When you’re out having an awesome time, sometimes you forget about some rather important things, like having your camera on the right setting considering the lighting around you. You might wake up the next day with slightly hipster-esque grainy-style photos whose subject you can barely see. Your excuse? It’s all in the name of fun, babe. All in the name of fun.

If, like me, you liked l’Orignal before, you’ll love it now. The food was always great – hello, spicy tuna tartare? But now, hold on. It’s amazing.

My friends and I had, well, the tuna tartare to begin. It’s been on the menu for years and it should stay there forever. It went too fast for me to even think of taking a picture. Next, I had the miso marinated black cod (with tamarind, celery root puree, sautéed shiitake mushrooms and Braz potatoes in a mushroom broth). Seriously delicious. The juicy black cod flaked off perfectly and the celery root puree and mushrooms were a wonderful complement to the fish’s miso marinade.

One friend had the deer stew with root vegetables, mashed potatoes, Brussel sprouts, and whipped Brillat Savarin with a herb crust. Previously sold as a special, this dish was so highly rated by customers that it worked its way up and achieved menu status. And really, this isn’t a stew you’ve had before. It was bursting with flavour and had great texture – the potatoes were silky, the root vegetables were grilled al dente, and the deer was deliciously tender.

The other had the pan-seared scallops with a butternut squash puree, Brussels sprouts, and a tomato-bacon-yuzu tobiko vinaigrette. The scallops were fresh and grilled to perfection – they weren’t the least bit gummy. The vinigrette added a welcome slightly-smoked flavour.

And dessert? Yes please. A white chocolate crème brulée and a pecan-bourbon pie big enough for 2. Nothing crazy, but both were mmmmm and neither was too sweet, thank you.

We finished with a couple of drinks at the bar with the über-fun crowd l’Orignal attracts. It’s great – people just start talking to each other. None of the “im-staring-at-you-but-will-keep-awkwardly-standing-far-away-because-I-have-no-game” bull. People are nice. Go and you’ll make friends.

My rating~
Food 9.5/10, Atmosphere 9.5/10, Music 9/10, Pretty people 9/10, Service 9/10, Postdinnerdrinks-friendly 9/10.

479 Rue Saint Alexis, Montreal.