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3647 Saint-Laurent Blvd. Saint-Laurent métro. Bus 55
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Tel. 840-9000. Sunday to Thursday, noon 'til midnight. Friday and Saturday, noon'til 2 a.m. $30 for two before beer, taxes and service. Table d'hôte: $4.95—$6.25 (noon); $5.95—$8.25 (evening).
Went to Grano yesterday evening. I had always heard that Grano was the place for sandwiches in Montreal—"unusual selection" "jazzy ambience" being some of the superlatives used. My expectations were high.
Unfortunately, we had chosen a day upon which the St. Laurent street fair was being held. A large length of St. Laurent was blocked to traffic and there were thousands of people milling about, looking at various booths that hawked baubles and t-shirts—and CDs.
The CD hawkers had a booth directly opposite Grano and were blasting a noxious stream of "House" music so loud that no-one in the resto could hear themselves think, especially since the interior of Grano was exposed to the street by a large retracting window.
The interior was a long, dimly-lit space with the glass-walled kitchen running along the left side and booths on the right, with an open area near the window, which was the "no-smoking" area. This is where we sat—and shouted. A "jazzy" ambience was decidedly in hiding.
The menu was surprisingly small, with perhaps seven sandwiches in all. They were all pretty "eclectic"-looking, with ingredients like eggplant, brie, sprouts, spinach etc. I was kind of in the mood for a BLT, to tell you the truth, but I ordered the "Homer" on a baguette (the "onion" bread choice turned out to be just sliced wheat bread with an onion crust, not an onion roll as I thought, or I would have ordered it) which was "ham, spinach, swiss, mozzarella, onions and oregano." I told them to hold the spinach. Ayako ordered something with "Pancetta, brie, eggplant, spinach and onion", hold the brie. You get fries, soup or salad with your order. I ordered fries, Ayako ordered salad.
When mine arrived, all I could see on the plate next to the fries was a six-inch long mass of melted cheese. No bread, no nothing. Just cheese. You'd better like—no, adore cheese if you eat this sandwich. What ham there was had definitely just been pulled out of Metro's "deli" case, and the lettuce looked like it had been pulled out of the Coatimundi's cage at Granby zoo.
Needless to say, what I ate of it went to the bottom of my stomach like the Andrea Doria. The fries were of the typical Montreal variety: soggy, dark brown and greasy, covered in a nameless spice concoction. (They were served with mayo, although one could choose among various mayos, including garlic, chili and other spicy mayo concoctions.)
Ayako, however, voted hers "quite good." I could at least see what was in it. Thank God she held off on the brie—I shudder to envision what would have been her sub sailing on a Sea of Brie. Her salad was quite substantial, albeit with a tasteless vinaigrette served in a little plastic cup.
I ploughed through about half my sandwich and fries before I gave up the ghost, preferring the company of a McEwan's Scotch ale, which was reasonably-priced at $4.95. Ayako had a latte.
We finished up with a 2-for-1 (you can't just get one) chocolate cake which was so sweet that we both got an urge to watch The Lion King.
We got out of there for about $35, excluding tax or tip. Service was pleasant, if inattentive.
3 out of 10. —Reviewed by Nick Robinson.
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