Ludger

Ate brunch here today with old friends. Despite the other reviews, I found the service to be friendly and fast. They were crowded and reservations were recommended according to my friends who frequent Ludger on a regular basis.
The table had the French toast, Chicken Sandwich, an egg dish and Mimosas. The sandwich, potatoes and egg dish were average, but the French toast was bland, dry and didn’t do anything to wow me. If you order Mimosas make sure to get the large as the small was tiny for only a couple dollars difference.
The plating and presentation of the dishes were excellent. The atmosphere was trendy and comfortable. Sitting at a high top with all the wanna be hipsters made me feel a tad old; I’m only 38. But overall the scene combined with the transitional neighborhood made it fun. I’d like the opportunity to come back and try dinner to give Ludger a second chance on the food. After all it is a restaurant and the food was the only reason the score is three stars.

Doesn’t live up to the hype. Place is too bright and the food is OK.

Pretty small portions for the prices they charge. Really nothing special and the place is pretty ghetto. First and last time here. NOT recommended.

Brunch du dimanche matin, nous sommes les premiers arrivés, quelle tranquillité !
Des crêpes DÉLICIEUSES pour moi, un muffin avec terrine et pommes de terre sautées pour mon ami extra.
Tout était vraiment vraiment très bon. Les prix sont raisonnables et la serveuse était adorable.
Un super brunch.

The food was great, I had the Octopus and my friends had the beef tataki and salmon. The service was really slow, however, and the drinks were a little messy. It’s a nice place to go to if you aren’t in a rush.

Oysters — ¹⁄₅ — Found shell
Short Ribs — ⁴⁄₅ — great meat, small portion, a lot of peas
Gnocci — ³⁄₅ — awesome broth, too much peas
You like peas? Ludger is the place. I am not sure what their obsession over peas is, but hey, they know how to throw it in every dish. Went there about two weeks back with a group of 4. We ordered the oysters — found shell in them. Mother Shucker! Had the short ribs — that was delicious other than the overwhelming amount of peas in the dish. But boy, that was tasty meat. For $ 26 dollars — small portion, but great quality meat. Other 3 people at the table ordered Gnocchi which I had the opportunity to try, It was underwhelming as the sauce wasn’t thick enough to stick to the pasta, so it was kind of flavorless. Broth at the bottom of the bowl was nice. But again — PEAS galore.
As well, if you are English — make sure to have a translator at the table as the menus are in french.

Excellent food and very friendly service. I had the oyster special, which was fresh and above average. The atmosphere is equally pleasing inside and out. Highly recommended.

Le brunch est OK, mais pas impressionnant. Oubliez vos enfants, car ils né pourront entrer (18 ans et plus)…

If it was only for the food, I would have rated it higher. However, the service was appalling. I guess if they only want to serve those from Montréal, that’s fine. But tourists and those used to prompt and friendly service, look elsewhere for your meal.
I was staying nearby so I decided to check it out. I wandered in slightly before 8:00pm on a Friday. There is no host/​hostess. Basically the bartenders do triple duty– bartender, host, and waiter. Because that seems like a good idea? Right…
So initially I did not know there was no host. I was kind of looking around and then decided to ask at the bar. It took a few minutes before I was able to catch someone’s attention. I was told there was no host but I could get a table. So I’m seated at a high top, there is no back on the chair and no place to hang my purse. Inconvenient but whatever. I peruse the menu all in French and when the waiter comes back over, I order a Dark N Stormy and a salmon tartare app. Apparently he took that to mean I didn’t want dinner. Another guy came over to deliver my drink and I ordered the short ribs for my meal. I was hangry, I will admit.
My Dark N Stormy was more like Rum N Dishwater. The Dark N Stormy is probably my favorite cocktail and it should be intense and spicy. This was anything but. Maybe their other cocktails are good but this one could be skipped for sure. The salmon tartare was the bomb, holy shit. The served it with masago, crème fraiche, and homemade potato chips. It was the perfect balance, the fresh fish, the oily chip, the slightly tart crème fraiche, the pop of the masago. So good.
45 minutes after I got my appetizer, my dinner arrived. The dish was 90% good. The roasted vegetables were awesome because they had some of the meat fat roasted into it, awesome Brussels sprouts and asparagus. There were some well cooked beets too, not too mushy. The beef ribs had a nice flavor, I think there was Chinese five spice, maybe hoisin, just a touch sweet. But normally short ribs should be so tender they just fall apart. This was not the case. I had to cut them up and they were a bit chewy.
Overall, the food was really good, the drink sucked, the service sucked, the ambiance was intimate and eclectic. I probably won’t have the chance to return but if I did, I probably would go elsewhere.

