Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Laurier Gordon Ramsay


Ah, the review many have been waiting for! I'm going to deliver the punch right now: it was dissapointing. I had attempted twice to go there. Once with my dad and sister, the day after the opening but there was a problem with the sprinkler system and so they had to shut it down (talk about a wonderful opening!). The second time was about 3 and a half weeks ago. Ze wife and I wanted to see what changes Ramsay had made to the institution that was le Laurier BBQ, and there was an hour wait so we decided to go eat elsewhere . I must mention that this resto has been opened for a couple months now and their delivery/take out service is only going to be functionnal at the end of september (so about now ish). Anyhoot, we managed to go 2 weeks ago for lunch and only waited about 20 minutes :)

Going in, it feels like you are entering a cottage. C'est chaleureux :) There's a fireplace right up a flight of stairs. Thing is, especially since Gordon took over and there is all this hype about it, there's no room for the people waiting to get to try his food. OK, no... there's one bench and they added 2 chairs but when there's 20 people waiting, and there is room for only 4 people to sit, it gets crowded and annoying. Especially for the waitresses trying to get to the tables.

We were seated a couple tables from the door (there is a door 'downstairs' and then another one up the stairs going into the restaurant) and even if it wasn't THAT cold outside, every time someone would open the door, we would feel it. I wonder what they'll do come winter time.
The ambiance itself is alright: half the people were elderly and the other half were there to try Gordon's new resto. Whitney Houston and Celine Dion made an appearance on the stereo :)

Our waitress arrived as soon as we sat down; she was old and very fast.. and was most likely a waitress at the Laurier BBQ for many... many years! Anyhoot, she brought us water, which had pieces of cucumber in it. Meh. Did not appreciate it that much. I would have prefered lemon or lime wedges instead or just nothing at all. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Let's talk about the food now! Actually let's start about talking about the chef! Guillermo Russo was the chef au bistro Olivieri à Côte-des-neiges until early this year and was doing a great job there! We love Olivieri and go there a LOT and I think he could have done better than moving on to the Laurier G.R., sadly. I guess when a celebrity chef comes to town to open a new resto, you jump at the chance. We must also talk about the actual creator that is responsible for the change of an institution. Ah, Gordon! Gordon, a scottish chef, is the host of many shows relating to cooking: Hell's kitchen and Kitchen nightmares to name a few. He researches culinary perfection in everything (except, apparently, this restaurant) and does so with quite a temper! He is also the owner of many restaurants: Gordon Ramsay's plane food (in Heathrow airport), Murano (which has a michelin star) and Bread Street Kitchen in London, again to name only a few. He has opened no less than 15 restaurants over the years.

En tous cas, food! I have to mention that there was un pot de cornichons sur notre table en arrivant et ils étaient très bons! AAAAAAAAnd that's it for food. Just kidding, just kidding.

I took the 'guedilles' au fruits de mer and ze wife had the quarter chicken. We were sharing, as per usual. Let's talk about the chicken first. Meh. I mean, I used to go to the Laurier BBQ and I KNEW I was going to get the best chicken in town. With a great little sauce and some good bread. But when we went, the chicken was a tad dry and the sauce is not the same. And not in a good way. The sauce had some wine in it and as ze wife said ' y'a une épice qui m'gosse'. hehe. Mes guédilles ont aussi été décevantes. First, the plate was not too too appetizing: a very small handful of chips (that, like ze wife pointed out, were too thick to be crispy) that tasted like miss vickies and deux guédilles (seafood rolls) filled with... celery! Ya, I had a hard time finding the seafood in there. A shrimp here and there. And it was presented in a small, cheap hot dog bun. That was dissapointing.

Basically, it's very simple food, very simply made. Maybe a bit TOO simply made!

Here are the scores:

Service: 8. It was fast, when we asked for ketchup, we got it in 1 minute. Very straightforward, nothing special.

Food: 6.5 .Simple, not as good as before, sauce wasn't good... :(

All in all, I would advise you not to go there, especially if you want to go only because G.R. had something to do with the menu etc. C'était décevant et nous n'allons pas y retourner.

'If it ain't broken, don't fix it!'

Laurier 1936 on Urbanspoon

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