When I got in from errands today, my mother asked me what I had planned for dinner because she was in the mood for thin crust pizza and there was a well-reviewed restaurant in Montreal she wanted to try out.

So off we all went to downtown Montreal to Prato Pizzeria, located on the iconic Saint-Laurent Boulevard, known as ‘La Main’ (as in the English word main, not the French word hand!). The restaurant is nestled between chic boutiques, European-style cafés, big name fast food joints, and is just a couple of doors from the world famous Schwartz Deli.

Pizzerias like Prato are a dying breed because of environmental laws forbidding charcoal ovens. All existing restaurants are grand-fathered in. This restaurant was listed as one of the top three places to eat pizza in Montreal.

We ordered a pitcher of beer since it was super hot out and we had parked several blocks from the restaurant so we were feeling rather parched! A pitcher contains six small glasses of beer, so we had two each. We started off with the arugula salad, which had cherry tomatoes, Parmesan shavings, and a nice lemon vinaigrette. Very tasty!

They shared a pizza that had olives and anchovies (shudders) while I ordered my usual for this type of pizza joint, a Margherita, with Parmesan, bocconcini, tomato sauce, and fresh basil. The pizzas are considered to be sized for one person and are served on a paper-lined baking sheet:

This was pizza perfection. The edge of the crust was crunchy, the base was flexible, the edges were charred, the tomato sauce was smooth, the cheese was stretchy, and the basil was piquant. Yuuuuuum. I wouldn’t have been able to eat the whole thing, but had no leftovers since they took one slice to try it out.

For dessert, my mother and I each had an espresso (macchiato for me) and their Skor-chocolate mousse (excellent) while my step-mother tried the tiramisu (very good). The coffee was particularly good, being extremely strong and flavourful without being bitter.

We all agreed that the next time we’re craving good pizza, we’re going back to Prato!

On the way back to the car, we stopped at a Viennese-style bakery for bread and pastries for the morning. I don’t eat sugar first thing anymore, so I opted for a plain croissant even though the chocolatines were calling my name!