Everyone loves a good bar, where the drinks are delicious and the music slays. However, it can be hard to find a killer spot with food that makes your taste buds dance as much as the beats do. Mayfair, the poshest bar in the Plateau area of Montreal, just launched a new menu of impeccable food to make your next bar experience complete.
Mayfair is named after the luxurious neighborhood in London, so of course their drinks follow suit. The bar is actually a “spiked tea room,” meaning many of their drinks are inspired by and contain variations of brews. The most interesting we had was the Green Velvet: a drink of gyukoru tea mixed with gin, celery syrup, and lemon juice. So refreshing! Another twist on a classic was the Rachel Prince Mojito: A mojito with mandarin syrup and oolong tea.The Victorian décor provided the perfect vibe to sip on our tipsy teas.
The new menu at Mayfair is designed to share, so it’s the perfect place to go for a nice date night or a girls’ night out. They suggest one to two plates per person for a light bite to eat, or three to four meals to fill you up. Of course, we came ready for the latter. Each small dish ranges from $5 to $17.
We started our meal with an assortment of fresh salads and appetizers. We had a green papaya salad with cashews and fried onions and a brussel sprout salad with quail egg and parmesan cheese.
Both were so refreshing, but the most savory was the tandoori fried cauliflower. We’ve never had cauliflower this flavourful, and the lime Greek yogourt and pomegranate complemented the flavours perfectly. We also tried their tasty salmon gravlax… because who can look at a menu and not order the salmon gravlax?
Next, we put down our greens and moved to the more hearty foods. In a platter fit for a warm summer barbecue, we devoured the crispiest spicy chicken sliders, with a creamy honey mayo sauce topped with slaw. Every slider needs its fries, and the crisp waffle fries with basil aioli delivered. This bar fit for Britain also makes amazing fish and chips, where the fish is light and crispy, and it’s served with beet chips for a unique twist.
Our final savoury courses were two classics: fresh house made cavatelli with parmesan and a flank steak with a potato purée and chimichurri sauce. The pasta sauce could’ve easily been mistaken for our Nonna’s, while the steak was seared to absolute perfection.
Our sweet tooth had us craving dessert, and Mayfair served up two delicious confectionaries. The first option was the most invigorating way to finish off our meal, and consisted of toasted meringues with a citrus purée. To give you an idea, it tasted like a fancy, deconstructed lemon meringue pie. Our second more chocolatey dessert was a deconstructed brownie, with white chocolate mousse and sweet strawberries. It was the perfect way to end a perfect meal.
The new menu at Mayfair was incredible from start to finish, and we already can’t way to come back for more. We’ll be there all summer, tipsy tea in hand and pinkies to the sky – cheers!
451 Rue Rachel E, Montréal, QC H2J 2H2
(514) 647-4055
Photos by Victor Yu (@randomcuisine).