Lucille’s Oyster Dive – Great Food and Ambiance in NDG

Lucille’s Oyster Dive is a small, atmospheric seafood focused restaurant located on popular Monkland Avenue.  Their specialties are of course the oysters, but the other food is excellent too.  

Lucille’s Oyster Dive
5626 Monkland Avenue
Montreal, QC H4A 1E3
514-482-1471

Is it against some sort of food blogging etiquette to review a restaurant called Lucille’s Oyster Dive and not even eat the oysters?  In my current pregnant state, it just isn’t going to happen and my dining partner was not an oyster fan.  So alas, you will just have to try the oysters out yourself!  However, I can report back that what we did eat was excellent.

Opened by the same people who run Restaurant Greasy Spoon on Laurier and Marché 27 on Prince Arthur, this tiny restaurant consists of a bar, and seating for about 30 people.  In the summer and shoulder seasons they use the terrace space and can seat a few more lucky eaters.  The restaurant is very atmospheric and the menu is interesting which is just what Monkland needs.  Lucille’s really feels like a destination restaurant and somewhere you can get excited about eating, versus many of the other restaurants on Monkland which are good but fairly standard.

Having eaten at Greasy Spoon before and expecting the same gigantic portions, my dining companion and I shared Nasty Nate’s buffalo fried calamari ($13) which was excellent.  It was crispy and and not greasy, however those looking for a kick of heat would be disappointed as the buffalo sauce flavour is fairly mute.  My dining partner had the hamburger with salad instead of the usual fries ($16).  He declared the salad and burger one of the best he ever tasted and was blown away.  I had the lobster roll and fries ($27).  The two lobster rolls presented were excellent with big chunks of lobster served on two buttery rolls.  The fries were good, but they were very thin fries and personally I prefer a chunky chip.  My partner also took a pint of the Lucille’s Lager ($6) which he loved.  Wines run from $35 – $180 with 6 reds and 8 whites sold at $50 or less.

The prices aren’t cheap but you’ll notice a common theme on this blog and that is that I am always willing to pay a bit more for quality.  We don’t eat out that much and when we do I want it to be nice.

If you are on Monkland looking for a place to eat, this has got to be one of the highlights.  I will definitely go back, and when I do I will be trying the oysters!

Decor: Think Maine without it being tacky.  It can be loud, but I think that this adds to the atmosphere (for once).  The music on the night we went was fairly rock and roll.
Service: Excellent, but we went early in the evening.  I can’t promise the same standard will follow when the place is at full capacity.
Prices: Fair for the quality and service.  The drinks and food menu is found on their website.
Food: Excellent and tasty.
Good For: Anyone who loves oysters, dinner with friends, a date night or going to watch the game.