Every year for our respective birthdays, Danny and I have to pick a restaurant for the other to treat us to. This year I wanted to try something new, and enlisted the help of Yelp and some friends to find the perfect place. After looking at menus and consulting all recommendations given by friends, I settled on Taverne Gaspar because it combines three things I love - food and beer in a pub atmosphere. I made reservations for a Friday night at 7pm, and were seated promptly upon arrival. This place finds itself in Old Montreal and is very quaint. It is minimalist and offers a laid-back feel. Our server, Eric, was super nice and was very knowledgeable on the specials and beer/food selection. Danny and I each started off with the beer degustation (5oz each of a dark ale, cream ale, white ale and blonde ale), which ended up being the perfect choice as I had been undecided on what beer to choose. Being Oktoberfest, we were suggested fresh pretzels as appetizers, which we both had. They were fresh and so good with the marinara sauce. For our actual meals, I had the BBQ Bacon Cheese Burger with sweet potato fries, and Danny had the Steak Frites. My burger was so tasty, flavourful and not so ginormous that I couldn't finish the rest of my meal. The BBQ sauce on it was just perfect, and the sweet potato fries were perfectly crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Danny enjoyed his steak and finished up my sweet potato fries as well (sign of a good meal!). At the end of the meal, I was surprised with a birthday dessert, a chocolate molten lava cake with fresh raspberries. It was the perfect end to a delicious meal. Definitely recommend others give it a try!

positive

This is the first place that came up on looking up places to eat in Montreal. And yes, there are other things to do in Montreal besides..... And while trying to make reservations for 15 doods months in advance, the consensus throughout Montreal is, don't bother. You're not going to find a reputable dining establishment that would take a large party like that. And so, its up to the brave and the determined to find a window of time through the weekend of debauchery to make a trip out here and get a togo order to prove that the 300+ reviews are justified. And who better to do it than I. I and my friend (who I dragged of course) took a cab going the opposite direction as the rest of the group and got 4 orders of Duck In A Can to go. It may not sound like much, but after reading all the previous reviews, I was convinced this was a must. And after all the commotion and dropping $50 per order, it was worth it. Although heavy overall, that duck is some heavenly beast packing a punch in that aluminum containment waiting to let loose on the flavors and merriment of tender duck breast, duck leg confit, and foie gras. And I'm sure all it takes is a simple baking session to prepare prior to serving. I even had a discussion with the server on how to best preserve the serving of the dish while having to take a 30 min cab back to the hotel. I wasn't going to leave Montreal without poutine and of course, some nice French fare.

positive

Although ARIA is my favorite casino on the strip and I usually stay here for my Vegas trips. The Buffet at Aria is a big PASS. Their food is not great, and when you have a selection of the best buffets in the world, this just does not come close. I'm finding a hard time writing the review just because there is not much to say. They attempt to offer dishes from around the world but everything falls really flat and there just isn't enough variety for it to be called much. We got in here for free with our hotel stay, but if we had to pay, I definitely would not be back.

negative

First off, I must say that the waiters and staff were freaken awesome. Our waiter was super cool and friendly. I liked how with every dish that came out, our waiter would explain what was in it. I would recommend sticking with the sushi. Hubby and I got the Tenderloin of Beef Toban Yaki along with our sushi, and for something to be like $44-55 I would expect it to me amazing, but the dish was alright. GET THE BENTO BOX for dessert. You can thank me later.
positive