Beyond The Books

Montreal’s Côte-des-neiges neighbourhood is rich with wonderful restaurants, shops, cafes, pubs, parks and more. A walk along Côte-des-neiges road can lead to some truly unique surprises. Tucked away, behind the shelves of books in the neighbourhood’s popular Olivieri Bookstore you’ll find the Olivieri Bistro, one of these wonderful surprises that feels like a veritable secret garden for in-the-know locals. I was lucky enough to be invited by my fabulous friend (and amazing blogger), Vincent Mazou to share our opinions of the evening. Let’s get to it. 

Olivieri Bistro’s menu is largely seafood based but its their inventive and modern take on traditional elements like shrimp, razor clams and magret de canard that makes this restaurant really pop. The team in the kitchen dazzle our pallets by using strong flavours such as beets, cucumber, radish and grapefruit. These flavours combined with a moderate yet liberal use of moroccan spices that makes the dishes flourish. My favourite dishes on the tasting menu were the Ceviche Nordic Shrimp (with sea buckthorn berries, cucumber, radish and rice chips) and the Razor Clams (with ginger juice, yuzu, kohlrabi, peanuts and grapefruit). They were both outstanding and artistically presented.

The service at Olivieri Bistro is spot on. Our waiter was polite, informative and had near perfect timing. His knowledge of each dish wasn’t just memorized, it was supported by an authentic passion for the food he was presenting us. His knowledge of each of the wines on their exclusive imported wine list was also quite impressive.

Although the restaurant’s decor may not be the most modern, the hodgepodge mixture of elements does work based on its location. A freshening and tightening up of the decor would be beneficial to the restaurant’s aesthetic but the food and service go beyond the necessary to make up for it. Seafood lovers who are looking for a different take on their favourite foods would benefit from taking a moment to enjoy a meal at Olivieri Bistro.

For more information, visit their website here.

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