It is very comforting and very reassuring that, in a city renowned for its first class cuisine where a tremendous amount of time is spent on the presentation of food, one is still able to find and
celebrate a local restaurant that eschews fancy presentations and sticks religiously to the food itself unpretentiously presented and superbly prepared.
I could not help comparing the style of cooking at Le Chien Fumant to that of David MacMillan’s Joe Beef where the ingredients reign supreme, portions are more than adequate, where pretension of any kind is most definitely frowned upon and yes, where even use dish towels are used as napkins!
Le Chien Fumant is, as I mentioned, is a local restaurant on a small tree lined street in a residential area of Le Plateau. It’s a small room with limited table seating, a large sit up bar facing on an equally small open kitchen. The ambiance is warm and ‘cozy’ with the lively buzz of mainly local diners adding to its ‘flavor’. Le Chien Fumant, open until 2am, is apparently a favorite of local chefs who regularly visit when their shifts are over. I can see why!
The food at Le Chien Fumant, as stated, is unpretentious and uniformly delicious, the portions more than adequate , the prices reasonable, the wine list extensive and the service uniformly superb and attentive.
Their menu displayed on a couple of blackboards is small, but represents an intriguing mix of International cuisines.
The chef and owner Maksim Morin, believes as I do, that there is no better way to understand the food and cooking techniques of different countries than to actually visit them to see and experience it all first hand.
From their eclectic choice of about ten appetizers we chose Calamars Chinatown ($16) and Donair of “Pork Belly” ($11).
Both could have been mistaken for main courses given their size. The Calamari was a delicious mix of lightly breaded crisp and tender calamari rings and tentacles tossed together in a salad of peppery watercress and fresh mint and dressed in a very addictive Asian sweet chili dressing. The perfect balance of flavors and textures.
The pork belly was presented as two over flowing tacos in corn tortillas with two wonderfully crisp and tender slices of pork belly sitting atop fresh and creamy coleslaw and served with a miniature bottle of definite ‘take me home please’ house concocted hot sauce on the side.
Also on their menu are three intriguing pastas that will have to wait for my return visit.
We skipped these and headed right to the main plates choosing Joue de Boeuf Miraton ($32) and the Tournedos de Veau ($26)
The joue de boeuf (beef cheeks) were fork tender having been layered with potatoes and braised slowly in a luxurious onion based sauce. A delicious and comforting dish on this cool June night. It was served with a mix of diced root vegetables. Simple and superb. The veal tournedos consisted of three perfectly pan seared medium rare tender slices of veal tenderloin nestled atop a creamy cloud of pureed potatoes crowned with a medley of baby green peas and drizzled with pan juices. Once again simple and delicious.
The wine list at Le Chien Fumant is extensive and obviously assembled by someone seriously interested in wines. We accompanied our meal with a full bodied Italian ‘oakey’ red wine: Copertino Meloquen ($51).
With barely a crevice left unfilled we forced ourselves to share one of their homemade desserts Gateau Etage Chocolat et Caramel ($11). A large slice dense, but not overly sweet chocolate cake with layers of chocolate and caramel icing topped with a refreshing dollop of crème fraiche. A great, but sadly unfinished end to our meal.
If you’re on the prowl for a meal of delicious well prepared and unpretentious food you couldn’t do much better that Le Chien Fumant.
Reservations are highly recommended!
I seldom, with a very few exceptions, find myself returning to a restaurant. Le Chien Fumant will most assuredly be one of these exceptions…I can’t wait to return!
Our meal including two cocktails, wine and taxes came to $191
Le Chien Fumant
4710 de Lanaudiere
Tel 514 524-24444
Tues – Sun: 6pm to 2am
Brunch: Sun 10am to 3pm
