Two days ago was my 9 year anniversary so we were looking for somewhere special to go for dinner. We settled on a restaurant called Auberge Le Saint-Gabriel which is housed in a beautiful old building in the heart of Old Montreal. As a matter of fact, its on Saint-Gabriel street which was named such in 1680. Le Saint Gabriel is notable as the first Auberge in North America although I can't confirm that this is indeed true but I would believe their marketing materials, there is a lot of old stuff in Montreal.Enough of the History, Get to the Food
The menu features "nouvelle cuisine" which, in my esteem is some classic French or Quebecoise that is updated with some modern touches. And the decor matches the menu, with some nice modern touches to compliment the authentic building. I started with a traditional pea soup which was quite nice while B had a salad which I can't comment on as I didn't try it. We had decided that we were going to split our main courses. As part of the Escriteau 1754 menu we had the Ragoût de pattes de cochonnet et boulettes which is translated much less eloquently as meatballs and pig knuckles stew. The meatballs weren't fabulous but that's okay because there weren't many of them. However, the pork was fabulous! It was tender and flavorful. There was a nice mix of vegetables including mushrooms, full carrots, yellow zucchini and green beans. The sauce was a perfect consistency with a deep caramel colour. Brigitte had steak frites (steak with fries) with a Jack Daniels sauce which was equally good. To finish it all off we had a tarte aux sucre (sugar pie) and crème caramel. In my esteem, if you're going to have crème caramel, you might as well have crème brulée which is just that much better, I suppose because of the caramelized crust on top. It would be great if readers could weigh in on that question, what's better, Crème Caramel or Crème Brulée? I suppose a viable third alternative would be, "Stu, frankly, your question is irrelevant as the difference between the two is negligible."
4 comments:
Stu, a crème brulé is much better than a crème caramel. However, not many people succeed at baking this desert. I often find that the crust is burnt or there isn't enough caramel crust. There is a restaurant at the Old Port, on Place Jacques Cartier, called La Marée I believe, which serves excellent crème brulée (and magaret de canard). Happy 9th anniversary
Crème Caramel is far superior to Crème brulé and is not at all the same. In fact if only crème brulé is on the menu I won't order it. It is too creamy and mushy for my taste. Give me a good crème caramel any time. It is the perfect finish to a good dinner.
Stu, The Auberge looks like a magnifique setting for such an auspicious occasion - congratulations! Dairy is a no-no for me so I regretfully cannot give you my opinion on the caramel vs. brulee issue. What I can remind you of, however, is that if your beloved Grandmother Mickey Louise were alive today, she would tell you in no uncertain terms that Creme Caramel is the only dessert worth having. Prenez-garde là! - D.
We seem to be having a quite a heated debate on this topic. I'm delighted! I'll have a new question posted in the next few days.
Thanks for posting.
Stu
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