Chez Céline

Just because a restaurant is "French" doesn't mean that it necessarily representative of France itself.  Take St. Lawrence for instance, they are French Canadian (Québécois) restaurant with definite French influences, but in reality, a unique cuisine in itself.   Now St. Lawrence is a Michelin-starred establishment which isn't a place that is your usual daily dining spot (unless you are loaded).  Well, they now have such a place named Chez Céline out in the Fraserhood.  More approachable eats, yet at the same time, capturing the charm of bistros found in Montreal, Chez Céline did elicit memories of Montréal (as I was there recently, and yes, the posts are coming!).

To start us off, we got an Amuse Bouche of Fried Chickpea Fritter.  These were well-salted and almost creamy on the inside.  Perfectly crispy on the outside.  Onto our first appie, we had the Croque Monsieur Croquettes.  These were cleverly presented with a creamy béchamel filled croquette topped with ham and gruyère.  This definitely captured the spirit of a Croque Monsieur where it was more crispy and slightly deconstructed.

With all of the available options to accompany the Sourdough Flatbread, we went for the Rillettes de Carnard (Duck Rillette).  First and foremost, the bread itself was fluffy and appealingly chewy in the middle while sporting the ever-so-lightly crispy crust on the outside.  As for the rillette, it was plenty meaty and quite moist.  Hence, it had the desired succulence associated with well-prepared duck.  Unlike other duck rillette I've had, this was not overly fatty.  Flavourwise, it was naturally gamy with balanced sweetness and savouriness.

Sporting the same bread, the Terrine de Campange was a hearty slice.  It was plenty meaty and ate quite well in chunks rather than being spread onto the bread.  In actuality, this isn't supposed to be spread anyways due to its density.  Lots of natural flavours was accented by a touch of earthiness from the herbs and also the background flavour of cooked-down alcohol. 

Topped with anchovies, the Beef Tartare was prepared so that there were discernible pieces of beef present.  This gave the dish plenty of meat chew, yet at the same time being tender and buttery.  It was mildly seasoned where the tanginess of the white anchovies added acidity and also just a touch of salt (as they are not the salty type of achovies).

Really enjoyed the Charred Radishes served atop EVOO and tonnato.  Juicy and tender, the radishes were aggressively charred and hence, were smoky with plenty of depth.  The earthiness of the radish still came through in a sweet and bright manner.  Oh that tonnato was creamy and flavourful with just a touch of brininess.  It was also great with any bread we had left.

We went for both pastas including the Pappardelle with red-wine braised short rib.  The wide ribbons of pasta were al dente but still had a tenderness to them.  Nice bounciness.  They were inherently flavourful for the salt in the water, but the shortrib did add plenty of meatiness and rich braised flavours.  Loved the acidity to the dish from the cooked down wine as it kept it from being too heavy.  The meat itself was super tender.

Even though the Cavatelli was functionally prepared well, the dish itself was quite subtle.  It did have the promised mushroom and earthy flavours, but it was mildly impactful.  Compared to the mushroom pasta I had at Dovetail recently, this was only 1/4 of the impact.  It wasn't as if this wasn't good though as the pasta as al dente and they didn't overdo it with the truffle.

My favourite dish was the 18oz bone-in Pork Chop.  It featured a modest brine which kept the meat juicy and tender.  It also added aromatics in the form of thyme and sage.  However, the maple apple cider sauce was the star as it was sticky, sweet and full of umami.  Nice acidity too as it kept things from being overly rich.  I really enjoyed the bone as it ate like a sweet and sticky rib.

The T-Bone Steak was prepared to medium-rare as we requested.  Pretty even cook despite consisting of both tenderloin and striploin steaks.   If you look closely, this was more like a porterhouse as it had big portions of both striploin and tenderloin. Naturally, the tenderloin was softer and required very little chewing.  Striploin was predictably more meaty, but it was still plenty tender.  Nice char on the outside and the black pepper sauce was creamy with only a hint of pepperiness.

We ended up with 2 of their sides that were the same base ingredient, but ate very differently.  The Frites were excellent being crispy with some fluffy potato left inside.  It was served with a garlicky aioli.  The real star was the Poutine with legit cheese curds and a well-balanced gravy.  Since the gravy had a consistent viscosity, it was able to coat the fries without drenching them.  Hence, the fries were still crispy with the flavour of the gravy coming through and the partially melted cheese curds (with a few that were not, which is ideal) added that unmistakable texture.

