L'Express

[Lolaray]

After not visiting the restaurant for a couple of years I unfortunately feel it is sliding.Service was adequate not more.The professionalism of the youthful staff lacks in comparison to the veterans who were missing for an early dinner service.Food was ok but nothing more and saying ok is being generous.Diner fare at haute cuisine prices.My fav dish has always been what is now soggy grease laden potatoes with rognons in a lifeless mustard sauce.And then there is the clientele...,screaming children and beyond casual tourist attire ....L'Express always had an ambience I enjoyed and now it has an ambience for sure but not for me.

[Maximilien]

I've been going to L'Express, once or twice per year for a long time (when in the 'hood) ; it is very serviceable outside of rush-hours; I always sit at the bar.

Stick to the regular menu, sometimes the specials (contrary to other restaurants) tend to be somewhat disappointing.

M.

[porker]

You know, I *want* to like L'Express. The decor, the bar, the waiters, the potted palms (the vintage telephone). The 3 times I was there, it seemed incredibly adequate....

[Lolaray]

that's just it .i really want to like it too.

[porker]

L'Expresse often comes up on the boards as part of tourist's wish lists. I think it serves them (tourists) well enough as a French bistro, but dig a bit deeper, and it fails for regulars.

[unlaced]

hmm I am going tonight and I will report back on my experiences. As with you, it has been a year or so since my last visit - as I am taking friends from out of town, I am hoping your experience was an anomaly, and that L'Express is up to par!

I find it is quite difficult to gauge and rate restaurants in Montreal at the moment - we also took our friends to Le Comptoir Charcuterie and Vins, our first visit, based on recommendations from this board (including a recent rave from a NYer visiting Montreal), and from blogs, and whilst it wasn't awful the service, and particularly the wine service, was below average. It was quite disappointing. The deficits in service were particularly noticeable in contrast to the next night's visit to Sorgho Rouge, where the bill was a third of that Le Comptoir but where service was stellar!

[C70]

then post about sorgho rouge! I had never heard of it, and the whole point of chowhound is not to hear endlessly about the usual suspects, but to learn about the new, the affordable, and the best experience.