Le Bureau Bar Tapas

Magnifique endroit, très abordable pour le happy hour, et en plus la serveuse a parmi les plus beaux yeux qu’on ait jamais vu…

I attended a New Year’s Eve party at le Bureau last week. From the moment we arrived and forked over a $ 25 cover, and then promptly had to check our own coats because no one was on the job, I was disappointed by the service. It was a really unprofessional environment. There seemed to be way too many people on staff and no one really seemed to know what to do, how to serve drinks or food, or wait on people at all. I had to get up twice from my table to invite a waiter to come and serve drinks. They bungled our table’s tab and seemed to lose track of the drinks they were serving. The staff may very well have been more intoxicated than the customers.
Guys, I realize it’s NYE, and you want to have a party-​vibe for your staff, but if you are not going to serve customers, why not just close on NYE?
Oh and how can I forget the DJ? The DJ was AWFUL, the sound system was also. The DJ was mostly playing music from 1992, the last time she probably went to a club. She also missed the midnight mark and played some type of countdown song like 5 minutes late! There are hundreds of great DJ’s in Montréal. If you want to charge a $ 25 cover, please hire a decent DJ.

Went to Le Bureau for some drinks before our dinner at next door’s Foxy. The place is beautiful, but I was a bit disappointed with the cocktail menu. The usual suspects were there, nothing extremely original or fancy, and the classic cocktails were made with the standard selection of alcohols (Beefeater gin, etc.). Nothing really special.
We didn’t have food (other than some marinated olives, which were good), but what the folks around us had smelled pretty good.
I would go back given the chance, but I don’t think this place would ever become a 5-​star place for me.

Décor and ambiance ⁵⁄₅ food ²⁄₅ service ⁵⁄₅
The muhammara lacked spice, was too oily, too runny, lacked consistency. The mint cucumber salad, was also oily and the red pickled onions clashed with the strong mint leaves… quoting my boyfriend «I feel like I’m eating a mojito «. Also had the argentinian sausage, I don’t think they did very much other then just cut it up and put in a bowl…
I also have to mention this was a Friday night around 8pm… I got in the restaurant expecting a busy evening… there was one other couple and a group of four people in the back. Perhaps this is because of the food? Probably has to do with grinder next door stealing their customers as well. Food was disappointing… would not recommend.

My favorite tapas bar in Montréal ! I go at least once a month and just spent a wonderful evening with family from toronto who also commented on good food and atmosphere. The owner Renaud is authentic and all round nice guy!
Thank you !

What a great discovery! Three of us (one vegan, one vegetarian, one meat eater) found ourselves at Le Bureau while we were looking for another place and am I ever glad we did! All three of us feasted to our hearts’ content! We ordered six different tapas and every single one was delicious. The tomatoes were fresh and the dressing crisp and delicious, the roasted potatoes were perfectly seasoned with a tasty double drizzle (one chipotle, one lime). My vegan
friend was disappointed as the lime coulis was made with mayonnaise, but our waiter quickly accomodated her by preparing the dish with a tangy pesto drizzle. Moreover, the service was impeccable. Two servers waited on us, and both were friendly, funny, efficient and really, really charming! Overall, our girls’ evening was memorable. I’m going back soon for sure!

Below average food, inexperienced service.
Not bad for a drink but look elsewhere for an all-​around evening spot

Le Bureau is a good spot to get together with friends for drinks. We visited on Saturday night and the atmosphere was relaxed, the bar got full around 8pm, but we still could hear each other. Although the web site states they don’t take reservations for less then ten people, they actually accepted mine for eight, which was really great.
Food wise I would’t say that very high requirements will be necessarily satisfied. The tapas are of good size and are quite delicious, but not as elaborate or outstanding as to make foodies happy. However, everything we had was memorable and filling: the hummus with the warm naan bread may suffice if somebody is looking for something to snack on, the gravlax is also a nice choice and the salmon comes on a bed of fennel salad. The grilled veggies and the rib of my friends looked very attractive.
The drinks menu is extensive, particularly the cocktail list. I loved our cozy table at the back of the pub. Overall I would rate this place as four stars on my special scale of six and I would be definitely back.

Je voulais essayer cette place depuis son ouverture dans Griffintown pour prendre un verre plutôt que le Rufus ou encore le Grinder donc me voici au Bureau Bar Tapas. Je n’ai pas été déçu, le genre de place où on peut amener une date/​copine ou encore entre amis. Donc venu ici exclusivement pour prendre un verre, en rentrant on constate un joli charme ainsi qu’un beau bar bien rempli sur la gauche. Ils ont une bonne carte cocktails/​bières. Prix corrects. On aime le style avec lumières tamisées + mur de briques/​déco. Le barman était sympa et efficace! Bön service. Bien aimé ma soirée. Je reviendrais ici pour goûter aux tapas! Wifi gratuit. Carte de crédits acceptées.

This place is to be avoided. Food is mediocre at best. Beet salad was made with canned beets. Fried calamari were undercooked and rubbery. Beef skewers were raw. Not rare, but RAW. If raw is how they serve their beef, then it should be mentioned on the menu. The worst part were the chicken skewers. They were raw! RAW chicken should NEVER be served. This is not a question of temperature preference. Raw chicken can kill you!
If you’re a trendy hipster that cares only about being seen in an up-​and-​coming area, and doesn’t know anything about food, then by all means, go to this restaurant. However, be prepared to find another restaurant immediately afterwards to actually eat. The owners must be laughing at anybody that’s suckered into spending any money at this place.
On a positive note, the waitress apologized for the raw meat, offered to get us something else, which we turned down (I wouldn’t trust anything in a restaurant that serves raw chicken) and took it off our bill. I have a feeling the staff is used to dealing with similar situations. Looking forward to seeing who rents the space when this place closes down, which shouldn’t be too long from now.

