sparrow (le moineau)

trying to find an open resto in the plateau/little italy/mile end area on a holiday monday proved challenging. thankfully, we happened upon the sparrow which i thought was just a drinks place. turns out the food is delicious! it started, as these things often do, with 6 meaty pei oysters and bubbles. prosecco was served in low wide glasses like in a rock hudson film. we then shared a lentil salad which was more yummy and satisfying than it sounds, and a curry squash dish that came with aromatic rice and veg. we hadn't planned on going vegetarian, it just turned out that way. the curry squash was a standout. and our waitress was very attentive.
if you can ignore the "put a bird on it" theme of this place, the vibe is actually very pleasant, and the food surprisingly tasty!

decent. went here for brunch around 1 pm with a few people ahead of us. only had to wait for about 15 mins. i got the eggs with sage for $10 which was pretty good. also got the blood orange mimosa which is okay not worth the $6. the service was good. i found the sitting arrangement a little cluster.a small table fits 3 people which i prefer having a table that sits four people. if you haven't tried this place out, its not bad.

they take cash or credit.

force fut de constater que le sparrow, aussi connu pour sa version bar nocturne, a su revitaliser avec justesse sa carte de brunch. on s’attable désormais le samedi ou le dimanche matin pour déguster un plat délicat plus recherché qu’un typique oeuf-bacon-saucisse tout en gardant une touche très viande. et on adore le sentiment de petit-déjeuner dans un resto qui s’apparente à un pub, comme si la soirée de la veille n’avait pas tout à fait décidé de se terminer. l’été, on apprécie la grande fenêtre ouverte qui plombe sur saint-laurent et qui permet à quelques rayons de se faufiler à l’intérieur.

good space for a good english! great casual dining space - must add on your list of brunch places. many a fun sunday spent with good friends.

très bon brunch chez le sparrow. le service est parfait et le local, avec sa touche vintage, vient beaucoup me chercher! :) nous avons été chanceux, car on a eu des places sans avoir attendu! côté bouffe, l'assiette de truite fumée est succulente. elle est colorée, avec un mélange harmonieux de textures et de saveurs (16$). l'assiette d'oeufs à la sauge est très populaire (12$), et mon copain a apprécié (sauf le bacon qu'il a trouvé très ordinaire style du commerce). moi, j'ai beaucoup aimé ses patates, bien chaudes et un peu croustillantes, comme je les aime! le café filtre à 2$ est à volonté et le mimosa bellini à la pêche (6.50$) était en plein ce dont j'avais besoin ce matin! ;) je reviendrai c'est sûr!

the service was rude and pushy!
i went with friends for brunch. the food was good but not cheap. it is clear that once we were done eating, the waitress wanted us to leave. she wanted us to pay right after our we took the last bite from our plates.
at one point, she took out our glasses of water and the bottle of water even though they were not empty and without asking us if we were done drinking.
we found it very rude.
we asked for another bottle of water and she refused. she had the nerve to tell us the exact amount of time we had stayed at the table after we were done eating!
we then asked her to talk with the manager. she pretended falsly that she was the manager.
she told us that she would only bring back our glasses and our bottle of water that she took without permission if we would order food or drinks again. we found it so rude!
after fighting with the waitress, we had no other choice to tell her that we wanted to see the menu to get our glasses and bottle of water back.
after that, she went to get the manager who came to speak with us.
the manager never apologized for her employee and told us that the waitress was one of her best employee. this means that she agreed with her!
because there is a line up and the restaurant is popular, this is not an excuse to rush out you clients after there are just done eating to serve other customers!
we were offended and will never go back again!

it's good. just good. brunch food is good and not too copious, but the service is rushed and a little bit sloppy. pricing is pretty fair. if you're looking for a lazy sunday morning brunch this isn't it- not only do you need to arrive before 10:30 to ensure you aren't waiting forever for a table, but the servers rush you out. reservations only taken for 10 am, they keep your table for 15 minutes and ask you to be done in an hour and a half. reasonable time period to eat in but just annoying. overall just okay, not particularly exceptional though.

this brunch place is so busy! we had to wait 30min for a place. the deco is dark but still comfy. there isn't many choice but enough to fill our curiosity. personally, i like the smoked fish dish. it's very nourishing and filling! the two others are either too healthy or too fatty. we would like to try it out at night time too!

