Cafe Via Dante

What an awesome little spot! A waiter who wasn’t harsh to look at, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable with a superb «can-​do» attitude. That’s the way I like to start every meal!
We started with a wonderful appetizer of Prosciutto San Daniele, cut with their very impressive prosciutto cutting machine, housed in a little glass room at the front of the restaurant. These are thin slices of pure salt-​cured heaven.
I also ordered the roasted portobello mushroom which was a rather small plate with one single mushroom. That one mushroom was delicious, but I don’t think I would order this again, there are too many other tempting delights on the ever-​changing seasonal and daily menu.
As a main I had a pasta (thicker than a spaghetti but not a flat or hollow pasta; the name eludes me) with roasted squid and other sea creatures. It was absolutely fantastic! I didn’t even want to share a bite of this meal! The tomato sauce was reminiscent of a rosé; rich and creamy, but this was no rosé sauce, I don’t even think there was cream in it!
Overall, this was a great experience and I am positive that I’ll be visiting this restaurant again really soon!

Northern Food, served at its best, the host is gracious and likes to take special care of his guests.
Hidden on Rue Dante, not much to see, a simple décor, but the food just wows.
The menu changes according to seasons and the availability of the market, so the menu is on a blackboard, as are the wines, almost all offered by the glass also at reasonable prices. From the eggplant appetizer, fennel and orange salad, the mains, rabbit and polenta, homemade pasta and shrimp that we enjoyed, everything was scrumptious. The last piece de resistance for me was their panacotta, oh yum! They had cannoli too, flavored of expresso. What a delight, ending the meal on a high note with limoncello, everything seemed beautiful.

Great Italian food, home feeling, friendly service. Prices are about 18 – 28 $ for a refined main course.
Went for a birthday, will go back for sure.

We went here for dinner as a group on a whim,
It was a fun night among friends. We mostly all ordered the same thing…
for entrée:
Stuffed gnocchi: by far the best entré, it was stuffed with beef, the gnocchi was soft and slightly chewy, it felt like eating fresh mozzarella balls without the cheesiness. The sauce was laced with mushrooms and olive oil, very nice, best dish overall.
Orange fennel salad: The second best entré, orange slices with fennel slices and sprinkled with toasted almonds. The dressing was light and subtle, it was a refreshing and original salad.
Porcini linguine: I don’t know what happened, but the linguine was a bit tough, and it stuck together, felt like eating reboiled pasta, this was unusual as it did not jive with the quality of the rest of the dishes.
For mains:
Lobster ravioli: Ravioli was a bit too soft, but the rosé sauce with lobster made up for it, this was satisfying, although not the best ravioli dish I’ve ever had. We added a special house made hot peppers spread to the pasta that the waiter recommended, that really gave it a nice extra kick, this was the best main…
Eggplant lasagna: Lasagna made with eggplant instead of pasta, tomato sauce, tasted nice, except i don’t like eggplant, it’s just bland and fills you up quite fast if you eat too much of it… lol
For dessert:
Tiramisu and panna cotta. Tiramisu was average, panna cotta was rich and very nice. For Italian it was quite good here, but for a joint in little Italy in mtl… just average :) but a nice homey place with boisterous waiters, it’s very inviting.