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| - Our lunch at Bouillon Bilk is in a heated battle with our subsequent dinner at Liverpool House for best meal in Montreal. Since I was soberer for the former, Bouillon Bilk gets a wink and a gun as the de facto winner. Our larger party mostly hadn't arrived in Montreal yet, and as such, we took the opportunity to squeeze in a fancy pants lunch at nearby Bouillon Bilk.
We arrived right as it opened, sans reservations, and were lucky to be seated. Within 15 minutes, the dining room was packed with patrons on a Friday morning. So I think we made a good choice.
The menu, officially described as Canadian (New), was overtly French-influenced and not unlike the multitude of good "American (New)" places you find in major cities like Chicago or San Francisco. Separating the wheat from the chaff is often difficult, but in Boullion Bilk's case, I feel comfortable designating it the former.
Despite the weekend of indulgences awaiting us, we still went overboard with the lunch. For starters, we went Kayne-style ham, getting oysters, foie, and tartare (tuna or hamachi, can't remember which). All just fantastic, but at a French-inspired place, the foie better be a cut above, and it was.
For mains, I had a hard time deciding between the octopus and the duck confit, two personal French favorites that are well worth the coin when cooked well. I opted for the former while my compadre did the latter. Again, both dishes were wholly excellent. Overall, lunch at Bouillon Bilk was a great starter kit to a fun weekend.
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