Bistro Lustucru

Some of the best food in town, period. The tartare is to die for — literally. For 2 or 3 people who enjoy raw food, I would suggest taking «La Totale», which is a platter of each tartare they make. For those who prefer their meals cooked, the changing menu (plats de résistance) which appear on the chalkboard have yet to deceive — I’ve had about 5 different plates and each one was tasty, surprising and just as excellent as the last. The desserts are also amazing, especially the «fondant au chocolat, caramel et fleur de sel» served with ice cream — perfect mix of sweet & salty.
The downside to me is that the service is occasionally a little cold, and it can take a while before the waiter makes his way to your table. It has not happened regularly but good service is a must and should be constant. Also, I must admit that it is pricey for the portions (especially the tartars), but the quality makes it worth it. If it was a little less expensive, I’d be there at least once a week! One of my top food experiences in Montréal.

3 stars for really delicious food. Knocked off 2 stars for awful service.
So I’ve been lurking a few foodie Instagram accounts for awhile, but one that always stuck out to me was Lustucru’s gorgeous presentation. Come MTL à Table event, I was excited to try their menu.
Good: The food. Is. Top. Notch. Wow, everything just tasted so fresh and amazing. Our second waitress was very cordial and friendly, and the food was brought out promptly. The décor is cozy, nice looking spot.
Bad: So I arrived early for dinner at the restaurant without a reservation and it was pretty empty. A good sign that we will get seats and our food quickly! Well, the hostess informed us that it’s full… excuse me? ¹⁄₃ occupied seats is not full. She said maybe we can sit at the bar. I was okay with it, but then she had to go speak with someone, make some phone calls, and then confirmed that they had seats available. My boyfriend wanted to get the 3 course MTL a Table menu and I wanted to get some tartares (it looked so good on Instagram…). When we were ready to order, the first waitress insisted that we both have to order off the MTL à Table menu or we both have to order from the regular menu because it’s restaurant policy. The reasoning? They have separate kitchens. At a glance, the open kitchens are right next to each other. Then she tells us that the regular menu has the MTL a Table items too and we can order off the regular menu. So with that logic, the second kitchen makes the same items? I was pissed off, what kind of restaurant tells their clients they can’t order items from their menu? What the hell is the point of having a menu if you’re not even going to give your patrons the choice of what they want to eat? I was ready to leave.
Bottom Line: Go for the food, it’s amazing. However, their staff and restaurant policies are a bit off.

This restaurant was my first mtl à table and it started off on the wrong foot.
Here is what happened, my girl and I walk in to a nearly empty restaurant and asked for a table for two. The unwelcoming hostess looks through her list of reservations and said «I may be able to squeeze you at the bar.» The place had about 20 available seats and no in line to get in but ourselves, I was confused. In the end, about 5 mins later, she gave us a table.
The great redemption: the food! It was spot on. I would say come in and order the «risky» plates. The menu has a large list of unique tartar and I say order whatever your foodie heart desires. The kitchen is on point. The food came quickly, the flavours were on point, well plated and perfect portions. 4 ¹⁄₅ stars on the food!
The horrible: the service needs to improve. The hostess and our first waitress were not on point last night. The problem getting a seat and the unhelpful waitress did deteriorate our experience at this establishment. The second waitress was very pleasant, I hope, if you choose to go, you get her as your waitress. 1 star for service.
In the end, I would absolutely recommend that you try this place. The food is desirably delicious. I say take advantage of mtl à table and eat here; for the price you will not regret. With regards to the service, I pray you get a better experience than what we had.

I love the idea of tapas style tartares and this place delivers on that 100%. From trout to horse, the variety of raw meat offered is rare and very tasty! Also, they hand out bread before the main course, which I find to be a rare event in Montréal. The bread isn’t great but that’s not why you come here.
I give it 4 stars because I’m not a huge fan of the ambiance/​décor. On the other hand, we ate here on a Tuesday night so maybe we didn’t get the full effect of a bustling restaurant.
tartares to try: the salmon with shrimp chips and the tuna/​veal mix. I was a little disappointed with the duck but my bf liked it.

