On our first day in Montreal, my friend and I were lucky to snag a table at L'express, the venerable french bistro establishment.
As we walked in, I greeted the maitre' d in French but once he responded back, I smiled sheepishly and spoke in English asking for a table. He said he will check and said we were lucky that there was a cancellation.
It was packed for lunch and mostly by older clientele and families. We were given menus in English and as we pored over the menu, I immediately gravitated towards steak. My friend chose the quail with wild rice.
While we waited for our main course, we had bread and butter to tide us over and the butter was exceptional
Then when the dishes were served; it was complete and utter perfection. I asked that my steak would be medium rare and I had a side of aioli sauce to complement my fries. My friend's dish was artfully presented and we shared our plates as it was our usual custom when we dine together.
Afterwards, we asked out waiter what he recommended for dessert and he explained a few but he said his favorite was apple pie. He explained as the dish was prepared, the dessert was flipped over then baked. We were intrigued and after some consultation we decided for the apple pie dessert and my friend ordered a coffee.
The apple pie dessert truly melted in your mouth. The apple pies that I have eaten usually had clumps of apple and cinnamon that you could see but the pie melted in your mouth.
It was truly a heavenly meal and can't wait to come back to Montreal to try the rest of the menu