As the newest member of a group of Montreal food writers and bloggers (Uh-huh... me... Andrea... a "food blogger"... huh? Actually... it helps that I'm tight with one of the groups founders... but hey - whatever works!) I had the opportunity to jump in on a reservation that was made MONTHS ago for 25 of us to check out Martin Picard's new sugar shack - a spin off of his original and decadent restaurant Au Pied de Cochon which is located in the heart of Montreal's ever trendy plateau.
Not only is a sugar shack meal/outing an annual tradition for most people living in Quebec, maple syrup has this amazing quality - it makes anything and everything taste that much better. We are big fans of maple syrup in our house. BIG. FANS. So although I'm not used to eating things like chicken feet (yes. chicken feet) and cow tongue (!) I was up for the full and genuine "experience" of Au Pied de Cochon and I went it with the motto "try everything once". I have to add here that Brandon (who is not so adventurous when it comes to food) totally impressed me by going in with the same motto!
We started with coffee. I had a regular one, but Danny's was much prettier to photograph! The waitress explained that there would be 3 rounds of food. I'm not sure that the "rounds" fall into the typical categories but each round was bigger and better than the last (dessert was incredible!). Everything was served typical sugar-shack style (or dim sum if you've never experienced a sugar-shack meal) with a couple of main dishes for everyone at the table to share.
Round 1:
Pea Soup w/ pieces of ham and foie grasUnfortunately this wasn't the best pea soup I've ever had. Maybe I like cheap pea soup, maybe my palate is not sophisticated enough for the likes of foie gras' icky texture... either way, I finished my bowl and moved on to the next dish! When in Rome...
Buckwheat Pancakes
I had to remind myself that these babies were "meal" pancakes and not intended to be sweet - until that is - they were soaked in some excellent maple syrup!!
Fried pork rinds and saladWhen this dish was brought to the table all we could see were the pork rinds (which in passing were the best pork rinds I've ever had). I actually think I was the first person to notice that the green was not simply lettuce leaves used for presentation - there was an actual salad under there! The salad was very good. A nice mix of fresh greens, walnuts, cheese and a light dressing. In case you're wondering - NO, I did not cover the salad in maple syrup :-)
Salmon Gravlax
I love salmon. I love smoked salmon. It turns out I also really like Salmon Gravlax!
A little thick for my liking, but definitely tasty.
I don't remember if I poured maple syrup on it or not. I just remember enjoying the fish!
Chicken "claws" coated in BBQ sauce
From a distance these looks amazing and tasty. As a big fan of chicken/rib combos at restaurants like the Keg, I actually got a little excited when I saw them coming. Upon closer inspection I realized that this meat was shaped funny. Aaak. Chicken feet? Huh? I'm still not sure I understand why these were on the menu. Although the BBQ sauce they were slathered in was incredible, the chicken feet were bonier than frog legs. Where's the meat? Come on!
Home-made Creton
If you're not from Quebec, you probably aren't familiar with this fatty paté that is served alongside eggs & bacon at almost any restaurant that serves breakfast. There was nothing particularly special about the Creton served here, but it was good.
Round 2:
Round 2:
Omelet with smoked sturgeon and pulled pork
I was so glad to see the eggs come to the table. Eggs are after all a necessary component of any sugar shack meal. They taste so good drenched in maple syrup! I wasn't, however, expecting my eggs to be "fishy" and unfortunately the smoked sturgeon kind of took over the flavour of the omelet. With that said, I still had seconds of this particular dish so I must have like it!
Beef tongue served with celeriac remoulade
This was one of the "huh?" dishes on the menu. While I didn't think twice about trying the chicken claws, this one was harder for me. I reminded myself that it was about the "experience" and that my motto was to try everything at least once. Still I was hesitant. Until Brandon went and tried it first. Sigh. What choice did I have if even he was willing to step out of his food comfort zone? The result? If one could get past the fact that they were eating tongue, the meat was incredibly tender and very tasty. I'm serious. With that said, I still only had a few bites. That's all I could stomach.
Maple lacquered roasted chicken with beans
This dish was a big hit at our table. The beans melted in your mouth, the chicken was divine.
So simple, yet so good. (& yes I had seconds of this one too!)
Cabbage head stuffed with porc, foie gras AND lobster.
(above picture by pretexte.ca)
The presentation of this dish elicited the response "what is that?" from both Brandon and I. While he refused to try this one (a long time hater of cole-slaw he really wasn't down with eating cabbage no matter what it was paired with, no matter how decadent). Decadent seems to be the best way to describe this one. The word everyone is using. And I have to admit that I liked it. A lot. I would have liked it even more without the big chunks of foie gras. I'm officially not a fan of foie gras.
Tourtiere
Also known as "meat pie", this is a traditional Quebec dish. I've had it more times than I can remember but never (EVER) have I tasted such incredibly mouthwatering, delicious, YUMMY tourtiere. I'm not kidding.
