Montreal - Au Pied Du Cochon

Jess had such a good time in Montreal during the summer, I decided to go for a four day mini vacation and eating tour with my boyfriend! One of the best new restaurants that we heard raves about was Au Pied Du Cochon (Translation - The Foot of a Pig).

The restaurant is closed on Monday and it was pretty difficult to get reservations so if you want to go, definitely call a couple weeks ahead! Thankfully, we were able to get reservations for 2 at the bar at 5PM on a Wednesday night. We had a direct view of their open air kitchen and watched the chefs prepare their dishes for our entire meal!

Why is the restaurant such a big deal? The head chef Martin Picard is a meat genius. As many yelp reviewers said, if you are counting calories, are a vegetarian, only enjoy eating healthy...this is NOT the restaurant for you. Every item on the menu was primarily focused on meat and often - like their house specialty, focused on the more unusual parts of the animal. The house specialties are Foie Gras, a Pig's foot, and a roasted pig head for two!

The restaurant is designed to have a modern log cabin feel. Some of the bar stools had antlers and everything - the walls, the tables, and bar had a sleek wood shine. The bathrooms featured little TVs that featured these bizarre videos of people dressed with a pig, cow, and venison mask.

We were not adventurous enough to get the pigs foot or roasted head...but we managed to order some DELICIOUS never before experienced dishes. The above is PDC's specialty - Foie Gras Cromesquis. The picture makes them look a lot bigger than what they were. Think lollipop sized fried squares of goodness. You have to wait a minute when they first arrive and than you pop them in your mouth. The waitress told us to make sure our mouth were closed tightly. We didn't get it until the square morsels literally EXPLODED in our mouth. The filling is a rich yet light and delicate bisque like foie gras soup. It was so instant and slightly unexpected that it was really one of the most unique things I have ever had.

Our second appetizer were marinated smoked sausages with toasted baguette slices and little dollops of mustard. Not much more to say but it was simply smoked and delicious!

Our third appetizer before our meal is one of PDC's most talked about dish - Foie Gras Poutine. Montreal is known for it's poutine - french fries, cheese curds, all doused in gravy. Picard made himself known when he started serving his poutine with foie gras on top. The key to a good poutine is the crunchiness of the fries, good gravy, and chewy squeaky cheese curds. This dish was completely gluttony and diet spurge. The poutine has two gravies - one is light and creamy, the other is much darker and flavorful. The dish features a mound of cheese curds under the french fries. The foie gras on top of the french fries just added an extra velvety consistency that made the plate full decadence!

For dinner entrees we ordered PDC's signature - Canard en Conserve (Translated Duck in a Can). The whole entire can process turned us off a bit but believe me, it only enhanced the dish.
The food is heated up directly from the can in boiling water. When done, the entire can is brought to the table and the waiter opens up the can in front of you. The can contains a duck breast, an entire foie gras, and gravy. The entire dish is served on top of pureed cauliflower atop of a crispy baguette. This dish was just as rich as the Foie Gras Poutine.

The other entree was the beef rib with PDC's mashed potatoes on the side and pan fried vegetables. The rib was juicy, well marinated, and just fell off the bone. The amazing thing about the rib was the amazing balance between rib and fat. The fat was almost caramelized on the bone and it felt like eating butter.

PDC's mashed potatoes are garlic roasted and whisked with cheese. The chefs literally had to whisk the potatoes every 5 minutes to make sure the cheese was still stretchy.

Last but not least, we had to have their dessert. We shared the Dark Chocolate 'Pot de crème'. It was like eating a deconstructed s'more. Atop were brown sugar crumbles, a thick layer of cream, and a rich dark chocolate mousse. This was the perfect end to an amazing 4 course meal but afterward, we really couldn't move around too much. We managed to make it back to the hotel and watched 'Toddlers and Tiaras' the rest of the night.


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