A great St. Henri spot for drinks and a bite.
From the service to the cocktails, everything about this place is just kind of pleasant.
Their wine list is decent, their cocktails are solid, and they’re selection of beers limited but well thought out. And while the menu is small, and portions are more suited for snacking, imagination and heart seems to go into everything they served. I’d recommend the ribs and tartar to share for two people as a snack over a couple drinks.
The service is also friendly and unpretentious. They don’t pressure or rush you, but they’re always there when you need something.
If you’re in the ‘hood, Ludger is certainly a spot worth checking out.

This could have been the perfect Montréal spot if it wasn’t for the painful wait.
Maybe I’m just an impatient Torontonian but I’m really not use to waiting so long for service. We literally sat at the table for 20 mins before we could even see a menu.
I do have to say their Octopus was delicious probably one of the best I’ve had. I inhaled the thing bc I was so hungry.
The food deserves a 4.5 the service a 2.5 :(

I should preface this review with the fact that I am used to Toronto style service, and Montréal service is well… slow (and it’s supposed to be).
Stopped in here on a very busy Friday evening. Beef tartare was above average, but often is — would be nice if they served it with a crostini. The octopus was amazing, a combination of the jerk/​chimichurri and the fact it was cooked perfectly (seriously). I had the papardelle as my main. Tasty but a fairly small portion given it was pasta. They do make this fresh for you and you can see the chef pressing the pasta from your seat. The beef bavette/​steak was also cooked perfectly leaving me with the impression that the kitchen knows what they’re doing.
Everything else was… meh. Service was friendly but painfully slow (they later told us they were understaffed). The bartender was a fill-​in so… no cocktails other than the classics, wine or beer. Our meal took us. four hours. I’m pretty patient and didn’t mind as much, but many of my companions were unhappy at that point. What I assume was the manager did come around and pour us a round of Jamesons… and yes, that made it better for me. Maybe I’m just easy.

Ordered the bavette and plenta fries. Bavette was pretty good and polenta fries were a nice different surprise to your regular fries. For drinks we had margaritas and they’re stormy night. it was loud but still nice atmosphere. Super busy so service was a little under par. A little over priced But definitely a place I’d go back to.

Charmante buvette animée et de bon goût. Le service est chaleureux et amical. Je meurs pour leur gnudis (genre de gnochis au fromage) belle carte de vins. En droit rêver pour partager un bon repas authentique en fin de soirée!

Le St-​Henri gastronomique à son meilleur. N’hésitez pas à vous jeter sur les entrées, notamment la pieuvre et les huitres. Digne d’un festin des Dieux. Excellent service, personnel sympa, ambiance décontractée. Une des adresses à retenir dans le Sud-​Ouest de MTL…

Wow… i was blown away by this place. The dranks are insane and the the food was amazing. I had the bavette de boeuf and it melted in my mouth. I love how intimate it feels and the prices are great. The service was anazing and Madeleine went above and beyond and we didnt even have reservations!

On y va pour l’intéressante liste de cocktails, l’ambiance, l’os de moelle, et le reste de la bouffe qui semble tout aussi bonne! J’ai entendu dire que certains soirs, le service est un peu prétentieux mais ce n’est pas ce que j’ai vécu. J’ai beaucoup aimé la table qui est entourée de vitre qui nous permet de voir à travers le portique. Chouette!

I’m not sure why Ludger showed up on a search for «dive bar», but it did and it was close by and, well, damn, it sure ain’t a dive. Instead we found a somewhat trendy joint with an amazing menu and a well appointed cocktail bar. I thoroughly enjoyed the rabbit sausage that was on the menu that night. Ludger became a favourite discovery after that evening and I have since taken local friends there to enjoy the offering. I have yet to be disappointed. It may be hard to get a seat so get there early and enjoy.

Food is pretty good, I like the fact that they are open days that other places in the hood aren’t. The drinks are well crafted. The décor is nice though no real departure from anything anyone else is doing. I feel like this place tries too hard? Or the customers do? Lacking sincerity? I have been a number of times and every time I find it lacking some je né sais quoi.
Maybe time will deliver it.

Awesome classic cocktails (not too sweet), great service, and yummy food! We’ll be coming back to try the happy hour.

