I decided to schedule one dinner on our return to Montreal. It came down to dinner at Joe Beef or Celebrity Chef and Madman Martin Picard's love letter to Montreal cuisine; Au Pied de Cochon. Since we were staying rather close to the Mont Royal area in Milton Parc, I thought Au Pied de Cochon made more sense.
The walk was a bit over a mile; about 25 minutes.
Our reservations were for 7pm. The place really has no sign, you just kinda figure you're there. And of course it was packed!
While the hostess seemed a bit detached, our Servers were so very friendly in the congenial Canadian way. Even stopping to chat about "stuff", specifically "Duck in a Can", in spite of being completely slammed.
The seating is a bit tight, we were seated near the bar. And it was tight squeeze for the staff.
As you can tell by the photo above. The whole area was blocked when the tableside salad was being made. The wheel of cheese brought on a cart.
The menu was a paean to foie gras and pork, with no less than 7 foie gras dishes on the single sheet menu.
It seemed like the locals were ordering steak and beefs dishes or pasta, while visitors were going for the crazy stuff.
And since we were visitors, it just felt right to hold to that course.
The Missus was focused on the foie here; but we only had one stomach each, so we'd have to choose well. We started with the Foie Gras Poutine ($24 CAD - about $18/US)
We just loved the poutine in Quebec, the potatoes seemed to have a more pronounced flavor and were sweeter, earthier. That young lady in Viti's Liquor in Vancouver was right; when I asked her where the best poutine was in Vancouver she told me "well sir, I personally think that you need to go to Montreal!" The gravy was on the lighter side.....totally against character for this place, but not overly salty, the fries were lovely crisp outside, soft and fluffy inside. The foie gras....well, was foie gras. Not the best quality, but with a good sweet-offal-ly richness, that just made this that much better. There weren't very many cheese curd; which were fine, but nothing special. We'd actually have better poutine the next night, but this was quite indulgent.
When it came to our main; I had thoughts of doing Duck in a Can, but in the end, we decided on the restaurant's namesake, the Pied de Cochon (Pig's Trotters), but not any Pied de Cochon, but one with, well, Foie Gras of course ($54 CAD - $41/US).
If you think this looks like a hot mess, you'd be right. The foie gras was over-cooked, the gravy was nice, but there was just too much of it. The cheese potatoes was just mostly gooey-gummy cheese and too salty. The pork trotters were roasted; then deep fried; but the result was a exterior that was too hard and an interior that was on the dry side. For some reason we didn't find as much lovely gelatinous goodness as we usually enjoy.
Perhaps we had just found the dish that was just too over-the-top for us to enjoy? The prices weren't too bad; about $100/US with beer and wine. The service was amazingly efficient and friendly for a place so busy.
Au Pied de Cochon
536 Avenue Duluth E
Montréal, QC H2L 1A9, Canada
It was good thing we were walking....I needed it after this calorie bomb dinner!
On the way back; we stopped by the local Provigo Grocery. While looking over the beer, I quickly noticed that all Unibroue beers were on sale for $3.99 CAD....that's like three bucks US! There was quite a selection of stuff we don't have here in the states. So, I bought two bottles. On this evening I had the Raftman, a smoked ale.
I really enjoy smoked beer when they are available. This being a Belgian style ale; it had that sweet-booziness, with a caramel nose, and an almost bourbon like smokiness. Being only 5.5ABV, it was really easy to drink as well.
It was a nice way to end the evening. We went to sleep early; we'd have a busy day ahead of us.
Thanks for reading!
foie gras galore!
Posted by: kat | Friday, 23 February 2018 at 01:20 AM
Probably unintentional but that pork dish is in the shape of a pig!
Posted by: Junichi | Friday, 23 February 2018 at 09:32 AM
So much Foie Kat!
It is intentional Junichi....forgot to mention that!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 23 February 2018 at 01:56 PM
If going up that way this time of year, you *must* seek out reservations at their Cabane a Sucre:
http://offbeateats.org/2017/02/cabane-a-sucre-2017/
Posted by: Rich K | Sunday, 25 February 2018 at 03:23 PM
OMG, that plate!
0_o
Posted by: caninecologne | Sunday, 25 February 2018 at 07:12 PM
Hi Rich - Thanks for the rec....I do know about the Sugar Shack; though this visit was at the end of May.
Hi CC - I cracked up when I saw that plate.
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 25 February 2018 at 07:15 PM