Warning: this post will be of the rather gluttonous variety. Copious amounts of food was tried and enjoyed on this particular occasion – even more than usual for yours truly. What was the reason you ask? Well for the occasion of my best friend’s wedding, I was tasked to find a good dinner option for the groomsmen, fathers and brothers the night before the actual wedding. One of my many Best Man duties as it turns out. After a little bit of last minute drama – my original reservation elsewhere somehow didn’t exist anymore the day before after I had called 2 months prior to book it! – I was saved by chef Derek Dammann and Maison Publique. Able to accommodate a party of 10 on a Friday night with only a day’s notice…. I will forever be grateful.
While a huge fan of their brunch service, I had never found time to experience dinner at Maison Publique. I was very excited to try the dinner menu and also introduce this wonderful restaurant to my best friend and the rest of the group. As I wrote in my original brunch post a couple of years ago, I just love the vibe and look of Maison Publique. I’m happy to see that it remains the same and even better during dinner. Great music, relaxed vibe – our group just loved the space. Such an beautifully eclectic joint for the neighbourhood. If I lived any closer, I would come in for a beer on a regular basis.
As a large group, we had two different group tasting options for us to try. Best friend’s wedding so we said F it and went for the bigger option of the two. We wanted to make it count. Prior to the food arriving, we went for a few… okay make that many growlers of Beau’s Brewing Company beer. The fact that Maison Publique has Beau’s on tap just makes them that much better – love that they support Canadian brewers.
As we enjoyed some drinks, the first batch of menu items came over. First up, we had the Maiale Tonnato which is boiled pork with pureed tuna sauce on top. It doesn’t sound that great but believe me, as the picture shows, this was a beautiful dish. Topped with some fresh herbs and some grated cheese, I loved the saltiness of meat with the creaminess of the sauce. Great technique showcased in a seemingly simple dish.
2nd dish of this first round was baked oysters. Such a decadent dish. Massive fresh oysters topped with bacon and cheese. Tasted like a baked potato but with oysters…. huge hit at the table. Loved the different play on oysters.
The final dish of the first round was raw Albacore tuna with lemon and horseradish. Simple and elegant – quite the contrast from the oyster dish. The tuna was beautiful – fresh and flavourful. Subtle hint of the other ingredients but the tuna was the star.
Great first round of dishes so the kitchen staff decided to give us a mini break with….foie gras on toast. Yeah clearly this meal wasn’t going to be light. If you hate foie gras, this wasn’t going to sway you. For the rest of us, simply heavenly. Rich and creamy foie gras with a bit of salt and parsley on toasted bread. Loved the simple addition of salt to play off the inherent fattiness of the foie gras. Thankfully a few people at the table didn’t like foie gras so I got a couple extra pieces!
On to the second round now! First up, Andouille sausage, herring (or at least I think it was herring.. my memory is failing me this time) and a mini slaw on croutons. Very nice mixture of ingredients and flavours. The fresh fish and the acidic slaw paired nicely with the very spicy sausage. The Andouille started off soft but left quite an impression afterwards. Unless you had a strong stomach, two croutons was as much as any of us could handle.
The final dish of this round was the beef salaison – cured beef with a black pepper rub served with a creamy slaw (again… I have forgotten exactly what the slaw was made of… damn poor memory). Beautiful texture to the cured meat and a strong peppery taste. The hint of oil and salt over top helped to dull that a bit as did the wonderfully creamy and cool slaw. Great contrast again in this dish.
At this point we still haven’t gotten to the main yet! First one was the baked cod with lima beans and leeks. Coated with a parmesan and terragon mixture, the fish simply fell apart as you took a fork to it. The nature of serving it as a whole fish meant that we had to deal with the fish bones – minor quibble but one to note for those of you who don’t like to search from them in your fish. Such great flavour from that fish. The roasted leeks and lima beans underneath were simply delicious as well. I need to start using leeks more in my cooking… I don’t think I ever realized how good they can be when used this way.
To pair with the fish, the other main we were served was the fried rabbit (pardon the picture – badly timed flash from across the table that I didn’t notice until the next day…). Served with some lettuce, the rabbit was game meat at it finest – tender and flavourful. The added crunch from the frying process brought a nice texture to the dish. Loved this dish as did the table – I think the serving plate was empty within 2 minutes!!
The final dish of the third round was a plate of seasonal winter vegetables. A mixture of carrots, beets, potatoes and celery with a small sauce. Very much appreciated the lightness of this dish after all the meats… and made me feel less guilty about the meal since I now got my vegetables in.
After all of this, we still needed to keep some room for dessert! First we had the butterscotch pot de creme. Smoothy and creamy, a wonderful dessert that I wish had been bigger!
The ricotta cheesecake was perfection. Fluffy yet creamy and smooth. Topped with some prunes and some maple syrup, a very nice combination indeed.
And lastly we had the des bois and amelanchier ice cream. Flavours I’d never had before and now hope to have again. Perfect texture to the ice cream itself. None of these desserts lasted more than 10 minutes despite all of us being stuffed to the gills.
Chef Derek and his team simply knocked it out of the park for us. From the level of execution throughout, the amazing flavours, the quantity of food and the great service, this meal was one that my best friend and the rest of the wedding party raved about afterwards. Simply for getting me out of a jam in my Best Man duties, Maison Publique would hold a special place for me but the overall experience on this evening confirmed that more than that, Maison Publique is one of the best Montreal has to offer. Thanks again Chef! and Bravo!
Cheers!
Maison Publique
4720 Marquette
514 507 0555
Ramblings from the Complex Mind of a 30 Something 
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