Restaurant Amaranto

This place is as authentic as Mexican cuisine comes! I am literally sitting at the dinner table as I type! We’ve only just received the guacamole entrée and it’s so good that I had to rate this place instantly. The ambience, survey and food is top notch. I used to live in Mexico and it’s the only place that has made me feel nostalgic. This place is ¹⁰⁄₁₀!

First time customer. Only non-​apetizer choices are tacos or enchiladas. I ordered chorizo tacos. The portions were children sized. The 3 tacos were minuscule.
They do give chips on the house with 2 dip sauces, so that’s a plus. And service is good.
Overall, disappointing.

I was hesitant to go here because I’m not a real fan of REAL Mexican food and stick with Americanized places like 3 Amigos. I’M SO GLAD I CAME HERE!!! WOW!!!
Restaurant Amaranto was able to make me love cilantro!!! Their avocado soup was amazing! and their fish tacos… the best I’ve ever eaten! This place is a little hidden and in the basement of the building but it’s amazing and worth the trip!!! Check it out, you won’t be disappointed! I promise!
The waitress’ who served us were kind, funny, warm, friendly and fast!!! The whole place is warm and inviting. I’ll be back again soon for some more yummy fish tacos!!!

Wow. I came here on the off chance from the good Unilocal review and had the best fish tacos I’ve ever had. Such a generous portion of fish in each taco with a lovely sauce and the usual trimmings of shredded cabbage, diced tomatoes and cilantro. With the addition of some lovely spicy marinated red onions. And the chips were sensational.

Nice find in Montréal! Overall good food and authentic. Black beans had no flavor but everything else we ordered was good.

This is a pretty legit Mexican restaurant for Montréal. I had walked by here dozens of times before trying it because I wasn’t too sure what the deal was but I have to say that once I tried it I was pretty happy that I had.
It’s nothing fancy but the atmosphere is pleasant inside, the service is really friendly, and the food is solid. I don’t eat meat and they were out of the shrimp quesadillas the night I went, so I tried some cheese and potato hard-​shell tacos, cactus quesadillas, mushroom quesadillas, and the avocado soup. Everything overall was simple but quite yummy (especially the soup which was excellent).
I don’t think they serve booze but they have a fun selection of Mexican staples like guava juice, lime soda and aguas de Horchata and Jamaica which is nice.
I would definitely eat there again, but I would be more inclined to return more often if they had a better selection of veggie/​pescatarian dishes (re: fish tacos). But for you meatatarians out there, I’m sure you will be plenty satisfied with their selection.

Authentic taste. Just like our last trip to Mexico DF. The price is right. Service could be faster. Will definitely go back.

I love this place! The guacamole and homemade tortilla chips are addictive! We all had the daily special, cochinita pibli, which was delicious. Service was very attentive. Looking forward to my next visit!

Pour essayer de la bonne bouffe mexicaine qui n’est pas fast food ni américanisée, Amaranto est un excellent choix. On retrouve les soupes traditionnelles savoureuses en plus des plats classiques. Le décor reprend des éléments qui rappellent les beaux restos du Mexique. Menu assez court, sans alcool, ni churros malheureusement. Mais une bonne place pour des mets traditionnels, et piquants à souhait!

This restaurant is impeccable. The food is incredible, the service is warm, the atmosphere is cozy. I love the open kitchen, too. This restaurant is so underrated, and I often wonder why: it’s authentic mexican food in Montréal; a rare gem. Highly, HIGHLY recommended.

We parked on one of the neighbouring side streets with free parking and originally had plans to eat somewhere else. But it was so cold out we didn’t want to keep walking and ended up here. What a lucky accident!
As other reviewers have mentioned, the menu is not very extensive. About 5 different taco entrees, 2 enchilada entrees, and a half dozen appetizers. Compared to Matraca (the only other mexican taco place we’ve tried in montreal) this place was much tastier, more authentic, and slightly cheaper. (Plus free homemade chips and salsa!) The main drawback compared to la Matraca is that it’s not designed as a taco tapas resto — meaning tacos are priced as entrees (3 – 4 per order) and not as single items for you to try a variety. But based on the authenticity and tastiness of what we ordered (pastor tacos and chicken mole), it’s likely that your best bet is to just order whatever sounds yummiest to you and you can’t go wrong.
The grocery section is very limited — about a dozen items for purchase (with about half of them being authentic mexican soda varieties), and service can be a bit slow with only a few staff members on site. But service is very friendly and attentive, and atmosphere is casual and nice.

Authentic, fresh, and consistently delicious. The menu is on the sparse side, but the dishes offered hit the mark. The salsa verde is PERFECT: tangy and tasty with just the right hit of fresh cilantro. You’ll enjoy scooping it up with their homemade tortilla chips. The beef tacos are generously filled; make sure to top them with fresh onion and cilantro. If you can, try sharing a bunch of dishes; you can’t go wrong.
As for the ambiance: on the plus side, it feels like you’re sitting in someone’s kitchen. The cooks are right there, prepping, frying, pouring. On the minus side, it feels like you’re sitting in someone’s kitchen. It’s not the most comfortable dining experience and there’s something about the layout that just doesn’t sit well with me. BUT I’m enchanted by the flavours and will keep on coming back again and again.

