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Had an enjoyable meal tonight in this relaxed slightly off the beaten path bistro.
Started off with the lightly smoked scallops. They had a nice sear and a hint of smokiness. They were presented with a fish roe which looked like salmon roe but was much smaller. I had not seen this type of roe before, but forgot to ask if it was a variety of salmon roe or some other fish. There was also a fennel puree and a small dice of fruit. Honestly there was a little bit too much going on on the plate. The individual components were all nice, but there was just a bit too many things.
For the main I had the lobster and corn salad. This was a very generous portion of lobster which was cooked perfectly and mixed with a variety of corn, veggies, and herbs. A very pleasant and lighter main. My favourite dish of the evening.
I also got to try the sweetbreads. They were encrusted with a crust that was simply too thick. It was almost like a fried chicken batter, yet was slightly burned. The delicate flavour of the sweetbreads were lost in the batter. I love sweetbreads when they are properly prepared. Unfortunately this dish just didn't work well for me.
Many of the desserts once again sounded overly complicated. I opted for the simplest sounding chocolate pot-de-creme which came in a mason jar. The chocolate was the perfect consistency, and was topped with a chocolate crunch which was covered with cream. This was a very simple clean and nice dessert.
I got to try one of the overly complicated sounding desserts - the apple 3 way which was described as: caraway and thyme, dulce de leche ice cream, caramelized brioche, apple granite. The pastry chef was trying to do too many things on this one. The brioche was caramelized, but tasted slightly past its prime prior to being caramelized. It had a slight "not fresh" aftertaste as if the brioche was not fresh baked prior to caramelization. The apple granite was not found on the plate as it had all melted into a slightly too sweet liquid pool. The dulce de leche ice cream did not have any noticeable caramel flavour. The apples themselves were ok, but diced a bit too small to get true apple flavour from them. Overall this dish was my least favourite of the evening.
Service was also a bit awkward and artificial at times. Not the natural feel of many other places in Montreal.
Considering how many good bistros there are in Montreal that locally it is just 3 stars overall in my book.
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