Unison

My family and I celebrated my birthday in advance at one of our favorite restaurants, Le Club Chasse et Pêche. It has been around for many years. It is a cosy restaurant, dark but not too much, and not too loud. We started with oysters. There were some that didn't have anything on them, but there were also some that came with a passionfruit salsa and some that were cooked with cheese on them. I didn't have any of the hot ones, but passionfruit being one of my favorite fruits, I had two of the ones with the passionfruit salsa. They were pretty amazing. The oysters were pricier than at any other restaurant I have ever been to, though. For my appetizer I had scallop ceviche with autumn strawberries, grapefruit and edible flowers. There was a bit too much pepper on the whole thing and the edible flowers brought a flavor I didn't particularly like. My entrée was duck with oat rice, ground cherries, and almonds. It was a great dish. The duck was crispy at all the right places. Duck and cherries are a combination that I see quite often and I don't particularly care for it, but using ground cherries made it different and much more enjoyable. The almonds brought a bit of crunch to the whole dish. For dessert, I had a maple syrup parfait with chocolate and with a sauce of red berries. It was very sweet, but I love maple syrup and red berries, so it was worth it. Le Club Chasse et Pêche is the perfect restaurant for special occasions, and I look forward to going back there.

Yellow

I first went to La Planque a while ago, with A and F. I didn't think my visit there warranted a blog post that time, because I only had an entrée with oysters. Let's face it, oysters don't tell you much about how good a restaurant can be. It is true that at La Planque, they serve their oysters with raspberry and mango vinegar, which is interesting. My entrée that time was particularly good: I had the fish of the moment, cod. It was served in a lobster bisque with small potatoes and spinach.

I went there a second time later with F and my parents. That time, I had oysters again, an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert. The oysters came with their vinegars but also with a homemade cocktail sauce. My appetizer was salmon with a coconut sauce, my entrée was chicken with thyme, chanterelles and pecans, and my dessert was made with strawberries. Everything was good, but unremarkable.

Both times, I was seated at the terrace, but the restaurant was surprisingly big inside and could easily welcome big groups. I was also very full both times. I would go back there if I wanted to indulge someplace near home (the restaurant is in Limoilou), but I think there are more interesting options downtown.

You and Me

F and I went on a roadtrip for six days at the beginning of July. We departed on a Friday afternoon and stopped in Rimouski for a night's sleep. The next day, we visited Murdochville's old copper mine. It was a short visit, and our guide was a bit weird.

We then drove to Percé where we stayed for the two nights. The first night, we had supper at La Maison du pêcheur, one of Percé's most famous restaurants. We didn't have a reservation, but there was a cancellation and we ended up with one of the best tables in the restaurant, with a view on the water and just underneath the original roof where members of the FLQ had drawn graffiti. The food wasn't that great, though. I had a sea urchin which had a bit too much cream in it and lobster with a maple and algae sauce. The lobster was a bit too rich. 

We finished our evening at the motel bar, at the Pic de l'Aurore. This is the third time we have been to that specific motel. We always end up at the bar talking with the proprietor, Jean-François, and his girlfriend Marie. Even though they live in what is considered to be one of the most far off regions of Quebec, they are more worldly than most people I know. 

The next morning, we headed to the Bonaventure island, where there are four hiking trails which all lead to a huge bird colony. We started with the trail which allowed us to visit all the abandoned houses on the island. We then arrived to the bird colony, which was a lot more impressive than what I had expected. This is what it looked like:

We took the fastest trail on the way back. I would probably go back another time to do the two remaining trails.

That night, we had supper at a place recommended to us by Jean-François, the Bistro Sacs à vin. It looked less touristy than most of the restaurants in Percé, especially since it wasn't by the water. I found the restaurant to be way better than the Maison du pêcheur. First of all, it was less expensive. For 60$, we had two soups, two entrées and one liter of wine. I had cod cakes, and they were amazing. I also tasted F's dish. He had homemade maple sausage. They were also really good and not too sweet.

We also talked with the proprietor, a nice French guy. I will be going back there for sure.

