Au Pied de Cochon

My foodie friend and I ate at Au Pied de Cochon on Saturday for dinner. We had reservations at 5pm. My friend made the reservations on September 25, a mere 2.5 weeks before my trip to Montreal. He said that I was very lucky that he was able to get us reservations on such short notice. At first we wanted to eat at Joe Beef or Liverpool House but they were fully booked the entire Action de Grace long weekend.

We ordered Duck in a Can ($43) and Happy Pork Chops ($25).  We were also given a loaf of bread and some butter. The loaf of bread was quite delicious. The outside was crispy and crunchy but the inside was soft and chewy, exactly how I prefer French bread.

Duck in a Can

Duck in a Can consists of a slice of bread, half of a breast, foie gras, iced balsamic meat, buttered cabbage, head of a roasted garlic and 2 sprigs of thyme. Foie gras is literally translated as fat liver. It was absolutely scrumptious! My friend and I loved it.

Happy Pork Chops

Happy Pork Chops consists of onions, pork chop and mushrooms. It was delicious! The meat was very tender and juicy. My friend and I loved it as well. My friend was still hungry after finishing these two dishes while I was pleasantly full. I thought that we would have leftovers because of the online reviews that I read. He tried to convince me to order the foie gras poutine but I wanted to try the poutine at La Banquise instead. Overall, I would come back to this restaurant again but it’s definitely a once a year kind of restaurant.

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Brasserie T!

I wanted to try Normandy cuisine and Anthony Bourdain ate at the restaurant so I had gone to Brasserie T! with some people I just met from the Free Old Montreal Walking Tour. We went there on Saturday after the Free Old Montreal Walking Tour (2 hours from 10am-noon) for lunch. By the time we arrived it was after 1pm. My foodie friend from Montreal had reservations for the two of us at 5pm so I knew that my lunch had to be light. I debated between ordering Duck Rillettes (charcuteries) or Paris Brest (dessert). In the end, I ordered Duck Rillettes ($11.50 including tax).

Brasserie T! is a restaurant that’s located on the sidewalk. It’s very rectangular and the decor is very modern. It’s quite refreshing compared to the traditional restaurants you can easily find anywhere. Brasserie T! like Toque places high importance on food quality. They gave our group of five three plates of bread. My plate of bread was crunchy while another plate of bread wasn’t crunchy.

The Duck Rillettes was good. It’s like a pate. The dish consists of a duck pate and bread. It came with a side jar of pickles. The bread and pickles were crunchy. The duck pate was delicious.

Overall, I would come back again. Next time I would try their tartare and Paris Brest.

Olive + Gourmando

My foodie friend in Montreal recommended me to come here for their Cubain panini. The Cubain panini consists of pancetta, roasted pork, raw milk gruyere, lime, cilantro, chipotle and pickle mayonnaise. Unfortunately, when I went to olive + gourmando, they wouldn’t serve the Cubain panini to me because it’s on their lunch menu and they were only serving their breakfast menu.

I was in Montreal for the Action de Grace long weekend and olive + gourmando was only open on Saturdays during my trip and I had gone there for breakfast on Saturday since I had a target of a different restaurant per meal in Montreal. The servers at olive + gourmando were very nice, helpful and welcoming. The decor there is very rustic and reminds me of a cafe. They serve you water in a wine or olive oil bottle.

 

I had the “Poached egg on your face” Panini ($13.74 including tax) which consists of spicy poached eggs with sriracha and herbs, comte cheese, speck pork and roasted tomatoes. It was delicious. It was cheesy and slightly spicy. The egg was cooked perfectly. Speck pork is bacon which just complements the egg and cheese. The bread was the perfect amount of crunchy.

“Poached Egg On Your Face” Panini

You have to line up by the cash register to pay the bill. By the cash register is a large display of their pastries which include croissants, brioche, muffins and scones. The next time I come back to Montreal, I would definitely come back here for lunch and try their Cubain panini.