a couple weeks back, my friend isa and i were looking for a new brunch place. you know the rest: we wanted somethin' hip, somethin' new, somethin' good. we chose sparrow because it had all those qualities and it wasn't far from my friend's place on le plateau. i also would like to mention that although i am fully bilingual, i'm more on the loi 101's side when it comes to restaurants and shops' names. but you know what, let's face it, 'le moineau' would be a shitty name for a restaurant. 'sparrow' is much prettier and magical (yes, i'm going for 'magical' here).

in her opinion:on our last day in montreal, we had room for only one meal and that was brunch. montreal has a real brunch culture...something i truly love. after checking out different possibilities we settled on sparrow or le moineau. we arrived around 10:30 am, so we were lucky to get a table for three without a reservation (the restaurant does take reservation which is a huge plus in montreal...since a lot of places don't and simply make you line up to wait). the restaurant itself is decorated with church pews, old photographs from the early 1900s, exposed brick and our meals were served on vintage china. i would call it retro chic!

very nice place for an evening with friends? the drinks are good and the food is very tasty and fresh, try their burger made with fresh ground beef and it is just tender and amazing ! the couch is a nice touch if you want to relax and enjoy your evening !

sparrow is amazing! it's my new favourite place! conveniently located in mile end just a few blocks from my house, this is the kind of easy place that i'm going to want to rely on for bright brunches and delicious dinners. most people tend to talk about sparrow for their brunch (saturdays and sundays, 10am-3pm), but i have confirmed that any time of day or meal is excellent there. just look for the sign with the sparrow on it!one of the nicest things about this restaurant is the gorgeous décor. it feels casual while remaining completely on point. the front windows open up to the street in the summertime, letting in tons of natural light. the small touches did no go unnoticed; from the interesting wooden surfaces, trunks being used as tables, to the gorgeous bird-printed wallpaper that creates their signature look. the space feels like what you wish your house would look like (or at least mine, anyway), and it's a comfortable and welcoming room to spend some time in.
i first visited for brunch on a sunday. the wait to get in can be quite long because everyone knows that this place is good. try to beat the rush by showing up a little bit earlier. after about 20 minutes, we were offered a seat on their couches at the front which surround a trunk-like coffee table. this sufficed for us and was quite comfortable. they offer an array of brunch cocktails, including three different types of mimosas, but i decided to go alcohol-free and selected the honey ginger lemonade ($3.50) which sounded magical. this was refreshing and great. i loved that all three parts of the flavours came through clearly, making the drink sweet, zingy and tart all at once. a nice alternative to boring coffee or typical juice options.
before our "main course" we opted for something from the "bites" section of the menu, because the mini doughnuts (pb+j, nutella, or lemon curd - $5.00) could not be refused! these come in three flavours, and you can choose to get all three doughnuts in one flavour or get one of each. one of each seemed like the smartest option. i was most curious about the pb+j and least interested in the nutella one (so over nutella!). however, they were all very warm, sugary, soft and delicious. each pastry orb contained a blast of hidden flavour, and each one worked really well. i loved the tart lemon curd, while the other two were filled with classic sweet flavours.
they have so many interesting and innovative main dishes to choose from, but i was easily drawn to the house-smoked trout (with spinach & green onion pancake, soft boiled egg, beet salad, whipped crème fraiche - $16.00). this plate was incredible. i can't stop thinking about it. and speaking of their plates, all of their dishware is simply gorgeous. everything comes out on eclectic, mis-matched, vintage plates and they are all stunning. it lends so much to the overall lovely experience. but back to this dish: wow. it personified brunch happiness on a plate for me. the trout tasted fresh and was lightly smoked to perfection, and i enjoyed that it was something different than the typical salmon variety. the egg was cooked and seasoned so perfectly and the beet salad was just right, with the chunks of beet glowing like rubies on the plate. the best surprise was the pancake buried underneath it all, savoury and unassuming, providing an excellent vehicle for the rest of the components, all bound together by the beautiful crème fraiche. i also like that they use only locally-sourced free range organic farm eggs in their dishes. i can't say enough about this piece of art.
so clearly, brunch was a very big success.
but since sparrow offers dinner also, i didn't want to write this review until i could weigh in on that meal as well. we returned on a friday evening to a restaurant that was much emptier and were able to sit wherever we wanted. by the time that we left, the place was completely packed again. this time we sat at a nice table near the front and were able to take in unobstructed views of the large bar and more of the perfect décor sense. candle light dotted the tables once the evening fell upon us.
the cocktail menu is long and exciting. i decided to go for a trusted favourite, the spicy caesar (vodka, clamato, lemon, pickle, olive, onion, well spiced - $8.50). i've had a lot of caesars in my day, some better than others. this one belongs in the column of excellent ones! while they call it "spicy" it was just the right amount of spice, and not overdone at all. all of the correct components were harmonious and i liked the garnish of some of my favourite pickled items. this was a perfect caesar.
the food menu is interesting because many of the dishes follow an obvious indian theme; from tandoori chicken wings to butter chicken. however, i would certainly not call this an indian restaurant at all. they also reiterate on the dinner menu that they make every effort to source local and sustainable products, which i always favour. to start, we picked the chicken livers on toast ($7.00). wow, wow, wow. these were great! i was so impressed at the portion size, considering the low price. this was savoury and warm, similar to a pâté. i loved the dash of coarse salt and the studs of cured pork on top. this plate really surprised me with its quality and abundance. bold flavours. something that everyone must try!
for my main dish, i was immediately interested in the mussels, chorizo & white wine with fries ($13.00) because coincidentally, this is almost exactly the same dish that i cooked at home for dinner on my most recent episode of erikaeatseverything: the girl can't cook (mine was specifically called steamed mussels with tomato and chorizo broth). so i was super curious to stack mine (which i thought turned out really well) up to this version! it was really, really good. the amount of mussels were so heaping, that there was no way to keep count. this version was a bit spicier than mine, because they used a lot more plump chorizo than i did. the mussels were cooked to perfection and i loved the salty broth that boasted a hint of wine. moules-frites (mussels and fries) is such a popular dish in belgium and france, that it's no surprise that it carries popularity in french canada as well. the fries were cooked to golden perfection and were some of the best fries that i've eaten. served with housemade mayonnaise, of course, as is the french way. this meal was incredibly filling and extremely delicious. i am already living with cravings.
for dessert, they offer a "dessert du moment" ($7.00), a dessert that varies on the particular day of your visit. i didn't think that we'd have any, but after hearing that that evening's dessert was earl grey and lavender crème brûlée... there was no turning back. i liked the reasonable portion size. cracking through the perfectly caramelized shell lead to a light and delicious custard. i loved that the flavours from the tea as well as the lavender came through well, and combined perfectly with the toasty top.
welp. sparrow owns my soul now. i love everything about them so much and only wish that i had started visiting them sooner. the value is incredible because the amazing quality of the food and large portions seem to demand more than their low and reasonable prices. i want this to be another one of my "places" and i want the staff to get sick of seeing me in there. love, love, love!!!