The next day, we drove to Shediac, a beach in New Brunswick near Moncton. The drive was long, so by the time we were done with the beach, it was time for dinner again. We went to a restaurant next to our hotel called Pisces. I had oysters and a bouillabaisse-like dish, which allowed me to taste all kinds of sea food: lobster, shrimp, scallops, salmon, mussels and calamari.

The following day, we went to Halifax. We walked along the harbor for a while. We were supposed to sleep there, but we thought it might be too expensive, so we got back in the car and went to New Glasgow, a pretty small town.

From New Glasgow, we drove to the Glenora distillery, which I believe is the only distillery in Canada which produces single malt whisky. We arrived in time for lunch and we both had a dish inspired by Vietnamese sandwiches. The sandwich had pulled pork smoked with wood from whisky barrels and pickled daikon and carrots in it.

We then visited the distillery and took a hike around it. We had dinner at the distillery restaurant, but it wasn't a particularly memorable meal.

The next day, we returned home. I liked traveling around the Atlantic provinces, but I don't think I will be returning there anytime soon (this was my second time in those provinces). Percé, however, is still a favorite of mine, and I would go back there again and again, even though this was my fifth time there.

Little French Song

For my dad's birthday, we went to La Chronique. It is a restaurant which has been around for quite some time, and so it wasn't crowded ike more recent Montreal restaurants. Before ordering our appetizers, my sister asked the waitress where the tuna from the tataki came from, and the waitress couldn't guarantee us that the fish came from sustainable fishing. She told us that the tuna tataki was a staple at the restaurant and that it would be difficult to take it off from the menu at times. Even with all those explanations, my sister ordered the tataki, as did my mom and I. It came with a bit of avocado, which is always good. I could understand why the dish was appreciated by most customers: there were a lot of pieces of tataki. For my entrée, I had Kamouraska lamb. It was good, but a bit small for an entrée.

La Chronique is a restaurant I would come back to whenever I really don't feel like dealing with the noise in a restaurant.

New Year's Day

I got tickets for U2 for June 12th because June 13th is my sister's birthday. Unfortunately, we had another family gathering on the 13th. My mom decided to make a reservation on the 12th at a restaurant near the Bell Center, Decca 77. They are used to having people who go to shows after eating, so they had a special pre-event menu. I had already been to the restaurant a few times before, and I had found it okay, not particularly remarkable. Now that I had a taste of their pre-event menu, I am even less impressed. I ordered an heirloom tomato salad as an appetizer. I thought it would be fresh and simple, but my dish was really busy, with a lot of ingredients in it. There were also blobs of a mayonnaise-like sauce. For my entree, I had fish, which I thought would be light, but there were also blobs of sauce around it and it also had too many different ingredients around it. The dessert was okay, especially because it involved rhubarb, which is in season. If I ever go back to the Bell Center, I would try to find another restaurant near it.

High and Dry

Last week, a friend form Alma was in town, so I invited him to join F, A and I at a restaurant I had been meaning to try for some time, La Gueule de bois. I had seen this restaurant a while ago when I had walked past it, but other than that, I had never heard about it. It looked like a nice place, though, and sure enough, it was. However, there weren't that many people for a Thursday night, which was a bit of a shame, but that also meant the restaurant didn't get too stuffy. For my appetizer, I had their homemade blood pudding with scallops. The chuck of blood pudding was huge. I don't order scallops very often, but each time I get them, I am reminded of how delicious they are. My entree was fresh pasta with shrimps and rabbit. To have shrimp and rabbit in one dish was a bit intense, but it was delicious. The rabbit wasn't too salty, as it usually is. I had cheesecake for dessert. It was one of the smoothest cheesecakes I have ever had. All in all, F found the restaurant to be a bit too expensive for what it was, but I believe the price was right enough. My friend from Alma liked the restaurant a lot, too. His biggest complaint was that they didn't have any local beer, which they should since there a lot of microbreweries near the restaurant.

Paranoid Android

Last weekend I had dinner with F and my family at Kitchenette. I started off my meal with a drink made with gin, cucumber, coriander and a homemade spicy sauce. The drink was very refreshing, and the spiciness added a nice touch. I then had oysters which were delicious, but the restaurant didn't have much to do with that. For my main course, I had a "reimagined" salad niçoise. I thought the salad would be really deconstructed, but the changes were more on the subtle side: a small tuna steak instead of tuna flakes, poached eggs instead of hard-boiled ones, and fingerling potatoes instead of simple potatoes. There was a twist in the dressing also, as there was avocado in it. The salad was very good. The dessert was great too: I had a cake made with coffee ice cream.

