Au Pied de Cochon...tres, tres bon!

Warning: this blog contains mentions of controversial food items (foie gras) and the occasional sensual description of rich, fatty foods. Do not read if sensitive to any of these matters.



I had to wait for my food coma to lift before I could attempt to describe our experience last night. If you haven't heard Au Pied de Cochon is a restaurant in Montreal. It's just a few blocks off the Mont Royal metro station on Duluth and St. Hubert. We've known of this place for awhile and was a bit fascinated by it especially after watching Anthony Bourdain eat there on his show No Reservations.
(see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD2HxJoCD54).
The chef, Martin Picard also had a short series on Food Network called The Wild Chef. He definitely has a wild personality that shows through his cooking, you either love him or hate him. At his restaurant, Au Pied de Cochon he plays tribute to Quebecois cuisine. If you love pork, duck and foie gras then this is the place for you. There are those three categories on the menu and under foie gras there are 10 items alone. There are other categories but those three are pretty impressive enough.
We checked while passing by to inquire about reservations since we had none. The hostess told us they were booked but to call back around 10:30pm for any possible openings. We decided to come back later that night. We were already drawn in and intrigued by the menu. I know that sounds like a late time for dinner but this was the kind of place that you could just drop in and hang out with the late night crowd. We arrived back around 11pm that night after calling to check in. Surprisingly we got a table right away. Charles wanted to sit at the bar which is front seats to the kitchen but at that point I was happy to take anything. The place was bustling but not in the type of restaurant rush that makes you tense, the atmosphere was jovial and exciting. Even at our late entrance the staff were friendly and welcoming.
We sat down and pretty much knew what we wanted after studying the menu earlier. There was a couple at the bar having some shooters with another man. Where was our server? Yup, the guy doing the shooters...This was our server and he was obviously inebriated but still functioning as he came over and apologized for taking his shooter break. We liked him instantly being that he was open and honest about a)making us wait and b)that he was taking shots and finally c)you could tell he was an experienced server. I told him we were visiting from Vancouver and he told us he was there recently and went to Fuel Restaurant. Charles commented how he had worked for the chef at Fuel. Establishing the fact that Charles was in the 'biz' was probably the reason why his second beer was 'on the house'; the clubhouse has it's perks I see.
I asked the server what the 'PDC's melting pot' was under the title Cochon. He said it was his favourite in that category. It contained some different styles of pork over mash potatoes, their house made boudin being one of them. Earlier I had asked Charles what boudin was exactly and he said "you wouldn't like it, it's blood sausage". Seeing as it was the server's recommendation we thought we had to try it. The boudin I wasn't so sure about but we were here after all and everything was suppose to be really good. We ended up ordering 4 smaller starter plates and one main course. Bread and butter and a mini mason jar showed up on our table. The jar contained duck fat to spread on your bread. This restaurant is not for the faint of heart(attacks).
We got our Codfritters and Bison Tartare first.
The cod fritters were pretty tasty but nothing compared to the bison tartare. We were surprised when it showed up looking like sushi cone rolls. My mouth is drooling as I try to remember the taste of those cones. The bison tartare only makes up a portion of this creation. It was balanced with crunchy fried strands of something we weren't sure about, maybe sweet potatoes and the 'mayo' part of the cone were chopped pork rinds bound with mayo and rice. The bison tartare was perfectly marinated in a faintly sweet vinegar. I can't even describe it properly but the taste was divine! I didn't think that could be topped by anything but then the Foie Gras Cromesquis appeared. Another server; who politely asked "in French or in English" gave us instructions on how to eat these innocent looking golden cubes but now looking at the picture of them I think they were saying "just you wait". We did have to wait, 1-2 minutes because they were steaming hot and on instruction you have to "keep your lips closed while eating so you don't squirt out the melted foie gras" (so much better said by a cute French server). The cromesquis is a small cube of foie gras that has been breaded lightly and the foie inside melts when it's fried. I am not the biggest fan of foie but this is the best way (to me anyways) to eat it. Biting through the crunchy batter, (lips closed!) the inside was like liquid gold, that's all I can say. Charles said he can still taste it.
Our side entertainment came up next. Our server was celebrating his birthday! That explained his unorthodox drinking on the job. He was a great server, better then some sober ones I've had in the past. He checked on us and gave us the occasional friendly pat on the back. At midnight the staff served him a huge plate of braised pig's feet for his celebratory dinner. Even while enjoying his feast he got up and checked on us, what service! He didn't have to worry about us, we were having a great time. Our main was served next after a second massive bowl of bread showed up at our table.
PDC's Melting Pot, think comfort food, and don't let the small portion size fool you. Underneath that piece of boudin was a whole lot of mashed potatoes, a chunk of pork chop, another type of pork sausage, roasted onions & mushrooms and a fair sized portion of braised pork belly. It was a good thing we only shared one main course. The boudin was super rich and I surprisingly liked it. If anything the pork chop was on the dry side but the best part was the pork belly, braised meats are the best! We also had frites, fried in duck fat I should mention.
This was a gut busting meal; nobody should eat like this everyday, nor could they. They should rename it "Eat like a Pig" instead of Foot of the Pig.
A note about dessert: Don't miss it! I read a lot of good reviews about their Tarte au Sucre, a Quebecois sugar pie. I really wanted to try it but of course I couldn't eat another thing after all that rich food. I asked if I could takeaway a piece. Unfortunately they were out and the server explained by the end of the night they usually run out of desserts. I was talked into getting the very last piece of pecan pie. These are not desserts for the weak either. Their desserts are meant for two people. I had to eat that pecan pie with Charles the next day but it was well worth it. What a bonus that the desserts are good, take it out like I did because you will be too full to eat it there.
The other items to mention that we saw was the Duck in a Can. It's really duck prepared and canned then after it's been cooked they bring it to you and open it table side with a can opener. It's pretty cool to see. I'm not a duck fan but it looked really good.
That was a fun experience and we want to go back again someday soon. I even got a kiss goodbye from our birthday server (cheek to cheek of course) while he was polishing off his bottle of champagne.

~Then the two stuffed pigs, well satisfied with their meal, went off into the night; one carrying her precious pecan pie and the other one his new souvenir tee shirt.