Jardin Nelson Montreal

Jardin Nelson is famous for their impressive terrasse. Spacious, luxurious and beautiful, hot days and summertime is when this place really shines. With two levels of outdoor seating and some, they aren’t messing around. They know that their space is pretty much unbeatable in Montreal – can you think of anywhere else with a spot remotely similar? Watching the huge parasols unfold for the evening is a sight to behold. Check out the video on their website for an idea of what the place looks like at night. The soft lighting, the natural feel (birds chirping, vines along the walls, trees within the resto) – the ambiance almost seems surreal. For those of you looking for a good date spot in the Old Port, this is it!

On top of that, live jazz is performed every day of the week.

White Wine Sangria

Margarita

For drinks, we started with a pitcher of white wine sangria to share among us. The sangria was light, bubbly and moderately sweet. As sangria often is, we could hardly tell there was any alcohol in it, thus proceeded to drink it as if it was juice. Ya’ll know what happened next.

Roasted Beets with Grapefruits, Endives, Parmesan and Mixed Fruits

Soon after came our food. I was looking for something for something relatively healthy and vegetable conscious so I went with the roasted beet salad. It came with cubed grapefruit, endives, parmesan and a garnish of pine seeds and mixed fruit. Let’s be honest. Jardin Nelson has an awesome terrasse and a sweet vibe, but the food is not their strong point. The beets tasted canned and absolutely not fresh. Almost wrinkly from being submerged in liquid for too long, they were soggy and wet. I could have done with a bit more parmesan for sure.

Lobster Sandwich, Fruits

The lobster sandwich sat pretty. Stuffed between two buns and sliced evenly in half, these were easy to eat and were finished off quite quickly. Though I have my doubts on the complete realness of the lobster meat inside, I can’t deny that it tasted pretty good. The fruits that accompanied the dish were a nice side to the dish if not perhaps a rushed afterthought?

Pizza with Garden Vegetables, Olives, Garlic, Pesto, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Parmesan

The du marché pizza was made with garlic, artichokes, olives, pesto and garden vegetables along with three types of cheese – mozzarella, parmesan and cheddar. Pizza is hard to mess up – it’s baked bread with toppings on top. Who doesn’t like that?! Of course there are grades of greatness within the category but for the most part, this recipe tastes decent if not great in most cases. This instance was no exception.

Du Jardin Crepe with Garden Vegetables, Basil, Olives, Corn

We had heard the crepes were the restaurant’s specialty, so we had to order one to have a taste. The du jardin crepe proved to be very generous in portion and tasted pretty good. Not very memorable though.

Jardin Nelson is a great, great spot for drinks if you can get a spot outside, especially at night. I’ll stop there.

Montreal