Amarone

I spent a four day weekend in Montréal with friends exploring and eating nonstop! We went out for every meal in order to try as many places as possible and this place has definitely left a lasting impression. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, the service was impeccable, the wait for the food was a little long but WELL worth it. Overall, I highly recommend this place!

/​/​Atmosphere\\
Went on a weekend early dinner. The place is pretty spacious compared to other restaurants in the Mont Royal Plateau area, but with the dim lighting and warm colored walls, it’s definitely a cozy and romantic atmosphere on the inside, there’s also a pretty large terrace area outside.
/​/​Food\\
Good portions. They use dried pasta and fresh homemade sauces. The waitress made it a point to tell me that everything is made in-​house, whether or not the pasta was, I don’t know. But everything was good and did taste fresh. My kid doesn’t like red sauce, so he ordered the gnocchi, which has cheese rolled in the middle and then sits on cream sauce with (dried, I believe) porcini mushrooms. It was very cheesy inside and out, felt very decadent, and the porcini were a really nice nutty flavor. He really liked it. So that might be good for kids who like to order mac and cheese at restaurants. The bread they brought out for us (one cut piece each) wasn’t warm, but it was still good.
/​/​Service\\
It is a family-​run restaurant, so personalities can be a little big/​inconsistent depending on who you get. I interacted with three different people, one was cold/​seemingly unfriendly, another was quiet but attentive, and a third one was very chatty. So like family, you’ve got a range of personalities.
If you like chatting with strangers, then you’ll appreciate how open/​talkative one of the older female staff can be. She’ll gladly stick around and chat with you while you wait for your food. They’re also quite conscious to let you know that your food is coming, and that they haven’t forgotten. They were pretty attentive and listen to what you request.
I found the casual tone of the lady a little too much, though, when it was time for me to pay the bill. When I took a second look at it, she asked loudly if I didn’t trust her, then proceeded to count the items on the check to me. It was unnecessary pressure. If I’m paying, I don’t see any problem with me taking time to look at the check. I took a second look because I was trying to calculate the appropriate tip, but her reaction and accusation totally caught me by surprise. So the attitude from the staff can be quite casual/​familiar, which some people would probably like, but not everyone.

I am a repeat client at Amarone. It’s a family restaurant with true Italian flavours. This place is posh yet not that posh if you know what I mean. Montréal has the gift of make everyone feel they belong even despite the news and political views.
Amarone great food! TRUE Italians working in the back … You don’t need to worry about leaving hungry because they deliver generous portions, and not to mention they really care about satisfying their clients! I I am a repeat customer and all my friends that have been there also return on a regular basis… Keep up the great work Amarone BRAVO!!!

A Tuesday day trip to Montréal that I hoped would yield some gastronomic superlatives did not deliver. Au Pied du Cochon is not open for lunch. I knew that in advance so planned to go to the highly-​esteemed (at least by Unilocalers) O’Thym. The website and and sign in the window said open Tuesday for lunch Tuesday /​Mardi, even an Albertan can figure that out. But, after blowing $ 10 on a taxi, O’Thym was locked up tight. So began the long walk towards a lunch alternative.
Places that looked good (and indeed Unilocal said they were good) were closed. Places that were open were fast-​foodish. We hiked up St-​Denis — a old-​worldy kind of shopping street where we were about to settle on a Moroccan sandwich place when Amarone appeared.
The main selling point was a great little patio right on S-​D. The second selling point was lots of locals /​old guys bickering with the waitstaff. Looked to be a family run place, though I didn’t ask.
They had a menu of about 5 or 6 lunchtime pasta type things. All come with bread and salad. We chose the tomato-​onion salad. Much better than the average handful of greens. Nice combination of cherry and regular tomatoes and very finely shaved mild onion with a few olives. Came with a basket of fresh italian rolls. Somehow they were warm without microwave chewiness. Nice. Butter was room-​temperature, not cold.
I had chicken parmesan that was served with a nice homemade pasta and a good rich tomato sauce. Honestly? Could have done without the chicken, which was a touch dry. The warnings of my Unilocal friend echoed in my head: «Never order the chicken, you can make it better yourself.» No truer words…
But the pasta was terrific. My husband had an equally terrific rigatoni and meatballs. I wish I had tried the broccoli orecchiette (little ear) pasta.
A post-​pasta espresso was perfect. Strong, hot and no fooling around.
Also, the lunchtime «show» consisted of several platoons of 20-​something skateboarders cruising down the long hill skirting mid-​afternoon traffic. Looked like more fun for the guys who caught the green light at the bottom of the hill.