Restaurant: Brasserie 701
Event: Happening Gourmand Launch Media Dinner by A Rose PR
Restaurant type: French, brasserie, fancy
Happening Gourmand Prices: $29 dinner, $17 brunch
Date: Tuesday January 8th 2019
Table of: 9
My favorite dish: lobster tail risotto
Last week, I had the pleasure of dining at Brasserie 701 and trying out their Happening Gourmand menu, before the launch of this month-long foodie event! Happening Gourmand takes place every winter and this year, will run from January 10th until February 3rd. It involves the 9 restaurants from Groupe Antonopoulos – Brasserie 701, Modavie, Bevo Bar + Pizzeria, Verses Bistro, Kyo Bar Japonais, Méchant Boeuf, Vieux-Port Steakhouse, Maggie Oakes and Taverne Gaspar – which offer $24 or $29 3-course dinner menus at dinner time and $17 brunch on weekends* (check participating restaurants for more details). So, which will you try?
I chose Brasserie 701, as its a restaurant that had been on my to-do list for some time now and I’ve also already been at a few of the others. Brasserie 701, as its name might indicate, is a French restaurant/brasserie, serving up some French classics. Its located in the Place d’Armes hotel, close by the Notre-Dame basilica. Kyo Bar Japonais is also part of the hotel complex, as is the beautiful Terrasse Place d’Armes atop the hotel, open during the warm summer days. The restaurant is beautiful and well decorated, with a lot of hanging lights and chandeliers, dimmed lights, white marble counters and dark wooden tables and chairs.
As we were there for the Happening Gourmand, naturally, we ordered dishes from that menu:
- Alsacian salad with gruyère cheese, mesclun, oven smoked bacon, poached quail egg and aged mustard vinaigrette
- Escargots in their shells stuffed à la bourguignonne and browned
- Grilled vegetables mille-feuille, with herb and fleur de sel crusted puff pastry, chive cream and basil pesto
- Rosemary and red onions marinated beef flank steak, served with sweet potato fries and parmesan arugula salad
- Lobster tail butter risotto and asparagus
- Chocolate and roasted hazelnut tart, crispy praline, black and white chocolate ganache
- Mini Paris Brest dessert plate with chocolate sauce
- Arboleda Chardonnay
- Arboleda Cabernet Sauvignon
- Welcome cocktail
Overall, we had a great evening at Brasserie 701, full of great dishes, refreshing wines and excellent service. My favorite dish of the evening was their lobster tail risotto, which was perfect. The lobster tail itself was perfectly cooked, moist, juicy and delicious. The risotto was also cooked to perfection and was full of fresh asparagus. Everything else was great too, from the chimmichurri covered flank steak, to the Alsacian salad, garlic snails and the grilled vegetables mille-feuille. The chocolate tart was rich and decadent and the mini Paris Brest were a real bite size treat!
I recommend Brasserie 701 for a romantic candlelit dinner for two, or anyone looking for some great French dishes. Brasserie 701 also has a $17 brunch option on weekends during Happening Gourmand, so if you’re more of a brunch kinda person, make sure to check them out! Happy Happening Gourmand!
UP NEXT: My updated restaurant review of Le Passé Composé (One of the best brunch spots in Montreal!)
*This restaurant post does not contain my usual restaurant review criteria of restaurants, as this is a sponsored post where I was invited to the restaurant as a guest.
*All photos and comments are mine
