Over the last year, I have befriended and helped out the Montreal Food Divas, 2 Montreal bloggers who make my life incredibly difficult and are responsible for some newly found grey hair. Just before the Christmas holidays, they wanted to meet for brunch. Diva #1 wanted eggs Benedict, I wanted somewhere new – so I picked somewhere new. We chose Café Barcola because it is very new and I wanted to go in blind since almost no one had started writing about it at the time.

Somehow, the Divas did not arrive too late, which I took as an early Christmas gift. We were lucky to have Café Barcola almost all to ourselves. The place is not enormous and it’s narrow and long with a bar area on the left when you walk in and a cool background of vinyl records on the back wall.

The menu was short and by short I mean 4 items with a chef’s special item. Prices range from $8-$16 and there is no drip coffee so don’t expect free refills. The breakdown is as follows:

Food The service starts with complimentary bagels sliced up and a jam selection of apple & pear, Nutella and squash. This is a nice treat and adds some extra value to the brunch.

I started with the salmon Benedict ($16) which came a large filet of salmon on top of two poached eggs. I was expecting smoked salmon but was pleasantly surprised when I got this large tender filet. The dish also came with fruit on the side and potatoes.

The crepes ($8) were also a large portion and the only vegetarian dish on the menu. The crepe was topped with cream and nuts and also included a side of fruit which is a rather good deal for the low price of $8.

The slow cooked pork ($14) was a large meaty portion with potatoes, poached eggs and fruit. The pork was tender and every bite made you want to take another. The portion size is impressive and even the largest of appetites will be satisfied with this.

Service

Our waitress was nice and provided a good explanation of the menu. The food also came out quickly.

Vegetarian

The menu is very meat focused with only one vegetarian dish so you do not have much choice – combined with the fact that the menu only has 4 items in it.

Wrap up

If you are hungry and like meaty dishes Café Barcola is for you. I would have liked drip coffee with refills but I did enjoy the dishes as well the portion size was very generous.

View Barcola Bistro in a larger map

Price	$$$	$15
Overall		4/5
Wheelchair Access	NO	0/3
Parking	Parking Meter & Street	Difficult
BUS	80, 365, 368, 435, 160	Get Directions
Metro	Outremont	9 minutes