Restaurants in Montreal with the name of an Italian region - 2 of 2…read more
I had seen Restaurant Siciliana before. It is on Rue Stanley, not too far away from the Peel Metro Station. Rue Stanley always makes for a chuckle. I have known very few people with that name. However, it's the eponymous name of a (not even) B movie about someone's dangerous pet snake.
I looked at the menu board at around lunch time. It seemed like a generic Italian restaurant, with a broad-based Italian menu and not one that was particularly Sicilian. But this was at lunch time, and I was walking down the street with something to do. I returned for dinner another day.
Everything at Restaurant Siciliana was sort of perfunctory and ordinary. The interior is old school and has the red and white check tablecloths. The wood fired pizza oven is visible from the restaurant. They seat you quickly and I wanted to sit closer to the back and next to a wall, to which they obliged. Since I could not find a wall outlet, they were willing to charge my phone for me.
I did not want a pizza. For that, I might go to dei Compari, which I very much like. I was looking for pasta. Since I couldn't see what it might look like or what others had ordered, I settled on the trio - three types of pasta. I've seen this done before at other Italian eateries and, within reason, they allow substitutions. Here, the wiggle room is not that much (that means no filled pasta or lasagna/e) and there is an upcharge for the allowed changes. I wanted to swap out a pasta with Alfredo sauce and they did so for another pasta that is also on their menu at the same price, but with a $3 upcharge (for U.S., divide by ~1.36). Is that that much of an inconvenience?
Everything was ok - one in a Bolognese sauce, one in a rose' sauce, and one in a pesto sauce - except that the pesto sauce was a little oily and didn't sit with me. To drink, I had a ginger ale. I'm beginning to like that stuff.
The service was good. It was also expedient, albeit a little reserved.
This was a 3-star event and, going forward, I will continue to look for other Italian (and Sicilian) restaurants in the area. I would love to know of an authentic Sicilian restaurant in the agglomeration that is Montreal.
The very first Italian restaurant at which I ate in Montreal was just up the street, at Stanely and Maisonneuve. Either a Chapters or a newer building went in. That restaurant was more of a diner, which explains why it wouldn't be there - close to the financial district - anymore. Change can be hard to accept. I remember that that was also the first time I had heard the term rose' sauce. This is what Eastern Canada refers to a pink tomato-cream sauce. The middle-aged dark-haired woman who helped me had to have been from the western part of Montreal or its island, spoke perfect English with mannerisms suitable for an Italian neighborhood the Northeastern U.S., and looked like Kaye Ballard. I would have preferred a restaurant like that to this one for the price-quality rapport of the food and a Rue Stanley/Financial District location.
If you are a tourist and your time is metered, I might skip this one. If you are a local, you can try Restaurant Siciliana for pizzas and/or pasta and see if it suits you.