My mom, the queen of Instagram who literally posts more than me, loves finding new places to brunch on Insta. A few months back she found Duc de Lorraine and said that when we were in town in April we would have to try it out. So the day before we were to fly back to Scotland, the Brit, my mom, my mom’s best friend, and I headed out to the west end to try it out.
Situated on the Chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges in the west (ish) side of the island, this restaurant offers a Parisian-style dining experience. It opened in 1952 and is apparently the oldest French pastry shop in Montreal, which makes it a must-visit establishment.
At first glance, from the outside it doesn’t look like much in its tiny brick building. But their outside and inside decor is very Parisian and you can’t beat their amazing view over Montreal’s most iconic church, the Saint Joseph’s Oratory.
Food wise, their pastry bar is amazing, and offers by far the best looking French pastries I’ve seen this side of the Atlantic. But we went in for the brunching experience and we were not disappointed! My mom and I ended up sharing two plates, the french toasts and the crepes. It was absolutely delicious, colourful and just sweet enough. I also feasted on a freshly squeezed orange juice, which was so delicious I still remember more than a month later. The Brit went for an egg Benedict plate, which he also promptly gobbled up.
My only grief with this brunch experience was that I found our waitress a bit misleading. The menu said the French toast came with fruits. However for the crepes it didn’t mention anything, only giving the option of adding some bananas if desired. So I asked and the waiter said it didn’t come with fruits, so I ordered extra bananas. Ends up I was served both fruits and bananas so I ended up paying extra for no real reason.
Finally my last note would be to say ‘thank god for Insta’ because their online menu is misleading as well. It said nothing about french toast or waffles. So looking at their website we wouldn’t have known about all their gorgeous brunch plates. Thanks to their extraordinary social media efforts, that’s how we found out about all the beautiful meals they offered.
If you’re in Montreal and want a great brunch, I would highly recommend going brunching at Duc de Lorraine.
Are you more of a sweet or savoury brunch kind of person?xx