Very good food with reasonable prices. The verde chicken enchilada was very tasty and recommend the fried plantains for dessert. We will certainly visit again!

I went purely on the reviews from Unilocal,and frankly, was very disappointed. My rating is really a 1.5 star. We ordered the guac and chips as a starter– this was fresh, just mashed guacamole with some coriander and very little seasoning. The «homemade» chips were very greasy. The guacamole was overpriced at $ 8.99 for a small cup. Our mains were the real disaster. My companion had marinated pork tacos… Oh boy, the pork was so incredibly dry like the bottom of a shoe!!! There was no juice left on that poor sucker, and since we heard the microwave go off a few times while there, we really believe that pork has been reheated and recooked to oblivion a few times. The corn taco in which the pork was put was also extremely dry and like a shoe as well. My dish, enchilada with green sauce was like baby food. Boiled bland chicken stuffing in a corn shell that was drenched in VERY sour green tomatillo sauce, and some bland melted cheese. There were three pieces and I had 1.5 of that in pure starving desparation. A tiny little cup of black beans (extremely runny and no flavor, had one spoon and that’s it) and bland rice rounded out my (NOT) winner of a dish.
Service was blah. The girl serving us was not very helpful and totally distracted. Because this place is in a basement, it has a very strong smell of mold. It washed over us as soon as we walked in and was strong enough that my friend wanted to leave.
We went in hopes of finding this «secret» that Unilocal reviewers were raving about, but alas, it’s back to the drawing board. Places closer to downtown, such sa La Tamalera and Ta Chido (a place I had problems with… review to follow) are better than this!
Gotta go now and drink some fizzy water to try and wash out that sour unsettling feeling from the green sauce!

Very cozy & comfortable atmosphere. Don’t let the outside fool you, once you’re inside the place is clean & very spacious. Very friendly service & good homemade style food. Wish we had space left in our stomach for dessert. :)
Highly recommended to try all the different choices. Would definitely go back for more!

Went there with friends in the middle of the week and we thoroughly enjoyed the menu and the service. I would recommend this place to all.

I didn’t know this place existed, but as my son said «totally awesome»!
The décor is simple but authentic. Plenty of room, spacious and large tables. Even the plates look and feel authentic.
The food is delicious. Portions are very fair, and prices are reasonable. Menu has enough options, but it’s not overloaded either.
This is definitely authentic, not gimmicky chain style mexican food.
I will be back, and based on my sons comments, we will be here often.

This cute little place is seriously worth it! Located in the basement of the building next to a Korean food joint, this is Monkland Street’s secret of Mexican food.
My first time here I went with a daily special, Chicken with Mole sauce and it was so rich and tasty! My second time here I opted for enchilada verde complete with authentic Oaxacan cheese. Both times the table ordered the guacamole and quite frankly it’s so delicious, and I love their homemade chips! Coming to Amaranto, I got to know and love Sidral Mundet Apple Soda, and they also have a retail store front where you can purchase a variety of different Mexican products.
I have yet to try a dessert because we’ve been too full to have room for it, but hopefully on my net visit!

You would think a city like Montréal would have a nice choice of Mexican restaurants but it really doesnt; This, so far for me, is as good as it gets. The food’s really good and they don’t stray too far from the real ingredients. The sell and use real Mexican cheese.
The place is cute, but hard to spot from the outside because it’s in the basement. You kinda gotta know where you’re going. The kitchen is wide open and you can see them cooking, it’s nice.

So much for me thinking that Montréal doesn’t have good authentic Mexican restaurants. If you don’t know this place exists you could easily pass right in front of it and miss it, and it would definitively be your loss. Really good clean dining room, friendly service and amazing food. My first time there was with a friend of mine that had never tried a real taco, not the texmex kind you find at other «Mexican» restaurants in town. So of course we ordered a couple of taco plates, one pork and the other cactus. But before we got those, we ordered an entrée of guacamole with hand-​made tortillas. The guacamole was so creamy, so rich and complex, it might just be the best I’ve ever tasted. As with the entrée, the tacos didn’t disappoint. This place is surely going to become one of my regular spots.

I’ve eaten here often with our family, we like it a lot for authentic Mexican. What they do, they do well. The guacamole, enchilada verde, beef and chicken tacos, and mole are all dishes I have sampled frequently. The hibiscus drink they serve is also great, as are the Mexican sodas. Another poster has mentioned it as pricey but they must have been a special event or something because we find the prices reasonable. Portions are not overly huge (this not American style tex mex) but more in the vein of enough. I have never left hungry.
I will say that because they are mostly just two who work there doing the serving and cooking the service can be a little slow. And it seems as if it is either empty or packed, and there are not that many tables, so it can be hard to get a place sometimes.
Also, we go often with our kids, and the staff are always happy to accommodate by leaving out onions, etc. Every dish is made to order (hence the slowness) which allows them to do this easily. Very friendly.
Go! Enjoy!