Le Diplomate

The space itself is very cozy but bright and clean. We all enjoyed the music throughout the night and the service is very good. Very friendly and informative staff. I tried 4 of the 5 cocktails (all but the one with egg whites) and they were all super. They all had something unique so I can't say I've had the same ones before anywhere else. Other friends had wine from their vast (and somewhat eclectic) list. Now for the food: it was really awesome. Not overdone, original, well balanced, and despite these buzzwords, really not pretentious. Each plate had a distinct taste and highlighted unique ingredients, all the way through desert. Everything dish worked with the others and they were great for sharing, too. Many dishes are vegetarian or pescatarian so there should be something for almost everyone. If you're a larger group, I suggest getting a reservation just in case. I will definitely be back! (I apologize for the amateur photos but I wanted to capture what we ate).

These guys are amazing. They cook, they make drinks, they serve and still find the time to have a short conversation with customers. The dishes we were brought kept being better and better. Brussels sprouts, which I am personally not a big fan of, were exquisite! Thank you, gentlemen! If I ever come back to Montreal, I'll be back!

Fun and flavourful menu with a twist, from the oysters with butter scotch and lemon, to the gnocchi waffles with X.O sauce and fermented vegetables - packed with punchy flavours!

Brought my partner for her birthday, we had such an amazing meal. Well attained staff, great wine list, and nice ambiance!!!

Loved it! I was invited there on business, so the place was open exclusively for us. 1. Nice setup with a very long bar 2. Unique concept, as large groups are accomodated in the back, which is a kitchen/prep space, but quite interesting to try 3. The food was delicious. The cocktails too 4. The service was great. On this point, we were 18 people and the owner/bartender/server/cook Eric was in shortage of staff. He literally did everything on his own, and it was perfect..the night was a blast. Kudos, I do not know how he pulled that off so graciously..this guy is a top restauranteur!

Fantastic, what a great experience! Best food we've had in Montreal, the wine list is excellent and well priced, we had an amazing Georgian orange wine. Staff is very friendly, welcoming, and professional.

Whether it’s a date night or a girls night this place has a delicious menu. I love to share so I can get a taste of many dishes and there is lots to choose from. I was very satisfied! It is sort of a tapas style restaurant and I have a big appetite so 7 plates shared between two people was very plentiful. My top two dishes were the scallops and the colourful beet gnocchi (which was not on their regular menu) I loved the concept of eating at the bar and getting to watch the chef make the food in front of me. They also have a great wine selection. I will definitely be back!

Tasted most of the menu that day and everything was delicious.

This is a very quaint place located at Beaubien and St Urbain. It's a little off the beaten track of St Laurent, right across from Home Depot. There isn't much space for groups, so I suggest making a reservation over the phone if you're more than 2 people. Most of the restaurant is countertop space. I came here with some friends, we sampled 6 dishes together. All of the dishes were good, but I enjoyed the scallops the best, they were raw and came with a nice creamy sauce. The mushrooms were a very interesting dish, it was actually the first time I had bean curd outside of Chinese cooking. I liked that they used out of the box ingredients. All the ingredients were fresh and the service was very good. The plates are a little small so if you're a group, you'd probably have to order them all to get full. After we left, I wished we'd ordered more as I was still hungry, but I'm just a very hungry person! Cute little place with interesting Canadian dishes!

I went this past Saturday. Made a reservation for 6:30pm and when I arrived there was nobody in the restaurant except the two chefs and my friend. We started with two oysters each and I have to say one of the best I've had. Very tasty and meaty. We then shared 7 of the 10 main plates. My favorite was the scallops and the gnocchi dish. The gnocchi were like little clouds that melted in your mouth. The scallop was very soft and not chewy at all. I also loved the ray. The duck and the lamb tartar were my least favorite and the ones I could have done without. We also had a delicious red wine from France (Grenache). When we left the place was packed and understandably so. Service was great. We sat in front of the chef. Open kitchen setting which is nice and you can smell all the delicious things cooked in front of you.

Highly recommend this place! The first time I was there we sat at the bar where you can see all the cooking action and mixology! Later, I celebrated my birthday with about 10-12 people in the very private back room. We had a delicious fixed menu. Everyone was talking about the amazing textures and exotic flavour combinations it had to offer. The wine suggested by the knowledgeable staff paired nicely with the dishes. The wine list had a large selection of orange wine! The cocktails were top notch. All in all it was a memorable experience worth every cent.

Le Diplomate was a highlight to our trip to Montreal! We were a four-top and dined here last Saturday. Since each plate is small we decided to order the entire menu - which ended up being a very reasonable cost. Our server was super knowledgeable and friendly, he helped us choose three bottles of wine that perfectly fit the courses and our preferences. He also graciously reviewed the French menu in English for us. Every dish was delicious, you can't wrong. Though I'll send an extra shout-out to the tomato salad, scallops, and both deserts. The atmosphere was cozy and charming. I highly recommend dining here.

