F Bar

1485 Rue Jeanne-Mance

Montreal, QC H5B 1E4

(514) 289-4558

No need to introduce Carlos Ferreira, the owner of the famous Cafe Ferreira on Peel. Foodies alike know Cafe Ferreira, as it has held it's own for countless years in the busy downtown area. A portuguese restaurant where prices are high, very high, pleases everyone who has ever dined there. F bar is the "baby brother" restaurant; smaller and less expensive.

I'll start off by saying that the concept is genius, a restaurant on a sidewalk situated right off of St-Catherines. On Jeanne-Mance is situated Brasserie T( Toques "baby brother") and then right in back of it, F Bar. A long and narrow eatery made mostly of glass, amazes all pedestrians. My guests and I sat at the first table facing a large window onto the street. A really beautiful concept, I must say.

I was expecting a 7/10 restaurant, since I'm not a huge fan of seafood, and the menu here has a lot of fish. To start off, an exquisite piece of Mackerel, made with coco beans, sweet peppers/chorizo and almond milk (12). I must say that the mix of the fish and the 3 sauces truly attained perfection. Next, I tried the fried calamari in a corn crust with spicy lime mayo(9), which was good but not over the top. I also had a bite of the beef tartar w/ oysters, caramelized onions and arugula salad(14), and the tartar was spot on with the mixture of beef and spices.

For my main, I opted for something off the website menu, the veal sweet breads(25). OMG! That is all I must say, truly phenomenal, a rich fragrant taste and smell, I almost had tears falling down my cheeks. I gave a piece to each of my 5 dining companions and all agreed on the deliciousness of this item. This was a great way to start off the mains, let's continue on this pace. The Portuguese grilled cornish hen with tender calamari and lentils(22), was also splendid. The poultry was cooked beautifully and the grilled taste really hit spot on. My only comment would be the lentils... Did not do anything to accentuate the dish, actually maybe brought it down a little bit. The fresh cod, chickpeas, bread/parsley/garlic, salsify,onion and coriander(23) was a huge hit. The fish still retained it's moistness while achieving a balance between flavour and lightness.

For dessert, sadly I only had one! The dessert menu is spectacular; natas, fresh goat cheese cake, soft chocolate biscuit, coconut milk rice pudding.... All looked equally good in my eye, but decided to try an authentic dish, natas served lukewarm w/ caramel and cinnamon sauce, w/ a pear sorbet(9). A natas is: A pastel de nata (Portuguese pronunciation: [pɐʃˈtɛɫ dɨ ˈnatɐ]; plural: pastéis de nata), or pastel de Belém ([pɐʃˈtɛɫ dɨ bɨˈlɐ̃ȷ̃]; plural: pastéis de Belém) is a Portuguese egg tart pastry. A truly amazing dessert, unfortunately very heavy and at that point in the meal, I was dying.

The wine menu here is mediocre, serving mostly Portuguese wines (understandable), but at very reasonable prices (39$+). I'm not sure if the wine was doing the talking by the end of the night, but this meal was heavenly in all aspects, I would love to return as I write this, only two days later! The prices here are in the right ballpark for a fun night out with friends or even the perfect place for a date. I will say that this meal overall was one of my better ones in Montreal; from the price, to the atmosphere, to the concept and of course the food.

Food:9/10

Atmosphere:9/10

Service:8/10

Location:10/10

Price:9.5/10

Overall:9/10