  t would be an understatement to call Old Montreal West a hotspot. Real estate is reaching its peak as the neighbourhood bustles with new restaurants, cool shops, hip nightlife - and now a birch moose head. It is the place to be right now.
With the instant success of Garde-Manger, Monika Terlecki and Travis Champion (an apropos name) took their savvy skills around the block to open L'Orignal Restaurant (not "Original," but "Orignal:" the French word for moose). L'Orignal has sparked a buzz with its "chalet-chic" décor, a menu that feasts on local ingredients, a host of unique dishes, and a reputation for great food and post-dinner crowds. Though, don't think of stumbling in at midnight and grabbing a bottle of premium booze while bathing in flashing lights amidst grind-happy girls. This is a restaurant that wants you to enjoy dinner and hang around for drinks, perhaps until 3:00am.
L'Orignal has a uniquely Canadian ambience. Pinewood walls stained to different shades interact well with perched birch trunks. The owners keep the place PETA-friendly (well, sort of): the moose head hanging on the wall is made of carved wood, not a decapitated mammal. Similarly, the kitchen has an earth-accommodating bent: "The owners and the chef try to keep the choices environmentally sound and locally supportive," says the friendly manager, Shannon McGarr. She adds, "We try to use as much local produce as possible, including cheeses and meat from Quebec," further explaining that foods that are lumped into a truck, then a plane, and then another truck will be exposed to much more pollution than broccoli grown in Joliette, Quebec (incidentally, that's where Chef Francis Côté first worked with L'Orignal's owners).
L'Orignal's menu is sectioned into three parts, including appetizers, tartars, and mains. For apps, take a house recommendation and go with the Endive Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette ($6) or the trio of Lamb Mini Burgers with Migneron Cheese ($9). You'll owe Chef Côté a debt of gratitude after you take down the innovative Cucumber Tartar ($7) and its purée of sweet potatoes. If you like it hot, try the Spicy Tuna Tartar ($16): it goes down like a power window.
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479 Saint-Alexis, Montreal, QC 
6 Reader Reviews
that sucks
Tony's Rating: 1 Stars |
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Had an excellent night a few weeks ago at L'Orignal. We sat down and were offered a delicious 'martini of the night' while we perused the menu. We started with the scallop and strawberry tartar and the spicy tuna tartar. Both were fresh, interesting, and a great little start to the evening. I had some sort of poached halibut in jack daniels and bananas. It was to die for. The wine was surprisingly well-priced for a place with that kind of trendy busy night scene. The music was right on, and when 2pm rolled around and there were just a handful of us left, we danced and sang and drank those awesome martinis and had the most unexpected great nights. The staff was excellent, helpful and friendly, they really create a warm atmosphere. Good luck to the owners. I will be back for sure.
Renee's Rating: 4 Stars |
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having tried garde manger once (to loud) we decided to try out this new place, after all I live down the block. first impression was good. nice decor, not to loud, good crowd. so far so good. drinks were quick to come and also very good (not everyone makes a good bloody cesar) On to the food. Entrees were pretty good, nothing to flashy, just nice and simple. as a main I had the rib and my freind the poached salmon. The truth is both were very good. the steak was a nice size, and the salmon was done right. At that time it was getting very busy bt the waitress was still taking good care of us. All in all everything was very good.I rarely right reviews about restaurants, but seeing how impressed i was I decided to share my experience. i am a very tough critic (being a restauranter myself)but i will go back again
James's Rating: 4 Stars |
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It’s been two months I’ve been listening about this cute place that opened in the Old Port but I never managed to go. Finally last Thursday I decided to try it with my girlfriend and I liked it so much that I already went back for lunch. The nice pots with branches at the entrance put you from the beginning in the mood of what’s going to follow. Gorgeous stone walls, nice decoration and unique lighting create an amazing dinner atmosphere especially for couples. We tried the spicy tuna tartar and the soup of the day as appetizers and the fillet mignon as a main course which were excellent. But my all-time favourite was the AMAZING braised lamb shank with its delicious sweet sauce on top! Yummy!! The only bad thing was that the lamb was huge but it was so nice I couldn’t stop eating, ending up super-bloated. The waitress was really kind and even apologized to us for the non-existent delay of our plates (our main courses were served in 30 mins from the time we ordered which is totally reasonable to me). Price-wise the menu is similar to most Old Port restaurants although I did find that the wines were kinda cheap (Liberty school $36 when it costs $19 at the SAQ?). I regret we didn’t stay for drinks after dinner since we were both working next day but judging from the music and the cheerful mood of both staff and customers I am definitely going back. Definite asset: the possibility to actually have dinner and drinks without somebody pushing you or dancing on you which happens at many restaurants of that kind. Definite disadvantage: its location on a small alley vertical to Notre Dame St. which makes it difficult to spot, you really have to know about it in order to go there.