Updating this to reflect the fact that I go back all the time, that I love the vibe, the wine and beer list, and the super creative and adventurous and delicious food. The menu changes often so I won't list all the amazing things I've eaten here but know I try to come back once a week or two, I always have an amazing time, and I love to introduce new people to this fun, hidden, tasteful and tastey bar. Go!

One of my favorite restaurant experiences - and one I don't get to enjoy that often - is to sit and watch the chefs work. Be it at a chef's table or at the bar in front of an open kitchen, there is something very revealing about watching how your meal gets made. Last week, I got to sit at the bar at Le Diplomate and watch Chef Aaron Langille work his magic at his relatively new restaurant in Mile-Ex. Very much in keeping with the neighbourhood itself, Le Diplomate is somewhat hidden from view - I actually drove by it on the way over. The space is small and the majority of those seats are at the bar facing an open kitchen. The room is pretty barren deco-wise - the selection of 80s music is the only loud thing in the room but that worked for me. The focus is truly on the bar and watching the team work. Chef Langille and his team of 2 work the entire space. When the chef serves your dishes and also does the dishwashing afterwards, you know you are in an intimate environment. Le Diplomate's menu is somewhat hard to pin down. I suppose the best way to describe it would be market cuisine with emphasis on northern ingredients but even that feels reductive. The menu is relatively small. These are dishes to share - which was perfect as my girlfriend and our friend Annie were willing partners to trying pretty much the entire menu! First up was the house-made Sourdough with a warm red pepper broth and sunflower seed oil for dipping. I am a sucker for a good sourdough and this one was excellent. The red pepper broth brought a nice optional sweetness to the sour bread and the oil, as always, was a good pairing to the bread. Next, Annie and I each had an partially cooked oyster with scotch butter served over top. I'm still trying to get my girlfriend into oysters.... it's a slowly acquired taste apparently. The unique element here was the scotch butter. You could really pick up the inherent smokiness of the scotch with the richness of the butter. The poached calamari was a big hit for us. Served with kale juice, kale, black currents and beans, the calamari had great flavour and texture. The currents originally felt like a weird addition but the additional sweetness worked. The tomato dish served with kasuzuke daikon and kohlrabi was not my thing.... I know that hating raw tomatoes is weird but I stand by my weirdness. Our friend Annie really took to the dish loving how the seasonal freshness of tomatoes came through and how the sweet dressing mixed so well with the roughly chopped tomatoes and the daikon. The Tofu with porcini, green onions and salmon roe was another dish I didn't try but our friend Annie was once again there to provide some input. She found the mixture of the silky tofu, the earthy mushrooms and the tart cherry tomatoes a little off at first but felt that the yeasty broth at the bottom really helped to balance things out and made it very enjoyable. For something more my style now, the clams with chorizo and purslane were an interesting dish. The clams were cooked well but the broth itself seemed to lack punch. The chorizo provided the necessary kick and contrast to the clams. I had never had purslane before but the fresh green worked nicely as the side dish component here. Our fish of the evening was walleye served with fennel, peach puree and meyer lemon. The fish was lovely, so light and flaky. The sweetness of the peach, the acidic lemon and the fennel were all nice additions to the fish although the fennel was somewhat overpowering to the other elements. My personal favorite was the lamb with broccoli, yogourt croutons, yogourt sauce and papalo. The combination of the yogourt and lamb worked so well. The use of brocoli and papalo weirdly gave off a beef and broccoli taste to the dish also. I loved the creative use of yogourt to create the croutons as well. The desserts were more on the savoury side than sweet. First was a corn parfait with coconut, Maraschino cherries and a jalapeño granité. An interesting fluffy texture with strong notes of the coconut within the corn. The cherries provide the sweetness and the granite was surprisingly spicy. The other dessert of the night was a sharp cheddar cake with carrot caramel, carrot puree and rye crumble. I loved the sharp cheddar and how the texture of a classic cheesecake was maintained. The carrot caramel was nice and sweet. I personally didn't care for the very strong carrot puree on its own but when combined with the rye crumbs and the sweeter elements on the dish, it worked pretty well. Le Diplomate feels like a hidden gem - a place that most people have never heard about but those in the know know what's up. Chef Langille and his team are clearly expressing what they want in their cuisine and you feel it all night long. Mile-Ex may be a little off the beaten path food-wise but there are definitely some worthwhile experiences to enjoy if you're willing to put up a seat at the bar. Cheers!

