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| - I heard about Bouillon Bilk a while back on Guide Resto-Voir. Finally got around to grabbin' me some tasty grub. An eatery this is not. This is a tiny little resto, maybe even a bit cramp, but it serves some very, very fine dining.
First let's talk service. The service here is sublime. The server will go through EVERY item on the menu with you and to top it off he or she has some sommelier skills and can offer you the correct wine to pair with your meal. This is something that's not often seen in today's "casual fine dining" scene, so appreciated, even from me who doesn't drink wine. What I do drink is Whisky. And when I asked about what malts they had, he veered me towards a delicious bourbon drink which blew my mind with its sweetness. The server really knew his way around the spirits and the food and offered us great, above-par, service. Enough so that I felt guilty on my way home, leaving the guy only 20% for tip. He deserved 25% easily, and more. Let's not forget that the very elegant owner who took the time from her very busy restaurant to discuss with us and get our feedback which was pretty much as follows:
GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD-DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN THAT WAS AWESOME!
Pardon my French.
First of all, let's talk risotto... yeah. Kind of a pet peeve of mine. Firstly is risotto, not risotto - can't stand the common mispronunciation, just wanted to get that one out of the way.I've had some great risotto, I've had some average risotto, and I've had some horrible risotto (I'm looking at you Liverpool House and your choke-on-your-food-its-so-dry-rabbit served on the most horrible risotto I've ever had - made more disappointing that it was prepared by a world renowned chef and the golden child of Montreal cuisine - that looked and tasted like Uncle Ben's 5 minute instant rice and was dryer that a nervous virgin on prom night, pardon my French again) but I digress.
We're here to talk about Bouillon Bilk and their risotto. Their risotto is the absolute best I've had so far in my life and there's a twist. It was prepared not with chicken stock but carrot juice. I know what you're thinking, carrot juice, can they do that? Yes and the execution was mindblowingly delicious. A masterful production of flavour; it was served with sunflower seeds, curly slivers of rice vinegar marinated carrots and clementine supremes topped with a tiny dollop of crème fraiche, which if you're smart you keep for the end. Let me explain to you the best I can, how brilliant this dish was... I had to sit back in my chair and hold back some tears... yes, yes, tears. I haven't eaten something this delicious since I ate the cromesqui at Au Pied de Cochon a few years back. The only bad part about this risotto is that I couldn't eat a bucket-full of it.
This brilliant starter was followed by an equally brilliant. Guinea hen with foie gras, polenta, porcini, figs, and walnuts. The guinea hen brings another level of flavour that the versatile chicken lacks, although I think I missed out on the duck my friend partook of, but seriously there's was nothing wrong with this plate. I don't know how they prepared those figs, but they were like crack, the porcini; heavenly. The foie gras, was foie gras... meaning awesome. Even the polenta, something which I don't dislike but don't particularly care for, was better than what I've had in the past and had a very smooth texture to it. The plate looked light on food, but don't let that fool you, there was plenty. All the flavours perfectly connected with each other and had distinct "terroire" brilliance that I find, again, rare these days. (For a terroire-gasm, I invite you to seek out La Vieille Histoire in Ste-Rose, Laval; how they prepare boar, is sublime)
Top this all off with a very playful desert; a mason jar of piping-hot fresh chocolate chip cookies. But to keep with the playful motif, I think it should have been served with a glass of milk with "mousse-y" head. I mean, if you're gonna make me nostalgic for my childhood, go all the way. But they were amazing, hot, melting chocolate-chip goodness, the kind of chocolate chip cookies you dream of but can never obtain. It's like chasing the chocolate-chip cookie dragon and actually catching it. Mission Accomplished.
In the end, a sublime meal with great food, perfect service in a very nice dining room (though a bit loud) a hop and a skip away from Le Quartier des Spectacles and the St-Laurent Metro. It's on a block you wouldn't expect to find a fine dining restaurant, but there it is... now everyone... GO... NOW.... RIGHT NOW.... you won't regret it.
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