More bang for your buck

The 411

One of the best kept secrets in the East End: Dans La Bouche, a name you have likely never heard of before. It’s a nice place on Mont Royal in the East End. Dans La Bouche is a tapas bar during the day and night which offers a pretty good brunch 7 days a week. Oddly enough, it’s well known in certain circles among east-enders and people in Laval but ask any downtowner or west-ender and they will rarely know about it.

At 1st glance

To begin, with I will address the name which makes people’s minds go in the gutter. It’s a cute sexual innuendo of which the sign and menu names help reinforce it. The menu has such wonderful names items as “menage a trois”, “le cowgirl”, and “jumelles” to name a few of the more creative ones – its a cute idea that fits the overall theme. You really cannot miss this place, the outside has a large sign above the door and on both sides the image of a woman. Once you are inside you will be amazed by how large it is as well as the fact that during summer time the capacity is increased by an outside sidewalk terrace.

There’s an odd optical illusion when you walk in where you think that there are 2 mirrors on the east most wall but in reality its just more tables and the bar. You will soon notice the older hotel lobby-esque feeling once you walk around and explore the area. The decor is nice and comfortable with chairs and sofa like bench/seats, it’s also wheelchair accessible which is nice although the washrooms are not.

Food

The menu offers a solid listing of options with about 7 choices of eggs Benedict, approximately a dozen crepe options and almost as many waffle and french toast choices. At first glance the menu looks overcrowded with choices but as your run through the list, you will realize how many different plates this place has to offer. The plates were loaded with food and the cost is fair to pricey with most main dishes running you around $12.99-$13.99. An initial criticism was that it was a dollar or 2 more expensive than it should be, but then I saw the portions and took back that statement since huge portions is not descriptive enough a term to describe what you get.

The Langoureux Banana crepe ($12.99) is a nice sized crepe with bananas stuffed inside, it comes with house fries which were really well seasoned, 2 eggs, a meat choice, creme anglaise, cretons and 4 good sized pieces of fruit.

The “dejeuner sante” ($14.99) comes with yogourt, musli, fresh fruit, honey, 5 egg whites, brown bread with no butter. It’s a good offering and the 5 egg whites put the price into perspective. It’s a good choice for all you health nuts, and not to mention a good vegetarian option.

The love triangle omelette ($12.99) is a heaping of tomato, cheese, and meat. It comes with fruit and home fries – the taste was fresh and fluffy as well the meat added that extra necessary filling.

The menage a trois ($16.99) is a monumental collection of breakfast big enough for 2 people. You get an egg Benedict with ham, half of a waffle covered in Nutella, strawberries and bananas, a full crepe, a pieced of french toast fruit potatos and creme anglaise. The strawberries were warm and bursting with flavour, the french toast was thick and did not miss the mark. This plate is so huge the photo does not do it justice, I was full for the rest of the day after eating this.

The coffee was fair and there were free refills. The strength of this menu lies in the enormous portion size, the fresh taste and the fact that the food items are names after sexually suggestive situations or positions.

Service

The service was mediocre, they forgot our water, coffee came late and our waiter did not show up that often, I mean I really was craving some syrup for my plate but I made due with the extra nutella (Ahhhh Nutela – is there anything it cannot do). Now back to the service: this is the 2nd time I have been here and it has been mediocre, not amazing and I have had worse but that is one section it definitely needs to improve on. However, the kitchen staff does an amazing job at making my taste buds happy, so I can live with the table service.

Vegetarian

The menu has lots of vegetarian choice since most plates are not meat only as for vegan there is very little that qualifies other than a fruit cup.

Wrap up

You really get your money’s worth here, its not cheap but you get a ton of food and it is quality as well as quantity. The decor is nice the menu items are a real conversation starter. It’s a place that you should definitely consider checking out, definitely worth making the trip

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Price	$$$	<$15
Overall		4/5
Wheelchair Access		1/3

Outside

Menage a trois ($16.99)

Langoureux ($12.99)

Omelette triangle Amoureux ($12.99)

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