Araucaria – Mile end day long brunch

So a little back story: a little over a year ago, I was in a bar in Tokyo having drinks and overheard someone talking with a distinct Quebec accent. It turns out that that accent belonged to a Montrealer doing a pilgrimage to various bars and restaurants in Japan. When we got to talking of favourite places and he mentioned how he knew the people over at Tripes and Caviar and they were doing some creative stuff there. So, although a year later, we decided to check it out.

Tripes and Caviar is in Verdun and there aren’t too many brunch spots in Verdun and few funky creative ones west of Park street in Montreal. They have 3 large tables on their outside terrace, ample seating inside and even a wheelchair accessible washroom.

Food The brunch menu will change slightly with items being swapped or ingredients substituted based on inspiration or availability. Most dishes are in the $14-$15 range with the first coffee being free. All the dishes come with potatoes and fruit.

We started off with drinks: an orange juice ($4), a coffee and a bloody Caesar ($13). The bloody Caesar was loaded with olives. oysters, a clam and cured sausage. This is an incredibly dressed up bloody Caesar. The toppings are very impressive and they are above and beyond most brunch Caesars you will get. I should note that since a bloody Caesar uses clamato juice, the taste is already complex and this would likely work better as a bloody mary where they can really get creative with taste modification. This, however, is a bigger issue of the bloody Caesar vs bloody Mary debate and Montreal is a bloody Caesar city.

We started up with the Balconville ($14) which is 2 eggs, pork flank, porchetta and brioche. This dish was impressive. The meat items were varied and generous. Although, I would not say it is a meaty dish as it is more varied and full of complimentary flavours making for a filling and tasty dish instead.

The patatas bravas and catfish ($15) is an odd sounding dish. With tomato sauce, spices, aioli parmesan and eggs this is truly unique dish and the use of catfish is a first in my books. This is a bold step and makes for a creative brunch selection. This dish is incredibly filling thanks to the potatoes and egg and the fish offers a complexity in taste that you will not regret.

With a hankering for an eggs Benedict, we gravitated to the Bene du castle ($16) which had your classic poached egg but with a twist being served on top of a raisin bread and a pork sausage in between. The raisin bread was thick and a nice twist on the eggs Benedict. The eggs were not overwhelmed with the sauce. The sausage did not win me over and I would have liked it prepared a little differently although, this is clearly a dish you will fill up on especially since it comes with potatoes and the plate itself is quite full.

Lastly the Huevos con polpo ($16) is another interesting creation and the team at Tripes at Caviar somehow manages to take grilled octopus and white beans and transform it into an incredibly tasty dish. There is an ample amount of octopus in this dish and by the time you are done you are full.

Service Our waitress was really helpful in explaining dishes. However, I did find that since we were on the terrace she forgot about us and I had to flag her down to get more water and cream for my coffee.

Vegetarian Almost every dish has meat or fish in it. If you are ok with fish then you have a few options but if you are not this may be difficult for you – but do keep in mind the name of the place is based on meat and fish so I don’t think you were expecting vegan and gluten free here anyway.

Wrap up The food is incredibly tasty and filling. The dishes are very creative and they tweak the menu to change some items and ingredients so that creativity is always nice to see. I like seeing a place like this in Verdun and the West needs more places like this. So if you want brunch with a twist, Verdun is your place to go.

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Price	$$$	$15
Overall		4.5/5
Wheelchair Access	NO	0/3
Parking	Parking Meter & Street	Medium
BUS	58, 350, 61, 107	Get Directions
Metro	Lasalle	6 minutes