Super endroit pour un verre et un peu de bouffe (ça va de soi considérant la formule tapas) mais disons que ce n’est vraiment pas un endroit pour un repas en bonne et dûe forme, c’est pas un resto.
Les tapas sont bien, mais je né suis pas tombé sur le cul pour autant. Correct. Belle sélection de vins. Ambiance dynamique et agréable.

Now then, on with my last restaurant visit of 2013 — Hey, I did say I was a little behind didn’t I? — which brought me to the rapidly changing region of Griffintown. It is a part of town that I visit quite frequently. A friend of mine who lives nearby invited down to check out Le Bureau Tapas Bar for a little midweek drink and food. Now, Le Bureau has been on my to-​visit list since the summer so I gladly accepted and away we went.
Walking in on a quiet snowy evening, Le Bureau has a very nice relaxed lounge feel — slow lighting, beautiful wood bars and bar tables with leather banquettes in the end. Add some more industriel touches with the exposed brick walls and steel ventilation tubes and you’re left with a nice setting that perfectly suits a great happy hour or after work visit.
The cocktail menu was pretty extensive — the right kind of options for a bar like this. Over the course of the evening, we had their Manhattan, Negroni, Old Fashioned and Tom Collins. All were executed well and enjoyable.
As for the food, Le Bureau offers a menu of tapas style dishes of various cultural influences. We went for a wide variety of dishes for this particular visit — Patatas Bravas, Cod croquettes, pancetta-​wrapped figs, beef skewers with chimichurri and grilled chorizo with onions. The Patatas bravas were served with a chipotle lime sauce instead of the standard spicy tomato sauce. The cod croquettes were nice and crispy, served with a amarillo sauce. My big favourite on this night was the pancetta figs — a wonderful combination of sweetness and saltiness. The beef skewers themselves were fine but the real star here was that chimichurri. The grilled chorizo was good but I felt the sausage itself lacked the usual punch of most chorizo.
The food overall was solid however I personally found the portion sizes to be a little too small given their cost. Le Bureau strikes me as the perfect happy hour 5 à 7 location — it has a great look, a very relaxed feel, a great selection of drinks from their bar and tapas if you need a snack. I will definitely return here for a drink every now and then. However, if you are looking to have a complete meal, I don’t think the portions lend themselves well to that experience. Le Bureau is a great lounge bar experience and that’s perfectly acceptable if that’s what you are looking for.
Cheers!

2^nd time here. Totally, utterly disappointed. We ordered 7 tapas which were delivered within 5 – 10 minutes, all together. Now you must be thinking why is a fast service a bad thing.
Well, because the food was cold, was sitting pre made, microwaved and sent out. I kid you not, the beef skewers were warm outside and COLD inside.
Same with salmon croquettes, the shrimps too. Fried calamari was probably killed alive in salt cuz, thats how salty it was.
Cherry on top, the waiter had terrible BO!

I loved this place almost instantly! great tapas with lots of flavor. While they don’t have all the typical spanish tapas (i missed papatas bravas and) they have other delicious options. I loved their olive paste, chicken and beef tapas. Skip the hummus. Definitely a place to visit for 5 a 7.

My friend and I were looking for somewhere to get a glass of wine, but were also hungry after an afternoon Christmas shopping. We had in mind a few places on Notre-​Dame but couldn’t remember everything on offer. «Bar Tapas» of course jumped out at us!
It’s only been open for a week, but there were quite a few people in there at 6pm when we arrived, with more arriving afterwards. They do a selection of 5à7 beers and plan a selection of 5à7 wines though those weren’t available yet. We had a Chinon at $ 10 a glass, and a Côteaux de l’Ardèche at $ 8, both very nice.
The tapas themselves were very varied:
There were typically Spanish ones with a little twist, such as codfish cakes (nice mix of fish and potato, lovely crispy outside perfectly deep-​fried but not overdone), lime calamari (not chewy, perfectly battered and deep-​fried), garlic butter shrimp (which I didn’t have), and the charcuterie plate which included prosciutto and two types of saucisson, as well as cornichons (the French kind), small pickled onions and beetroot.
There were also more innovative dishes, such as harissa chicken (also didn’t try), beef with chimichurri (tasty and tender) raïta (based on the Indian condiment), and flambéed saganaki (on my list to try next time).
I particularly liked the selection of salads and vegetables. We had two plates of grilled vegetables (zucchini, peppers and onions in olive oil), but there was also a beet salad and another I can’t remember. The bread was super fresh — crusty on the outside and light and airy on the inside.
Apart from the food, I have to recommend the décor, which was «urban reclaimed chic», in perfect keeping with surrounding Griffintown. While the area may be up-​and-​comingly trendy, the price was more than reasonable. We had 6 dishes (calamari, codfish cakes, charcuterie, 2x grilled veg, beef with chimichurri), and two glasses of wine each, and the whole came to $ 70 and some change.
On the «to-​be-​improved» list, service could be a little quicker — there was too long a lag between our first and second rounds, and we spent time trying to catch the server’s eye instead of enjoying each other’s company. Also, despite asking them to turn up the heating, and despite two glasses of red wine, the place was a little chilly.