DNA Restaurant

Shame, Shame that DNA is closed! However, I am happy that I had the opportunity to go there.
I saw this place on the Food Channel’s bizarre food and they had featured some crazy stuff, like Horse Heart tar-​tar… what!!! As my tagline reads, I am an adventurous eater so naturally I wanted to be put to the test there.
I held a bachelor party in Montréal for my best friend and made it a point to get a reservation there. We went there on one of the evenings and their staff was completely accommodating and even better, the Sommelier was pretty hot… score!
We orderer the custom-​by-​table chef tasting menu and requested that the chef prepare us plates that were only for the bold :)
We first had a cheese and meats plate which went down quickly. Next, we had foie gras with fried duck skin and duck testicles, yes testicles. I was impressed and continued to be with some pig face, pig feet, pig stomach and so only. It was all very delicious and the desserts they brought out were perfect.
It was a great experience and if they ever reopen, I plan to take my lady up to Montréal as she is also rather adventurous with eating.

6÷12÷12
DNA is closed :(I wish i knew why

I have been to DNA once and I loved it, but we went treated so I didn’t have to worry about the budget. The wait staff were impeccable and extremely knowledgeable. If you go you have to be prepared to be a bit adventurous — their specialty is French fusion and offal and so that is what you are going to get, not the place to take a vegetarian. We had seafood and nut allergies at our table and those were easily accommodated.
Some memorable dishes were pasta-​wrapped venison prosciutto things made to look like sushi, roasted duck breast, and a liquid cheesecake that was out of this world. I, however, declined the head cheese amuse-​bouche which was offered. Too much for me.
Go if your feeling brave and be prepared to stretch your imagination. And yes, the décor is absolutely delightful — dress up!

While the waterfront atmosphere is nice and the service is very attentive, this restaurant is very overpriced and the menu is tiny. I went here because of a great review in my travel guide. If this restaurant had posted its menu on its website, I would not have gone. The food here is fine, but in a city with no shortage of great restaurants, why limit yourself to a tiny menu and subject yourself to high prices?

A beautiful location in Old Montréal overlooking the river and Habitat 67. Very good service. Tasty food. I can’t put my finger on why, but I rate this at 4 stars, not 5. I’m glad I went but perhaps all the hype is over the top. Still, a great meal.

It was a good foodie experience, but I remained underwhelmed. The ambiance of the restaurant is amazing, the design is top… however, there were little things here and there that interfered with the food experience and left unsatisfied. It all started with a 30 minute conversation with either maitre d’ or sommelier — I could not really understand what his role was. The first 3 or 4 our choices of wine were sold out — and after each bottle the sommelier tried to say — well, it is the middle of the week, you should understand that we are low on our stock — when in fact it was Thursday. Thirty minutes later we settled on our wine — which turned out to be Canadian, merlot-​cab-​temp mix… very nicely bodied wine with a lot of complexity — so if you feel hesitant about ordering Canadian red — don’t be. Then we were told that the tasting menu was done for the day. Ok. As a nice gesture they served us an amuse-​bouche. The first course we ordered was quite nice and tasty. My second course was also very interesting. My boyfriend got a cast iron rabbit, which would have been delicious, but for a very strong smoky flavour. We both agreed that it killed the tenderness and delicacy of the rabbit meat. The service overall was good, except for the sommelier/​maitre d’ leaving mid-​night, without even stopping by our table to say goodbye — we pored the wine ourselves for the rest of the evening. Overall good experience, but the restaurant may need some time to fully develop.

The most memorable thing about this restaurant is its interior design, which is apparently one of the best in Montréal.
The charcuterie was average and the wine was decent, the main course wasn’t satisfying either. All in all it was not a great experience.

It was my first and obviously last time there as it was one of the worst dining experiences I ever had in Montréal. The atmosphere is pleasant and the interior is nicely done but the rest is pretty awful. The stuff was arrogant and almost rude. It was hard to find anything decent on the menu. (Everything they had was quite exotic and French fusion). The portions were incredibly tiny and my main dish (goat meat) was something weird and not even tasty. The waiter took away the first bottle of wine before it ended. It was $ 200 for two but I left hungry and very disappointed.

Amazing food, great wine list and an interesting atmosphere. Love the bar/​lounge!

Definitely the best meal I had in Montréal, a place with a pretty good food scene. The sweetbreads were incredible and the waiter was very friendly and knowledgeable. The desserts were very creative and delicious and the décor was modern and interesting. I would definitely love to eat here again.