Always on the lookout for somewhere different to celebrate the start of the weekend, I met some friends at their office in Westmount a few Fridays ago and walked down the hill to Ludger. I have had my eye on visiting this new trendy St-​Henri spot on Notre-​Dame Ouest for a while and this beautiful evening seemed like the right time to check them out.
Ludger labels itself as a buvette with a gourmet accent aka we are a bar but also have high-​end food. Located on a corner on Notre-​Dame, they have taken over an old storefront with the old recessed entranced and all-​window façade and spruce it up with a massive rural on the side and a beautiful wooden terrasse as well. I can’t speak for the inside because we never set foot in there — no tables available there so we sat outside. The noise emanating from the windows told of a noisy environment — not totally unexpected given it was Friday night. The terrasse itself was nice and quiet with build-​in wooden banquets instead of chairs. It’s also on the cross street, not Notre Dame itself so there was no cars driving by us which was nice.
Ludger has a nice cocktail menu, a decent selection of wine and a food menu that I would characterize as eclectic. No real obvious «type» here but very intriguing. Before we grabbed a bottle of wine, I tried their special of the night, bourbon lemonade — my summer drink of choice. I was exposed to this beverage at Icehouse a couple of years ago, I have been hooked and have converted many friends and family. At this point, summer without it just seems wrong! Sadly, in this case, I was left disappointed. This version was overcome with sweetness to the point where the natural acidity of the lemon and the smokiness of bourbon were left wanting. The ideal bourbon lemonade blends all of these aspects smoothly. This one did not.
Food-​wise, we stuck to the appetizer options as we were not all that particularly hungry. First up, fried veal sweetbreads with kimchi and peanuts. Very creative dish and one I never would have thought about prior to this. The fried sweetbreads were crispy enough on the outside without losing the fatty goodness inside. The kimchi with its inherent spiciness added some nice heat to the dish and the peanuts brought some texture. Add some micro greens, shitake mushrooms with a piece of crispy chicken skin and you have a excellent dish. If you have an aversion to sweetbreads, this dish won’t convince you otherwise but I love them so it worked for me.
Next up, we had their polenta fries. Another creative approach from the kitchen here — they got enough of a crunch on the fries without losing the texture of the polenta. Paired with a nice mayo as well. My only issue here was the amount of fries we got for the cost of the dish. I frankly would have been preferred sweet potato fries or just regular fries if we would have gotten us more to enjoy. Good but not enough to truly enjoy.
After that, we went for the meat plate — a combination of rosette de Lyon, prosciutto, duck breast and others with some olives and bread. Overall a solid dish — I’m always a big fan of this kind of plate… well other than the olives which I despise but we’ll skip on that discussion for now. Again, a little small given the price but still delicious.
Our last dish of the evening was grilled squid with chick peas. A deliciously meaty piece of squid, grilled wonderfully with a nice creamy yogourt sauce paired with it and the chick peas. Following the theme of the meal, delicious but again, somewhat small for the price.
Ludger was a pleasant experience although one that I would characterize as overpriced for what it is. Loved the overall vibe, the setting and the creativity of the food menu. The rest of cocktail menu gets me interested as well. Not sure I will get bang for my buck food wise to make this a good dinner option however this is definitely a worthwhile drink spot with perhaps a dish or 2 and will be the site of future happy hours to come on my end. Now I probably just need to visit the interior as some point…
Cheers!

A little hole in the wall. Great place for an intimate meal with friends. Drinks are top notch. Food is very tasty and offers a variety of vegetarian and meat options. The most memorial item was the seaweed noodle lasagna! Very tasty, and a nice departure from traditional pasta noodles.
I have a feeling the menu changes as the days do, I would definitely come back to see what other culinary adventures they are offering.

Staying close by, went here last night and was very pleasantly surprised. Very young, hip crowd (and staff). I ordered an unique (and tasty) appetizer of Gnocchi with Mussels in a cheese sauce with bits on Pancetta. Delicious. Also had a few drinks and a dessert, one which was a but sweet for my taste. Still, the great food, excellent service win Ludger 4 stars from me!

We went here before they officially opened and had an amazing experience! The food was great — had the gnocchi with lardons and mussels. Small dishes but great flavour. The bartender came over and asked what kinds of cocktails we liked. Took our preferences and made some delicious drinks (whiskey sours how they should be, wild ginger vodka soda.). I was in heaven!
Then I went back 2 weeks ago and wasn’t blown away. The service wasn’t great, we got a table right away but had to wait 10 – 15 mins for someone to serve us. We all got mixed drinks. I don’t know if our server forgot to order them or if the bartender was slammed with orders. But we got our food before our drinks! That’s never happened to me before… Kinda threw off our night. The food was still great but a bit pricey for the size. Especially the small calamari salad. Delicious but SMALL! I think it was $ 12 – 14. I forget. Also the drinks were more expensive than the last time we went… $ 3 more expensive.
I love that this place has opened up here, this part of st henri needs more nice bars that aren’t dive bars. I will go back… Hope it will be as great as the first time I went!

