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Chez l'Epicier Review

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Chez l'Épicier

Address: 311 rue St-Paul Est, Vieux-Montréal, Montréal, QC | Map It
Phone: 514/878-2232

Price range: $$-$$$$
Cuisine: French
Location: Vieux-Montréal

Write a review | Avg. member rating: 4.6/5

Fodor's Review:

It's a bit of a gimmick, but this is indeed an épicier (grocer). Shelves stocked with such products as Hawaiian sea salt and lobster oil fill the front part of the room, along with refrigerated displays of pâtés and terrines. The menu, printed on brown paper bags, starts with appetizers such as shepherd's pie (made with snails instead of beef and spiked with roasted garlic) and a nutty parsnip soup flavored with orange and ginger. The more-conservative main dishes might include such delicacies as poached Chilean sea bass and veal chops in sherry-vinegar sauce.

Credit Cards: AE, DC, MC, V
Closed: No lunch weekends
Metro: Place-d'Armes

Member Reviews and Ratings

Reviewed by aromes from Los Angeles on 9/7/09
FOOD
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Started with the foie gras: not greasy at all and incredibly succulent. The accompaniments were a mix of hits (the fresh light taste of pear was an excellent and interestingly add-on to that succulent foie gras), but the few other accompaniments were just ok (at least you can see that they try pushing the limits of flavors/savors, which I truely liked).

Main course was roasted scallop + braised pork:
each bite of the pork was succulent and the scallop was of perfect tenderness with perfect flavors. Apart the accompanying curry (nice try..but I wasn't enthusiastic about it since it turned out irrelevant here and kinda killed a bit of the awesome flavors of both the scallops and pork), the overall dish was of mouth drooling experience!

I can't say enough about the dessert:
I picked the chocolate club sandwich which was more of an elaborate symphony of multi dimensional palate-teasing flavors -> The accompanying pineapple fries were simply lovely, the creamy melon was utterly yummy, and the fresh mint added a perfect heavenly enriched flavor.

I am fond of chefs who pushes the limits of our palate. Although the results can turn sometimes disappointing, sometimes great, they have the merit of being original and passionate. And l'Epicier, from my own personal experience, is an awesome lab of creativity.
Overall, a definitely great inspired high end cuisine.

Member Rating: 4.4
Ratings details: Food: 5.0 Atmosphere: 4.0 Service: 4.0 Value: 4.0

Reviewed by shansen10 from Tallahassee, FL on 6/16/09
My daughter and I ate dinner here on Jun3 9, and it was wonderful. fun atmosphere, perfect service, and the food was delicious. I had mushroom pate and mushroom soup, and I wish I had the recipes.