Vegetarians do not enter this place!
Blood sausage, ravioli stuffed with ducks balls… what more can a person want?
This place delivers on so many levels. Even when we had a kitchen hiccup… the staff alerted us and apologised, which was no problem as our indulgent bottle of Canadian red was trickling down a treat. Sure the place is not cheap, and the wine list can be pricey, but hey you don’t come here every week… and if you do can I be your dining companion… or perhaps even more?
The place is an experience, to be shared with friends or that special person, and it makes it all the more special. The décor continues to be fun, the staff attentive and attractive in a relaxed not up their own bottoms sort of way.
Folks who seem to have a tough time here may be in the wrong location for their food fixes… me I’m coming here every time I escape to Montréal from my own inn in Woodstock VT… as it is so not rural USA!

Our host in Montréal had made a reservation for 14 of us after a work-​related event. Truth be told, we’re scientists, so of course he chose a restaurant called «DNA». I did my research on Unilocal and, to be honest, was a little worried about how this evening was going to go because: 1) I wasn’t in the mood for offal, and 2) it sounded like the service could be hit or miss.
Bottom line: the night at DNA was a total gastronomic success. We all left satisfied.
First let me say they dealt with our group (we weren’t ornery, but we were big) really well, taking orders efficiently, always topping off glasses, and there were no serving mistakes made. The wines were excellent, and we all especially remarked about the Canadian whites.
To start I had a green salad, but this was no ordinary green salad. It had delicious little sour berries with it, just the right amount of dressing, and finely chopped vegetables to round out the very flavorful mixed greens. If that’s the house salad, I thought, we’re in for a treat.
For my main course I had fish, nicely crisped on the outside but still moist inside, with butternut squash caponata. My dining companions had butternut risotto (which had that lovely consistency that Italian restaurants strive for, where it spreads on the plate) and goat leg with peach marmalade. Everyone literally cleaned their plates.
For dessert I had apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. The ice cream didn’t melt too fast against the warm crisp, which was more like cobbler and such a pleasant, homey finish to the meal. The topping was just the right amount of sweet and I loved being able to see the vanilla bean’s seeds in the ice cream.
My half-​complaints: the waitress described the goat as «baby goat», which made me a big sad; and the men’s bathroom apparently played commentary from an old well-​known hockey game between the Canadiens and the Oilers, but no such entertainment in the women’s room. Note to DNA: women like hockey too! On the interesting side, the bar’s TVs were playing the movie Sideways.

mobile review
The place is very nice and trendy and they were happy to seat us without a reservation. That’s the best I can say. Our waiter ignored us for most of the evening and when he did talk to us kept trying too push us to order more. Our amuse bush was so spicy it was unedible. A simple green overdressed salad cost $ 9. And my moms pasta was raw. Not al dente. When we sent it back the waiter tries to tell us that’s how it’s supposed to be and then the chef refused to fix it so my mom ate her salad alone. My duck pâté ravioli was also spicy and very heavy. Serious fail. Wish we would have sent everything back and left.

Sadly disappointed.
We arrived at 7:30 for our reservation to a ½ full restaurant and were seated next to a children’s table. We ordered a bottle of local wine and our meals which, albeit experimental, were disappointing. The veal was tough and the pork was dull.
Worst of all, after we finished our expensive but unexciting meal, it took nearly an hour of being ignored by our server before we could leave. For what we paid (nearly $ 300), we expected a level of service that was sorely lacking at DNA.

My wife and I visited DNA several weeks ago and had an early sitting at the ‘Kitchen Table’ on a Saturday night. I can’t say enough great things about the experience and the food, we both loved it.
We made the reservations about 6 weeks ahead via email and it went smoothly and they were very accommodating. They confirmed the day prior and were ready for us when we arrived. The entire staff was great –friendly, engaging, helpful and quick with drinks and anything else we needed.
The kitchen table is downstairs alone right by the kitchen. My wife was a little hesitant at first as we aren’t the most adventurous eaters, but after 14 courses its safe to say everything was delicious. We just did the tasting menu and Chef Derek continued to bring us plates of food one after another. Some were on the menu, many weren’t. With each dish we got an explanation of where it came from and he would answer any of our questions.
Dishes ranged from seaweed to goat heart tartar to gnocchi to shrimp to goat neck. They were all perfectly proportioned and tasted great. We were there over 3 hours and it was really the perfect meal. Derek was awesome and couldn’t have been nicer to us, and the same goes for the rest of the staff. We can’t wait to go back to Montréal and experience it all again.

I ate at DNA as part of a weekend birthday celebration. We had a fantastic meal! I would recommend DNA to any of my friends who were visiting Montréal. Food was fresh, innovative and outstanding. Our waitress was super friendly. After we asked where DNA purchased the cappuccino mugs that we were drinking from, she returned with the brand of the mug and the address store in Montréal where they were sold.
The meal was expensive, about $ 250 for 2 people with drinks, but that is what I expected.
Restaurant is a bit hard to find for an English speaking tourist, as there are two «D’Youville» streets next to each other. Place D’Youville and Marguerite D’ Youville St. DNA is on the street closest to the water.

