Dinner Date at La Caverne Grecque

It was my last night in Montreal and we'd spent most of the afternoon sitting and working at a café with free internet. We'd thought about checking out one of the BYOW Portuguese places in the neighbourhood, but hadn't had time to actually get wine at an SAQ.

"Where should we go for supper then?" Ezra asked.
"How about La Caverne Grecque?" I suggested, half-jokingly.

See, Ezra had bragged about the 15% off coupon he had gotten at Cinema du Parc, and he'd never got the chance to use it. It was also a BYOW place, on the corner of Prince-Arthur and Coloniale, right near the SAQ on St-Laurent.

Unfortunately, when we got to the SAQ we realized that it had already closed at 7:30, (Yes, this is how late we were eating) so our next option was the dep on St-Laurent.

15% off coupon and dep wine. Oh, I'm a cheap date.

The eateries on that pedestrian-only stretch of Prince-Arthur are known for their dinner specials and being BYOW, perfect for starving students (or freelancing bums) to take their dates. In the past, Ezra and I have been to Mazurka, the Polish restaurant (great borscht) and La Cabane Grecque. Two popular pubs, Café Campus and Vol de Nuit, are also on that strip.

Our waiter was a nice old fellow who was very impressed with our 15% off coupon and called his boss over to figure out what the restrictions were. We couldn't order anything off their "Surf & Turf" promotion, but we were allowed to order from the table d'hôte menu, where the meals came with soup, salad, an entrée, then dessert, and coffee or tea, most for under $20. Ezra and I made different choices for everything, though I'm not sure if it was by coincidence or his knowledge of the fact I don't like ordering the same thing as someone at a restaurant (especially if it's someone whom I can easily steal off their plate.)


The soups of the night were Lentil and Barley Vegetable. I chose the lentil, hoping it wouldn't be as salty, but it turns out I was wrong. It was a tomato lentil soup that ended up being more salty than Ezra's barley vegetable. Both were still pretty good, though not very photogenic.


Tossed salads are always a gamble because sometimes you're presented with a plate piled high with iceberg lettuce and (if you're lucky) a few wedges of not-in-season tomatoes, but other times they get a little more creative and throw some different vegetables in there. This one was pretty good. Ezra got the caesar.


Then our food came! I know this photo is blurry but I love how happy Ezra looks with his steak (and Greek sausages).


I got grilled chicken breast and shrimp. I was very impressed by the chicken, which was very flavourful and not very dry. Everything else was good too, except I was puzzled by how they got the potatoes to have that weird outer coating.


I rarely order dessert anymore, so having dessert included in our meals was a real treat. The slices of cake (cheesecake for me, chocolate mousse cake for him) were just the perfect size that it satisfied our cravings without feeling like we were stuffing ourselves. I was pleasantly surprised that my cheesecake turned out to be a nutty Turtle cheesecake, and the fact that the waiter brought me two tea bags—Red Rose tea or green tea—for me to choose from with my dessert.

We were rushing to meet some friends for drinking, so Ezra was hesitant about taking his leftover steak to go. "Take it," the waiter said, "It's good meat." I don't really remember if Ezra had it by the end of the night... it was a good one.

Oh, and the "Truly Grape"? That was good too.

La Caverne Grecque
105 Rue Prince-Arthur E
Montreal QC
(514) 844-5114