my quest to find new and different tasteful menu brought me to the mile end this week. i was actually impressed by the many restaurants that have opened on st-laurent between st-joseph and st-viateur. my sight was set on sparrow as i wanted to try their brunch menu. i got there just a little before 10:30 and was able to get a table right away without any wait which was great as we were saturday. i had looked up their menu and the uniqueness of a few of their dishes was one of the reasons i wanted to try it. couple of plates caught my attention but i settle my choice on the shakshuka. the dish is composed of two poached eggs in a moroccan spiced tomato sauce served with sourdough toast to which i added a side of merguez.  my sister who how was sharing brunch with had the fried eggs with sage which are two sunny side up eggs with roasted potatoes and grilled tomato also served with sourdough toast. i would suggest showing up before 11 am if you don’t have a reservation as i didn’t see people wait before that time. check out their food and drink menu at the link below.

great place. one of the most fabulous decors in montréal. service is friendly. the atmosphere is cozy. the menu has a certain uniqueness. the food is delicious.

worst service ever, i had to ask to order, ask for coffee, ask for milk, ask for a spoon to stir my coffee, ask for water, ask for more coffee while putting up with very unpleasant service. i felt like i was asking for favors. meal was not bad except for a little undercooked eggs. but i'll will never return. please don't be sat by the bar. they will punish you for it.