Ristorante Otto – Fancy Brunch on McGill Street

The 411

Old Montreal has its fair share of fancier brunch places; McGill street alone is home to a good concentration of them and one that I have been curious about for some time is Otto. Situated inside the W hotel this restaurant serves up a weekday early morning breakfast starting at 7 am and going until 11:30 am, as well as a longer weekend schedule of 7 am to 2pm. I have been to Otto for dinner and enjoyed it. Otto is a fancy restaurant; the décor is exquisite; the outside terrace is vey nice and covered by umbrellas. With this rather positive dinner experience I wondered how it would convert to brunch.

At 1st glance

Otto is connected to the hotel so expect lots of early morning service as well as a few locals. The view on a sunny day is quite nice and if you like that whole hotel service then this may be a nice fit for you. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible and parking in the area is decent on a weekend especially with its early breakfast service. When we got there we found only a few people with lots of room to choose from making this an ideal spot for a large group early morning event

Food

The menu is broken up into a couple of sections covering the basics like granola, yogourt, fruit, eggs Benedict, breakfast dishes, omelettes, waffles, crepes, as well as some lunch options for those who want to start lunch early. Prices are in the $12-$20 area and are a touch on the pricey side. The menu consists of:

My friend started off with the Continental Breakfast ($19) which allowed her the options to choose from various breads, croissants and other similar morning pastries, homemade muesli, granola, fresh and dried fruits, yogourt and freshly squeeze juice. These items were laid out along the bar and I felt that although it was somewhat convenient it would have been nicer to have an area with more space. In the end, the food was ok and my friend liked the fact she could make her own cereal but for $19 it was a touch expensive considering that not everyone will eat even half of what is available.

The American Breakfast ($17) was two eggs any style, with choice of sausage, ham or bacon, roasted potatoes, choice of pastry, freshly squeezed fruit juice, and coffee. This plate was disappointing. If you look at the picture you see lots of white space. I did not include the choice of pastry but honestly, a croissant with eggs, potatoes and some meat should not be $17. I would have liked this plate to have had a tons of fruit, some of the exotic kind, or an extra egg and more meat – even the potatoes were limited.

Having ran 15km earlier that morning I was starving so I went for my favourite thing and some side options. Since I’m an eggs Benedict fanatic I went with the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict ($16) and added a mango smoothie ($9) along with some strawberry yogourt. The eggs Benedict came before the yogourt and smoothie which I felt was very odd. I like the portion size of the yogourt and considering it was only $2 it came out to a pretty good deal. The mango smoothie was somewhat disappointing since I did not really taste the mango and I really love mangos. One again, my main dish was simply OK. The eggs Benedict were decent, the fruit was limited and uninspiring, the potatoes were tasty although I did not get a ton of them. I did feel the dish was a little expensive and my lack of mango taste in my mango smoothie still bothers me now.

Service

The service was very professional so I did enjoy that. It is a classy kind of place so it’s nice to get that once and a while. I did have an issue with my yogourt and smoothie coming after my meal, especially since I ordered it prior. I don’t know why that was backwards, but at least it came.

Vegetarian

Most dishes are vegetarian and you have choice with healthy options like fruit, breads, pastries, granola and cereal. You can even get some vegan options if you pick form the starter section.

Wrap up

The place is nice, large, has great service, and is perfect for events or a large group as well as being open all week long. That being said the food was mediocre and the price was a little too expensive; the portions are not enormous and I am still bummed about my less-than-mango tasting smoothie.

View RISTORANTE OTTO in a larger map

Price	$$$-$$$$	$15-$20
Overall		3/5
Wheelchair Access		3/3
Parking	Parking Meter	Easy
BUS	61,1,28,75	Get Directions
Metro	Square Victoria	1 minute

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