Aaaand I am out of retirement! Wowza, I haven't written in QUITE awhile! Don't judge my writing, it's rusty. As part of my birthday celebrations (yes, it's a big thing), the girl I'm seeing, Amandine (cutest name, am I right?), brought me to her parents' resto. I NEVER turn down food. Especially not when it's part of the Festival Martinique Gourmande. All I's gotta say is I'm THERE!
Le Bleu Raisin could be called an institution in the neighbourhood...even in Montréal: it opened its doors a whopping 15 years ago! Dang! In hindsight, I was 24, was still studying nursing, and doing all the bad things a 24 year old should do under the sun. They serve up French greatness and highlight products from here in a beautiful way.
Aight, so, we had the five course 'a l'aveuglette': basically, who knows what you will eat. In any case, you just KNOW it'll be good. I'm still drooling by the way. And no, not only over the girl I was there with. Ba dum chhhh!
First course: oysters! Mama loves her oysters. And, come to think of it, I hadn't eaten any in a long while, so this was a great re-introduction! You had the usual vinegar+shallot mignonette, but it was à la passion fruit. Ugh, hello! You had me at 'passion'. SO good! It added just a bit of sweetness to the vinegar, and went wonderfully with the oysters. I would like a dozen of those a day with that mignonette, and thank you! If I'm being REAL honest here, I would`ve liked a couple more. But, you know, there WERE other courses!
Second course: bison tartare, with avocado mayonnaise, a little salad with beets, and half a quail egg on top. I've tasted pretty much all the different versions of tartare in my day (ok, so 39 years X 365 days is...), and this one is on top of my list! SOOO damn good! All the flavours were there: a bit of sweetness with the beets, and saltiness with the capers. The meat itself was melt-in-your-mouth good. The egg COULD have been a bit coulant (get a dictionnary, people!), but all in all, this was a big winner.
Third course: grilled octopus. Just look at that beauty. LOOK AT IT. And drool. Don't be afraid, just do it. Accompanied by a little salad of greens and Israeli couscous with Cabernet oil. The octopus had a lovely grilled chorizo sauce, and that just made it way more perfect. All of that, IN ma mouth. It ain't easy to cook a good octopus, I tells you! This one was oh-so-good! Just grilled perfectly. I just looked at it, and it was cutting itself up, ready to get in my belly. Ps: my belly was very happy. Another little lovely surprise: the addition of crevettes nordiques interspersed in there. It was seafood with more seafood. You KNOW I was happy about that!
Fourth course: lobster tail with lamb. This lamb had been marinating in Colombo sauce (from Antilles, composed of curry and other spices) for over 3 days (hello, tasty!). Did someone say LOBSTER? Erryone KNOWS lobster is my fave thing ever in the whole wide world. Sauce chien (this wonderful creole sauce with peppers, onions, herbs, vinegar) was what the lobster tail was cooked with, and I loved every little last bit of it. It was uber tender and melted in ma mouth. The lamb wasn't too... lamby? It's a thing, ya. Although the pieces were on the smaller side, it wasn't dry at all, and exploded with flavour! The veggies were perf and soaked in the sauce! A little cheesy tuile atop everything made for a very nice presentation.
Fifth and last course: DESSERT! Martinique rum sorbet, which was so refreshing, I could eat that on every single overly hot day of the summer. It was next to a homemade matcha bread (hello!) that A had made (more hellos!). It was spongy and not overly sweet. On top of the matcha bread: a little bit of chocolate fondant, which was just perfect, and surprisingly went really well with the bread. It was another awesome layer of flavour. And on top of THAT was a little piece of foie gras. Foie gras, you say? Hells yes. Foie gras in dessert form? Heeeeeeells yassss! It added a bit of saltiness and so much tastiness! I really had to stop myself from licking the plate. FYI, Amandine licked every plate. But, hey, I'm civilized, AND, it's her parents' resto, soooo :)
Service was great throughout. Water was refilled, smiles were present, as well as good conversation! Well, obviously! After all, it was Amandine's mom, Audrey! The music was quite island-y to fit the Martinique feel. The restaurant itself is supes cute, not too¸big, not too small. You know, like Goldilocks and her bears :) The chef came out to see if I had enjoyed my meal and I don't really remember what I said, but it went something like kjsadkhaldslhla-yum.
And now, the long awaited scores!
Food: 9
Service: 9.5 (it's really hard for me to give a perfect score, but it's pretty damn didely close)