MECHANT BOEUF - STEAKHOUSE

STUB REVIEW:  MECHANT BOEUF -

SOME SERIOUSLY GOOD TARTARE AND A DRINK THAT TASTES A LOT LIKE BLACK FOREST CAKE

Their website:  http://mechantboeuf.com/en/
124 Rue Saint Paul Ouest, Montreal, QC H2Y1Z3   
Telephone:  514-788-4020
Price Range:  ~$30-$60 per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip 




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Readers of this blog, if any, have probably come to realize that I'm a bit of a carnivore. If it weren't for issues of health, meat would probably constitute 90% of the food I eat, with desserts making up the remaining 10%. Setting aside my (admittedly silly) fears of getting scurvy, there is the very real fact that not balancing out meat consumption with the eating of fruits and veggies over the long-term will lead to all sorts of realistic and all-too-common nasty ailments such as heart disease and diabetes. And since I don't want nasty ailments, fruits and veggies I will eat. In great bulk. Sigh. Oh well. Such is my concession to reality and human biology. Damn you, frail crude human frame!

That said, I loooooooooove meat-centric restaurants. In fact, my grudging concession to healthy eating probably makes me love meat-centric restos even more! I especially love discovering fantastic ones. And that is exactly what happened recently. Immediately after her flight touched down from Toronto, a friend was seriously jonesing for Méchant Boeuf. Being a good host, I acquiesced to the request, and off we went. My WORD I was not disappointed.

As it turns out, Méchant Boeuf has a late-night menu that runs on the following special, one-size fits all pricing:  After 11pm, it costs $14 for one person and $23 for two people for everything on the planchette menu. Their late-night menu link:  http://www.mechantboeuf.com/images/MB_latenight-menu.pdf .

From the menu, we chose the "Tout Cru" ("Raw" in English).

Tiny, but positively bursting with flavor!

This plate was composed of a tartar trio:   Salmon, bison, and beef, served with crudités and homemade croutons. Oh LORD the meat sang! The salmon in particular is to KILL for. The salmon felt like it was going to melt in my mouth. And despite the overwhelming urge to inhale the salmon, I forced myself to slowly eat - I needed to very carefully, very meticulously savor every last morsel. It was a supreme test of willpower, lemme tell ya...

We also ordered the "Grillardin" (i.e., "From the Grill").

Reason #1300 of infinity of why I am never going to be vegetarian (again) (yes, I tried being vegetarian once, and it broke me).

The Grillardin included sliced rare hanger steak (not sure what that is, but I happily don't care), back ribs, and beer-marinated chicken breast. Alongside this meat was a small clump of caramelized onions. As with the Tout Cru, this plate was DELICIOUS. The rare steak was tender, the ribs had meat that fell right off the bone, and the chicken was exquisite. Again, I had to exert some serious self-control to not swallow everything in one gulp. I felt like an ascetic monk by the end of the meal (okay, yes, ascetic monks abstained from everything. They didn't just hold back from eating excellent food in one gulp. Shut up - I'm using hyperbole).

It being a quick meal, we only had time to order a short round of drinks. Might I heartily recommend the Martini XO ($10.50)?

Too delicious for words...

This is a sweet, sweet drink that really, really, REALLY reminded me of black forest cake. It was like drink and dessert in one! I am so getting this again!

And that's it - it was just a short meal on our way to a dance club, so we didn't dawdle. We could have though, since the resto actually does have a live DJ and a dance floor (where we saw some people try to do some... unfortunately uncoordinated "dancing"). Basic bottom line:  I'm coming back. And meat-lovers? You should definitely give this place a try!

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