Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Mmmm...Meat

Have you ever stumbled upon a meal that rates up there in the top 10 of your life completely by accident?

Sunday afternoon in Montreal.

We'd ventured out for a poke around the city with no real destination in mind. So we stopped in a pub familiar to us for a beer but what I really wanted was a thick, juicy steak.

Luckily, we'd acquired the Montreal Mirror - a weekly free paper equivalent to the Westword and it just so happened to be their Best Of issue with, you guessed it, the category of Best Steak

Score.

I was given the task of deciding which restaurant to try out of the 5 listed. And, since I am the girl I am, I made my choice based solely on the fact that I recognized the street name of the restaurant.

Moishes on St Laurent.

The restaurant was located several blocks from the closest Metro station but the walk from the station turned out to be part of a recommended walking tour in one of the free guides to Montreal we'd picked up somewhere along the way...a delightful stroll through a pretty park, a block of sidewalk cafes on a cobblestone street not open to motorized vehicles, and little boutiques and fun shops.

However, by the time we reached the restaurant, we were worn out, hungry, and sorely in need of a restroom.

We crossed our fingers that the place would be open as many businesses in Montreal are closed on Sundays.

We were in luck.

We were a little nervous going up the stairs to the dining room as we sensed immediately this was not a casual Outback affair. This was a genuine, fancy pants establishment...one for which we were clearly not dressed.

But they didn't seem to mind.

We were greeted warmly and seated immediately. Granted, there wasn't another occupied table in the place, but still...no wincing at our travel worn appearance was visible.

There was a sommelier who clearly knew a thing or two about good wine. And good wine was in abundance. Wine bottles lined several of the walls in the large room. But first there were cocktails...and dill pickles...and freshly made coleslaw, crisp and lightly coated with a lovely dressing...and bread OH MY GOD the bread.

Then there was wine and ginormous steaks cooked to perfection and a veal chop was ordered that was beautifully prepared.

We took our time and enjoyed every nuance and attention to detail provided us during the experience. Coffee was ordered and it was simply delicious.

After all was said and done, we all agreed, without a doubt...

It was The Perfect Moment.

1 comment:

zero hour said...

I live for those..I'm so glad you experienced that! What fun!