| rev:text
| - As a Montreal native, I take personal offense to sub-par French food and service; and when I tasted Europea's macaron, it was a revelation to the extent that I needed to try their potentially divine cuisine. Europea was sadly booked out for 2 weeks so I settled for Beaver Hall (one of its subsidiaries) hoping it would the chef and the brand justice.
*sad head shake*
Where did the disappointments start...
1) no Sauternes wine.
2) foie gras was served as part of this weird ravioli filling that in turn was served IN A PLASTIC BAG, which was served IN A GIANT GLASS BOWL with HAM BROTH. This was suspect for a few reasons. For starters, there was spicy sausage, tomato, mushroom, onions and what seemed to be a sundried tomato pasta. All those bold flavors completely overwhelmed the dish and made the foie unnecessary. If I wanted a pasta appetizer, I would have ordered one. If I wanted a soup, I would have ordered one. BUT I ORDERED A FOIE GRAS in a province that produces the best duck and goose in the world bar none. So have the professional and culinary decency to serve it seared properly goddamn it!!! Maybe they were trying to hide the less than fresh liver they had on hand? Who knows. Wouldn't go back there for this offense alone.
3) powdery flesh of the poached European bass. Clearly this fish was previously frozen and thawed for a few days before they served it to me. Blech.
4) over seasoned everything. The butter was salty. The tapenade was salty. The table bread was salty. The salad was salty. When the heck is salad too salty??
The plus sides...
1) decent and attentive wait staff. They were bilingual and served food to our left (a detail typically overlooked in most American restaurants and most non-French restaurants) and picked up empty plates from our right. They weren't hovering uncomfortably nor did they leave our water glasses dry or rush us out the door.
2) beautiful food arrangement. I mean like food porn good. The chef clearly has a good eye for aesthetics. The saffron foam lapped up alongside a perfectly oval shore of fish next to a rectangular block of beautifully scalloped potato layered with evenly minced mushrooms. My mom's fish and chips was served on a wooden board with checkered paper, an ample mesclun salad, a miniature fry basket and tiny jars of ketchup and tartar sauce. My dad had perfect cube vol au vents next to clouds of ris de veau.
3) comfortable seating. We had enough space to sit and lounge but were also near enough other patrons to feel like we were in a homey environment.
4) reasonable wine prices.
Total bill for 3 adults, appetizers, main courses, wine, tax and tip = $191.
So, bottom line, I wouldn't especially go out of my way back there for a romantic date or an important business meeting but if I was in the neighborhood and was feeling a little peckish, I might step in for a small bite (not foie gras though).
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)