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55 ( new restaurant )

Thesorus

By Thesorus
in Eastern Canada: Dining

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Mr. Fagioli

Mr. Fagioli

Posted
Posted
i hope they can make a go of it. that locale seems to present problems...

i wish them all the luck in the world!

If it's reasonably priced and the food is decent, and if they can make full use of the outdoor space (not sure if there are regulatory barriers), it should be a hit with people who work in the three nearby office buildings. This bit of the Plateau is almost a junk-food alley, and there's a crying need for more good mid-range lunch spots.

If it's a fancy BYO oriented to dinners, I'd be less optimistic...but good Italian BYOs aren't exactly lurking on every corner, so it could work as long as it's not a menu of boring old standards.

I wish them luck, too.

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  • 1 month later...
Suckles

Suckles

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Posted
Its the guys from D'amichi in lasalle, i really dont think its BYO, last i heard they were waiting for their liqoure licence, thus the reason it took a while to open.

Are you sure about this?

Some weeks ago i drive by and i saw a big sign 'apportez votre vin'

meantime another friend tell me that there will be a SAQ store on-site???!!!!

how can this be?!

sounds exciting!!!!!

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cookatlarge

cookatlarge

Posted
Posted

ok, well its confusing, i talked to a waiter today, here are qoutes "we sell the wine at cost we just charge 3 dollars corkage fee , 5 dollars to decante." can i bring my own wine?

"well u can but we have to get it stamped first as long as the wine is bought in quebec "

"like example ur having a party u want a specific wine etc or a reg customers wants his own wine list we can make his own we just need some time to get them stamped"

hope that answears some questions

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  • 2 months later...
grill-it

grill-it

Posted
Posted

I finally ate there - and the wine thing is quite interesting. However, in bold letters on the back of their "chic" hardcover printed menus, it's written "Apportez Votre Vin", even though it isn't really a BYOW. I guess there was some confusion to start it all off.

Here's what a wrote at another board:

Ther restaurant is actually called 55° (degrees) and not "The 55th" as I originally thought. So to satisfy my curiosity I finally went to check it out with some friends.

The decor remains largely unchanged from when it was Savanah. It's still quite beautiful. Plenty of wood, a large bar at one end of the restaurant, mirrors, large chairs, high ceilings and plenty of space. It's a classic "French Bistro" look, but more spacious and airy. The terrasse is pretty nice too, although we stayed indoors.

Service was a bit slow, but we were in no hurry and the staff were friendly enough, so no problems there.

We ordered from the table d'hote, although a member of our party ordered à la carte. My entrée was baked chevre in a puff pastry (baluchon) stuffed with pear. The pastry was crisp and light and the chevre, although very mild, asserted it's flavour throughout and the fruit was not overly sweet. It was a nice sized portion and relatively well presented, but I could have gone without the coulis on the plate - a nice shot of colour, but it tasted like stawberry jam and it wasn't really necessary. Another companion had a butternut squash soup, which was consistent, well-textured and flavourful. The fried calamari entrée, although presented well, was dismal. Unfortunately it was more soggy than crispy, and tasted oily.

As mains, we chose the blue marlin, a grilled (or baked perhaps) salmon, the artic char à la carte and the faux-filet (is that striploin?) from the table d'hote. The marlin filet was relatively large, with toasted poppy & sesame seeds served with basmati rice and a few vegetables. The char was slightly undercooked, the way I prefer actually, and had a nice texture. It was topped with a white sauce that was a little too rich for the delicateness of the fish - I scraped off some of the sauce and enjoyed it much more. I didn't taste the salmon, but the presentation was interesting, and it looked very appealing. The striploin was cooked medium rare as requested, and was juicy and flavourful. There was quite a bit of fat to trim off, but that's normal for the cut - still at 40$ for the dish (table d'hote price) I would have expected something more. The general concensus was that everything was good, but nothing was spectacular.

They have an interesting policy on serving wine. All wines are sold at SAQ prices plus 3$ corkage fee. That's a great deal! You have to go to the wine rack in the front of the restaurant to choose your bottles. If you're lucky, someone will come and advise you with your choice. We chose a solid, but budget priced Malbec along with a white burgundy for those eating fish. We were also presented with a choice of water - and were explained that since the restaurant doesn't make money off the wine, they encourage their patrons to purchase bottled water. Ours cost us about 9$ - and we didn't choose an expensive water....

I didn't have any dessert, but did manage to sneak a spoonful of creme brulée. I prefer when the top has a bit more "brulée", but the serving was fine otherwise.

Overall the experience was not all bad. The dishes, though not extraordinary, were generally tasty and pleasantly presented. You certainly save money on the wine, and with their system you feel encourage to purchase a more expensive bottle of wine as opposed to paying ludicrous markups. Steer clear of buying water. Total bill ran about 60$/head including tax, tip & wine - which is quite reasonable. Would I go again? Maybe, but probably not very soon.

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gus_tatory

gus_tatory

Posted
Posted
kinda related:  What happened to the Savannah chef?  I will miss the brunches.

also kinda related: i don't know what happened to the Savannah chef, but if you go past this place on a sunday/monday night, they are almost always taping an episode of some french talk show. i would guess it is closed to the public on those nights, as the gear and crew and everything takes up a lot of that block, and they have holding space over at the belmont, across the street.

anyone know which talk show they're shooting? hopefully this contributes to their bottom line, and they take advantage of that in a good (food- and diner-friendly) way...

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the ocean."

--Isak Dinesen

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