My girlfriends and I were very excited to try DNA for an upscale bachelorette weekend. After waiting 30 minutes (with no bread on our tables), they finally took our cocktail orders. 30 minutes later came the cocktails and some breadsticks. The cocktails were delicious, but small pours. and we not even given the opportunity more until 30 minutes later, when the waitress finally came out to take our dinner menu. I ordered exactly what she recommended as their best — the tagliatelle and the hake. The tagliatelle was very good, but anything would be that good drowned in a stick of butter — I’d give it a 4 out of 5 though on taste. Then, the hake. I can 100% tell you that this was the worst fish I have ever ever ever had. It was completely tasteless and they paired it with really subtle vegetables like fennel. Sooo unbelievably unimpressed. Dessert was delicious — 5 out of 5. After all was said and done, our two course meal + dessert took 3.5 hours! This restaurant serious needs to buff up its service and fix that hake.

So after I had finished my meal we found out that they change their menu once a week!
This was by far one of the best «Italian» meals I’ve had this year.
Everything I’ve had from amuse bouche to the dessert was outstanding.
Great ambiance and a very attentive staff.
Highly recommend this restaurant!

If you are a fan of all things offal, as I am, then this is the place for you. Came here for lunch because I couldnt squeeze it in for dinner. They have a more limited menu for lunch, but I started with an amazing spicy lamb tartare with mint and some sort of cheese. all went together so perfectly and harmoniously. My entrée was a bit of a let down. it was pig heart and pig liver… liver in any animal has that distinct irony taste, unless its foie, and the heart was too chewy for my liking. It is what it is… not knocking the chef. it was my chioce for ordering it. Dessert was chocolate and pig blood panna cotta… now that kicked some serious rear end. Just enough blood to add even more richness to the chocolate. very creative dessert. loved it. I gave it 4 stars because even though I wasnt crazy about my entrée– my app and dessert were great and I would like to go back for dinner whe they have a lot more to offer.

Me and my wife have been to DNA a good 5 – 6 times now, with most of the times being full tasting menus. We’ve also brought about 16 different people with us over the course of the last year, so we’ve heard a lot of feedback from other people as well.
In short: A place bursting with potential and creativity that sometimes misses the really high marks it can achieve.
There have been times where Derek and his kitchen have blown us away with their dishes and others where we were left wondering where the genius had went. The first 3 tasting menus we had at DNA left us amazed each time with each dish being as great as the next one. We thought it even rivaled or bested some highly regarded 5-​star restaurants we’ve been to (like Joel Robuchon or Alex). We also thought it would be our «go to» place in Montréal for the next years as well. Our experiences there were just that great.
In the following months we returned to DNA a handful more times and it wasn’t as great. Some highs and some misses here and there, not typical of what we had experienced before. One night we brought 10 montreal food bloggers with us to review the food, and I don’t think anyone was really impressed. Chef Derek wasn’t there that night, so perhaps that was the issue.
Speaking of Chef Derek, a really friendly guy and definitely passionate about his ingredients and where they come from. Really flexible and loves to accommodate diners, even vegetarians ones like myself. If you tell him in advance he’ll prepare you a full-​on tasting menu that will not feel like he just pasted mushrooms or cheese on to replace the meat.
Service has always been a high point at DNA, and has never really felt below their high standards. Prices have seemed to get higher for the tasting menus (our first few times we got about 8 – 10 dishes for $ 85 and now they offer 5 for the same price? I am not 100% sure on this)
So while DNA remains our favorite restaurant in Montréal, we dearly hope they can remain consistent in the quality and creativity of their dishes. We say dearly because DNA is close to our hearts (and stomachs) and we hope to be able to enjoy Derek’s amazing talent for a long time more.
We’re going back on Tuesday for a tasting menu, along with 3 other people. I guess we’ll see :)
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edit: So tonight we had 5 tasting menus and it was a real success and the best meal we’ve had at DNA. In fact, Derek was so on fire tonight that he managed to make me eat beef for the first time in 13 years, because everyone was so ecstatic at how good his ribeye steak was. My fiancée said it was «the best piece of meat I’ve ever had», which says a lot. And yes, it was worth breaking a self-​imposed ban on red meat that I have kept intact since I was 17…
Pretty much every dish was exceptional from the ingredients, presentation and technique… and the service was outstanding (Thanks Gwyneth :). A real tour de force and all 5 of us were extremely happy.
Well done, DNA, well done. It’s good to have you back.