As for the rest of the menu, I would say that it shows a certain sense of diversity. There are a few dishes influenced by Mexican and Asian cuisine. I tasted some of the food that my family chose and everything was good. For instance, my brother had a burger. You would think that having a burger in a restaurant cannot really be a special experience, but this one had foie gras in it. My mom had a pizza which was a bit weird because it had Boursin on it, which is a pretty cheap cheese, but it also had truffles on it. I tasted my dad's steak, which I normally wouldn't do because to me, steak is a pretty standard dish, but again, there was a twist: the sauce was made with bacon.

Unfortunately, even though the space is nice and the food is great, there weren't many people in the restaurant when we went there on a Saturday night. However, it is possible that it is more of a lunch restaurant, as it is right next to the state television tower. I personally would go back there anytime, for lunch or for dinner, as I found no great flaws in the restaurant. Our waiter, though, was a bit weird.

The Twist

While I was in Montreal for Mother's Day, F and I also had dinner with a friend of ours at Evoo. We only had cocktails and a main course, though. I had a cocktail made with strawberries and basil, which was delicious. As for food, I had scallops with mussels, fava beans, grilled tomato purée, crispy shallots and kale. My dish was good, but it was nothing earth-shattering. The bill, however, was more surprising. The bill for F and I came up to about 100$ before the tip, and we only had a cocktail and a main course each! There is a nice atmosphere in the restaurant, but it certainly isn't worth spending that much.

Take Me Out

For Mother's Day, we all had dinner at Graziella. My father asked the waiter to put us in a quieter section, and indeed, it wasn't as noisy as most of the more recent Montreal restaurants. The space was also beautiful, with Riopelle paintings on the walls.

For my appetizer, I chose to have foie gras yet again. There wasn't anything particular about my dish, except for the Marsala Jelly that came with it. It tasted very strongly of wine, but it was original enough.

The waiter had recommended us to share some pasta dishes for our second course. I shared a risotto with my brother. There were shrimps and peas in it, and the sauce was made with lobster bisque. It was very good, very al dente, but a little bit salty.

My main course was a milk-fed veal chop served with chanterelles, vegetables, and a purée that was delicious, but which I couldn't identify. The veal chop was huge and the chanterelles were very nice.

All in all, I found Graziella to be a very elegant restaurant, which I would surely return to.

Awake

My office organized a party at Houston. Everybody kept saying how they loved the place, but I personally prefer Charbon Steakhouse. We had a special menu prepared for us. I first had salmon tartare, which was good but unremarkable. I then had wild boar. The meat was excellent, but the portion was too big. I don't remember the dessert much because at that moment it was time for the party to be over. I certainly wouldn't go back there for a date, but it is agreeable enough a setting for an office party.

Étienne D'août

Last month, F and I celebrated our five years together at a restaurant called Légende. I started off with a gin, elderberry and ginger cocktail. It tasted strongly of ginger, but it was still pretty good. We then had one of the prettiest cured meats platter I have ever seen. Every product on the platter was delicious. Next I had a foie gras dish with apple. A classic combination, but it worked. We finished off with a cheese platter. It was okay, but the main thing I remember from that course is the fire cider that we ordered with it. I had never noticed that dessert wine on any other menu before, but now, I will surely be on the lookout for it. As for the Légende restaurant in general, I would definitely go back there for their cured meats platter. It would be a great way to start off any evening. I am glad I got to enjoy this restaurant for the first time on a special occasion.

