Restaurant: Tuck Shop
Location: 4662 Notre-Dame Street West, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
Cuisine: Canadian, seasonal, bistro style
A little while back, my family and I had 4 birthdays come together in a single month… and so we decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate them all by going to a restaurant. Cue Tuck Shop — a small little hole-in-the-wall restaurant from the outside, with great, unexpectedly delicious surprises inside.
Upon first arriving at the location of Tuck Shop’s address, I could hardly tell that there was any restaurant there at all. Maybe it was because it was a dark, winter night, or maybe it was because none of the lights of the restaurant’s sign were lit up… But the second we found the door and entered, the cold, closed-down atmosphere the restaurant emitted from the outside was swept away. Inside, we were kindly greeted in a small little entrance, had our coats taken aside, and given our reserved seats.
The restaurant itself was very narrow, had somewhat tight seating (although not too uncomfortably so), and had a small bar in the middle. Since we had a large party of people, we sat at a large round table near the window, set out with candles to compensate for the rather dim lighting of the restaurant. There were 60’s and 70’s pop and rock songs playing in the background (which was kind of amusing for me, since it’s what I’ve grown up listening to, thanks to my dad)… But with this and all the customers talking at once, it was a bit too loud — to the point that I found myself having to raise my voice all evening long to make conversation with anyone at my table.
To compensate, however, the service was very fast, and our server (and all the other staff) was extremely kind, attentive, and informative — more so than the norm. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve had such good service in a long time…
Now, onto the food!
Although it isn’t common place to rate the free bread that comes at the beginning of a meal, well… I love bread. Haha. And I thought that this bread was a bit particular: instead of plain white bread, we were served a rye bread with Caraway seeds, which gave the bread a sour flavor with some slightly sweet notes. Honestly, I wasn’t a huge fan — especially since the bread was cold and not toasted. But everyone else in my family seemed to love its unique taste!
As an appetizer, some of us ordered the beef tartare with porcini mushroom aïoli, a bit of remoulade, and crostini. The meat was very tender and not too acidic. Overall, it was a pretty decent dish (although if you’re used to eating beef tartare, I’d say it wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary).
We also ordered the mushroom brioche. This appetizer was composed of warm, fluffy, taosted brioche bread topped with a layer of wild mushrooms, melted buffalo mozzarella, and a little salad. Underneath lay a tomatillo sauce with shishito peppers. I can’t stand spicy food, so I didn’t dare venture eating any of the shishito peppers… However, I can definitely say that the rest of the dish was quite delicious! The brioche stayed firm and crispy, not getting soggy despite sitting in a sauce; the mozzarella cheese was creamy, not chewy (as some tend to get, when melted)… and I even enjoyed the mushrooms! — which is quite something, considering I don’t like mushrooms much in the first place.
I ordered the pork belly in an aged Gouda cheese sauce with oyster mushrooms. This was by far the dish I was looking forward to the most. But to be completely honest, I was a bit let down; the pork itself lacked salt, and although the top of it was nice and crispy, perhaps it was just a touch overdone since the pork seemed to be on the dry side. The creamy, cheesy sauce was delicious though… and once some salt was added to the dish, the whole thing came together quite nicely.
For the main dishes, we had the braised lamb shank in a pomegranate and date glaze, on top of a parsnip “hummus” with vegetables, and topped with a tabbouleh gremolata. The lamb was very juicy and melt-in-your-mouth tender… but the glaze was a bit too sweet to my liking. The accompaniments also ended up being a bit on the sweet side, and so I would have preferred something a little more savory to balance out the dish.
The duck breast was served with a walnut and celery root purée, spinach, and a variety of roasted and caramelized vegetables (including mushrooms, again), figs and a porcini jus. The duck itself was prepared very simply and cooked to a medium-rare, pink center. It was a bit plain in flavor, but still very moist. Although this simple preparation is not a bad thing in itself, it ended up undermining the duck in comparison to the the sides, which were (again) way too sweet; the sweetness ended up being too overpowering for the delicateness of the meat.
Also, at this point, I was getting tired of seeing mushrooms in every dish…; I’d now had mushrooms in all of the three appetizers I’d tasted, and also now in this duck dish.
I ordered the Quebec beef hanger steak with fries and a chimichurri sauce. I’ve had hanger steak before, and I’ve always found it to be a bit tough… but this one, cooked to a perfect medium-rare, was extremely tender and juicy — almost on par with the tenderness of a filet mignon. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised! And I can’t say that seeing the wealth of golden fried served alongside did not put a smile on my face… :)
This steak is usually served with a chimichurri sauce layered on top of it, but I opted for the sauce to be served on the side. I tend to be a sauce-on-the-side kind of girl, you know. Plus, chimichurri tends to be really strong in cilantro (and other herbs), and I’m not really into the raw, herby taste it gives. My brother, who ordered the same dish with the chimichurri on top of the steak, said he found it added nice contrast to the bloody, iron-rich taste of the meat… but still, even he seemed to prefer the steak without the sauce.
… And take a look at this cute little container of mayonnaise I got with my French fries!
We also ordered a cheese platter. It had an assortment of various Quebec cheeses. The cheeses were pretty decent, albeit a bit plain, none of them being particularly striking… But I found the presentation nice, so I thought I’d show you what it looked like anyways.
Everyone was so full after that, but I decided that my belly still had room for dessert (funny how that always happens…) So I decided to order a slice of lemon meringue pie. And honestly…? I shouldn’t have ordered this dessert. In comparison to the meal I had just finished experiencing, this pie really fell flat. First off, it was overly cold — like it had sat chilling in a freezer or something. Then was also the fact that the pie was simply not sweet enough, and that there was way too much lemon curd in proportion to the rest of the pie’s components. And the meringue was definitely not fresh, which is something I would have expected in a restaurant of this caliber. Oh well…!
OVERALL
Maybe I came off sounding too harsh in my critique of Tuck Shop’s food. Its savory dishes tended to venture too much onto the sweet side; there was an oddly frequent occurrence of mushrooms on many dishes; and the actual temperature of all the warm dishes could have been, well, warmer. But even so, I have to say: the quality the food was mostly very high (definitely way above average), and the meats in particular were all very tender and succulent. And the food presentation was quite beautiful.
One of the biggest winning points for Tuck Shop, however, was definitely the staff. All of the staff were extremely nice, friendly, and attentive to our needs. Even though there were no place-mats or tablecloth to cover our table, staff always came to quickly and discreetly clean it in between each course . Whenever we had any questions or concerns regarding our food, our server was very informative and accommodating. And the food always came to our table quite fast.
So, all that to say that I would definitely go back to Tuck Shop again. Perhaps I didn’t thoroughly enjoy every aspect of my food, but I have to give this restaurant props: it managed to make me eat mushrooms (which I actually enjoyed)! So, that certainly tells you something right there. If Tuck Shop was able to make a fussy eater like myself enjoy a food I usually dislike, then that means it’s certainly worth a try!