Food-lover's Rating: 4 Stars |
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I had high hopes.
From the outside L'Orignal looks great - beautiful large and heavy wood front door and nicely lit 'branches in pots'. The staff at first was friendly enough, not fussing about fitting us in on a same-day reservation. The pine and stone walls are nice, but then you get down into the dungeon and realize you may as well be eating at O.NOIR because you can't see a damn thing.
Our lady server was a little awkward and had to read from a notebook to list the specials and knew nothing about items on the menu, having to ask the chef about everything (which is a very petty thing to complain about, but it makes a difference, and is only the tip of the iceberg of the horribleness experienced). I ordered a martini, waiting until we had decided on food choices to order wine, which came quickly, but with teensy shriveled cocktail olives and not-so-premium vodka (thought LOTS of it, which made things a little more tolerable).
We then ordered the scallop-strawberry tartar, and the salmon graviax, with maple syrup and three salts. It came in a reasonable amount of time, but again, we couldn't see a thing in there, so any "AHHH, gorgeous" factor was lacking. As was any "MMM, fabulous taste" factor. The scallop strawberry tartar was interesting, but pretty much tasteless, and the potato crisps that came with it were burned. The salmon was also flavorless... it reminded me of Sushi Shop sashimi, there was no maple syrup to be found, and pockets of salt were distributed in piles that puckered your mouth (if you could've seen the food maybe this could've been avoided or distributed evenly by myself).
Next came the coca-cola duck and the xeres halibut. There was no coca-cola taste, which took the novelty out of the dish, though I was scared of there being too much coca-cola taste anyway. The duck was tough, and they included fatty end pieces (which again, I couldn't tell from the actual breast meat because I couldn't see, so I ended up knawing on them for a bit). Also, they had to bring out a steak knife for my duck. That shouldn't have to happen - it's duck... it should melt in your mouth pretty much. The best part of the dish was probably the potatoes, soaked in "coca-cola" sauce that everything on the plate was swimming in. The halibut, again, tasteless, xeres sauce boring, and enough to drown yourself in. We didn't get a chance to order wine with dinner either, as the waitress took off with her head down after we had ordered our plates, pretty much never to be seen again.
We finished our meal, mostly out of kindness, and then sat there for literally 15 minutes before our plates were taken away and then another 30 minutes before we could even get the attention of ANY staff to get our bill. Screw dessert, or a port, or anything. I wanted out, the waitress had to apologize meekly about the wait, and it all kind of figures now that I think about it... When the place is owned by the same people that own Garde, with its odd instant success, and they surround themselves with that crowd and that praise, things are sure to go to shit on auto-pilot while they pull in cash from their pseudo-chique group of regulars.
Terrible all around, don't bother... there are nicer places to spend your money where they will actually cook something properly with flavor.. that is unless you're one of those that are all about Garde, and in that case that's really all you're there to do (spend money), and be seen (except... you can't see anything here).
"Fred"'s Rating: 2 Stars |
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I had the fish n' chips and my wife had the salmon, both were delicious!
Music was spot on as well.
Jack Barrette-Hamilton's Rating: 4 Stars |
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L'Orignal |
479 Saint-Alexis, Montreal, QC
514-303-0479
Old Montreal
French
Restaurant
Mon. to Tue. and Thu.: 12:00pm - 12:00am
Wed. and Fri.: 12:00pm - 3:00am
Sat: 6:00 pm - 3:00 am
Sun.: 11:00am - 3:00pm
$$$ (Within Reach)
Visa
American Express
Mastercard |
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