Lunch at Impasto, Montreal, Canada
During our time in Montreal, we took a trip over to Little Italy. We wanted to enjoy a fancy lunch so we researched which restaurants would be available since a lot of Italian restaurants only open for dinner and need reservations. We knew Impasto would be serving lunch until 2pm so we’d have time to go to the Jean Talon Market first and then enjoy our lunch.
It rained on us a little on our way over there but luckily we had our rain coats and they had a coat closet for us to use.
We started scanning through the menu and of course everything looked delicious! And then there’s the choice of which wine will go with which meals. Oh decisions, decisions.
We tried Soave, a white medium bodied wine before so I decided to start there. We saw the Stracciatella cheese on the antipasti section of the menu, listed as cheese with tomatoes and herbs, which also seemed like a great option. Then it was time to choose our entrees. Neil and I usually pick two and share them both so we’d order the Branzino and the Tagliatelle Verdi, and we’d get two very different meals.
Our meals came with a green salad that seemed pretty simple when it arrived. Once we took a bite though, it was amazing! There was a hint of sweetness and we could taste fresh ground pepper. We had to ask our waiter what was making all this magic happen? He said it had a white wine vinegar, salt, pepper and greens purchased fresh daily over at the Jean Talon market we had just visited.
After having our minds blown with the salad, our cheese arrived. The meal was basically a tomato salad with cheese and olive oil, which may sound like a caprese but it was incredibly different. The cheese was so milky and flavorful and the tomatoes were something like the fresh version of sun dried tomatoes. Wow! So good.
We kept seeing people get the house-made focaccia brought over to their tables and wondered if we’d be having that too. Soon enough, it arrived. The bread had flavors of oil, salt and butter and was equally as good as everything else we’d been eating.
It was time for me to decide on another glass of wine. The waiter was so helpful with suggestions and allowing me to try multiple options. I chose a Pecorino wine that was dry with a hint of funk. It was a terrific choice to pair with the fish.
Next we’d get to try our entrees, and I’d begin with the fish. It was thick with a nice layer of crispiness, which reminded us of the whitefish version of salmon. The greens and cauliflower puree were tasty too and it went so well with the pecorino wine. We later found out it was Halibut instead of Sea Bass but that didn’t matter to us because it was delicious.
After enjoying the first entree for a bit, we traded meals. I’d get my taste of Tagiatelle now, which had ground pork and parmesan with it. The meat seemed like it had cinnamon on it and there were even larger pieces of pork too. It was good but the fish was blowing me away so it came in second.
We both thought everything was so delicious and we’re pretty sure we were moaning and groaning because we were enjoying it so much. Hopefully we didn’t disturb the other guests, haha. We actually ended up closing down the restaurant and had a few leftovers to bring back for lunch the next day. What an experience! So happy we found Impasto to have our Little Italy meal in Montreal.
