Enjoy this year's Happening Gourmand event in Montreal
If you are not familiar with Happening Gourmand, it’s worth discovering what this great event, already in its 9th year, has to offer! What is it exactly? For an entire month – until February 7, 2016, some of the best restaurants in town reduce their prices and offer a table d'hôte ranging from $22 to $29. Any resistance is futile, as even your wallet agrees. Here is the list of the 8 participating restaurants this year.
Vieux Port Steakhouse
425, rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Montréal, QC H2Y 2Z7Stone walls and hardwood ... can we get more Old Montreal than that? For the occasion, you can enjoy, as a starter, the soupe du jour, the market salad, snails au gratin, the crab cake, fried squid or salmon tartare. When it is time to get serious, you can choose between grilled salmon fillet, Santa Fe chicken supreme, beef sirloin, pork chop with garlic mashed potatoes, beef strip loin steak, black cod glazed with miso, or the 16 oz. rib steak. Cheesecake, chocolate mousse cake or vanilla crème brûlée will complete everything – and make you move more slowly.
Restaurant Verses
100, rue Saint-Paul O, Montréal, QC H2Y 1Z3You’ll want to pay a visit to St. Paul Street to enjoy the glowing fireplace in the restaurant of the Hotel Nelligan and, incidentally, for its fine cuisine. Here you can enjoy one table d'hôte for $29 and a second for $39. For $29, you can choose between swordfish, beef shoulder marinated with star anise, and mushroom gnocchi. For $10 more, veal loin, Icelandic cod, orzo mac n' cheese, and northern shrimp will be offered as a table d’hôte. All of this is complemented by starters and desserts of your choice.
Bevo bar + Pizzeria
410, rue Saint-Vincent, Montréal, QC H2Y 3A5Chef Giovanni Vella awaits you with his menu dedicated to Happening Gourmand. You can choose between a tuna salad or grilled sausage as a starter, and for the main dish, tortelloni stuffed with beef, braised chicken thigh, or pizza with clams and scallops. You can top that off with a mini custard-stuffed Bombolone.
Kyo Bar Japonais
711, cote de la Place-d'Armes, Montréal, QC H2Y 2X6Located on Place d'Armes, Kyo is offering starters consisting of beef or shrimp tataki, maki, and sashimi. For the main course, choose between yaki chicken with mirin, salmon marinated in red miso, or yasai yaki udon, a sautéed noodle dish that includes spicy vegetables and tofu. For dessert, you can choose between small beignets with yuzu or bread pudding with sweet red beans.
Méchant Boeuf Bar Brasserie
124, rue Saint-Paul O, Montréal, QC H2Y 1Z3At Méchant Bœuf, the Happening Gourmand menu is divided into two stages. Until January 24, try the marinated swordfish with corn bread, cod with crusted goat cheese on a bed of ratatouille, or braised beef cheek. From January 25 to February 7, Milanese-style lamb osso bucco, kidney pie and vegetable antipasto, or marinated beef with star anise served with vegetables and fries will be offered. All this accompanied by starters and desserts, of course.
Taverne Gaspar
89, rue de la Commune E, Montréal, QC H2Y 1J1This Commune Street establishment happily awaits you with a starter of parmentier potato soup, a salad of roasted beets and goat cheese, salmon tartare, a platter of local cheeses, or Beausoleil oysters. Attention: for the main course, there will a choice. Will you select the aged cheddar mac n' cheese, the cheeseburger, the beer-battered fish n' chips, salmon steak, braised beef shoulder, chicken sauté, or ribs? You will likely be full, but we will still inform you that dessert is chocolate banana cake or panna cotta with vanilla and passion fruit.
Bistro Le Modavie
1, rue Saint-Paul O, Montréal, QC H2Y 1Y6This jazz bistro-bar is offering a menu that will have you humming a happy tune. As a starter: warm goat cheese, duck rillettes, shrimp cocktail, braised lamb poutine, or beef tartare. This is followed by braised lamb, salmon, steak frites (steak and fries), rack of lamb, risotto or filet mignon. If you are still hungry, you can then try a panna cotta, tiramisu or chocolate dome with raspberry coulis.
Brasserie 701
701, Côte de la Place d'Armes, Montréal, QC H2Y 2X6Chef Yves Lowe has prepared an urban-style menu. For starters, try the mesclun greens salad (fennel, grapefruit supreme, sage and honey vinaigrette) and a tournevant goat cheese étagé (spinach, roasted peppers and garlic confit). For the main course, you will have to choose – all our sympathies in advance – between beef shoulder and polenta, homemade cavatelli with three cheese sauce, smoked king mackerel seared with tomato salsa, and the Angus beef sirloin burger. For dessert, the choice is simpler: the 701-style brownie or beignets with maple butter, maple fudge and maple ice cream. Well, not so simple after all.
