My wife decided to surprise me this week with a date night. All I knew was that we were going to eat somewhere but she kept it a secret until we headed out. After a short metro ride, we found ourselves in the Quartier des Spectacles district at Cadet, the second restaurant from the group that started the excellent Bouillon Bilk. I had mentioned Cadet to my wife at some point recently – I mention many restaurants throughout our conversations so I didn’t remember exactly when I did so props to her for the wonderful idea.
As mentioned before, Cadet is the second restaurant from the team behind Bouillon Bilk – chef François Nadon and Mélanie Blanchette. They are known for refined and imaginative dishes with great vine choices in a chic and modern minimalistic setting. Cadet fits that description to a T but with more of a sharing plates approach. Cadet has been called a wine bar in some reviews but I don’t think that really gets at what Cadet does. It is more of a “Tapas” bar than a traditional wine bar but regardless – the wine list is extensive and the menu lends to sharing. We were recommended 5-6 dishes between the two of us.
The meal started off with a pair of cod croquette served with a buttermilk and dill dipping sauce. Some of the best we have had in the city – fully packed with tons of cod filling with a great crunch on the exterior. The dipping sauce had a subtle dill flavour and the creamy richness paired well.
The next dish was the kind of ingredient combination that this kitchen is known for and that from the outside, seems odd a bit but man it works so well : Broccoli with späetzle, labneh and pistachios. Great mix of textures and tons of flavour all around. I particularly loved how the labneh and späetzle – two items I had very little experience with – mixed together. A big hit for us.
The next set of dishes stayed along a similar path. First, parnsip served over rösti with sauerkraut, sour cream and juniper berries. The crunchy rösti served as a nice base to pair with the vinegary mixture of parsnip and sauerkraut and the cooling nature of the sour cream. We both really enjoyed this dish.
The next one on paper was super weird: Crab served with pineapple, sour cream, green onions, chips and lettuce. My wife didn’t love it but I really enjoyed it. There was some heat to this dish from somewhere so the use of the pineapple and the sour cream creates a nice contrast on each bite.
The next dish was our disappointment for the night – fingerling potatoes served with chimichurri and mayonnaise. Compared to the rest of the meal, this dish lacked kick in all phases. The potatoes were too big and lacked the crunch you really wanted. The chimichurri didn’t have the acidic bite so the contrast between that and the creamy mayo wasn’t as interested as he had hoped for.
The final dish made up for that slight disappointment. The best of the night: seared blood sausage served over basmati rice, squash, pumpkin seeds and green chili. Such a great usage of blood sausage. So unique and so very flavorful. The richness of the sausage, the crunch of the seeds, the heat from the chili, the calming nature of the rice. Loved every bite of this dish!
Cadet was as hoped for: an excellent setting with great food, great wine and spot-on service all night. My wife did very well with her surprise choice. Now I need to up my game for the next date night! 😉
Cheers!
Cadet
1431 St-Laurent
514 903 1631
Ramblings from the Complex Mind of a 30 Something 
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