Cuisine de grande qualité à prix plus que raisonnable. Les plats sont exquis. L endroit est vraiment agréable.

Awesome tartare, go with a group and get 1 (or 2) «La Totale» plates to try out as many variations as possible.

Bön…
Nous avons été oubliés pendant plus de 30 minutes, avant qu’une serveuse s’occupe de nous. Le service laissait grandement à désirer, surtout quand on doit demander plus de trois fois la même chose avant de l’obtenir. Le sourire né semble pas être la marque de commerce de ce restaurant. La nourriture était bonne (pas à se jeter par terre) et la présentation agréable. Les quantités convenables quand on partage. Bref, un endroit qui gagnerait à améliorer son service.

Tout est excellent! pour les amateurs de tartares c’est un must. Super cadre pour un dîner en amoureux. Le seul bémol c’est que c’est très cher pour les portions proposées!

Okay, let’s be real, a restaurants review is based on a lot more than the food — for some places this is a good thing, but unfortunately not for Lustucru
Food: amazing. Big thumbs up to the chef. We had a tasting platter which consists of 8 choices. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about the food. **the food and wine is the only reason I’m not giving this place a 0 (if that’s even possible)**
Service: a big flat zero. Barely checked up on us, seemed annoyed to be there, no knowledge (ex.: asked her a question and she basically just read me the menu.)
Décor: it’s okay, but would amp it up to distract people from the lousy staff.
No I wouldn’t bring friends here but I would recommend this place ONLY FOR THE FOOD — meaning that it’s only for people who don’t mind bad service.

We were there last winter for a group party. OK, I know groups can be overwhelming for waiters. But the service was really bad, although pretty quiet of a night that day. The server was unprofesionnal and soooo didn’t care. We waited for a long time to get our dishes.
The aps were good. We had sweetbreads & foie gras. Speaks for itself, yum ! However, we shared the tartar tasting (you get a bit of everything) and felt like it was totally overrated. Not worth the price at all — we’ve had much better tartars elsewhere for much cheaper! With wine & service, ended up with a bill of nearly 200 $ for two. I won’t be back.

FOOD /​SIGNATURE DISH
This place serves beef and non-​beef variations on steak tartare with surgical precision. Execution and presentation are near-​perfect. They also have excellent and affordable bottles of Saint-​Nicolas de Bourgueil on their wine list (private import).
DECOR /​ATMOSPHERE
Vast, clean and elegantly contemporary. Lots of smart details. I loved the wooden tables, original but comfortable.
FEATURES /​SERVICE
Oh well, that’s the problem here. Service is aloof. Our waitress mixed up our orders and forgot half of it… We ended up frustrated like you wouldn’t believe. It it weren’t for her ridiculous unprofessionalism, our experience would have been top notch.

SO good! Raw bar portions are small though, so don’t expect much. But nonetheless amazing. I had a salmon tartare with coriander and avocado and it was so delicious! My friend had a flavorful perfect scallop ceviche served in a small shooter glass. It wasn’t too strong or citrusy which I liked. For the main I had a raclette, I’m not sure how to translate it but it’s basically melted/​grilled cheese with potatoes, cold cuts, and king mushroom. Oh! And some carmelized onions on the side (which were so sweet and tasty) I had some fries which were skinny and thin, served in a small cup. THAT was also good too. They were very potato-​y. My friend had a nice Kir to drink. Service was excellent, friendly, and enthusiastic. Prices are slightly pricey, but that’s French food for you. Other than that, I really enjoyed my experience there. I would go back to try the other tartares.

Pour ma 3ième visite au Bistro Lustucru, j’ai eut la chance d’essayer le menu Montréal en lumière, douze bouchés du menu cru, en fait une dégustation de l’ensemble du menu tartares, carpaccio et ceviche. Quoique tous très bon, les poissons étaient excellents! Les portions tenaient plus de la portion bouché pour ogre qu’un estomac normalement constitué. Les service était, comme toujours impéccable. Définitivement prêt pour une 4ième visite.