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| Café Montclair 10220 Central Ave. Montclair, 91763 (909) 445-1285 Price Range: $4.75 to $18.00 Kid Friendly Disabled Accessible Beer & Wine Rating: A |
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Café Montclair, formally the Plum Tree Restaurant, has taken this popular eatery
to bigger and higher culinary heights since the new owners recently purchased
the restaurant and refurbished the outside, and part of the interior as well as
adding some higher quality breakfast, lunch and dinner entrees to their every
evolving menu.
The restaurant is only open daily for breakfast and lunch, but is only open for
dinner Wednesdays through Sundays. The dinner menu features a lot exciting
steaks, seafood, chicken and pasta items along with some really delicious
eclectic dishes. All dinner entrees come with a choice of soup or salad.
I started my meal off with two appetizers, Fried Calamari $6.75 and the
Homemade Potato Chips $6.50. The Fried Calamari looked like most others
similar dishes however; the breading was light and extremely crispy and tasty
while the calamari (squid) was very tender. Instead of the usual boring marinara
sauce that usually comes with fried calamari, a zesty, tangy and addicting
jalapeno, garlic, cilantro vinegar dipping sauce was served and was an
overwhelming hit with both me and the fried calamari! As good as the calamari
was, the Homemade Potato Chips was even better. Imagine medium thick sliced
potatoes that are deep friend and topped with a wonderful blue cheese sauce.
The chips were nice and crispy and the blue cheese sauce was delicious. I
recommend that you ask for an additional cup of blue cheese sauce if you are a
big blue cheese fan like I am.
Next came the slowly roasted Prime Rib $22.00 and the Gourmet Meatloaf
$12.00. The Prime Rib is only available on Friday & Saturdays and features
“Prime” Prime Rib that is available in 3 different size cuts (I got the 16 oz. size of
course), and served with a “loaded” baked potato and fresh veggies. The prime
rib was tender, juicy and perfectly seasoned and the portion was larger than life
with very little fat! The gourmet Meatloaf consisted of two thick round slices of
delicious meatloaf that was made with carrots, celery, onions and the chef’s
“Secret herbs and seasonings that I promised I wouldn’t mentioned in this review.
The round slices of meatloaf were placed on top of a mound of mashed potatoes
and crowned with an incredibly flavorful mushroom sauce and fresh vegetables.
The meatloaf was dense in texture and very tasty.
Although all of the dishes were very good, the best dish of the evening was the
Osso Buco $22.00. This masterpiece featured a huge (about 16 oz) lamb shank
that was slowly braised with carrots, onions, celery and fresh herbs until the meat
literally fell out the bone. The lamb was outstanding and one of the best
renditions of this classic Italian dish that I have had. If you like Osso Buco, you
must order this dish!
Other dishes that I ordered and enjoyed were the Zesty Chicken Cilantro $13.50,
large chicken breast lightly sautéed with mushrooms and gently placed upon
linguini with a dazzling mildly spicy creamy white wine cilantro cream sauce, Beef
Tips Stroganoff $9.50, pieces of meat on top of a nice portion of fettuccine with a
rich Stroganoff sauce and the Atlantic Salmon $14.00, herb-seared salmon filet
topped with a tasty Roma tomato butter sauce and served on a bed of fresh
sautéed spinach with a buer blanc sauce.
For dessert, Café Montclair offers many tempting homemade desserts that
change daily. On the day I ate here, the choices included a creamy Creme Brule,
Pumpkin Cheesecake, hot Banana Pecan Bread Pudding with Dark Rum Sauce
with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a White Chocolate Mousse Cake with
Grand Marnier syrup and fresh strawberries.
In closing, Café Montclair is an exciting new restaurant and offers quality food at
very reasonable prices. Open for 6 months, I expect big things from this
restaurant in the future and look forward to trying more of their great food.
to bigger and higher culinary heights since the new owners recently purchased
the restaurant and refurbished the outside, and part of the interior as well as
adding some higher quality breakfast, lunch and dinner entrees to their every
evolving menu.
The restaurant is only open daily for breakfast and lunch, but is only open for
dinner Wednesdays through Sundays. The dinner menu features a lot exciting
steaks, seafood, chicken and pasta items along with some really delicious
eclectic dishes. All dinner entrees come with a choice of soup or salad.
I started my meal off with two appetizers, Fried Calamari $6.75 and the
Homemade Potato Chips $6.50. The Fried Calamari looked like most others
similar dishes however; the breading was light and extremely crispy and tasty
while the calamari (squid) was very tender. Instead of the usual boring marinara
sauce that usually comes with fried calamari, a zesty, tangy and addicting
jalapeno, garlic, cilantro vinegar dipping sauce was served and was an
overwhelming hit with both me and the fried calamari! As good as the calamari
was, the Homemade Potato Chips was even better. Imagine medium thick sliced
potatoes that are deep friend and topped with a wonderful blue cheese sauce.
The chips were nice and crispy and the blue cheese sauce was delicious. I
recommend that you ask for an additional cup of blue cheese sauce if you are a
big blue cheese fan like I am.
Next came the slowly roasted Prime Rib $22.00 and the Gourmet Meatloaf
$12.00. The Prime Rib is only available on Friday & Saturdays and features
“Prime” Prime Rib that is available in 3 different size cuts (I got the 16 oz. size of
course), and served with a “loaded” baked potato and fresh veggies. The prime
rib was tender, juicy and perfectly seasoned and the portion was larger than life
with very little fat! The gourmet Meatloaf consisted of two thick round slices of
delicious meatloaf that was made with carrots, celery, onions and the chef’s
“Secret herbs and seasonings that I promised I wouldn’t mentioned in this review.
The round slices of meatloaf were placed on top of a mound of mashed potatoes
and crowned with an incredibly flavorful mushroom sauce and fresh vegetables.
The meatloaf was dense in texture and very tasty.
Although all of the dishes were very good, the best dish of the evening was the
Osso Buco $22.00. This masterpiece featured a huge (about 16 oz) lamb shank
that was slowly braised with carrots, onions, celery and fresh herbs until the meat
literally fell out the bone. The lamb was outstanding and one of the best
renditions of this classic Italian dish that I have had. If you like Osso Buco, you
must order this dish!
Other dishes that I ordered and enjoyed were the Zesty Chicken Cilantro $13.50,
large chicken breast lightly sautéed with mushrooms and gently placed upon
linguini with a dazzling mildly spicy creamy white wine cilantro cream sauce, Beef
Tips Stroganoff $9.50, pieces of meat on top of a nice portion of fettuccine with a
rich Stroganoff sauce and the Atlantic Salmon $14.00, herb-seared salmon filet
topped with a tasty Roma tomato butter sauce and served on a bed of fresh
sautéed spinach with a buer blanc sauce.
For dessert, Café Montclair offers many tempting homemade desserts that
change daily. On the day I ate here, the choices included a creamy Creme Brule,
Pumpkin Cheesecake, hot Banana Pecan Bread Pudding with Dark Rum Sauce
with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a White Chocolate Mousse Cake with
Grand Marnier syrup and fresh strawberries.
In closing, Café Montclair is an exciting new restaurant and offers quality food at
very reasonable prices. Open for 6 months, I expect big things from this
restaurant in the future and look forward to trying more of their great food.
