The Bottom Line
Pros
- The dishes that are good are really good.
- Wait staff offer outstanding service and attention.
- Extensive wine list.
- Location, location, location: bar-hopping and clubbing within reach post-meal.
Cons
- Fine Italian cuisine doesn't go cheap: cost, with wine, is easily $60 per person.
- Food was either wow or meh: menu items can be hit-or-miss.
Description
- Location: 1237 Crescent, below Ste. Catherine
- Get There: Lucien l'Allier or Guy-Concordia Metro
- Phone: (514) 866-3226
Guide Review - Trattoria Trestevere - A Montreal Restaurants Review
Many have praised Trattoria Trestevere, one of Montreal's fine Italian cuisine establishments in the heart of downtown's Crescent Street. And one of its ardent fans got me through the door and into the restaurant, parted into three intimate rooms surrounded by a hint of a Mediterranean roof here, a romanesque archway there, and stone walls with some stucco.Our host, dressed in a traditional black vest uniform, brought us to our seats with a wonderful mix of pride and professional grace. Our waiter shared that same approach and I loved it. These guys were five-star formal pros and down-to-earth at the same time, a great match. And by the way, dressing up is the norm for patrons, at least business casual.
So we kept it simple with a bottle of white house wine, and started off with an antipasto platter with fried zucchini, bland fried calamari with an equally bland mayo sauce, outstanding grilled oyster mushrooms and yellow peppers, non-descript grilled sausage, nice mussels in even nicer marinara sauce and a couple of potato and mozarella croquettes with a delicious je-ne-sais-quoi flavor and ingredients the waiter, with a grin, wouldn't reveal.
Now here is a mystery that stumped me. How could two veal dishes from the same restaurant be at such odds? My dining companion, a Trattoria Trestevere veteran, opted for tender veal in lemon sauce accompanied by okay grilled veggies and potatoes. It was still, overall, fantastic. Yet my bocconcini and ham stuffed veal was tough and very much un-tender. And the flavor, apart from a pleasant hint of (probably white) wine in the sauce, was a little bland. The accompanying linguine and marina sauce was fine.
Finishing off with a creme caramel and double espresso, the meal was nonetheless satisfying but next time, I won't venture into the menu alone; I'm asking the waiter for guidance.
