Montlake Cut

Had Sole and Southern Brussel Sprouts and they were excellent! Great service, great neighborhood atmosphere, and really nice bar area made me feel like I was in a quality restaurant without any pretentiousness. Could end up being a big winner

We joined 2 other couples here last week and had a great experience. The restaurant is fairly small and feels very cozy. The service was perfect– we recognized several wait staff who have been hired from other great restaurants around Dallas– and the food was excellent. My swordfish was perfectly cooked, all the small plates were great and my husband loved his oysters. Everyone at the table commented that they would be back. Great new spot.

Perfect evening for our table of 4… food, drinks, service and ambiance. My wife always asks a few questions about the menu and our server was knowledgeable and had great recommendations for food and wine… really made it a pleasure. Great looking restaurant and vibe, typical of the Nick B./NHS crew.
Drinks. I started with a bourbon cocktail (Ghost Dog) and she had a prosecco spritzer (Evergreen State). Both well-​made. Good bottle of Maranet Pinot with dinner and a bottle of Duval-​Leroy Brut with dessert… decent bottle, excellent price point.
Starters. Various East/​West Coast oysters, yellowtail sashimi, octopus and tuna tartare. Oysters were fresh and delicious with varying degrees of salinity. Yellowtail… nice cuts of fish, very light and bright with a good pop from the trout roe and slight char from the scallion. Tuna tartare was very standard but tasty. Octopus was the best of the opening round. So many screw up grilled/​charred octopus. They did not. Perfect texture with a nice bite and smokiness from the chorizo and paprika.
Entrees. I had the tautog (blackfish), special that night, and wife had the Gulf snapper. Tautog was pan seared and cooked wonderfully. light and flaky. Good portion size. Wife’s snapper… same story. No unnecessary seasoning or sauces on either plate.
Dessert. Table shared a bread pudding a la mode, chocolate pot de crème and a banana pudding. From what I remember they were all solid and we didn’t leave any leftovers.
Will be back for more.

Awesome oysters — amazing king crab «hot «half shell prep Bravo, fantastic sides (Brussels /​shells & cheese) halibut fresh. Pot de crime –perfect… Only negative. Foodies as a family — we so didn’t appreciate the hostess announcing we needed to leave sharply at 7:00 makes the best food taste bitter when you are looking at your watch while enjoying oysters ap. and daring to have dessert. Bön appetite xo

When you’ve experienced near perfection with all three aspects of the «restaurant experience» triad — food, service, ambiance — you know it. Let’s start with the food, The menu is mostly seafood, but there are other options. I had the fluke milanase and my wife the snapper, while starting with the halibut ceviche special. The dishes were fresh and very flavorful, with reasonably large potions. The apple crisp dessert was also unique and different — not sure what ingredients went into it, but it was amazing. The service was also what one would expect from a member of the Neighborhood Services family — very attentive and fun staff that made us feel like guests at a friend’s home vs. just at a restaurant. As for the ambiance, that is where the attention to detail is most obvious to non-​restaurant professionals like us. Within the restaurant, there is not one place on the wall or ceiling where one can gaze that is not different from the place next to it. Someone obviously invested hours upon hours to think of how to create that ambiance and make the guest feel like he/​she is not in an ordinary restuarant. The attention to detail was most evident in the fact that the restaurant was crowded and the music playing at an audible level (very good selection for our taste too), but my wife and I could carry on a conversation in regular tones, without having to raise our voices. Not once did we struggle to hear each other. Very subtly, we could see where the restaurant had installed cork and other noise dampeners throughout the restaurant. That same attention to every minute detail, far more than most restaurants we’ve visited, was no doubt embedded in the menu, recipes, and execution as well as the service. The fourth element of the experience is the last one, the bill. We thought it was very reasonable given that we each had apps, main courses, drinks, and a dessert — about $ 150 with tax and tip. Had we skipped some of these items which we normally don’t get, it would have been a lot less. But it was New Year’s Eve, so we went for it!

Before dining here I thought that a 5-​star review was in the bag for the new seafood spot, Montlake Cut. With one of Dallas’ most popular chefs behind the scenes and LOTS of money spent on development, how could it go wrong, right?
Unfortunately, I would probably have to give Montlake Cut 3 starts if it werent for the incredible setting the interior design team has afforded Dallas-​ites. Stepping inside, you are truly transported to a cabin in the Northeast. You feel like it’s the kind of joint where everybody would know your name and you could sit for hours meeting old and new friends alike.
Unfortunately, the food just doesn’t quite cut it. Yes, there are some absolutely delicious items like the Ipswich Clams (served much like calamari), the Ahi Tuna Tartare with Shrimp Chips and the Mac & Cheese but other than that, the other SEVERAL dishes we tried were so extremely salty they were almost inedible. With a cuisine that is already naturally salted, the heavy hand of turning a beautiful piece of fish or shellfish into a salt lick is a disgrace.
I’m hoping that these are kinks that will work themselves out as time goes on, as I did visit it during its first week of business but if you are going to Montlake Cut with the expectation of having your mind totally blown, you may want to stick with your tried and true favorites.

It’s hard for me to give out 5 stars but after discussing this with the hubs and our little guy (he’s 10 years old he ordered the ceviche and brussel sprouts so he knows food) we decided it totally deserved all 5 stars. We’ve been anxiously waiting for Montlake to open and yesterday we had our chance to get in and try it out. The place is super nice and very typical of a Nick B. restaurant (i.e. Neighborhood Services) is that it’s very comfortable and has a good vibe. Between the 3 of us we tried the charred octopus, the ceviche, the fried clams, the king crab on the half, the king crab & chanterelle fettuccine, the brussel sprouts and a salad. Oh and the chocolate pots-​de-​crème. Everything was top notch! Loved the grilled octopus! The fettuccine was fantastic and the cocktails were pretty darn good too! We will be back Nick! You’ve got a winner on your hands! PS — Hoping for a brunch menu and breakfast you promised!

Great vibe in this place. I’ve been twice and service is excellent and the food is amazing. The fact that they can cook octopus correctly is worth it’s weight in gold. Also had the lamb and I don’t know what they do but it was tender and flavorful.
It’s on the smaller side so you may want to make a reservation. It does have a nice u shaped bar that seats about 15 people. I would guess the restaurant holds less than 85 people total.