Moulin rouge

The very red L'Endroit presents Food: The Musical

by SARAH MUSGRAVE

If Andrew Lloyd Webber had a restaurant, I think it would look a lot like L'Endroit. Baroque au bout, the décor of this establishment displays a real flair for the theatrical. In fact, as the back of the menu says, "Souper à l'opéra? Vous êtes à L'Endroit!"

Where you really are is a bright red, high-ceilinged room near Blizzarts on St-Laurent, filled with gold-painted frames and loud, schmaltzy tunes. The French-style cuisine consists of meat, fish and pasta dishes, along with a nice selection of salads with names like Carmen (with shrimp) and Callas (with duck meat). There's also quite a list of fun cocktails, both non-alcoholic and more potent varieties, to whom the likes of Mozart and Tchaikovsky have lent their names. I opted for a mix of vodka, Goldschläger, apple juice and grenadine, which reflected pleasantly off the vibrant walls and tasted like cinnamon Trident--in a good way.

To start, I tried the bouquet of asparagus with Brie ($6.25). The spears were nicely grilled and arranged in a grid, topped with crunchy, meaty pieces of melted cheese, bacon and walnuts. My friend's tuna tartare appetizer ($8.50) was far from the usual presentation. It was more like a ceviche, marinated in citrus and arranged in a round form mixed with diced red peppers, mango and onions. The plate was inexplicably drizzled with a chocolate coulis. It wasn't what we expected, and the fish was hardly top grade, but it was quite refreshing.

For main courses, we both ordered from the daily specials. The fettuccine with chèvre pesto and nuts was very tasty ($11.25), although the flavour of the goat cheese was barely discernible. The pesto was pungent if a little greasy and the pasta was plentiful if a little stuck together--but the overall effect was far from refined.

The breast of duck on the table d'hôte ($16.75) consisted of several slices of very rare meat that took a lot more cutting than they should have. These were placed atop new potatoes, cauliflower, red peppers, zucchini and julienned carrots. The rosemary and honey sauce was just what you'd expect--savoury and sweet--though a little on the sugary side. Again, it wasn't unsatisfying but it wasn't cooked with the sure hand of a good chef.

The nougat ice cream we had for dessert ($5.25) was not to our liking, but that's not the cook's fault. Some tastebuds might love raisins in ice cream but I think people should stop eating raisins when their fingers no longer fit into those little Sunkist containers.

Overall, the food wasn't tops but neither were the prices. I really wanted to like the restaurant more because the staff was very friendly. The owner, like some sort of Monsieur Butterfly, graciously flitted around the handful of customers to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves. He mentioned that L'Endroit has live jazz and classical performances on weekends, and that he knows a lot of people in "showbiz." In fact, Notre Dame de Paris gave a show for the restaurant's opening night in early June. Wow! That said, the piped-in music consists of Latin cruising tunes, Candy Dulferous sax solos and orchestral crescendos that made descending the curving staircase on the way back from the bathroom a very dramatic experience.

I was pleasantly surprised that this restaurant is way less snobby than it looks from the outside. And while I want to be generous because of the pervading atmosphere of goodwill, it's going to have to improve what the kitchen puts out if it wants to survive on the Main and become L'Endroit to be.

L'Endroit

Address: 3962 St-Laurent

Phone: 286-9988

Hours: Mon-Wed 10:30am-11pm, Thurs till 11:30pm, till 3pm on weekends, closed Sun

Best features: baroque décor, cocktails

Vegetarian friendly: yes

Wheelchair access: one step up

Alcohol: yes

Credit cards: yes

Price: $20/person without tax, drinks or tip

Rating: HH out of HHHH