Author: ffuralmogel1970

This place has led me to finally create a Tripadvisor (and Yelp) account just to write a review. I have been here twice now and it blows my mind how poor quality the food and coffee is, and how avoidant the staff are. Clementine benefits...from its golden mile location to charge exorbitant prices for food that tastes like it's been cooked from frozen or mass-produced. I have no problem paying high prices for good quality pastries, sandwiches, breads, etc., but honestly these products are a wreck. I've stopped here twice now while walking down Sherbrooke. The first time, it was a chaotic situation with none of the customers knowing where to order, who to order from, or whose turn it was to order. The staff diligently avoided eye contact with us and finally I asked for a smoked salmon bagel and a filter coffee with milk to go. It took them almost a full twenty (yes, 20!!!) minutes to make - they told me to sit down and they'd bring my coffee over while I waited (never happened). Finally I got everything and left - the bagel was stale, had a single slice of salmon on it and a suggestion of cream cheese (very nice for nine dollars, no?). The filter coffee was black, and tasted weak and of mildew. I ended up getting a coffee at humble lion because I couldn't drink it. I went back again a couple months later to give them a second shot - perhaps they just had a bad day. Nope. There were hardly any customers this time and still somehow confusion and serious disorganization. I ordered a coffee and a pain au chocolat. When I walked out and opened the bag, they'd given me some sort of sticky strawberry tart. Went back and told them, they gave me a pain au chocolat, and it was a mess. Doughy, floury, dry - it tasted somehow dusty - bland, overall flavourless. And the coffee (again served black after I'd asked for milk) unfortunately was again very weak had the exact same mildew flavour it had had months prior. I also realised a few hours later that I was charged for the tart (twice the price of the pain au chocolat) and the server didn't bring this up at all or compensate the difference. I'm not a picky eater. I'm not one to write negative reviews, send food back, etc. The reason all this bothered me so much is because if these products were coming out of a restaurant in any other neighbourhood in Montreal, no one would be buying them. There are so many wonderful places in Montreal that serve very good quality food, baked goods, and coffee for a fraction of the cost. Both times I went to Clementine, I ended up leaving frustrated and exasperated, after wasting an unreasonable amount of time waiting for my order amidst frantic disorganization. Both times I had to go somewhere else afterwards because of how bad the food and coffee was. Feel free to stop by one morning and observe all this for yourself - but keep walking and you'll find many much (much!) better options (particularly if you're a fan of getting what you pay for).