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| - Food: 4.5/5
Service: 4.5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Price: $$$-$$$$
This year was our first year celebrating MTL à Table! Though hubby and I had taken part in similar events in Toronto and New York, but as we were new to the event scene in Montreal (I know, we're late in the game!), we didn't really know what to fully expect.
There were 3 choices for each course, and XO also gave us amuse bouche and petit fours, kind of making it to 5 courses instead of the standard 3.
This is what we ordered:
Me: Squash and Apple Soup / Confit Salmon / Lemon Tart Verrine
Hubby: Antipasti / White Truffle Tagliatelles / Éclair
We thought that it was pretty surprising that the Confit Salmon was available for an extra cost over the White Truffle Tagliatelles as white truffle is quite expensive. I gotta say, we had to sort of fight over the white truffle dish as we both love the ingredient very much! (We didn't want to order the same thing).
Our amuse bouche was very unique; it was veal tongue with almonds, dried fruit, ricotta cheese? and other ingredients. I hadn't tried a lot of tongue dishes before so I was a little skeptical, while my husband was looking forward to it as he likes tongue. Anyway, overall the textures and flavours were well balanced and it was similar to eating cold foie gras. Both hubby and I liked it and would reorder if it was possible!
My first appetizer was very delicious. I had initially craved squash soup for awhile so it was a great coincidence when I saw it on the menu at XO! It was served with a Cheese Steak Baguette which was amazing. The sweetness of the apple complemented the squash very well, and the savoury flavours of the cheese steak balanced everything well. Hubby's appetizer was very well presented and again delicious. With tuna, figs, coppa and almond mushrooms, it was definitely a dish that hubby enjoyed very much.
My main course was good but a little disappointing. Having paid the extra few dollars, it didn't exceed my expectations nor did it have a WOW factor. The visual presentation was very pretty, and when my dish was came out, the waiter poured the warm broth over for fresh flavours. The broth was slightly Asian (I think), and it felt very familiar. The salmon was cooked well but a little too overcooked for my taste, but I did like the mussels and the mango topping for its fresh tastes. On the other hand, my husband's tagliatelles dish was so good! I wished I had ordered it too... anyway, the white truffle was in the sauce of the pasta, and it was so rich in flavour. It was one of our first times having white truffle over the black, and they were distinctly different. There were many different textures as well, such as the cauliflower and bacon which overall enhanced the pasta. Sigh, maybe I will go back before MTL à Table ends just for this pasta! (I must be Italian at heart)
My dessert was very delicious and I was able to end my dinner on a strong note! The citrus tastes of the lemon wasn't overpowering which I very much appreciated, and I think it was because of the yuzu that was used as well. The edible flowers was very pretty and the housemade marshmallow and rosemary used balanced the citrus flavours out. This dessert kind of reminded me of one that I enjoyed at Laloux, maybe that's what I like it so much. My husband's éclair was delicious as well. It didn't have your average chocolate filling but carrot cream! It definitely didn't taste like any carrot, and it tasted more like a sweet fruit. The dessert was definitely one of the best éclairs we ever had so far and it was a refreshing change from the more standard chocolate cream filling.
Our last little note of dessert was a chocolate truffle which was really good! Who am I kidding...I'm a sucker for all things sweet. What I liked about this truffle was that it wasn't bitter nor too sweet - it was a perfect balance of flavours while it was dense and rich all at the same time.
Overall, all courses filled us up while it didn't leave us bloated or too full. The quality of food that was presented was overall very high quality and it was a very pleasurable and enjoyable experience. All the servers were very intelligent and friendly, and they also made sure that whatever we needed was available. Compared to the full tasting menu we experienced before, of course there was a difference, but for the price of $41, the 3 dinner course was quite worth it. We were surprised to find that XO isn't a popular place for MTL à Table, but we were able to have a enjoyable dinner that wasn't rushed or hurried by anything or anyone. We would highly recommend XO Le Restaurant for MTL à Table or for a regular dinner separate from the event. I definitely recommend their tasting menu as it's fabulous and one of the best in Montreal. We had a full 3 hour dinner complete with more than 8 courses!
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