I'm totally kicking myself for not buying an extra one to bring home!
Round 3:
...as if I wasn't already bursting at the seems and unbuckling my belt...
This final round (DESSERT) was the best round of all - making the $49/pp brunch well worth the $ and trip!
Tire a l'erable (Maple Taffy) served on ice
This is an absolute must for all visits to the sugar shack. The syrup is boiled and then poured on ice to chill and harden, then everyone digs in with popsicle sticks and rolls up a nice big ball of taffy to suck on. Extremely sweet. Incredibly good. It's a one-time a year kind of treat in my books.
Fried pancakes drenched in maple syrup
These were incredible - moist, light and fluffy on the inside, a little crispy and drenched in maple syrup on the outside. They reminded me doughnuts, really really good doughnuts.
Unfortunately they were served sparingly with only enough for one per person... so we ordered a second round at our table.
Maple mille-feuilles
Somehow I missed trying the mille-feuilles. That won't happen next time as they were a big favorite for others in our group.
Maple ice-cream banana split
with with maple cotton candy AND maple marshmallows
Do I really have to say anything here? Don't the title and picture speak for themselves? Ymmm. My mouth is watering just thinking about this dessert. First - the ice cream was amazing. Second - the chocolate sauce was perfect. The bananas cut the super sweet taste just enough. I think I even heard someone say - "this is like heaven on a fork" :-)
I was so glad to see the eggs come to the table. Eggs are after all a necessary component of any sugar shack meal. They taste so good drenched in maple syrup! I wasn't, however, expecting my eggs to be "fishy" and unfortunately the smoked sturgeon kind of took over the flavour of the omelet. With that said, I still had seconds of this particular dish so I must have like it!
Beef tongue served with celeriac remoulade
This was one of the "huh?" dishes on the menu. While I didn't think twice about trying the chicken claws, this one was harder for me. I reminded myself that it was about the "experience" and that my motto was to try everything at least once. Still I was hesitant. Until Brandon went and tried it first. Sigh. What choice did I have if even he was willing to step out of his food comfort zone? The result? If one could get past the fact that they were eating tongue, the meat was incredibly tender and very tasty. I'm serious. With that said, I still only had a few bites. That's all I could stomach.
Maple lacquered roasted chicken with beansThis dish was a big hit at our table. The beans melted in your mouth, the chicken was divine.
So simple, yet so good. (& yes I had seconds of this one too!)
Cabbage head stuffed with porc, foie gras AND lobster.(above picture by pretexte.ca)
The presentation of this dish elicited the response "what is that?" from both Brandon and I. While he refused to try this one (a long time hater of cole-slaw he really wasn't down with eating cabbage no matter what it was paired with, no matter how decadent). Decadent seems to be the best way to describe this one. The word everyone is using. And I have to admit that I liked it. A lot. I would have liked it even more without the big chunks of foie gras. I'm officially not a fan of foie gras.
TourtiereAlso known as "meat pie", this is a traditional Quebec dish. I've had it more times than I can remember but never (EVER) have I tasted such incredibly mouthwatering, delicious, YUMMY tourtiere. I'm not kidding.
I'm totally kicking myself for not buying an extra one to bring home!
Round 3:
...as if I wasn't already bursting at the seems and unbuckling my belt...
This final round (DESSERT) was the best round of all - making the $49/pp brunch well worth the $ and trip!
Tire a l'erable (Maple Taffy) served on iceThis is an absolute must for all visits to the sugar shack. The syrup is boiled and then poured on ice to chill and harden, then everyone digs in with popsicle sticks and rolls up a nice big ball of taffy to suck on. Extremely sweet. Incredibly good. It's a one-time a year kind of treat in my books.
Fried pancakes drenched in maple syrupThese were incredible - moist, light and fluffy on the inside, a little crispy and drenched in maple syrup on the outside. They reminded me doughnuts, really really good doughnuts.
Unfortunately they were served sparingly with only enough for one per person... so we ordered a second round at our table.
Maple mille-feuilles
Somehow I missed trying the mille-feuilles. That won't happen next time as they were a big favorite for others in our group.
Maple ice-cream banana split
with with maple cotton candy AND maple marshmallows
Do I really have to say anything here? Don't the title and picture speak for themselves? Ymmm. My mouth is watering just thinking about this dessert. First - the ice cream was amazing. Second - the chocolate sauce was perfect. The bananas cut the super sweet taste just enough. I think I even heard someone say - "this is like heaven on a fork" :-)
So that wraps up my very first Au Pied de Cochon dining experience. The bad, the weird, the good and the am-A-zing! I'm a little embarrassed to say that I've never made it to the Montreal restaurant but you can bet that it's on my list things to do!
A.
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2 comments:
Andréa you are a real..gourmet..epicurious...wow...I would like to eat there without paying the $
I can't be THAT gourmet if I don't like foie gras now can I?!? :-)
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