It was more bistro style food for dinner on Monday night at Au Petit Extra. Kim had made offered an alternative, a place where you could order plates of quails to devour, but I love bistro food and wanted more, so Au Petit Extra is was. So after a couple of pre-dinner drinks we headed on over. Walking in I was immediately struck by the setting. It looked like a bistro. It could serve as a movie set in that way. I guess the only thing was that since it was a Monday night it wasn't noisy. But one could easily imagine it to be a crowded and alive on a Saturday night.
After reading the menu off the chalkboard on the wall, we quickly ordered our meal which began with a salad that came with all meals. This one was better than most with thinly sliced fennel and little orange segments on top. I normally don't enjoy salads, but this was nice. The licorice flavour of the fennel against the citrus was a great combination.
My starter was the fish soup. I had ordered a fish soup a couple of months ago in Vancouver and was greatly disappointed and was looking for a good one. This time I found it. Thick with fish, the flavour was overwhelming even with the little croutons with the garlicky rouille and cheese. Daphne found it a little much, not balanced with the fennel and saffron in the broth, but I really loved it. The guys in Vancouver could really learn a thing or two about making a proper fish soup. This was what I had been wanting when I ordered it in Vancouver, but perhaps I was asking for too much.
Daphne had the escargot. A fun little dish with garlic, white wine and I think it was cheese. They was nicely cooked, but overdone. Eating them I was reminded of our last meal at Beckta in which they did a dish with escargot and ox tails. Very different, but the taste and texture of the escargot brought back that rather pleasant memory.
Les went for it and ordered the foie gras. It was slices of foie gras stacked with toast and a dried fruit chutney. I love cold preparations of foie gras and the taste of the dish didn't disappoint. There is something about the cold preparations that I just prefer over the seared foie gras if I am given the choice. I liked the dried fruit with the richness of the dish. The sweet flavour played well againt the fat. I guess that's why they served wines like Sauterrnes with foie gras.
For my main I had the steak that with a little help from Les was able to ask for rare. It had a seven-spice sauce that elevated it beyond just a piece of nicely grilled meat. I'm not sure what they were, but it was a little different from what expected. Daphne had the chicken that came stuffed with a goat cheese and herb mixture. Kim had a fish course. Everyone seemed quite happy with their dishes.
To drink Kim ordered a red wine from France. For the life of me I can't remember the producer, but I think it was from the Cahors region. It was a big bold red that went well with the beef and was almost New World tasting. It is apparently a new and up and coming wine region, so perhaps that's why I thought that of the wine.
We all had to have dessert. At $4.75 for a dessert, I thought it a steal. Both Les and I had the lemon tart. I love really tart lemon tarts. This one wasn't bad. It was a little creamy in texture though. I prefer it a little less so. But it was appropriately sour and had a nice shortbread crust and a bit of creme anglaise and whipped cream to go with it.
Daphne had the chocolate dessert. It was a chocolate cake with several different layers of different kinds of chocolate and all kinds of textures. The cake really was terrific. And Kim had the raspberry tirimasu. I found it remarkably light. The raspberry flavour I think went a long way in helping accomplish that.
I loved Au Petit Extra. It was a fun bistro experience that I would repeat in a heart beat.
Au Petit Extra. 1690 rue Ontario Est. Montreal. 514-527-5552.
For future trips to Montreal...
The quail-a-palooza resto is Chez Doval. Grilled quails and succulent calamari like you've never tasted before.
Next time!!!
Kim
Posted by: Kim | November 22, 2006 at 06:14 PM
Mauvaise presentation,aucun style, sans connaitre l'endroit en voyant seulement les photos on n'a pas envie de visiter le Tout Petit Extra
Chef Francais
Posted by: JL Hue | January 20, 2012 at 09:48 AM