Mercuri is the latest project of talented Montreal chef Joe Mercuri who first burst on to the Montreal culinary scene as chef/owner of Bronte on downtown Sherbrooke St .
Mercuri, located in Old Montreal on Wellington Street is by any measure sleek, bold, inviting and theatrical. There is even a house DJ spinning the music (excellent by the way) and a huge industrial and very dramatic open fire pit where most of the cooking is apparently done.
Mercuri is known for his panache and the creative boldness of his dishes so a big part of dining at Mercuri is being able to watch the chef in action.
However, this is not entirely how things panned out the night we were there. I don’t know if it was an ‘off’ night or if the chef was on vacation. I didn’t see one dish emanate from the open kitchen fire pit the entire time we were there.
The menu at Mercuri included a selection of ten appetizers and eight main plates with many nods to vegetarians. We started with a Red Snapper Crudo ($24) and Dumplings ($16).
The snapper crudo consisted of five extremely small slices of fresh red snapper garnished with thin shards of fresh plum, radish and chilies. The fish was most certainly fresh and melted in the mouth and the balance of sweet and spicy was spot on. A nice dish, but given the price tag the portion was very small. They could have at least sliced the snapper in thinner slices on the bias to give the impression of a larger portion. The Dumplings, with their unctuous rich blue cheese filling and lentil ragu, were superb, the flavors and textures perfectly balanced. A great start to any meal.
For main courses we chose the Gaspor Porcelet ($38) and the Piri Piri Chicken ($28).
The porcelet (pork) from the renowned Gaspor Farms was, as expected, sublimely tender and the accompaniments including ribbons of sautéed zucchini were perfect. But, again given the price tag, the portion was meagre.
My piri piri chicken was however a whole different matter.
Let me start by saying the portion size, a whole cut up half organic chicken, was more than adequate. But that is where the ‘positives’ end. Piri piri is a sauce and marinade having its origins in Portuguese cuisine that is also prevalent in the cuisines of many countries in Africa and should include in its ingredients lemon, chili, red peppers and oil, with some variations also adding garlic.
The dish I received bore absolutely no resemblance to this iconic dish . This dish is made for preparation in an open fire pit, but my chicken bore no semblance of the smoky char one would expect from being prepared this way and the glaze or sauce was cloyingly sweet, more akin to a sweet Thai chili sauce than piri piri. The accompanying perfectly cooked al dente black rice was served cold and was also sweet resulting in a dish with no flavor balance.
We accompanied our meal with a bold and fruity Italian red wine Agli Primi Barbaner ($56)
The desserts were by far the stars of the evening. Kudos to their pastry chef! The combinations of flavors (sweet and sour) and textures were outstanding.
We chose Burnt Marshmallow and Chocolate ($9) and the English Garden ($11). The first served as a designer ice cream sandwich consisted of two crisp and flaky chocolate wafers encasing layers of delightfully chewy bruleed marshmallow and chocolate mousse all accompanied by a quenelle of homemade ice cream, chocolate sauce and crumbled wafers…Decadent!
The English garden was perfection, a light and fluffy log of perfectly balanced sweet and sour lemon mousse garnished with nuts and chocolate…Yum!
Service at Mercuri is excellent friendly and informed.
I’m sorry that Mercuri did not totally live up to our expectations.
If it is true that the chef was on vacation this may explain part of it, but any restaurant should be able to cover for these scheduled situations and have properly trained individuals to step in while the boss is away so quality and choice is not compromised. Their on line menu has numerous menu choices indicated as being prepared in their fire pit, the night we were there, none.
We’ll give it another try when the team is intact.
Our meal came to $233 including cocktails, wine and taxes.
Mercuri
645 rue Wellington
Tel: 514 394-3444
Tues – Fri 11.30am to 3pm 6pm – 11pm
Saturday 6pm – 11pm
www.meercurimontrteal.com
Valet Parking Available ($15)
(Images courtesy of La Presse, The Gazette, www.tripadviser.ca, www.intomorrow.com)