With the desserts, it was only logical that they had a Maple Crème Caramel available.  This was predictably sweet and well, "Maple"-tasting.  In fact, it was quite apparent and concentrated.  As for the flan itself, it was smooth and had the desired density.  It was also sweet, but not as much as the maple caramel sauce.  That in itself saved the dessert from going overboard with the sweetness.

Our last 2 desserts both had soft-serve ice cream.  The first was the Profiteroles, which featured some on point choux pastry.  It was crispy on the outside while airy and light on the inside.  It held up to the creamy soft-serve and table side chocolate sauce.  It wasn't as sweet as it looked, which was appreciated.  The best dessert was the Pain Perdue (Bread Pudding) as it was not dense at all and ate quite fluffy.  With reserved sweetness and the hit of fall spices, this was comforting for a cold day.  The contrast of hot and cold with the bread pudding and soft-serve was rather appealing.  Overall, the food at Chez Céline is good and the menu is fairly well-priced.  Since I recently revisited Montreal, this gave me the same vibes.  Would come back.

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Decent portion size

- Authentic Montreal bistro vibes

The Bad:

- Loved the sourdough, but too many appies featuring it, need a bit more variety 

 

Brodeur's Bistro

Here is another spot I've been meaning to try for a very long time.  People have raved about it and yes, I've seen those monster Montreal Smoked Meat Sammies on social media.  So why the delay in eating there?  Well, it is in Abbotsford.  Nothing against Abby, but I'm rarely out that way.  Therefore, on our yearly trek out to Castle Fun Park, we made a pitstop at Brodeur's Bistro for some lunch.  As a bonus, they have a dedicated EV charging spot at the side of the restaurant.  Score!  I was all over that!

I was also all over the Fried Spicy Buttermilk Chicken Sandwich, because as most of you know, I'm trying the find the best one in the GVRD (although Abby doesn't really count as GVRD, oh whatever).  This came with cheddar, greens, tomato, jalapeños and extra spicy chipotle heat sauce.  This didn't look all that different but it was actually quite good.  The chicken breast was tender and moist with a crispy batter.  There was a good amount of spice and tang all wrapped up in a soft toasted bun.  At Brodeur's, one can choose one of 27 sides for your meal and for this one, I had the Seafood Chowder.  This appeared to be freshly made with a light creamy broth with chunks of barely soft veggies and just cooked seafood.

The other item that we had to order was their Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich in "Le Monster" size (16oz) on light rye bread.  Got this in their fattier cut and with hot mustard.  Sliced super thin and being buttery soft, the smoked meat tasted a bit different than all of the other ones I've had before.  Much more earthiness from the coriander and cumin.  Bread was good being soft, but still held things together.  Yes, I didn't finish this if you were wondering.

Another sandwich that contained the same meat was the Montreal Smoked Meat and Fromage featuring smoked gouda, cheddar & Cajun alfredo sauce.  Again, this merely looked like any a melt sandwich, but due to the smoked meat, there was more depth from the smoke.  Also, the smoked gouda added even more of that and creaminess as well as the alfredo.  For the side, we had the Bacon and Cheddar Smashed Potatoes.  This ate like a cross between mashed potatoes and scalloped potatoes.  It was heavy and cheesy.

Viv decided on a Quebecois classic in the Tourtière with pork, beef, mushrooms and onions.  This did not eat as heavy as it appeared.  Yes, there was a lot of meat, but it was fairly loose and tender.  The gravy on the side was flavourful without being salty.  Crust was decent with a few denser spots.  For her side, she chose the Pea Soup, which was pretty good.  It was rich, but not heavy and there was some ham served on top.

For my son, he once again went for his standby, the Beef Dip Po' Boy with beef brisket, crispy onions and horseradsih aioli.  As you can see, this was a large sandwich with a wealth of tender beef brisket.   Lots of crispy onions provided crunch and aromatics.  Bread was good being crusty, but completely soft when dunked into the au jus.  His side was the Garlic Parm Poutine and that was ok.  Cheese was completely melted, would've liked some curds to chew on.  However, that is nitpicking as most of the food was solid and in good portions at Brodeur's.  Lots of sides to choose from and something a bit different in a mashup of Quebecois/Cajun cuisine.  

The Good:
- Large portions
- Interesting items
- Free EV charging

The Bad:
- Not many lighter options available, but you don't really come here looking for that

St. Lawrence Restaurant

Similar to my visit to The Botanist, this dinner at St. Lawrence has been a long time coming.  To be blunt, one reason it took so long was the rumour circulating that they do not appreciate picture-taking in the restaurant (flash or no flash).  However, much like The Botanist, the reviews were solid and people were raving about the French Canadian cuisine.  Fine, I'll bite.  So I agreed to meetup with Maggi, Kristina and David for a meal among friends and early enough that there would be some natural light for some pictures (smartphone and camera).  Turned out that they didn't say anything about the pictures, so the delay trying the place was stupidity on my part.

