Eating in Montreal: A feast at Maison Publique

 A weekend away was always in my post-election plans, and when I decided on Montreal, having a fantastic meal was at the top of my list. Often I would just dash in for a hockey game and eat at the St. Hubert next to the Bell Centre, but this trip was going to be different.

While, of course, the high-profile (and undoubtedly excellent) Joe Beef and Liverpool House immediately came to mind, with a Friday night as my only free dinner option securing advance reservations at either hot spot -- unless you're bringing Barrack Obama with you -- wasn't possible.

After much research and consultation, I settled on Maison Publique -- and I'm quite happy I did. Especially after I learned chef/owner Derek Dammann is not only a fellow BCer, but a fellow Vancouver Islander, hailing from Campbell River.

It's a very small, unassuming pub-like spot on a residential street that was quite a long taxi ride from my hotel near McGill. But as we pulled up and the driver saw where we were going, he said "Oh, this place is really good." -- a good sign.

After checking vaccination passports, we were shown to a table that was conveniently right under the menu, which is only written on chalk squares on the wall. Since my French vocabulary usually trends to more pedestrian fare, our excellent server was happy to walk us through the options, suggesting four to five plates shared amongst two people would be an excellent meal.

Given that the menu was in French and on a chalkboard, I won't be able to accurately describe every dish we had. But I'll let the pictures do the talking.

We began with what was probably my favourite of our dishes: the mushroom toast. I was a bit sad I had to share it, and tried to slow myself to savour every bite. A delicious medley of sauced mushrooms, on a delicious fancy mayo on toasted rye. Divine.

Next we had our second vegetarian dish, a delicious pumpkin-stuffed pasta. Delicate homemade pasta, flavorful pumpkin filling, cheese and a balsamic drizzle. I could have eaten two plates myself. My only though would be some nuts would have added a nice textural contrast. But really good.

Moving on to the meat courses, up next was baked cod with vegetables and a sauce that I forget but was quite tasty. The cod was amazing soft and tender, like butter. But I was a bit disappointed. I would have liked some crisp or roast; it was a bit bland and unseasoned and relied too much on the sauce.

I tried for a few minutes to find an angle to capture just how massive this lamb leg was. It was huge. The two of us did out best but couldn't quite finish it. It was expertly prepared, the meat tender and delicious. I'll admit I'm not a big lamb guy, but this was pretty good, and the showcase of our meal.

Finally, I did manage to save space for desert. A slice of cheesecake with red wine prunes, if my memory of the server's translation is correct. It was fantastic. Graham cracker crumb, which to me is essential to cheesecake but is often overlooked. The cheesecake itself as divine, creamy and smooth and close-your-eyes delicious. Fruit topping a nice complement.

It wasn't cheap -- definitely a #TreatYourself meal -- but the food and service were excellent and it ticks the boxes for what you want from a fancy meal out -- quality ingredients well-prepared for dishes you couldn't make yourself. Definitely recommend a visit when you're in Montreal.

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Eating on the Hill: Lamb, beef and Canadian whiskies

I haven't reported on many Parliamentary receptions lately -- partly because I haven't attended many, and partly because the food is often the same. There were some new offerings on hand though at last night's Grain Farmers/Spirits Canada reception, so I have something new to share.

The advertised highlight of the reception was a wide assortment of "exceptional Canadian whiskies made from Canada's finest grains." So I went with some trepidation, as I only take my whisky mixed with cola, preferably of the diet variety (need to watch those calories). I remember when I toured the Jameson distillery in Dublin some years back and they looked quite aghast at my request for mix when we reached the sampling room.

About to go to the Grain Farmers reception, where I will ask them to mix their fine whiskies with Diet Coke. Hope to escape with my life.

— Jeff Jedras (@jeffjedras) February 5, 2020

 Thankfully, last night it was a judgement-free zone.

They started me off with a simple Canadian Club and Diet Coke. Not a new drink for me as CC is a regular in my liquor cabinet, but it went well with my beef sliders. Carved fresh on site, the beef was nicely medium-rare, and after two on a bun I had a few more slices minus the carbs.

I asked for a more adventurous recommendation for my second and final round, and they suggested the Gooderham & Worts. Definitely a much more distinctive flavour than the CC, and went nicely with the Diet Coke.

And by this time several new pass appies were on offer. There were two spring rolls circulating -- the veggie was standard, the duck was a new one for me but just didn't hit home. I didn't snap a pic of the mini quiches. But the highlight was the meaty lamb chops -- again, medium to medium rare and juicy. Don't recall seeing them on the reception circuit before -- well done.

All in all an enjoyable nosh; thank you to Canada's assorted grain farming organizations from coast to coast to coast for hosting.

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Eating Off the Hill: Summerlicious Prix Fixe at Bannock

I'm in Scarborough for the summer, so expect some even more off the hill food reviews in the weeks and months to come. My first installment comes from a trip downtown to Queen and Bay to sample the Summerlicious prix fixe menu at Bannock.

I will say up front that I was disapointed, although that could partially stem from a misunderstanding of Bannock's concept and offering. I thought it was a somewhat upscale reasturant offering Indegenous-inspired dishes. Instead, it's actually marketed as midmarket Canadian comfort food.

So I went in with an expectations mismatch, and was surprised to find plastic menus and no particularly Indigenous dishes on the menu except the namesake Bannock -- more on that shortly.

Still, I was interested in the menu, which, as part of the City of Toronto's Summerlicious promotion, offered an appetizer, main and desert for $33 as a way of encouraging people to sample more local reasturants.

As my appetizer, I selected the "Fried Mac & Cheese  with aged cheddar and basil pesto." I was a bit put off my the two keptchup packets it came with. I mean, I realize this isn't the more swank place I thought it was, but I don't think Moxie's would give you ketchup packets with your meal. I had lunch at Darcy McGee's at the airport a few weeks back and they gave me ketchup in a ceramic cup. I didn't use these packets, so hopefully they were saved and not disposed of.

Still, as fried Mac & cheese go it was actualy pretty good. Other times I've had this it's more thin like a triangle, so the mac & cheese inside isn't particularly cheesy or pasta-ish. This though was done in cubes. which allowed the cheesy goodness inside to be enjoyed on its on merits.

For my main, I nearly got the meat pie, but ended up deciding on the"Braised Ontario Lamb Pappardelle with tomato, olive oil, parmesan, lamb ragù and rosemary. It was just OK. I would have liked more parm, and perhaps the addition of some garlic for added flavour. It wasn't overly saucy and the lamb was dry. Very much nothing special.

For the last course I selected their featured dessert, described as " Haagen-Dazs Extraaz Bananas Peanut Butter Chip Ice Cream with graham cracker, torched marshmallow and screeched strawberries." First of all, I don't like marshmellows so let's just remove the from the equation. The highlight was the banana ice cream. The bready thing it was served on though didn't seem very grahm crackery to me though. And the strawberroes, while perfectly fine strawberries, I don't know exactly what made them screeched. I didn't finish it as it didn't seem particularly worth the many calories I was no doubt consuming.

Whick brings me back to the namesake Bannock. Since I didn't know when (probably never) I'd be back, while I was sure to be stuffed by the prix fixe, when placing my order at the beginning of the evening I also ordered the mixed bannock box appetizer, just so I could try it. Unfortunately, they seemed to forget it as it never arrived. I didn't bring it up because it didn't show up on the bill and I was full enough anyways, but still, would have liked to have tried it and I did order it.

Anyway, overall I was disapointed by Bannock. Part of it was a mismatch of expectations on concept and menu, but still, their actuall concept was executed mediocrely.

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