Wow - This is an amazing experience! Four of us shared most of the menu and it was fantastic. The service was impeccable- the three staff seemed to share the work of serving and cooking. they brought one dish at a time and explained what it was. So many delicious items but some highlights were squid, venison, gnocchi, and celery root. Each one was beautiful and utterly delicious. We had a tasty orange wine to go with it all. I prefer to share dishes and try different items so this experience was perfection. The decor was modern, simple and cozy. If you love interesting, delicious food with fantastic service, go to Le Diplomate.

Excellent food and great service. Currently serving small plates, worked well for a group of eight as we were able to try almost the entire menu. It's a good idea to give them a heads up for large groups as there is limited space. Great alcohol selection and the staff gave solid drink recommendations. Their ginger honey soda was delicious for any non drinkers. Will definitely return.

I love the concept of a team of chefs preparing the food within view, while also bartending and serving the dishes all at a cozy bar seating with chic ambience and great design choices. I wanted to linger all night just to hang out in such a cool atmosphere while enjoying such unique and original tapas style dishes. The staff was super knowledgeable. Our group was given some great recommendations from the menu and on-point wine and cocktail accompaniments. I can personally recommend the Old Fashioned which was excellent. Whenever we next visit Montreal we will go out of our way to come back. Don't miss out!

My favourite restaurant experience of 2016 so far! - Comfortable ambience, v chill vibes (nice playlist!) - Knowledgeable, honest and friendly service - Creative, fresh and delicious dishes - Interesting wines - Very affordable price point I don't normally write reviews or rave about places very often to my friends, but I just had to share with this one :-) Can't wait to go back!

What a great experience! Best food I've had in Montreal, the wine list is excellent and well priced, we had an amazing Georgian orange wine. Staff is very friendly, welcoming, and professional.

My friend and I casually dropped by one Saturday evening and I am so glad we did. I am absolutely shocked this place does not have more reviews and was not packed when we came; I have been to a couple Michelin-starred restaurants and in my opinion, this place belongs on that list. We had the short ribs and they were done to perfection, exploding with different flavors, and beautifully plated. Every detail from the pouring of the wine to the interior arrangement was done with meticulous attention to detail, and the staff (who each perform all tasks in the restaurant) are extremely humble and friendly. If I ever return to Montreal (hopefully will..) I will definitely be back.

For my first time out of the US ever, I traveled from NYC to Montreal with my man friend, and we made reservations here at Le Diplomate for NYE. We thought the price ($18) was too good to be true--and it was. We assumed we'd be paying for the evening with pricier drinks which we were fine with doing, but we also encountered problems with the drinks on top of the food and seating. After getting there a bit after 8 (due to Uber navigation troubles), the hostess kindly took our coats but did not seat us (which really is what a hostess is for). We thankfully found a seat ourselves at the bar. After waiting 15 minutes for the bartender to come over and several employees telling us to go talk to the one bartender who had stayed middle of the bar the entire time, my friend went over and ordered us some gin & tonics. It took 20 minutes to receive them. As we drank, we engaged in some conversation with people around us until we saw the food was ready (it was a buffet-style meal so we had to get up and get our food). I left my purse at my seat to "reserve" it in a sense (or to just signal someone that was sitting there), so all the guests sitting at the end of the bar, including ourselves, got up to grab our food. After waiting in line for about 5 minutes then grabbing my food, I made my way back to my seat and two people had taken our seats--leaving only one seat left. I told the people around us that we had been sitting there for 45 minutes waiting for food and they had only just arrived, but they wouldn't listen. The hostess did not help the situation (even though that is the job of a hostess) and the bartender said that they overbooked the restaurant so not everyone would have a seat (even though we had been sitting there for 45 minutes and he knew we had been sitting there, and you don't overbook a restaurant on an international holiday to that capacity). My friend had to go to the very end of the bar and squeeze a chair in for me, so after that ordeal I was pretty upset. The food, I had realized once I got back to my seat, did not look appetizing at all--but I suppose that's what you get for only $18? After sitting there for 30 minutes more, the bartender did not come to ask us if we wanted more drinks, even though my friend had ordered a second round once we sorted out the seat debacle. My friend and I, including 2 other people we met, all decided to leave the bar prematurely--leaving us to fend the rest of NYE by ourselves even though it was our original intention to just chill in the bar and countdown there at midnight. This place might be OK on a regular night, but I don't recommend for any special events or holidays. Kinda put a damper on the evening--an evening that already has a lot of pressure to be great to begin with.

Incredibly delicious and unique food, great atmosphere with everything being cooked right behind the bar. I have come back multiple times.

Small restaurant, great ambiance. Small plates, amazing food! Go check it out. The calamari and the steak were my favourite. Being that you're sitting at the bar facing the kitchen, you can engage with the chef and ask him to recommend a good bottle and the best plate for your appetite.