Menu
It's Nice to SHARE !
Updated:
Flying Sardines
ARTHURS NOSH BAR
A lovely restaurant of Jewish/Morrocan/East Europe influences with a great ambiance and eclectic decor, the Arthurs Nosh Bar is an excellent brunch option.
Sunday morning, what a great time for a brunch! Not really wanting to cook for lunch and wanting to be amongst people, we decide to go and try a restaurant that we have never visited. The guides are numerous, the choices too, but a name often comes up in the “top 5”. The Arthurs Nosh Bar Restaurant. It is situated in the “already filled with restaurants” district of Saint-Henri in Montreal. So why this one? On the one hand, we are talking about a restaurant serving Jewish and Moroccan cuisine, influenced by Eastern Europe, which is rather unique in Montreal. The decor is really warm, the culinary critics say a lot of good things about the place and the praise is not lacking.
The history of this restaurant is touching. Their website, arthursmtl.com tell the story of how the father Reagan Steinberg (co-owner), Arthur, was the source of inspiration and influence for the menu and the concept. After having worked in some restaurants in the city, including Joe Beef, where one of the owners Fred Morin strongly encouraged Alex Cohen, the husband of Reagan, to dive in the adventure, the duo was ready to open their own restaurant.
Karine and I decide to brave the obstacles caused by the multitude of road construction projects that undermine the city of Montreal in the summer of 2018. A challenge! After several cold sweats and swears, we arrive at Arthurs Nosh Bar. Already, a fairly large queue make us hesitate but there is no way that I take the road again without eating so we risk it. The hostess adds our names to the waiting list and tells us that she estimates the waiting time at about 30-40 minutes. OK, we’ll be patient.
Unfortunately, the rain starts to fall so the guests already seated on the terrace in front of the restaurant are getting soaked and are desperately trying to find a place inside. Our 30-40 minutes of waiting was just stretched … But we keep the moral and we talk about travels while waiting. The charming hostess serves us a few pieces of cinnamon buns that are divine, a promise of what lies ahead. Fortunately protected from the rain by a small overhanging roof, we are slowly approaching the entrance, but it is long. Our hostess come back again this time, serving coffee for everyone. Wow, they really know how to do it right here at Arthurs Nosh Bar. Bravo!
Fortunately, the service is efficient and very courteous. On the menu, comfort food Jewish-Moroccan-Eastern Europe. Very nice combination. There are classics such as schnitzel (breaded and spicy meat), latkes (small potato pancakes) and of course, smoked salmon bagel. But the list is also very imaginative, making the choices difficult, especially when you are very hungry and everything is appetizing. Our choices stopped on the Grand Slam, a generous piece of crispy fried chicken sitting on small pancakes and beef bacon, crowned with a mirror egg and sprinkled with maple syrup. Absolutely delicious! The second dish selected, the Toast Marocaine, a winning combination of poached eggs sitting on Challah bread topped with eggplant, Israeli lettuce, spicy chickpeas and tahini. You can taste the intense flavors and the marriage of the origins of this dish. Wow!
A small drawback: I can understand that some loyal customers and friends of staff are important for the establishment. I know it’s tempting for the owners to give them a “special” service to recognise their loyalty. But when the queue is long, it rains buckets outside and customers have waited more than 1h30, seeing people bypassing the queues frankly frustrating. This is what happened three times when people arrived unexpectedly and were seated immediately, without waiting.
After 1h30 of waiting (yes, yes) and once Karine had expressed her frustration after having witnessed some “anomalies” in the management of the waiting list (we will come back to it at the end of the text), it’s finally our turn to be seated. Unfortunately, the only places available are at a common table, deep in the restaurant, 3 fingers away from the kitchen.
The menu is really enticing and the dishes that pass by are just as mouthwatering. The decor is really charming and well done, by the owners themselves, influenced by the warmth of the Russ & Daughters restaurant in Manhattan, New York. The sound level is somewhat high but not aggressive, at least not as much as the screams from the person who seems to be dispatching to the servers. Whenever a dish is ready to be served, she rings à bell and screams something that sounds like “NEED-HANDS” to alert the waiters. Unpleasant, especially since my right ear is 2 fingers of her mouth!
But despite the inconvenience, we loved the most important part which is what was on our plates and we promised ourselves to return for a lunch and for the chance to taste one of the many private imports wines, sold to reasonable prices, from their cellar developed by the excellent Ryan Gray (Nora Gray restaurant) and by Cassady Sniatowsky (Loic restaurant and Norman Hardy vineyard)
We use different websites and phone apps for our hotel, hostels, homestay, apartment or house reservations. Very convenient and often cheaper than in person at the location. By clicking on the icons below, you’ll get a discount on your next booking and at the same time, we will also receive a discount of our own.
WHAT A DEAL, NO?
Socialize With Us !
Design by Flying Sardines
Canggu, Bali – Indonesia
© COPYRIGHT FLYING SARDINES 2017-2024
