Adrien Arseneault
Google
First and last time at L`Autre Saison. The atmosphere was pretty nice. The decor is very old-fashioned, albeit in good taste. The food was decent, a bit more expensive than I would've payed for what we got, although this was to expect for a restaurant like this. Visually, our plates looked amazing. This being said, weirdly enough, all of the guest I dined with ordered different proteins that were all paired with almost exactly the same sides and vegetables, which gave the impression that little thought was given on how to make the best out of each unique dish. Said vegetables were cooked to perfection, but barely seasoned, so they tasted bland. I expected more from a restaurant that labels itself as fine french cuisine.
The service, however, was very unpleasant, which soured the whole experience. I'll admit there was little wait, which was a plus. The younger gentlemen that waited our table looked inexperienced, which wasn't an issue at all, and they really sounded like they were trying their best. This being said, the older gentleman's (the owner???) attitude was anything but professional, which is not something you expect from a restaurant of this caliber. He was loud, overly friendly in an awkward way, touched guests' shoulders without their consent to get their attention and make unsolicited comments or jokes. At one point, we got the impression that he was laughing at us. He also made us feel like he was in a rush to get our order even though the restaurant was almost empty and could not get a hint that we needed more time to discuss and decide--asking us what we wanted to drink before we even had the drink menu in hand. One of the guests at our table ordered the tuna steak, and the waiter asked how he'd like it done. This was extremely odd and showed poor knowledge of his own menu, since a tuna steak is always served lightly seared (tataki style, raw in the centre) and giving a guest the choice to get their tuna steak cooked "medium-rare" was nothing short of bizarre. One other guest ordered the lamb rack which, in addition to being paired with the same vegetables as everyone else, wasn't accompanied by any kind of sauce, as you would minimally expect from any fine dining establishment.
On top of everything, the very first thing our waiter asked the table once we were seated was who would get the check. We later realized, while reading the back page of the menu, that the establishment policy was one bill per table, but it was our first time there and some gentle context on that would've been appreciated instead of pouncing and asking who would be paying for the whole meal before we even had a chance to look at the menu. The back page of the menu also weirdly stated that a fee would be added to the bill if you shared a plate (?) which made no logical sense to us and felt like some kind of strange cash-grab.
All in all, I had a decent evening because the company was excellent, and we did get some laughs afterward out of the awkwardness of the experience. Downtown Montreal (even just Crescent St.!) has loads of better options, both cost- and quality-wise. I will not be dining there again and will advise anyone who asks against doing so.