The Body of an American

For Easter weekend, F and I decided to go on yet another little getaway. Normally our first reflex is to go east, but at this time of the year, there isn't much to do there. We are starting to run out of places to go to in Quebec, and F hasn't done his passport yet. We settled on Ottawa, which is where we had one of our first getaways. We arrived at the Gatineau Sheraton on Saturday afternoon. After getting our room, we walked over to Ottawa and roamed aimlessly around for a little while. We ended up at Sparks Street Mall, a pedestrian mall that looked like it had declined in recent years. We walked through the mall and decided to go back up to the beginning of the mall, where we had seen an Irish pub. It turned out to be part of a chain, but the ambience of the place was good nonetheless. I had mini shepherd's pies, which were cute and good, but after a while the crust gets soggy. Here is what they looked like:

After that we sort of fell into a food and alcohol coma, and we spent the rest of our evening at the hotel bar watching the hockey game. The next morning, we went to the National Gallery of Canada, where they had a temporary exhibition on Escher. We also went through the permanent collections. There was a lot of everything: baroque art, Impressionists, American abstract Expressionists, and lots of interesting Canadian and Quebec art. We went through the whole museum pretty quickly, but at least we got to see a little bit of everything. After our visit, we went to the Byward Market for a little while, and then we took a walk on on Parliament Hill in an attempt to see if it was possible to visit the Parliament without a tour guide. We didn't have any luck with that, so we walked back to our hotel to get our car to try and find the Prime Minister's house, at 24 Sussex Drive. After a roundabout, we couldn't figure out where Sussex Drive continued, so we ended up in a fancy residential block which houses diplomats. We drove back to ByWard Market, where we got lunch in an Irish pub, which apparently is part of another chain of Irish pubs. In the Irish standards section of the menu, they had a mild curry, so that is what I got. It tasted just like my mother's curry.

Another food  and alcohol coma fell upon us. We then went to the hotel pool for a little bit, and then we headed to Gatineau's casino. We ate at one of the restaurants, which on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays serves a buffet. The buffet was good, with lots of kinds of salads, seafood and meat. However, it was a bit pricy, especially considering that F and I never eat that much at buffets. F then played roulette and blackjack for a little bit, and then we were off.

I now have a newfound appreciation for Ottawa. The last time I was there, it was an even quicker trip, so it left me with the impression that there is nothing much to do in Ottawa. Now, however, I have changed my mind about that. There are a lot of other museums in Ottawa that we could have gone too, and there are more Irish pubs than in Quebec City. It might seem weird that Irish pubs are the places we hung out at the most, but they are more fun than clubs, for example. Also, apparently the Irish ethnicity is the third answer that comes up in the list of ethnicities Ottawa citizens identify to, so it isn't that weird. In general, Ottawa is a nice city, just big enough.

Les étoiles filantes

The day after we went to Chez Victor, F and I were supposed to head out to Montreal for a birthday brunch. After a while on the road, we had to turn back because it was simply snowing too much. Since our brunch plans had fallen out, we decided to try brunch at a place we had been to a few times. The restaurant is called Chez Madame Charlotte. They have been serving brunch for a bit more than a month. The restaurant has been around for quite a few years, but it has only recently been taken up by some acquaintances of F and I. The new owners have vowed not to change things around too much. Brunch, though, is a welcome addition to the restaurant. F and I both had the same thing: it was a dish with eggs, cheese, sausage, bacon and spinach, all cooked up together. It was a delicious and comforting dish to have on a snowstorm. We also had a small fruit salad at the beginning of our meal. A fruit salad normally wouldn't be worth mentioning, but this one was covered with tropcial juice, which made it way better than other fruit salads. It was nice to take the time to have breakfast on a weekend morning, which is not something F and I often do. We talked a lot with the owner, because he loves politics as much as we do. A lot of the owner's political acquaintances often show up at his restaurant.

F and I went there for dinner twice. The first time, I had a lasagna, and the second time,  I had a typical Quebec dish, meatball stew. The two dishes were nothing fancy, but that is pretty much the point at Chez Mme Charlotte: to serve comforting food which could have been made by some Quebec grandmother. It is a nice place to go to from time to time and now, with the addition of brunch, we have even more occasions to do so.

Sail to the Moon

A few weeks ago, F and I went to a friend's birthday at Chez Victor, on rue Saint-Jean. Chez Victor is a chain of burger restaurants spread throughout Quebec City. I have tried a few of their burgers and have enjoyed them all. My usual order is the Brazil nuts and spinach burger. I love a good vegetarian burger. On rue Saint-Jean, I took a burger that is only made there, with deer, Brie and red wine and rosemary pears. I usually have my burger with two sides, fries and salad. I have the maple syrup mayonnaise for my fries and the lemon dressing for my salad. I love that their salad has sunflower seeds in it. The only thing I dislike about Chez Victor is that they always forget to leave out the mustard, which is something I always ask.

