Rufus Rockhead

Went to Rufus on the Thursday night before the August long weekend — it had been recommended to us by a local Montrealer. At first the girl who greeted us could not find out reservation for 8. The bartender stepped in to help us… and we were seated. It took about 20 mins for our server (the original girl) to take our drink order and we should have assessed that that was a good indication of the poor service that would follow.
I don’t know if it was because we are anglo (and this area of town — Little Burgundy/​Grifftintown is predominantly franco) but she was slow to help us, rude and kept ignoring our requests for drinks… water…napkins.etc. At one point my husband walked up to her in the restaurant and asked politely if she could come over as we all wanted to order more drinks — at which point, she proceeded to have a 10 – 15 min conversation with some guys sitting at the bar! I was in awe.
I must say though — the food was very yummy. It seems that they change their menu periodically — when we went, it was a take on Japanese street food. The soba noodles were extremely flavourful,…agedashi tofu — YUM. and who doesn’t love dumplings?
Cocktails were pricey — $ 14 range. I ordered a margarita and it was straight up but NOT over ice…
The décor leaves much to the imagination… let’s just say it looks better under candlelight.

It took me a while to make sure I heard the name correctly, but once I knew I had, I knew I would like this place. Does it fit in the neighborhood? I have no idea. Is the food good? Yes. Are the drinks awesome? Yes. Does it look and feel like a place you want to experience, at least, once? Yes. Montréal, don’t be party poopers: check this place out and have a good time.
Granted, I came here very near to the soft open (even internationally, I am breaking places in. #bigtime), but I was really pleased what what I saw and tasted. First off, there’s a bit of a catwalk to get in to the lounge. Yep. I was sold from that very moment. Any place that requires me to strut has an automatic seal of approval. The inside is clubby and futuristic and sleek and clean and… I dig it. Eating tables have cool seating. Lounge seats are more about form than function but sitting around a party is a bore. Get up. Walk around. Have some fun.
But before you duck lip your night away, it’s probably a good idea to eat something. My friend and I devoured the: fig & goat cheese salad (enjoyed even though I detest figs; her order), chicken & waffles (not your big mama’s recipe; this is slightly deconstructed and frou-​frou but nevertheless delicious; syrup + hot sauce = yum), crab burger (do I need to even say? It’s a burger made from crab meat. Yes, you want it), and lox & endive (interesting. salty. tasty. i’d order it again but I think it was an experiment). To drink with our bounty of shared (her idea; I’m an only child virgo) plates, a John Collins (bourbon is almost always a good idea), Hemingway Daiquiri (see John Collins. Sub rum for bourbon in my reasoning), a muddle berry gin drink (experiment; tasty), American-​style blonde beer, and a stout. I believe both beers were local, if not house-​made. And, after recounting the drink menu, I’m pretty impressed with myself for being able to remember anything *but* drinking at RR.
RR is a party. It might be in your belly. It might be in your pants. Who knows. I don’t judge.*
*I lie. I judge ALL the time.

The décor and atmosphere was cool, but the music was way too loud (we went on a Saturday night) and the service wasn’t great. Doesn’t really justify the 14 $ drinks.

With quite a few places to eat at this part of Notre Dame street a local bar was well overdue. Nice and trendy décor, several well designed bars and some areas where you can spend time with friends having a feeling this is your private space. Good list of drinks, don’t expect to satisfy your hunger in Rufus, the size of the dishes is rather of a snack type. Music gets really loud late in the night and the sound system is pretty good, you would hear the beat in every corner. Nevertheless the choice of music is really good and you are kind of OK shouting at your neighbour in attempt to communicate.
Try this bar, it’s fun.

Was not so impressed. Service was very slow, but friendly staff. Uncomfortable seats, extremely loud music so hard to talk and limited menu options, mostly junk food, but the meal was tasty.

Visité le nouveau Rufus Rockhead dans Griffintown, 1 semaine après son ouverture, mi-​janvier. À première vue, encore une belle place, beau design sur plusieurs planchers, accueil du personnel sympa, clients dans la trentaine (finalement!), drinks corrects, il faudra que je revienne pour goûter aux spécialités culinaires, surtout apparemment le fameux pogo maison.

The only downside to this place is the fried chicken: It doesn’t come in buckets. Why?! WHY! (It’s *that* good!)
So, turns out the South-West’s (Little Burgundy) newest bar is a-​mazing.
The interior is divided in many different areas on 3 floors (3 bars), offering a wide-​open-​space (with bar, cocktail and banquettes-​for-​two seating) on the main, as well as a sexier, dim-​lit (hello blind dates!), area on the second floor, and an intimate dim-​lit bar on the lower level.
Hey girlfriend, if that’s not enough to give you a ladyboner, know the interior design is by Braun-​Braën — think Pullman, Big in Japan, Mangiafoco, Benelux…
The [experienced] staff is super nice and friendly, and chatty, and cute (read: hot) to boot.
The music is a mix of great (to my taste, ok!) tunes ranging from harder rock to pop to soul. A well crafted playlist. NB. The bar will also hosts DJ nights — Jordan Dare, DJ Cherry Cola and DJ Babi Audi are already regulars.
Now, back to the food.
Besides the crispy and oh-​so-​delicious fried chicken (which does not come in buckets!), I tried (on both occasions) the crab cake burger, the salmon gravlax salad and the roasted cauliflower (how couldn’t I?! cauliflower is 2014’s «new» hot veggie — bye bye kale!). Everything: delicious. FIlling. And consistent from one time to the other. Next time, I’ll have to try the creamy polenta and the brownie with eggnog ice cream!
Plates are small, but big enough to share (we split the 4 between 2 people) and decently priced ($ 6 for both cauliflower and potato salad options — $ 16 for the sturgeon caviar).
Oh, Rufus, je t’aime!
This place gives me butterflies.
Can’t wait to see how it’ll grow on le Sud-​Ouest!