MONTREAL – LE GROS JAMBON

In the midst of this long Canadian winter, a weekend food trip to Montreal was just what I needed to avert any seasonal affective disorder. Yes, technically Montreal was colder and snowier than Toronto, but the change in scenery made the snow a lot prettier. On this trip, the Fiance and I stayed at the Westin, right at the Old Port and took advantage of the great location. I even woke up early on Saturday to get in breakfast at Le Gros Jambon, my quest to fit in as many meals as possible in 48 short hours.

Atmosphere: Le Gros Jambon had the diner feel down. The narrow restaurant has two rows of bar stools, one along a wall decorated with vintage posters and ads, the other facing the open kitchen. I would not come with a group bigger than 3. We were the first customers that day at 10am but the diner filled up quickly.

Service: Since we were there quite early, the staff was relaxed and enjoying their breakfast with us. All of the servers spoke English and were friendly. Food arrived quickly and bills were settled at the front of the restaurant.

Food: The Fiance and I split one savoury and one sweet dish. Both of our meals were served on adorable pig shaped platters. I chose to go with the classic two eggs platter, over easy and side of sausage. The platter came with a hash brown, a thimble of baked beans and two slices of buttered toast. My eggs had perfect runny yolks and the toast was generously buttered (wedding diet right??). The hash browns were almost croquette like and used mashed potatoes along with smoked ham, a tasty variant.

For our sweet dish, we picked the French Toast with fresh fruit, whipped cream, pecan crumble and toasted coconut. This came with three slices of french toast, a has brown and the same thimble of baked beans. I found the toast itself pretty standard but the combination of all the toppings made each bite great. All of the fruits used were ripe and extra sweet. The whipped cream was airy and I loved the candied pecans.