Leméac

Montreal has loads of French restaurants, yet many of them are simply average. There’s your escargots drenched in garlic butter, your simple yet cozy veloutés, your meat under an unimpressive demi-glaze, your chocolate mousse, and so on. This formula is fine for some inexpensive BYOBs (l’Académie, par exemple), but at nicer establishments the stakes are a bit higher and the potential for letdown is much greater: le Mas des Oliviers disappointed us a few weeks ago for ordinary cuisine with subpar service and unfavourable prices.


I’m happy to report that Leméac, however, is well above average in almost every respect. Aspiring Foodie and I were there late on a snowy night a couple weeks ago to celebrate my birthday. We had a reservation for their 10 p.m. seating, when the menu becomes somewhat more limited and considerably more affordable (appetizer + main = $22!).


AF had been there a few weeks ago and was so satisfied with her meal that she ordered the exact same thing. I could see why. Her vegetable tian was a beautifully balanced appetizer of sliced and diced tomatoes, zucchini, and other veggies held together by a mild cheese and baked just long enough to seal the flavours in while preserving their texture. The perfectly cooked duck she had – complemented with a rich Austrian white wine picked from the extensive list – was so good, it brought her to tears.

For my part, the braised beef short rib was savoury and juicy and tender and delicious all over. The profiteroles we picked off the fairly long dessert list hit all the right spots. The one miss was my appetizer, ragout of escargots with tomatoes and a little short pasta, which was tepid and not terribly flavourful. It had me wishing I had ordered the tian. Still, the tartares and salads served to the adjacent tables looked very interesting, and we have no doubt that we’ll return to sample more of the menu.

With its rather posh interior and attractive clientele, Leméac is instantly very appealing. It’s in Outremont, well off the downtown/Old Port tourist path, which may have something to do with why it’s so good: a restaurant in that part of town wouldn’t be able to pack a late-night house unless it offered something special.