Saturday Brunch at Réservoir

Feel free to click and see this photo in large or original size to take a look at the menu.
When I first visited Ezra's apartment in October, I noted that his apartment was right across Réservoir, a name that keeps popping up on the Quebec Chowhound boards. We both assumed that it was fancy, so we never went there until my first night in Montreal, when my friend Bernard suggested it when a not-so-good punk band was playing at Ezra's usual haunt, Barfly, forcing a venue change.

We were all impressed to find out that Réservoir's also a microbrewery, with fairly reasonable prices. As you can see on the menu board, pints are only $5 if you get there before 8 pm.

I'd mentioned to Ezra that we should go for brunch there before I went on my trip, and was pleasantly surprised when he said that he was taking me there one Saturday morning. The place was buzzing with activity, so we sat ourselves at a bar, where Ezra ordered himself a coffee, then proceeded to watch the dining room like hawks until a couple left from a table by the window.


The menu was a little hard to navigate because it's all in French, but we eventually managed and were rewarded with crispy, warm toasted baguettes with cubes of butter.


I'd been craving poached eggs, and was happy to find it on the menu, alongside "Saumon gravlax, purée d'avocat avec yuzu kosho et pain au maïs" Interestingly, I'm not a fan of Eggs Benny because I don't like hollandaise sauce.


No one told me I was going to get a slab of cured meat.
I actually found out what yuzu kosho was not too long ago from Serious Eats - it's yuzu (a type of Asian citrus fruit) rinds ground into hot pepper and salt. I definitely could taste that familiar hint of citrus in the avocado purée, but with all that salt from the gravlax (cured salmon) and cured meat, overall I felt the dish was a little too salty, and I wished that I'd ordered something that was warm.

Ezra's dish certainly was.


He ordered a "Flanc de porc braisé, embeurrée de choux de bruxelle, sauce au jus de veau et moutarde de meaux" The pork was tender and flavourful, and the Brussels sprouts (which also had flecks of carrot in them) were very buttery. Even Ezra liked the Brussels sprouts, and he hates Brussels sprouts... guess I'll have to start learning how to "embeurrer" them.

Our service was pretty good, considering we were speaking English in such a francophone atmosphere (though many other patrons were speaking English as well), except Ezra was a little frustrated that the waiter just left us sitting there after he took our food away and we struggled a little to get his attention again to give us the bill. I still had a great time though, and I think Réservoir's a great place for brunch for someone who wants to go beyond the usual bacon-and-eggs fare.



Réservoir
9 Ave Duluth E
Montreal QC
(514) 849-7779