4.5/5 for olive + gourmando. everyone needs the type of neighbourhood place that serves great hot drinks and wonderful down-to-earth pastries in their lives. such a place exists in old montreal and lots of people are talking about it, such as maclean's magazine naming it as one of the 50 best restaurants in canada 2012, national geographic magazine calling it one of canada's 50 places of a lifetime, and it was also one of the stops in the insane day of gluttony: 24 montreal restaurants in 24 hours video. they only serve breakfast and lunch, so plan to pay them an early visit.
we stopped in early on a saturday morning, and considering how busy it was at that hour, i can only imagine how packed it must become later on. the decor and feeling of this cafe is simply glorious! it feels as if you're settling in at home, except this home is more beautiful than your own home. i absolutely loved the hip rustic vibe, the chalkboard walls, bright natural light, and heaping amounts of incredible-looking pastries behind the glass at the front. once we were seated at our table, i found it difficult to focus my attention because i was too busy looking everywhere and taking it all in. this is the kind of place that makes you feel good.
first, a beverage to start the day! my choice was pretty easy and i ordered a dirty chai ($4.00). what makes it dirty? that would be the shot of espresso added to the chai latte. they serve it either hot or cold, and i obviously got the hot version due to the freezing temperatures outside. this drink was pretty good! i'm not much of a coffee person and i am a big chai latte person... so maybe i would have preferred to keep the coffee out of it. they also carry freshly squeezed oj - a must, and elixir iced tea that sounds pretty great.
the service was friendly and the food didn't take very long to arrive. i found myself getting up to peer into the glass case near the entrance, mesmerized by the beautiful golden baked items spilling over their pedestals. and these aren't snooty pastries, these are the more hearty and rustic kind like croissants, brioches, muffins, and scones. they each come in a variety of flavours. any of these would be perfect to grab with a coffee on the go. we ordered a butter croissant ($2.50) to sample their "base model." light and buttery layers with a flaky top, this was quite perfect.
since we were there for a more substantial breakfast, i chose the "poached egg on your face" panini (spicy poached egg salad with sriracha, mayo, green onions, chives, comté cheese, speck (smoked prosciutto), and confit tomatoes - $11.95). this sounded like a sandwich that was made up of a bunch of my favourite things! it also seemed like a pretty unexpected twist on the typical breakfast-type sandwich. it arrived piping hot and ooey-gooey melty! i loved that they took the idea of egg salad - normally served cold - and turned it into a hot sandwich. it seems almost obvious, yet no one does it! the panino bread had a great toasty crunch and the molten cheese was otherworldly. i loved that some of the cheese had gotten fried to a crunchy crisp - just heavenly. the spice from the sriracha was just enough and the salty, smoky cured prosciutto added yet another level of flavour. plus the juicy tomatoes and the creamy eggs. just all of it! this sandwich was a big and loud flavour party and everyone was definitely invited.
i can see why everyone loves this place so much. their lunch sandwiches sound incredible (they make a mean cuban that sounds excellent) and i also noted items like the truffle mac 'n cheese. if you're out for a stroll in old montreal and feel like grabbing a bite, i can think of no better place than olive + gourmando to get that done.