Going to Montreal In March

[jenc]

I did a double-check on my res tomorrow too. Seems to be a-ok!

[violetfox]

Reporting back on the tasting menu with foie gras at Toque!

WOW!

Easily the best meal of my life! I had this with the premier wine selection, because I thought it a unique opportuniy to experience some wines that would be really prohibitively expensive by the bottle. This is a seriously pricey experience, but absolutely extraordinary. From the first amuse - crispy bread chips with cream and scallions, a sort of sublime chips and dip - through the amazing scallop seviche, cured salmon skewered on a crispy noodle, the truly "hallucinant" foie gras with brioche, ground cherries (I keep neglecting to preserve these when they spring up in my garden), hazelnut dust, the single best dish I've EVER eaten, a deconstructed rabbit ravioli, duck magret, Charelvoix blue cheese and chocolate feullite (sp? sorry) - oh yes, and the fir-flavored truffle! - truly astonishing, and totally specific to Quebec.

If you're looking in a dictionary for "peak experience" - this menu is the definition.

Montreal continues to astound me with a level of cuisine that I beleive is unparalleled, period.

And today, the APdC cabane...whoa.

By the way, the poutine I had earlier yesterday at La Banquaise was swell, too! :-) tres heureux!!!

[violetfox]

Reporting back on the tasting menu with foie gras at Toque!

WOW!

Easily the best meal of my life! I had this with the premier wine selection, because I thought it a unique opportuniy to experience some wines that would be really prohibitively expensive by the bottle. This is a seriously pricey experience, but absolutely extraordinary. From the first amuse - crispy bread chips with cream and scallions, a sort of sublime chips and dip - through the amazing scallop seviche, cured salmon skewered on a crispy noodle, the truly "hallucinant" foie gras with brioche, ground cherries (I keep neglecting to preserve these when they spring up in my garden), hazelnut dust, the single best dish I've EVER eaten, a deconstructed rabbit ravioli, duck magret, Charelvoix blue cheese and chocolate feullite (sp? sorry) - oh yes, and the fir-flavored truffle! - truly astonishing, and totally specific to Quebec.

If you're looking in a dictionary for "peak experience" - this menu is the definition.

Montreal continues to astound me with a level of cuisine that I beleive is unparalleled, period.

And today, the APdC cabane...whoa.

By the way, the poutine I had earlier yesterday at La Banquaise was swell, too! :-) tres heureux!!!

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ps - do I get a prize or something for the largest number of adjectives and adverbs used in a single post?

[jenc]

And today, the APdC cabane...whoa.

By the way, the poutine I had earlier yesterday at La Banquaise was swell, too! :-) tres heureux!!!

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Leaving for Cabane shortly... looking forward to checking it all out. Heading to Banquise later this afternoon to cap off our trip.

[jenc]

lots of fun at the Cabane, I felt it's worth going, especially to try some more traditional dishes (we got pea soup and tourtière today). Will let you know when I've written and uploaded photos. Got most of the trip up on flickr, just missing Joe Beef and APdC:CaS

[violetfox]

lots of fun at the Cabane, I felt it's worth going, especially to try some more traditional dishes (we got pea soup and tourtière today). Will let you know when I've written and uploaded photos. Got most of the trip up on flickr, just missing Joe Beef and APdC:CaS

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Hey, I was at the Cabane on Sunday, too!

Good heavens, that was a LOT of food, and utterly delicious. Loved the soupe au pois, now need to add foie gras when I make it! The tourtiere was great and I really loved the homemade ketchup. Cretons and ployes, too. OK, I loved everything. Really, really fun atmosphere. I'm very glad that I went.

It took me about a day to recover and be able to eat again.

[jenc]

Hey, I was at the Cabane on Sunday, too!

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Did you go in the morning? We were at the bar starting at 11:30. It was a lot of food for two and I really enjoyed the experience as a whole.

Anyway, photos are up!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlunar/sets/72157615955150180/

... almost done them all. Just need to finish with Jean-Talon and post-trip sugar.

