Maria Grassagliata for Curtains Up
Invitation V is a vegan bistro I couldn’t wait to visit. I’ve been wanting to go since Montréal à la Table, when it was always full.
The restaurant is situated on beautiful Bernard Street in Outremont. It is lovely with wonderful ambience. Even from the outside, you can see how well designed it is. We were greeted very pleasantly and brought to our table. The way the tables are set is very nice. The restaurant is designed with lovely white brick walls with lots of mirrors and perfect lighting. The music was pleasant and the sitting arrangement very comfortable. We were pleased.
The menu is filled with exciting recipes and we wanted to try them all. I picked the mushroom satay as an entree. As expected, in such a beautiful and trendy place, the presentation of the satay was pleasing to the eyes. The food was delivered to the table hot, which I like and the texture of the mushrooms was perfect. Unfortunately, the taste was far from being as good as the presentation. It seemed the mushrooms had marinated in a sauce that made them taste like lemon cleaning products, which was, as you can expect, very disappointing.
The main dish I ordered was a hearty and generous portion of tofu bourguignon, served with a side dish of pureed potatoes. The meal was presented on a wooden board and the tofu bourguignon was in a mason jar. The tofu was soft, but rare. It had carrots that were cooked perfectly and also had small cauliflower pieces, which I thought was great. The sauce was tasty, rich and creamy, and quite frankly, the only thing that I ate that was pleasant to the taste. The side dish of potatoes was as dry as the desert and had way too much rosemary in it.
My companion ordered the vegan burger. It was dry and I couldn’t tell what was used to create the patty. The other person ordered an entrée of artichoke, also very dry. The artichokes were too hard and fried in a tasteless batter. She then ordered a saute of vegetables, an asian inspiration. She thought the dish was forgettable, much like everything we ate at Inspiration V.
The one good thing going for the restaurant besides its look, is the excellent service. The waiters were polite and friendly. They were often checking up on us, making sure we had enough water and refilling our glasses throughout the whole meal. They were so pleasant that it is disappointing not be able to express good feelings towards the food.
Overall, I was quite disappointed with my experience at this vegan bistro and don’t think I’d give it another try.
Hopefully, as time goes on, Invitation V will take note of what people are saying and become inspired to make some changes in the preparation of the food and adapt the recipes to please the vegan palate. More Vegan rests are needed in Montreal and it has everything going for it!
Invitation V – 254 Rue Bernard Ouest, Montréal, QC, H2V 1T5 – (514) 271-8111
