La Maison VIP (Montréal)

1077 rue Clark
Montréal, Québec
514.86.1943

My family has a tradition of eating lobsters during lobster season. I missed lobster season last year when I was in Vietnam. By the time I visited Montréal, it was actually a bit past lobster season but we still tried to take advantage of the good deals still available. I called Zao's Restaurant and their promotion was $10.95 per lobster. However, we wanted to eat in Chinatown. La Maison VIP's lobster special was two lobsters for $23.95. When we got there, there was a long line so we decided to check out La Maison Kam Fung. The hostess there informed us it was $27 per lobster and when I balked, she gave us a bit of attitude so we decided to go back to La Maison VIP. Luckily, the line did not get longer.



While waiting for a table, it was interesting to watch what people ordered. There were three young men who each ordered a chow mein. That's some serious eating! We usually order different dishes to share so we can have different things.



Finally, we got our table. While we were enjoying our complimentary tea, we ordered our food. We always order a chow mein and ordered the beef chow mein ($7.95) this time. This was the cheapest dish we ordered and had the largest portion. While the dish was very saucy, my sister and I thought it lacked flavour... and salt. Our mom, on the other hand, thought it was fine.

Beef Chow Mein.

We like to order a vegetable dish and noticed snow pea shoots ($9.95). The dish had wholegarlic cloves that flavoured the dish. The pea shoots were perfectly cooked. Yum!

Stir Fried Pea Shoots.

Obviously we ordered out two lobsters. We noticed a few people ordering the lobster special too. Who can pass up a lobster deal? The dish came with ginger and scallion. The flavour of the lobster was good. However, we were disappointed since the lobster seemed to be slightly overcooked and a couple pieces were also seriously charred.

Our lobsters.

Finally, my sister and I were excited when we noticed the soft shell crab ($9.95) on the specials board while we were waiting. The crab was cut into pieces, battered and deep fried, served with onion and chili peppers. I'm not sure how many crabs there actually were but there was enough for four people. Definitely, our favourite dish of the night!

Soft Shell Crab.

The total tally for our dinner was $53 (before taxes and tip). That's a great deal for a meal for four people that included lobster. Is there better Chinese food out there? Sure. However, La Maison VIP offers great value. According to my sister, La Maison VIP is a hot spot for after-clubbing dining. I've never eaten Chinese at 2 am but I could see the appeal of greasy Chinese food after a night of drinking and dancing!