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| - Yes, one can't expect culinary bliss inside the Montreal airport. We were stuck between flights, unaware at that point that our four-hour layover would end up lasting sixteen thanks to Air Canada's rubber band breaking on their flying yak. Before realizing this fact, we took a break at Cabine M, and credit given for having a unique name. Not sure what the M stands for, Montreal or Marcotte (found on their menu). The décor was simple enough, and I liked the dividing wall offering some measure of privacy. However, I doubt the wall of wine on the near wall has ever been opened.
Beyond their simple menu, they also offer a chef's tasting page designed (apparently) by something called HMSHost, which I discovered later was some gigantic conglomerate responsible for menus and meals for other restaurants specialized in catering to travelers. Why travelers needed their own specialized menu, I'll never know. Apparently Cabine M (Marvel?) couldn't be bothered to design one on their own...I guess? Odd that they'd call it a Chef's Tasting since obviously the chef on tap at Cabine M (Mancy?) had no hand in the creation of this menu. Odd coincidence, HMSHost is owned by Autogrill, something I would get to know very well on my upcoming trip to Italy (the same one delayed).
So yeah, we ordered the tasting menu. For $26, it promised (apparently) four starter courses and your choice of one protein among three. Sounds like a steal. Here is where things get a little muddy: a tasting menu involves several plates over a long period. What Cabine M (Math?) did was throw all five selections on a single plate and serve it all at once. I ordered the rosemary grilled chicken breast. The tasting starters promised a "reversed nacho", roasted asparagus, Caesar salad, and a chef's potato. Let's call this out for what it was--a full page advertising a single plate of food. Talk about pretentious. The chicken breast was resting on the asparagus and potatoes, next to the salad with four tortillas resting in a small cup of salsa.
No, you're right, squirting tube-fed salad dressing over uncut Romaine with three croutons on top equates avante garde. Why the hell, did this plate require a page of detail? It's one plate of food. It wasn't bad, but holy crap, was that a lot of hype for what amounted to very little food. I counted five potatoes the size of D&D dodecahedrons. Three, count'em, three tortillas. Three croutons over uncut Romaine. Even the chicken wasn't very big, and this restaurant needed to outsource this page to a giant multi-national conglomerate?
I don't think I have properly explained how exaggerated this plate was. This entire offering required 55 words on its own isolated laminated page. The nachos, asparagus, potatoes, and salad were each given their own paragraph with header and description. Each possible alternate protein had its own suggested wine offering. Not even posh bistros in downtown London have the gall to put this much effort into a single plate of food. If it was stellar, an iconic upper echelon of gastronomic bliss, I could see about giving them a pass, but at the end of the day, it was simply okay. I can't stand it when restaurants go the artsy fartsy approach to salad--uncut lettuce with squirted dressing, forcing me to make a mess with knife and fork in order to enjoy a simple salad. Sorry, Cabine M (Mediocre...), get a real tasting menu designed by your local chef and try again, and use less words this time.
Food: 2.5/5
Service: 3/5
Presentation: 2.5/5
Value: 3/5
Recommendation: 2.75/5
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