Île Flottante - Montréal

I loved my dinner here. There is NO menu. You are served what the chef bought from the market that day. Love this concept. The plates were inventive, atypical of most restaurants i visited. I loved it so I will be making IF one of my first stops next time I'm in the city. The wines served were young and paired with the plates well. I like that she was bold enough to pick wines with a tart dimension to meld or contrast flavors of verbena, spruce, lime, mint, lychee in the plates presented during my dinner. SUPER Nice. I also enjoyed that most of the plates treated my taste buds to a kaleidoscope of vegetable flavors that is becoming more and more appealing to me. I don't want a large piece of meat to enjoy my dinner so Ile is my kind of dining. Loved the informal, fun and hip vibe to the staff also. Loved IF. Coming back. End of Yelp.

A few years ago my wife and I had one of the most memorable food experiences of our lives at Ile Flottante, so we made a special trip back up for my birthday, and they actually exceeded my already very high expectations. The food was incredible, the wine pairings were inspired, unusual, and perfectly complimented the complex and deep flavors of each beautiful course. I am baffled that this place doesn't have any Michelin stars yet, but I am sure they will soon.

My friend and I came recently to Ile Flottante for a celebratory meal. I picked this spot because it's rare to find a restaurant that offers a pre fixe tasting menu that can accommodate different dietary restrictions, as my friend is vegetarian, while I can eat anything. I made reservations 2.5 weeks beforehand for a Wednesday dinner at 6:30. I was hoping that because I made my reservations early, we would have a better table, but we were seated at one of the few two person tables while I noticed a lot of other couples were seated at a much spacier 4 person table. Upon arrival, our server let us know that they are currently offering a 7 course pre fixe menu for $90 pp, with an optional wine pairing available for $60 pp. We decided to do both and informed our server about my friend being vegetarian. Before going into the details of the meal, I want to write some thoughts on the overall experience. We enjoyed the food for the most part, except for 1 2 courses, and thought everything was very creative. However, I was hoping for more meat. For $90 pp, I would've wanted at least 2 3 courses where meat was the main, and we only got one with tuna. I kept waiting for a big meat dish with beef, duck, etc., and was disappointed when it never came. Service was phenomenal, as you'd expect from a restaurant like this. Our server was French and didn't know how to say everything in English sometimes when describing a course, and he would always check with the kitchen and let us know later. Our wine glasses were kept refilled if one course was taking longer to arrive and we finished the wine before the course was served. You don't feel rushed at all; we were here for about 3.5 hours total from start to finish as we were eating and drinking at a leisurely pace and didn't leave until close to 10. I did see some other tables around us going at a faster pace since they weren't doing the wine pairing. Because it's wintertime, our server mentioned the menu is very vegetable focused (not sure if that makes sense though?? . Here's what we had: 1st course pho with mushroom broth and beef tenderloin and king oyster mushrooms. I thought the broth flavor was just okay, but I really enjoyed the slices of mostly raw beef, as they were very tender 2nd course bread with butter and some honey underneath. We both enjoyed the bread with the contrast between the savory butter and cheese inside and the honey on the outside. 3rd course dual cauliflower dish. One dish had a buttermilk milk and sour cream based sauce with cauliflower and caviar, while the the other was a blini with caviar, smoked fish, and cauliflower on top. We enjoyed both dishes. 4th course cauliflower ice cream with caviar, served on top of ice to keep it cold. We both thought this was a weird dish and was our least favorite of the night. The cauliflower flavor was very strong, but it felt quite odd to eat it in ice cream form... 5th course tuna tataki with brown rice wrapped in cabbage, served with turnips and a ginger sauce. This was my favorite course of the whole meal, as the tuna was fantastic with the sesame crust and went well with the rice and turnips. 6th course salad with cabbage, beets, and endive. The beets went really well with the cabbage and the salted ricotta along the bottom. 7th course dessert was raspberry ice cream with chocolate and fig bites as well as pepper jelly. I was initially very hesitant about the dessert as multiple items had pepper, but luckily I didn't taste much of it except as an aftertaste (though that was weird . Overall, we enjoyed the meal except for the cauliflower ice cream course.

Wonderful evening at Île Flottante. The service was attentive and well-matched to our mood, and the vegetarian fare surprising, creative, and a pleasure for the senses. I loved that they offered a plant-based option as well. I would highly recommend this cozy and unpretentious resto in the heart of the Mile End.

Went there for my bday dinner with a friend of mine. Reservation was at 10pm so quite late and I had smacked before going to was a bit full by dessert time. Nevertheless, food was amazing! I had been previously when it was called Trois Singes de Montavie and it was equally delicious (except cheaper). The dishes are small but still quite filling by the end of dinner. I must say that the homemade oatmeal bread was my favourite...a hint sweet, soft and warm. Still drooling thinking about it. The restaurant uses seasonal ingredients which is nice and fresh. There was a fish made with cucumber that I also enjoyed very much considering the fact that I am not a fan of cucumbers. Must say that the service was also great. My napping was folded for me every time I came back from the bathroom. They probably don't do it as often during the earlier services since there must be a lot more people but thought it was attentive from the staff. Wine pairing was also very affordable compared to other restaurants with tasting menu offerings. Wine pairing was $60 vs $80+ at other restaurants so definitely a must! Thé plates are beautifully decorated. They looked as good as they tasted! I would definitely go back!