Beef Tartare? Best fries?

[wizpers]

L'Express: good verry flavourfull but not handcut....purée style ....good fries!

Frite alors!: simple but too much tabasco taste not equilibrated..greasy belgium fries mmmm, awsome mayos....

Leméac: Handcut! The texture's perfect, maybe a bit too flat sometimes, the fries are just perfect! And go there after 10pm, big 20$ special

Do you have more good adresses??? waiting for your hints!

[ademello]

The beef tartare appetizer is awesome at Globe, hand-cut and perfectly seasoned. The fries there are second to none in the city, IMHO the best I've had next to Balthazar and Odeon in NYC.

A close second is the beef tartare main at Holder is also excellent, but not quite as tasty as Globe's. Their fries can be outstanding but I've also had them overdone and soggy.

[carswell]

While you may wonder "where's the beef?" when viewing the menu, don't rule out Au pied de cochon. Their venison tartare is fabulous and their fries normally rank with the best. The tartare can be had as a first course or a main; I've always found the first course big enough, TYVM.

Also, though I didn't try the tartare the once I ate there, friends who have say it's excellent. As it should be, when the restaurant's name is Le Tartarin (4675 St-Denis, 514 281-8579). It's the dining arm of the Prince Noir butcher shop, which specializes in game and horsemeat. Not surprisingly, the resto offers both boeuf and cheval taratre. Can't vouch for their fries.

By the way, according to the Larousse Gastro, horse is "the purist's choice" for tartare. "Horsemeat lends itself to all beef dishes but is particularly suitable for raw dishes (such as the authentic steak tartare), as the animal is unaffected by tuberculosis and tapeworm." It is also reputed to be more digestible than beef and has "markedly fewer calories (94 Cal per 100 g, as compared with 156 Cal per 100 g for lean beef)" and a high glycogen content.

Edited June 8, 2004 by carswell (log)

[ABG]

I'll second the Globe Tartare... and keeping it all in the family, vote for Rosalie fries, especially when ordering the hanger steak and spinach.

[MaeveH]

Le Tartarin has moved to the Jean Talon area, not sure where exactly. I'll miss having them in my 'hood.

Prince Noir owner Michel Boulais sold mostly quarter horse, a smaller breed with a higher muscle to bone ratio, which meant more meat. He told me that race horses are also well oxygenated, the muscles are full of glycogen, which makes for more-efficient energy absorption (body-builders love it as it's absorbed in one hour compared to four hours for beef -- this also has something to do with the horse having just one stomach, can't remember the details) and a sweeter meat. He said the older the horse, the tastier, although foal is preferred in Italy.

The horse tartare at Continental's not bad, last I had it there (better than the beef). Never did get a chance to try Tartarin's tartare, but am perpetually on the lookout for horse.

[carswell]

Le Tartarin has moved to the Jean Talon area, not sure where exactly. I'll miss having them in my 'hood.

Wow. I should get out more.

Just spoke to M. Boulais by phone. Here's what I think I learned (the cellular connection was choppy): Le Tartarin (the resto) is no more. Assuming M. Boulais can find appropriate refrigerator cases, Le Prince Noir (the butcher shop) will reopen on or around June 24 at the Jean-Talon Market. For the time being, it will be located outdoors but will move indoors once the market expansion is complete.

I live on the blue line, so your loss is my gain, MaeveH. In any case, this can only add to JTM's allure

[Pots]

If you all watched the 3 stages of the Kentucky Derby,ending in Belmont Park last week-end,how could you dare to even think about eating horse meat.A cow is bred for human consuption,but a horse has such a personality.

[carswell]

If you all watched the 3 stages of the Kentucky Derby,ending in Belmont Park last week-end,how could you dare to even think about eating horse meat.A cow is bred for human consuption,but a horse has such a personality.

So, what?

Do you spurn pork, too? Hogs have every bit as much "personality" as horses and are much more pet-like to boot.

Horses are bred for human consumption, too, by the way.

[Ben Hong]

The Chinese would and will eat anything on four legs except a table. Horses have four legs. Much of the world will eat horse meat if it is available.

[tissue]

The Chinese would and will eat anything on four legs except a table. Horses have four legs. Much of the world will eat horse meat if it is available.

Hehe, especially the Cantonese.

[the caveman]

As I live up in Ste-Agathe and have become a bit allergic to the city, I don't get to try as many new restos as I would like. I have been a L'Express reg for 20 or so years, always eat tartare, always white wine (had to throw that one in)... anyone eaten a good tartare of late?

[Vinfidel]

Forgot to say - me too I like tartare with white wine... especially white bordaux or even champagne

cuts the richness and let you eat the whole plate

good with the garlic as well

[the caveman]

Where is Lemeac? and I'll try Holder. I'll ask a friend of MacM if Joe Beef is doing a tartare...wow, imagine gobbling a couple dozen oysters and then a tartare...

I find the best whites are southwest french whites (Irouleguy, Jurancon, Languedoc) though I did drink and exceptional Cote du Rhone from tardieu Laurent that was mind blowing with the raw beef... but I am always open to new suggestions.

[iharrison]

The best tartare I have had is indeed at Joe Beef. It was ethereal and perfect.

It may not however, be on the menu on any given night.

Au Pied de Cochon has excellent tartares as well. I have not had steak tartare there but the deer tartare is superb. I had wild salmon tartare there last night with roe and it was wonderful.

[Thesorus]

off the beaten path, Jun I is doing a wicked small tartare as an appetizer; a duo of beef tartare, one side is spicy asian-ish , the other is more traditional with olive oil and parmesan slices on top of it.

[Vanessa L.]

So glad that someone else said June-i. The tartare I had there two weeks ago was easily one of the best. Two very distinct flavour combinations, both fabulous. I was pleasantly surprised to find a sushi joint with such am in depth appreciation of red meat.

[iroc326]

Vanessa.....Japanese are specialists in beef preparation.....

The problem is that Japanese are scarse in Montreal, so japanese restaurants in Montreal are actually asian restaurants.