When you ask a Montrealer the question about where to eat in their city, there will always be common places that come to mind. Le Club Chasse et Peche is undeniably one of them, know for its seasonal market cuisine it's been reviewed time and time again. Although the food is remarkable it's one of those places you go with an occasion.
For myself and many Montrealers, we all seem to be searching for more of a low key approach to wining and dinning nowadays while still keeping a certain quality to what you're having for dinner. Insert - Le Filet, the new sister restaurant by Hubert Marsolais and Claude Pelletier from Le Club Chasse et Peche.
It wasn't love at first sight when I first walked in, the decor is contemporary confused, composed of burgundy reds, gold and silver walls and oversized marine photography hanging over the bar leave you slightly unsure, the open kitchen though, compensates for it all. Overall it has the appeal of a hip new Restaurant in the meatpacking district in New York.
We had dinner on a tuesday night which seemed like a busy week end, the restaurant was full of tables of 2's and 4's. Our group of 12 didn't necessarily blend in. The place seats 60.
Our waiter informs us to order 2 to 3 plates each in pairs or more to be able to share everything since the menu is divided in different categories of tapas, 75% of which is mainly fish and seafood. We gladly obliged.
We proceeded with 10 dishes in total for 3, starting with oysters, 2 ways; au naturel and miso gratin. The last one was amazing, buttery and simply melted in your mouth cooked to perfection.
The next course was a salad made of scallops, beets, orange and avocado, the idea of it on paper sounded great but the flavour combination of it all just seemed to fall flat. Our thai style shrimp soup was excellent, the broth was fragrant and slightly spicy.
For our raw dishes, the ginger sesame Wagya tataki and wasabi Japanese plum fluke were a hit, the sauces were perfect, none overpowering any of the main ingredient.
Onto our warm dishes, the macadamia cod was by far the star of the night, pan seared to perfection and slightly crispy on top was balanced with a slightly sweet celery root puree and salty chorizo flakes. The escargot tartelette was reminiscent to the traditional vol au vent, nothing spectacular but some things don't always need to be. The pasta dishes; foie gras cavatelli was rich but in the right dose but our squash ravioli was overly executed well but much too sweet for my taste.
Our overall bill for 3 came up to 350$, which includes 2 bottles of wine at 80$ each which is pretty expensive for the low key type of meal we had in mind. Overall, stellar food, slightly tacky decor and the service couldn't be judged considering we were 12 people which isn't a commodity for this type of place. I would come back for a dinner for 2, or 4 at the most.