Je suis passé devant le Ludger en vélo il y a quelques semaines et la grande murale a certainement attiré mon attention. Quand Ann m’a suggéré d’y aller pour le souper, ça n’a pas pris grand chose d’autre pour me convaincre.
Je suis arrivée un peu en avance et j’ai bien aimé le super service même si j’étais seule avec mon Pimm’s Cup. L’hôtesse est même venue me jaser un peu en attendant que mes amies arrivent, et le bartender aussi avait de la jasette. Mon cocktail lui, était assez délicieux que j’en ai demandé un deuxième comme dessert après le repas !
Pour la bouffe, je pense que j’ai vraiment gagné le gros lot ! On a commandé des huitres en entrée. Elles étaient bonnes et bien fraiches mais moi qui les aime un peu épicés, j’aurai aimé avoir un peu plus de piquant. Pour le plat principal, j’ai essayé les gnudis, un espèce de gnocchi fait avec du fromage ricotta. C’était cuit avec des lardons, des moules (sans leurs coquilles) et une tapenade d’olives noires dans une sauce un peu crémeuse. Peut-​être même qu’il y avait des champignons dans la sauce. C’était super bon et si ça faisait parti du menu assez régulièrement, ça deviendrait possiblement mon «go to «pour un repas style bouffe réconfort quand il fait moins 30 en janvier !
J’y retournerais certainement pour essayer les autres cocktails et voir si le menu change régulièrement ou non. Puisque c’est un autre resto avec le menu sur un tableau noir, c’est ce que je présume.

I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about this place and finally checked it out with two fellow Unilocalers. Was I blown away? Read my review to find out.
Location: Notre-​Dame West, in what I think we’re not referring to as the Southwest part of town, a few minutes walk from Place St-​Henri metro. It’s a little ghetto, I must admit. Lots of empty shops, and guys propelling their cars along by the mere force of music (read: very, very loud music). Classy, I know.
Service: The wait staff was fashionably cool, but this didn’t take away from their friendliness. Everyone was great; our waitress took the time to explain the contents of the menu and regularly checked in to see how we were doing. The restaurant itself reminds me of a fancy diner, minus the booths. My only beef is that they’ve got those small, high metal tables accompanied by those tall, skinny, metal chairs. The table’s OK but the seating wasn’t super comfortable.
Food: Ludger’s food ‘style’ is to serve a ‘dégustation’ menu, meaning smaller-​sized versions of main dishes (but these are your mains).
To start, we shared an appy of oysters. I’m certainly not a connaisseur in this department, but from my perspective, they were very fresh. Personally, I didn’t find that they tasted much but maybe that’s how oysters are supposed to taste. For this one, you should try them out for yourself then report back to me.
My main was a dish of tortellini stuffed with corn ricotta, and baby shrimp from «les Îles.» I don’t know what kind of sauce they served with this. The tortellini were fresh and delicious — there were four on my plate but they were larger than what you would normally get at other restaurants). The meal was obviously freshly made, which is a definite bonus, however the shrimp were cold (I’m not sure if they were meant to be cold so I won’t doc points for that today) and sadly, overall, it was bland. There was no explosion of flavor in my mouth, no OOOH! moment after the first bite. It didn’t seem like any kind of seasoning was used.
Unilocaler #2 ordered the Dorade (fish) that was cooked with half the skin (I believe it was booked in a pan, so the skin was nice and crispy), pan-​seared scallops and veggies. This was another miss for me. While it looked delicious, the fish was bland and really didn’t taste like anything to me.
Unilocaler #3 had the Gnudis (gnocchi) with lardons (fat); there was something else in that dish but I don’t recall what it is. In any case, it was delicious and flavorful. Everyone really enjoyed that dish.
In terms of size, for me personally, the plates were large enough. If you were a 200-​pound 6-​foot wrestler though, you’d probably need a few of these to make up one meal. By the time we got to our next destination, I was admittedly, feeling a little peckish.
Drinks: They make a kick-​ass Pimm’s Cup. Had I not been driving, I would’ve enjoyed a few more of those!
Price: I found prices to be very reasonable, with, I believe, most dishes costing less than $ 20.
I think this place has the potential to become a neighborhood gem, with a little tweaking.