Business lunch #3: Brasserie T!

If you ever receive text messages from me you know I love exclamation points. This little bistro next to the museum of contemporary art is the little sister of the famed Toque! restaurant, hence the ! at the end of its name. I like it.

I've never eaten at Toque! but from what I hear it's very pricey innovative food served in very small portions. This is not quite the case at the Brasserie T!. The menu doesn't offer much out of the ordinary for a bistro. I had the salmon tartare as a main and my mother had the entree portion of the same dish. Very well executed with the salmon chopped in rather big pieces (which i really liked) and flavored perfectly with olive oil, capers and echalottes. However, the main dish tartare didn't seem that much larger than my mother's entree... I really couldn't tell the difference at all.

I ordered it with the salad which was basically romaine lettuce. Not too exciting but the vinaigrette was very good so I got over the lack of visual appeal pretty quickly. My mother ordered the french fries and I have to say they were worth the calories. Crispy and not greasy at all.

The service was very professional and efficient and the waiter/bartender was helpful in suggesting wine to go with our meal. We had a meursault chardonnay called le petit tetu and at 14$ a glass cost more than my mothers meal(12$). It was unusual and a little nutty but accompanied the salmon very well.

This was a perfect place for a fast lunch as we were out of there in 45 minutes. I liked that my allonge came with a little pot of warm foamy milk. It was a nice, friendly touch.

I should probably mention the decor since it was quite strange in that the whole restaurant is pretty much all window which creates a kind of fish bowl effect. And to greet you at the door there's a vase with a fish swimming around a bottle of vodka. Clever.

I don't think I would come here for dinner because of this modern environment. I like my nightime locations to look more like men's clubs a la club chasse et peche.

But good bistro food at good prices! Even if there was nothing on the menu that enthralled me I'd like to come back to try some charcuteries and the steak tartare.

http://www.brasserie-t.com/

xo

S.