko topping a nice golden crunch, but doesn't give you that ultimate goodness of a dish which is oven baked and the cheese sauce lacks a bit of that tangy bite which makes the dish so great. The pizza had an excellent house-recipe thin crust, fresh tomato sauce, and nice flavour. Satisfying.
My only real complaint is that the lunch menu is pretty limited, and there were only 3 pizzas available - 2 were vegetarian, and the third - the ony carnivorous option - was smoked meat, which I personally feel belongs in a sandwich. I wouldn't have minded having a more traditional meat option...
In a nutshell, if you are in the mood for a nice, casual meal in a cool spot - give it a try, bring the kids if you are dining at lunch or for an early dinner.
