Maison Publique

People really rip it out of Jamie Oliver, don't they?  I like him.  I especially like his latest cookery show Jamie's Comfort Food, I've been catching up on 4OD.  Thinking about doing the shepherd's pie for my Thanksgiving bash next week (it's in October in Canada, god knows...)  Or the steak and onion ciabatta, or the curried fish pie....Anyhow, an ex-Fifteen chef has set up shop here in Montreal, backed by Jamie.  Derek Dammann spent 4 years in London before heading home and opening Maison Publique in the Plateau.  It's been on my list since I got here and I went along last week for dinner with Sar.

There's a board on the wall with the days offerings.  The place is really relaxed, it feels more like a pub that a restaurant, people seem to like that here.  Our excellent waiter recommended some things we might like and we took him at his word and went for his suggestions.  We drank prosecco all night, they didn't have any amaretto and they didn't have any cheese (which they really need to sort out) but that's where the disappointment ends.

The first dish we ordered was a tuna sashimi served with artichoke and yoghurt dressing.  Look how cute the plate is.  This was delicate and soft, perfect sashimi, there's a lot of raw fish here, and I like it.  Nice refreshing start.

Then came the lamb tartare ($13).  Tartare is everywhere in Montreal, I might have mentioned.  But lamb tartare, LAMB!!!  We had to order it.  They warned us it's served very spicy, and it did have a kick, really great toasts spread with a minty paste.  Loved this, I've never had anything like it before.   Happy days.

Then came the wholewheat tagliatelle with tuna.  The tuna was minced and the dish was topped with lots of nuts and there were raisins.  I don't normally like fruit in savoury dishes, but they added something here.  I liked this, the pasta in particular, really well done but the sauce was a tad forgettable.  There's usually a daily special pasta dish at around the $20 mark.

Our final main was my fave dish of the night, the lapin ($29).  A rabbit, offal and all was served simply with leaves but there were so many different cuts, each morsel perfectly cooked.  The offally bits were lurking underneath the larger leg portions, we were pretty full by this point so didn't manage to eat them all, but each mouthful presented a new pop of flavour.  I forgot to take a pic of this, but it would have looked like a plate of lettuce leaves anyway and I really couldn't wait to dig in, so good.  Meant to have come with fries, but we didn't get any.

 

Our special side was the XO greens.  Bok choi served with a spicy fishy sauce, elevating what could have been the token green dish.  Utterly appalled at the lack of cheese, we declined dessert and went onto liqueurs.  Can't remember what it was but we had several...Seeing we were slightly worse for wear, they gave us a dessert anyway, the pot de creme butterscotch with shortbread ($10).

 
This was actually very welcome several hours into the meal (we had a lot to catch up on!), as desserts go, I approve.  Derek himself came out to mingle at this point.  There was a mixed crowd, couples, groups of women, it's pretty small but seemed full and busy all evening.  Seem to remember liking the music too.  There was plenty to love about the meal and I'd definitely go back.  They do a great brunch apparently.

Maison Publique
4720 Rue Marquette
Plateau
H2J
8/10