[violetfox]

Hey, I was at the Cabane on Sunday, too!

←

Did you go in the morning? We were at the bar starting at 11:30. It was a lot of food for two and I really enjoyed the experience as a whole.

Anyway, photos are up!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlunar/sets/72157615955150180/

... almost done them all. Just need to finish with Jean-Talon and post-trip sugar.

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I was there at 1, and also sat at the bar. I did pretty well until the feves with duck magret and the quail - overwhelmed! Everything was wonderful. Thanks for the pictures.

[jenc]

I'm sure we saw you, (and I think you, us)! I really did enjoy the beans and duck... so tasty.

[violetfox]

I'm sure we saw you, (and I think you, us)! I really did enjoy the beans and duck... so tasty.

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Yes, I think so - I was on the right side of the bar, by myself with a monstrous tankard of ale (which I DID finish!). I was wondering if you were the couple to my left. The beans and duck were delicious, but by that time I was well on my way to oblivion. I could have eaten an entire tourtiere without blinking, and a good pint or so of the ketchup!

[jenc]

Just re-checking this thread for a friend and noticed I didn't post my writeups:

Chocolats de Chloe and APDC

I really loved the chocolates from Chloe and the intense smell of chocolate that greets you when you walk in is phenomenal. Highly recommend getting the passion fruit chocolate. Wow. Great, intense. APDC was merely okay (save the Oreilles de Crisse which was super tasty) until we hit the Tarte d'Erable which was awesome. Despite all that we made a res for a few nights later.

Kouing Aman, Marche Rahman, Fairmont Bagel

Had a croissant at Kouing which was good, I couldn't remember why I was at Rahman, but when we went in I surmised I must have chosen it for the beer selection. Fairmont Bagel ... maybe I'm being sacrilegious, but it's a bagel? Tasty, but not transcending.

Club Chasse et Peche (dinner)

I think this was the best dinner of our entire trip. I had this seafood stew that lingers on my tongue still. And that set the tone for the entire night. The rest of our dishes were awesome (though never taking the place of that seafood stew... so good).

Club Chasse et Peche (Lunch)

So we liked it so much that we went back for lunch the next day. Not as successful as the meal before, but still quite good. Really strong restaurant.

Patisseries Amal Bohsali and Mahrouse, Bilboquet, and Brasserie Artisanale Dieu Du Ciel!

Same day as above, but now for sugar. I like Bohsali's pastries above Mahrouse, not enjoying the too-syrup kind they latter offered. Bilboquet's ice cream was quite fun and tasty. I had been on a maple-taffy kick. Had a nice afternoon at the Brasserie eating regional cheeses and olives. Quite a satisfying snack.

Au Pied Du Cochon (visit 2)

Right, so we had a second reservation to try more dishes. I think this was the more successful of the two visits. I think it really depends on the dishes you order and the first night just fell short of expectations. This time we went with Oreilles de Crisse, Duck in a Can, (great!! I really enjoyed this dish), tarte au Tomates, and pied do cochon.

Joe Beef

A very casual yet interesting meal. At one point in the night, we were served an entire pig's head... And the rabbit was fabulous.

Cabane Au Sucre

It was really cool to experience this upscale traditional french type meal. Pea soup, tourtiere... really fun.

[AlexForbes]

Hi JenC,

Better late than never, a few of my thoughts:

Au Pied de Cochon is, as you saw, a traditional QC resto, even though it's quite young and hip.

Club Chasse et Peche does contemporary QC cuisine and is my absolute favourite in town - so glad you liked it too!

La MOntee on Bishop is ok, nothing special. You didn't miss much.

The Atwater market is... a market. Not too exciting, the Jean Talon is better.

It's not necessary to get yourself all the way to Fairmount bagels, they're sold at a myriad places downtown.

A site you might find useful: Montreal for Insiders

Edited December 16, 2009 by AlexForbes (log)