There was no doubt as to which dish we had to get no matter what - Oreilles de Crisse or fried pork rinds with maple syrup & spice.  Whimsically plated in a maple syrup can, these crunchy little bites overflowed onto the plate.  Whatever they seasoned these with, it should come with a warning that addiction is likely.  Just enough of a hint, the maple syrup was lightly sweet while balanced off by the savory spice.  I could literally eat a few plates of these myself.  The next dish was something quite rare in Vancouver.   As Kristina remarked, the Quenelle de Poisson resembled the French Canadian version of a Chinese fish ball or mousse.  She wasn't far off, but the quenelle was a lot more delicate and airy than the Chinese version.  It was sweet and fishy (in a good way) being complimented by the lobster cream sauce that was aromatic while easy on the salt.  The side of shrimp were buttery and perfectly prepared.

Our next 2 small dishes were comprised of Steak Tartare with chèvre noire & potato chips and Chicken & Duck Terrine.  If you know my tastes by now, I really like food that exhibits a certain level of acidity and tanginess.  Therefore, my personal bias ensured that I would like this tartare.  For others, it was a bit overwhelming in addition to the strong truffle essence.  The chunks of
chèvre noire were pretty impactful which also took away from the tender beef.  Again, I still enjoyed the tartare and the chips were the perfect vessel.  As for the terrine, it was a nice portion that featured large chunks of tender meat, fat, pistachios and spices.  All together, there was enough inherent meat flavours to make an impact.  Of course, the mustard was a welcomed condiment too as it brightened things up.

Onto our larger plates, we started with the feature of the day which was Crispy Veal Sweetbreads with red wine & truffle sauce, onion ring, chanterelles and corn.  This had to be some of the largest pieces of sweet breads I've ever eaten.  As such, beyond the crispy exterior, the centre was soft, tender and moist (partly due to execution and partly due to thickness).  With the woodiness of the mushrooms combined with the sweetness of the corn as well as the beautiful red wine sauce, there was enough umaminess for impact rather than relying on salt.  Although the Côte de Porc with fromage Oka & sauce charcutière didn't seem like a sexy dish, it turned out to be delicious.  Let's start with the pork chop itself, it was fully cooked while still moist and succulent.  It sported a caramelized sear and sat atop pomme puree with Oka cheese which was decadent being smooth, creamy and nutty.  The butcher's sauce was no slouch either being meaty and deeply flavourful (not salty though).

Staying with heavy and rich food (you get the theme here right?), we had the Steak St. Lawrence consisting of a medium-rare grilled hanger steak, bone marrow, sauce aux poivres & frites.  Due to the cut of meat, its inherent natural meat flavour was definitely at the forefront.  As evidenced in the picture, it was perfectly prepared.  I enjoyed soaking up every drop of the silky demi that was full-of-depth and completely cooked down.  Of course we couldn't dine at a French Canadian establishment without ordering the Tourtière de Ville au Cerf (Venison Meat Pie).  Oh wow, this was very good featuring flaky pastry that held up to the ingredients.  Inside, the meat filling was super tender, appealingly dense and flavourful.   There was a pretty noticeable finish of cloves and nutmeg after the initial hits of meatiness and sweet onion. Not to be outdone, the jus was pretty rich and gelationous.  Loved the sweet syrupy house ketchup on the side.

Onto the sweets, we got serious with the Riz au Lait Façon L’ami Jean (Rice Pudding with salted caramel).  This was for the table and sported candied walnuts and their version of cinnamon toast crunch on the top.  Usually rice pudding can be pretty plain, but this was nothing like that.  Beyond the creaminess of the base, the caramel added depth of sweetness.  This was all aided by the sweet crunch from the toppings.  As a person who can't stand really sweet anything, the Tarte au Sucre
(Sugar Pie & vanilla cream) was not really something I preferred.  However, it was actually quite good.  Now I wouldn't be able to finish the whole thing, but the 2 bites I had were rich, deeply sweet and densely creamy.  I guess this was the perfect way to end the meal as it represents St. Lawrence very well.  The food is heavy, rich and in some ways, in your face.  But they make no apologies as they offer up delicious traditional French Canadian cuisine.

The Good:
- They don't hold back and produce truly delicious French Canadian cuisine
- Attentive wait staff
- Developed flavours that aren't reliant on salt

The Bad:
- Really heavy (that is what the food is like)
- On the higher end of the pricing spectrum (I thought it was worth it)