Age of Ice

One of the last things F and I did on that break week at the beginning March was try a restaurant called Toast! with my parents, who were in Quebec City for a visit. My mom had been wanting to try it for a long time. It is a very small restaurant, with very few seats. For my appetizer, I had foie gras. I don't remember my dish much. I know I am writing this post a long time after the fact, but my dish must not have been very memorable. I do, however, remember my entrée. I had tenderloin and braised steak. The tenderloin was very good. Unfortunately, I forgot that I had ordered beef two ways, and I ended up eating the whole tenderloin before starting on the braised steak. I would have preferred to alternate between the two. For dessert, I had a Quebec cheese plate.

F and I had a good evening with my parents. The food was good, but not spectacular. The place itself, though, felt intimate and cozy.

Je Veux Tout

My last blog post was about a getaway F and I had at the beginning of a one-week break of his. Since then, things have been pretty busy, because of the break and because of the following work week. I will be attempting to catch up on blog posts about things I have done during those weeks.

During the break week, A, F, a friend of A's and I went to Chez L'Autre, a restaurant that was opened a while ago in expectation of a new theater that was supposed to open nearby. The theater is no longer set in stone, however, and Chez L'Autre might be closing at the end of the month. That is why we all decided to have dinner there. A and I had drinks there before a show a few months back, and we had enjoyed our strong drinks. I had also previously dined there with F, but that was a few years ago. As for Le St-Laurent, I had some good memories from my previous visits, but this time, things did not turn out so good.

We started off with some drinks, which were as strong as I remembered. My second drink later that evening was also strong, but it also gave me the impression that I was drinking lemonade. It was a good thing taste-wise, but I am not so sure that it is a good thing for alcohol intake.

My companions and I all agreed on the same thing: our apetizers were far from stellar. A's friend and F had foie gras, and both of them did not like their dish, which is rare for a foie gras order. A and I had sweetbreads that were drowned in a sauce that tasted too much of wine. I guess they have a thing with alcohol at Chez L'Autre.

The main courses, however, were better. I had lamb chops that were fine, but not that exciting. A had seafood pasta that was generally good, put perhaps a bit too al dente. A's friend and F had standard bistro dishes: tartare and duck confit.

Dessert seemed like it would be a good course at first, but then also managed to disappoint. The first bite from my tarte tatin was delicious, but I realized later that I liked that first bite mainly because it was warm. My other bites came off as too sweet.

We all had an okay night, nevertheless. We enjoyed the restaurant's decoration, although black-and-white is not my favorite style. There was also a jazz singer that night. She was very talented, but I tend to get distracted when I have difficulty hearing the conversation at my table. The servce, however, wasn't very professional: things like pepper of parmesan always came a bit too late.

I think we would have regretted not going to Chez L'Autre before its closing, but now, having had a recent night there, I don't think we will be missing it that much. It is, perhaps, a place better suited for drinks than for dinner.

Come Into My World

A week ago was the start of a one-week break for F, so we decided to have a little getaway. We left Saturday morning at about eleven, and we stopped at Baie-Saint-Paul for lunch. We wanted to go to a place we had already been to, but it was closed for lunch, so we went to Chez Pineault. I had a good soup and a huge amount of mussels, and F had a burger, which had a good size. We then hung out in the town for a little while and bought some local products.

After that, we made our way to a hotel in La Malbaie, which is near a casino. We rested from the drive a bit and walked around the casino for the few hours we had before our reservation at Le Saint-Laurent. We had eaten there previously and I had some good memories from the restaurant. This time, I also had a good evening, but it wasn't really because of the food. For my appetizer, I had foie gras mi-cuit. The foie gras was okay, but I wouldn't really have called it "mi-cuit". There was a good amount of it, but I was given too much bread for the amount there was. I then had duck breast with truffle gnocchis. The duck was good and once more, the portion was satisfying. I was a bit anxious about the gnocchis, because I usually don't like truffles. In the end, they didn't taste too much like truffles, but I wouldn't exactly call that a redeeming quality. The gnocchis simply weren't smooth at all. Things got a bit better at dessert, surprisingly. A restaurant often disappoints at dessert, because restaurants which are known for their chefs often have another person manning the desserts. That evening, I ordered an apple cake, which came with a layer as green as a Granny Smith. The cake tasted a bit like an apple cheesecake and was a great finish to a so-so meal.

