Lustucru A Carousel Pop up Event

Jan
11
2012

Bistro Lustucru – A rare treat

The 411

Over the years, I have reviewed 175 brunches and I have likely eaten at over 200 different spots. In fact, my blood hollandaise levels would likely put fear in the hearts of any doctor. I find that, at some point, my pace of reviews will exceed the available amount of decent brunches. So, in a hope of offering you something a little newer and fun, I will try to review some pop up brunches. Pop up brunches are brunches that are not offered regularly that can be special events or rarely occurring events. The hope is to offer you something very new and interesting that you may want to try. I initially had something like this when I did the brunches at festival de lumieres back in 2011. I realized that there are some spots that I was curious to see how they handle brunch. When one of my friends told me about Caroussel events , I looked into it and saw that there was a brunch at Lustucru, which is a spot that I had eaten dinner at a while ago and was curious on what sort of brunch would appear on their menu.

At 1st glance

So we made it to Carouesele’s hangover brunch which starts at a nice and early 12:00 noon, because when you’re hung-over you don’t do 9 am. That being said, none of us were actually hungover since we wanted to get a full culinary experience of the brunch I mean, his event happens rarely so we wanted to get the real deal. That being said, there will be another one on the 15th of January so maybe I can go hungover and see if it changes my experience.

Food

The menu has 5 items each priced at $22 which come with a complimentary yogourt. Coffee is an extra $2.00 but has free refills. They also have 2 items in the kids menu priced at $8. The menu is a mix of salty and sweet and is not your classic brunch menu; the crepes have duck in them, the bagel dish has a beat infused cream, and they have chocolate mousse for the waffles. None of these items find themselves, in your normal brunch dish. The menu breakdown is as follows:

1 Crepe with duck confit, grilled asparagus, mornay sauce, salad and parmesan.

1 Poached eggs with portebello mushrooms, cheese, potatoes, bacon, and fruit.

1 Omelette with lardon, cheese, roquette and pancetta

1 Grilled bagel with smoked mackerel, beet infused goat cheese and gravlax salad.

The good thing with being a group of 4 is that we can sample almost every dish and see which one wins as our favourite. Although the menu has only a few items, you can get a few varied options. We started with the poached eggs ($22) with Portobello mushrooms. This dish was wonderfully presented and was a job to look at. It comes with a single poached egg, two baguette bread pieces, some potatoes, and salad. I felt that the dish was a tad on the salty side; the potatoes were nicely done and tasty. The poached eggs was topped with a nice sauce.

Next came the bagel dish ($22). Initially, I was hesitant about ordering a bagel dish but they managed to do it justice. Now, the 1st step is getting a proper Montreal bagel (which they did). Then you need smoked salmon. They used mackerel which is nice to use since it’s a different twist and then you add beet infused goat cheese as the spread. Add a salad on the side with some potatoes and voila: a foodie twist on a Montreal classic. The 1st bite was exquisite and what was even more impressive is that the beet goat cheese was this pink, easy to spread creation that was 100% delicious. It mimics a cream cheese and is as easy to spread and is quite unique.

Next came my dish, which was the waffle ($22). This sweet little number is much more filling than it looks; in fact, I was very full by the end and that’s saying a lot. The plate has 4 waffle ¼s on a plate with an orange jam and a sauce on the bottom and lightly drizzled on part of it and these two giant chocolate mousse scoops that we first thought were ice cream. The mousse is a brilliant idea in that you can attack it directly or give each waffle an equitable distribution of mousse. I kind of picked at it and spread it around but what a brilliant idea. There was a nice, impressive chocolaty flavour without making the dish too heavy.

Lastly came my favourite dish, the crepe $22 with duck confit and grilled asparagus. Normally, most places do not prepare asparagus properly but this time it was done right; just the right texture and with a taste that accompanies the duck and does not take away from it. The duck portion was also generous and when you bite into it you get a mouthful of duck in the crepe: no skimping on portions. You definitely get your money’s worth and by the time you are done you are without a shadow of a doubt full and satisfied.

Service

Our service was quite good and we were not rushed. Our coffee refills were plentiful and they nicely explained some dishes we were unsure on.

Vegetarian

Every dish, except for the waffle, has some form of meat or fish in it, and if you are looking for a vegan option, look elsewhere. They will also not have a healthy menu item with cottage cheese or anything like that. It’s simply not the concept being showcased.

Wrap up

You have 1 more chance to try this on the 15th of January 2012, the price will be $22 before coffee, taxes, and tip. Although, apparently, they may have another event in the next month or so which we will try to let you know about. If you want a kind of foodie adventure and these items seem like something you would like to try then do it, and please let us know.