For any food-lover, this is the most difficult and time-consuming aspect of any trip. It’s not drudgery, it just consumes a lot of energy, when you want to make each dinner special, or you have a long list of must-try restaurants that you’d like to put a dent in.
We’re driven by both imperatives, each trip to Montreal, and we felt that the stakes were higher this year because it wasn’t just us - we had four friends along for the ride. Yes, all were easy-going, all love great food, and most of them had been to Montreal before, but we still wanted to create a special experience for them, and highlight some what makes Montreal special to us.
I’ve already outlined the plan, so please allow this post to be about the experience of each restaurant; not a review per se, but a recounting of our time there.
Toque!
This was the celebratory dinner - the first night in Montreal for all of us; a chance to leave behind work, the 2008 Election, all things USA, and kick back. Toque was a great choice for this. Yes, it’s expensive, especially if you choose the tasting menu with wine, but we find that, more and more, we enjoy having the chef create the experience for us and match wine to it. In the best of circumstances, this can be the way to truly discover how a chef thinks and cooks, as well as the sommelier’s knowledge of wine. We were pleased with the experience at Toque; we found the atmosphere enjoyable, the food was delicious; and we were pleased that we could get a brief tour of the wine cellar and the kitchen afterward.
Pintxo
As I’ve explained previously, this was our choice to highlight the great neighborhood restaurants of Montreal. It’s hard to pick one and hope to do justice, but the point is to chill and enjoy it. Pintxo was great fun - we ate nearly every one of the small plates on the menu, and ordered seconds of a few of them. Several of us dived into a main dish, only to discover that we were more full than we expected; a few more tapas would have been excellent and we could have skipped the mains. The atmosphere at Pintxo is tight and convivial; we were a little loud, but then, so were our fellow diners at neighboring tables. No one cared; we all had a great time. The best part was the food, no surprise. There’s nothing quite as fun as getting exposed to new tastes in a no-pressure atmosphere. I wouldn’t call myself a fan of blood pudding, however nearly all of us had a taste because that’s all that was required of us - a taste. Plus, who wouldn’t enjoy seeing new plates of food arriving every couple of minutes? If Brunoise had survived a few weeks longer, we would have eaten there instead, but this “second choice” turned out to be really wonderful.
Au Pied de Cochon
I’m hesitant to admit that this was our second visit there… and still no foie gras. That’s another reason to go back. I think it would be hard to overstate our pleasure with this meal. All six of us ate till we could eat no more; we had excellent wine; we had a server who is a contender for Best Server of All Time - she fostered and magnified the sense of joy we had eating there, and her excitement and enthusiasm were so infectious. Martin Picard’s restaurant isn’t about pretension; it’s about eating good food. It’s loud, a bit raucous, a touch chaotic… but the food is consistently good. The cassoulet was tremendous; the venison tartare, delicious. I had bites of just about everything the others were eating, and it all tasted great, too. This year, we got Sugar Pie. (Last year, there were out of it.) In the company of our best friends, this rises above all other meals as the best dining experience of Montreal.
Gandhi
We’re fans of Gandhi - we like the food, the naan, in particular. We broke our rule and dined there twice - on Christmas Eve and again on Boxing Day. (It’s close to where we stay; I had a cold. It was easier just to go back than to venture out.) I think we were all pleased with the food, but it was one of those moments where you understand how important the ambiance is to your enjoyment of the evening. The restaurant was nearly empty - it was early, first of all; and on Christmas Eve, Indian food is often not at the top of one’s list. Well, we enjoyed the meal, as we did again on Boxing Day, but the traditionalist inside me wishes we had gone to Bonaparte again on Christmas Eve. As I’ve noted before, the Bonaparte menu is pretty much unchanged over 4 years of Christmas Eve dining, but it’s always full on Christmas Eve, and its Quebecois/French cuisine is what traditionalists like me enjoy on such a night. Perhaps next year.
Otto
This is the fourth year in a row of dining on Christmas night at Otto - the restaurant in the W Hotel. After three years of a nearly empty dining room, we were surprised to see the place get positively busy; so were the staff - they were calling in reinforcements. The menu has changed in recent weeks, and although we’ve always had good experiences, I think this was the best meal we’ve had there so far. We often feel like we’re copping out by going to Otto - after all, it’s a hotel restaurant. But on Christmas, there’s precious little open; hotel restaurants are our best option. Perhaps we could have been more adventurous - our list included untried restaurants at the St James, St Paul and Le Meridien Hotels, but Otto proved to be not only a comfortable dining experience, the food was also very enjoyable.
Final Thoughts
Unless our friends flat out lied to us, they enjoyed themselves at these restaurants. I think it’s hard to arrive at a perfect choice, the larger your group gets. But we were blessed to be a group of six hungry, curious guys, who live food, love wine, and genuinely enjoyed each others’ company.
Does it get any better than that?
[...] our restaurant thinking and planning since 2006, and you can see the 2006 redux, as well as the 2007 discussion and a review of some of the 2007 restaurants from the inimitable Howard Schaefer. It’s [...]