Restaurant: Arthur’s Nosh Bar
Restaurant type: Jewish, brunch, Kosher, breakfast, lunch
Prices: $3.50-$15.50 breakfast, $8-$26 lunch
Date: Friday October 4th 2019
Table of: 2
My favorite dish: syrniki

A few weeks back, I FINALLY made it to Arthur’s! Emphasis on finally, cause its such a popular place that everyone’s been to, multiple times, and I sadly had not until very recently. I’m going to get this out of the way right now; I’m supporting the claim that Arthur’s has the BEST pancakes in Montreal! But more on that later…

As many of you already know, Arthur’s is a Jewish (so Kosher) breakfast/lunch type restaurant during the week and a brunch place on weekends (different menus). They serve a bunch of classic Jewish dishes with a nice modern twist. What’s really cool about the term “Jewish cuisine” is that there are Jewish people all over the world and thus, a Jewish person living in Morocco can have a different diet from a Jewish person living in Israel, to another one living in Eastern Europe. This is definitely reflected through Arthur’s menu, who offers a Moroccan style toast, perogis and classic latkes of course.

Arthur’s is located in Saint-Henri, on the popular Notre-Dame street, along with many other trendy restaurants. The space is quite simple yet elegant and cosy at the same time. I love all the green accents all over the place and that bar/cashier area is beautiful.

So, why did I finally go to Arthur’s? Well, lately, I’d been craving nice thick pancakes. My friend My @mtlpancakequeen had once told me some of the best ones were at Arthur’s and so on a Friday when I had the day off, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to check it out with my best friend Liz (Eliza pour ceux qui lisent mes billets en français lol). To be honest, I’m not much of a pancake kinda gal, as I always opt for savoury brunch options (and, when I do choose sweet, its normally waffles or French toast). I can’t even tell you the last time I’ve had pancakes, that’s how rarely I eat them. I guess after seeing so many photos of Arthur’s pancakes go by on Instagram, my brain was like “omg-want” so I had to satisfy it, yknow?

Here are the dishes Liz and I got – we didn’t really share anything, but I did get to taste almost everything:

• Syrniki: cottage cheese pancakes served with maple syrup
• Breakfast sandwich: scrambled eggs, Kosher salami, American cheese, lettuce, mayo, served on a Challah roll
• Latkes served with house apple sauce, horseradish and sour cream
• All dressed Matzah ball soup: chicken, noodles, veg and dill

Ok, so let’s start with the pancakes. As given away earlier from the title of this blog post, I can say with confidence that Arthur’s makes the BEST pancakes in MTL – that I’ve ever had! (haha, that’s the catch, they are like the only ones I’ve ever had). But that aside, really and honestly, these pancakes were delicious and life-changing. They are so nice and thick, fluffy, soaking in maple syrup and oh so yummy. Its kind of like eating two huge slices of cake for breakfast! They’ve definitely made me a #TeamPancakes kinda gal and I’ll have to try more around the city. They were also that good that I’ll have to go back to Arthur’s for some before the year ends.

As for the rest of the food, mixed feelings. Liz loved her breakfast sandwich so that’s a good start. However, the latkes were disappointing at best; I definitely make better ones at home. They tasted nice and were nicely fried, but they lacked in seasoning and were served lukewarm at best (ya I know I take photos of my food and all so it obviously cools down a bit by the time I eat it, but I’m pretty quick about it and these were basically cold by the time I had a bite). I only tasted the Matzah ball soup broth, which was nice, but could have used a bit more seasoning. I did however like that they put dill in it, which I find mixes really well as a herb with broth soups. Liz ended up taking the soup to go and eating it at home with sriracha and she swears it was a game changer.

Overall, we enjoyed a very good meal and I’m really happy I finally got to try Arthur’s pancakes. Trust me, if you haven’t had them yet, even if you’re not a pancake person like I was before trying them, YOU-MUST-TRY-THEM. They are really that good. Plus, if you go on the weekend, you can get them with fried chicken, a fried egg and (beef) bacon!!! Also, I forgot to mention it but you have to arrive quite early if you want to avoid the line-up! We got there on a Friday at around 10h45 and the whole place was already full; we were lucky to get 2 seats at the counter/bar facing the window. I would definitely recommend arriving right when it opens.

So, here is my review of Arthur’s:
Food: 4/5 (very good – extra points for the pancakes)
Price: $$ 
Would I go back?: YES!

*All photos and comments are mine