Restaurant Julien

Absolute CRAP! Inedible stinky crab cake appetizers and warm white wine followed closely by a nonexistent server when it’s time to pay. Epic fail. AVOID AVOID AVOID.

Went here for work dinner and thank goodness for Unilocal as I had a great meal following their reviews. The service was fine but not the warmest. I had the duck confit and crème brûlée. They were both delicious. But my other colleagues were disappointed so it is definitely a hit and miss. Stay with the tried and true meal suggestions by Unilocalers. This is a formulaic French bistro so if you need a place to go this would be a good try.

Excellent service: We arrived on a Saturday night at 8pm without a reservation, and were seated in the bar. Once or twice it might have taken an extra couple of minutes to serve us since we were out of the main room, but all in all the service was excellent (and friendly).
Wine: The wines by the glass were very reasonably priced, but not the quality hoped for. The most expensive red was $ 10 — I would have been happy to pay $ 12 or even $ 15 for something exceptional — the Bordeaux Supérieur was not superior, and the merlot was only a bit better.
Food: The amuse bouche of plantain chips with a mango salsa was quite good; the plantain chips were not overly oily and the mango salsa went well with them.
The mango and lobster salad was quite good; definitely the star of the evening.
The Table d’Hote meal of a salad, choice of main dish and dessert was uneven. The green salad was generally good, but need some shaved parmesan or other cheese to elevate it to exceptional. The salmon, as another Unilocaler mentioned, needed to be taken out of the oven 2 – 3 minutes earlier; the generous serving of peas in a delicious broth (which was not swimming in butter like at many French restaurants) were very nicely done. The dessert, a white cake, was dry and unexceptional.
We would be willing to give Restaurant Julien another try — the winning service and the fact the food was cooked in a healthy, yet French, manner was satisfying.

I have to preface this by saying I went here years and years ago, and want to go back to see if the quality has held. A colleague and I were in Montréal for a conference, and I heard the concierge tell a hotel guest about it. The lobster, mango and avocado salad was excellent, and we chose to go back for three consecutive nights until we had to leave town, and, sadly, Restaurant Julien.

Delicious! Had the filet with mushrooms while my friends had the duck and scallops. Incredible flavors. Although the price says approx $ 25 on other reviews, be prepared for $ 90 if you have a glass of wine, filet steak, French onion soup, and crème broulet for desert.

A friend of mine had a coupon for this place, so last night him, myself, and his two other friends went here for dinner. I don’t have French food very often, so this was a nice opportunity to for me to try it again and eat at a nice fancy restaurant for a decent price. Dinner was wonderful and full of charm. The wine was rich and full of flavor, the escargots and mushrooms were wonderful, and my duck confit was spot on. Sadly, my friends were in a rush to get to the opera, so we had to make some haste, but it was still a great experience nonetheless. Professional and good service from the waitstaff; one waiter was a funny guy. I would definitely come back with family and friends! This is definitely a place you have to check out in Montréal. The only issue I could see with it is its location. It’s not located in the most open or populated area, but then again it’s the restaurants that are tucked away that tend to be the best!

Went here on a concierge’s recommendation. It was wonderful. I give it a solid 4.5 stars.
Food first! Like most good restaurants, the menu is small, but everything was very good. The escargot appetizer was wonderful. It was served in a brown sauce with shittakes and other mushrooms… much different than the typical butter presentation. The duck confit was absolutely wonderful. I am no beef tartar expert, but the diner who ordered it was very impressed and liked the spiciness to it. The lobster salad had a nice presentation and came with giant chunks of lobster. I only had a bite of it; I thought it good, but not as thrilling as the other dishes. Dessert was good too.
I thought the prices were reasonable for the setting. For a glass of wine, duck, and tip, it was about $ 40. Our server was very good and formal. The service was a little short of undoing your napkin for you, yet people were dressed relatively casual. My only complaint on service is that our waiter disappeared towards the end of the meal and someone else took over. Like Andrea D. said, it is a simple, yet intimate setting.

Keeping wine cool in a see-​through clear reusable plastic gift bag? I thought at first when they brought it over that we had won a prize or that one of us was getting a gift and I got all excited!!! Then I realized that it was a bag with ice in it to keep our wine cold ha. Kind of disappointing and it seemed to modern and a bit tacky in such a nice restaurant.
We also had some of the slowest service ever. Granted they were busy and we were lucky to get a table, but we had to fight for attention a little bit here. Good thing I eventually got my french onion soup!!! It was pretty much exactly what I wanted in every way. So props to them on that.
I also split their warm goat cheese salad and that goat cheese melted on top of that piece of toasted bread laid nicely on those greens was so so so good. But how can you go wrong with melted cheese??? You can’t really. The rest of the salad was just so so though. And all in all, for the price, I wish I had gotten a little more food, or at least a free refill of the free plantain chips they started us out with!

Excellente table au centre-​ville pour une cuisine française pas trop classique, mais impeccable. Le confit de canard servi sur couscous israëlien et la salade de betteraves et de pommes sont excellents. Les vins sont raisonnables.
La salle est animée surtout le midi, le service est attentionné. Il né s’agit pas d’un décor flamboyant mais bien d’un endroit convivial, juste assez classique sans être sclérosé.
Pour un lunch d’affaires avec des clients, parfait. Pour un groupe en soirée aussi. Pas sûr que c’est l’endroit idéal pour souper en tête à tête, par contre, mais si l’ambiance bistro haut de gamme vous convient, je vous le recommande.

It goes without saying that if you go to Montréal you must have a truly french meal. The question is which of the hundreds will be a memorable experience. For a great nouvelle cuisine (no heavy cream sauces), you can’t do better than Restaurant Julien. The restaurant has a nice patio and the front windows open completely, so a nice evening like tonight is spectacular. The menu is traditional, but well done. The escargot was great. So was the French onion soup. We didn’t have any of the salads. My wife had the veal rib steak with red wine sauce and Tomato bocconcini which she loved. I had the duck confit with Israeli couscous. I have never had better. Enough said. Staff was prompt and friendly. Wine list well represented.

Even if one is not a Beaujolais-​drinking, Gauloise-​smoking butter butt, one must go French in Montréal, non?
I could have eaten those beets-​and-​apple salads with hazelnut dressing all night: heavenly times three. The salmon, however, could have been taken out 2 – 3 minutes earlier, and the asparagus would have been fine without the lemon butter. The combination of citrus and dairy generally displeases me. As soon as the lobster arrives, I remembered that I don’t care for laborious food and forced my husband to trade with me. The chocolate fondant and crème brûlée are pleasant but not extraordinary, although that didn’t keep me from finishing both mine and my parents’.