On our trip to our former city of residence, and Bill's hometown, we headed out for burgers at Pierre Jean Jase (rue Montreal, Sherbrooke, QC). The restaurant was a semi-regular haunt while we lived in Sherbrooke. The menu is simple in the evening, with pizzas and some homey dishes regularly on the menu, and Tuesday to Friday nights, burgers and European hotdogs (sausages, really). We always get burgers. I always get the Montreal (the burgers and hotdogs are named for the streets surrounding the restaurant): veal burger with goat cheese and tomato. The Moore (beef with onions and mushrooms) is also popular among our friends. They also have a tofu option and a lamb option, with variations of toppings from brie to sundried tomatoes. All the burgers are served, en assiette with either salad, fries or a bit of both. The handcut shoestring fries come with mayonnaise. There are four options, but get the tarragon (estragon) for it is garlicky and delicious.
The reason I keep coming back to the Montreal is the way the creamy goat cheese, which has that almost musty flavour, blends with fresh tomatoes and the homemade mayo, which features lemon (or some other citrus - I never stop eating long enough to thoroughly investigate) peel.
Bill had the special on this visit - beef burger with apple and brie. Yummy. The special often comes with a draft beer (they have Boreale Rousse on tap) for a set price. This time, the tap was down so we had bottles of Boreale. Bill picked for the Blanche (peppery and refreshing) and I had the Cuivree. The Cuivree is a strong malt-based beer and, what I didn't down before my burger arrived was perfect with the citrus flavours of the mayo on my burger.
Pierre Jean Jase is a perfect cozy neighbourhood resto, great for a quiet dinner out or a weekend brunch. The brunch menu includes frittata, omelettes and French toast.
A review (in French) of Pierre Jean Jase.
Showing posts with label restaurant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label restaurant. Show all posts
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Review: Valentine's Day Dinner at Opera Bistro
My husband and I went to dinner at Opera Bistro. I'll admit, it's a favourite anyway, but the five course fixed menu for February 14 was excellent.
We started with Goat Cheese Brioche, which were subtlely cheesy and had Bill swooning right away. This arrived with our drinks - Banrock Station Sparkling Shiraz. I am now in love with sparkling red wine. It was a little sweet, pleasingly bubbly and light enough not to be a problem with the romantic salad: mixed greens with avocado and bamboo shoots with a lobster rice vinaigrette.
Next was the Cognac Carrot Cream Soup, which was velvety and light. It tasted mostly of cream and cognac, with a nice bit of sweetness from the carrot.
Then the salmon pate arrived - salmon layered with rice, vegetables and herbs (what anything was, I could not say), baked in puff pastry and served with a saffron cream. Delicious. I could have just eaten that for dinner. But then I would have missed the main course.
Bill had the filet mignon, which came in a shitake mushroom sauce on sour cream whipped potatoes. Bill had his medium, and it was tender and smoky. As usual, I won the draw on picking the better dinner. I had the sausage stuffed chicken roulade, which was presented in a pomegranate balsamic sauce with a polenta heart. The sausage, likely one of their homemade lamb ones (they were so busy that I couldn't ask), was spicy, and nicely balanced by the chicken and the sauce, which was sweet-tart. The polenta heart was a nice touch - I love polenta anyway, and this was crisp outside and creamy inside, the perfect textural compliment to the chicken and sausage. The chicken came with just one bone still attached. I'm not sure what bone, though, since my chicken was definitely a breast and the bone was a good sized one. I almost thought she'd brought me a lamb chop by accident (and there was lamb on the menu, a rack with black cherry and black pepper - I saw one on the next table and it looked delicious). I was expecting a roulade - you know, the typical rolled chicken. This was better.
Desert was a white chocolate mousse heart on a lake of dark chocolate sauce. Opera is my favourite place to eat desert anyway (a raspberry tart I had three years ago still makes me drool), and this didn't disappoint - the presentation alone was fabulous. The airy mousse was topped with a thin layer of red strawberry gelatin. Hidden in the desert were a few fresh berries - raspberries and blueberries.
Surprisingly, after all of this, I didn't feel like exploding. It was perfect!
We started with Goat Cheese Brioche, which were subtlely cheesy and had Bill swooning right away. This arrived with our drinks - Banrock Station Sparkling Shiraz. I am now in love with sparkling red wine. It was a little sweet, pleasingly bubbly and light enough not to be a problem with the romantic salad: mixed greens with avocado and bamboo shoots with a lobster rice vinaigrette.
Next was the Cognac Carrot Cream Soup, which was velvety and light. It tasted mostly of cream and cognac, with a nice bit of sweetness from the carrot.
Then the salmon pate arrived - salmon layered with rice, vegetables and herbs (what anything was, I could not say), baked in puff pastry and served with a saffron cream. Delicious. I could have just eaten that for dinner. But then I would have missed the main course.
Bill had the filet mignon, which came in a shitake mushroom sauce on sour cream whipped potatoes. Bill had his medium, and it was tender and smoky. As usual, I won the draw on picking the better dinner. I had the sausage stuffed chicken roulade, which was presented in a pomegranate balsamic sauce with a polenta heart. The sausage, likely one of their homemade lamb ones (they were so busy that I couldn't ask), was spicy, and nicely balanced by the chicken and the sauce, which was sweet-tart. The polenta heart was a nice touch - I love polenta anyway, and this was crisp outside and creamy inside, the perfect textural compliment to the chicken and sausage. The chicken came with just one bone still attached. I'm not sure what bone, though, since my chicken was definitely a breast and the bone was a good sized one. I almost thought she'd brought me a lamb chop by accident (and there was lamb on the menu, a rack with black cherry and black pepper - I saw one on the next table and it looked delicious). I was expecting a roulade - you know, the typical rolled chicken. This was better.
Desert was a white chocolate mousse heart on a lake of dark chocolate sauce. Opera is my favourite place to eat desert anyway (a raspberry tart I had three years ago still makes me drool), and this didn't disappoint - the presentation alone was fabulous. The airy mousse was topped with a thin layer of red strawberry gelatin. Hidden in the desert were a few fresh berries - raspberries and blueberries.
Surprisingly, after all of this, I didn't feel like exploding. It was perfect!
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