Montréal is Food Heaven Series: Olive Et Gourmando

Bonjour! Instead of going back to Vancouver this summer, I took a short vacation to Montreal. This is my second time visiting and this trip has further strengthened my belief in Montreal being the ultimate food heaven (at least in North America). To try to convince you, I am starting a series that will feature my top picks.

So, without further ado, let's get right into the first restaurant of this series! 

Amy and I are big Urbanspoon users, and we often use it to scout out new restaurants. With 700+ voters and 90% of them liking it (I'm one of them!), Olive Et Gourmando probably has by far the most votes I have seen on Urbanspoon. Naturally, this place was at the top of my to-eat list when I was in Montreal. (Also, thanks for the recommendation, Jo!) 

It was a weekday when we went, but the place was still packed with people waiting to get in. The front part of the restaurant is the breakfast and beverage area where you order and then either have it there or take out. 

The back of the restaurant is where the "real" food is served. The most famous are their paninis, with 3 cold ones and 3 hot ones to choose from. Their entire menu, which is written on the chalkboard, was in French so it took us a while to figure out what we wanted. 

As we were ordering, the staff told us about the beverages of the day, which was passion fruit green iced tea and raspberry lemonade. I had the iced tea and absolutely loved it! The tea was very refreshing for that hot day and I loved the tangy flavour of passion fruit.

For food, I ordered the Le Caramba, which was a hot panini that had roasted turkey, creamy barbecue sauce, coriander pesto, and cheese. It also came with a pear sauce on the side and at first I wasn't sure if it was more of a dipping sauce or a side dessert. I never found out the proper use, but I put some pear sauce on my panini before eating it and I thought it went very well together. The cheese and the BBQ sauce and the pesto made my panini very flavourful but it got a little too heavy as I had more bites. By adding a little pear sauce on the panini, it added a sweet tang to it that neutralized the savory taste and resulted in a fresh flavour.    

le Caramba  $9.95 + tax 

My friend ordered what was called the Cubain, which was also a hot panini with ham, braised pork, homemade mayonnaise, with gruyere cheese. I can't comment on it, but it sure looked tasty to me! 

le Cubain  $9.95 + tax 

Although these paninis may not look like anything special, I would have to say that they were the best paninis I've ever had (even compared to the ones I've had in Italy!). If you're strolling the streets of Montreal and checking out the Notre Dame, Olive et Gourmando is less than 10 minutes away and definitely worth checking out! 

Taste: ★★★★★

Environment: ★★★★☆

Service: ★★★★★

Price: $$

Olive Et Gourmando 

351 Rue Sainte-Paul O.

Montréal, QC