We spend most of the rest of our evening in the casino. In the later part of the evening, we listened to a band whose singer had more energy than the last one we listened to. It was the conclusion to our getaway which, albeit short, was a welcome break from our routine.

Wake Me Up

Last weekend F and I went on a random outing. One of our friends has a friend whose dad is part of a band and the band was playing at a recently opened place called Les Maltcommodes. They brew their own beer, but I don't think that their main goal is making good beer. Their beer tastes like any other mainstream beer or tastes slightly worse. I shared a pitcher with F and our friend and I found the beer to be very sweet. It had too much of a caramel taste. It took us a pretty long time to get our beer, even though there weren't that many people. F believes that the place is more of a restaurant than a bar. The crowd was weird too, with a pretty even number of young and of older people. I think the people there are simply people who do not want to go into town to go out, because the bar is in a suburban mall. The decor was okay, even though there were a few creepy elements, like eyes staring at us from the wall. As for the band, first of all, they had a terrible name: Beauty and the Beat. People wanted to see the band because the singer has participated in one of the many singing contests that are on TV. The singer wasn't bad, but she didn't look very comfortable in her strapless dress. One of the guitarists was very weird. Sometimes, he didn't even have his guitar and was simply dancing on stage. When he did have his guitar, he was very enthusiastic about his playing, even when the band was covering a Rihanna song.

Les Maltcommodes could have maybe made its way into my list of restaurants to try, because they brew their own beer. Unfortunately, having been there in other circumstances, I don't think I will ever be going there for a meal.

Je ne regrette rien

F and I caught up on Valentine's Day last week. We went to the Louis-Hébert, a restaurant we had been meaning to try for some time because  lot of politicians go there, and we are both pretty passionate about politics. It is a cozy little restaurant that apparently has a few separate rooms which can greet politicians who have confidential meetings. The waiter was really nice and on the verge of being too present. F and I ordered the same dishes for the whole evening. We started with foie gras au torchon, which came with brioche and what looked like a honey compote. The honey compote was very sweet, but it was nice element to have on the dish, especially knowing that honey is usually a Québec product. We then had a celery cream which was not too heavy and which tasted truly of celery. For our entrée, we had rabbit with squash risotto, Brussels sprouts and cranberries. The rabbit was delicious. The last few times I had rabbit, it was always too salty, but this one was great. The risotto was not risotto per se: there was a definite lack of cheese. The Brussels sprouts and the cranberries were a welcome addition.

Every dish we had was good, but the restaurant was simply too expensive for what it was. For that reason, I don't think we will be returning there anytime soon.

Everything In Its Right Place

My brother's birthday falls on February 11 and my mother's, on February 16. That explains why F and I have been spending Valentine's Day with my family for the last few years. However, since they often bring us to cool restaurants, I don't really mind. This year, we went to Salmigondis. It is a small restaurant, but there aren't that many tables, so it doesn't feel too crowded. The space is nicely decorated, so even though it is a bit dark, it still feels warm. The noise level is appropriate and we got to listen to some cool music, from Salt-N-Pepa to David Bowie to Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
We started with an oyster covered with horseradish cream and a mussel. I usually don't like horseradish, but the cream wasn't too bad. However, I couldn't really taste the oyster, which seems a bit of a shame. I then chose to have the trout tartare which came with gravlax, cucumber and a few lingonberries. It was beautifully presented, as you can see below:

The tartare was a bit spicy: a welcome flavor. For my entree, I had deer with beets and cranberry. There was a little too much cranberry, but the beets were good. This is what my dish looked like:

My favorite course was dessert. F and I were given two desserts to share. One of them was a caramel flan. It was good and not too sweet. That was the more classic dessert. The other one was an olive oil cake which came with a parsnip semifreddo. My brother found the semifreddo to taste a lot like parsnip, but I thought it was delicious.
A pleasant setting and original food: Salmigondis provided us with both and made our evening memorable.