Le Boucan

1886 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest
Montreal, QC H3J1M6
(514) 439-4555

 

Usually new means great. A new car, a new phone, a new job, all great things when they're new, but unfortunately, restaurants do not fall in that great category. The reason why is basic, EXPERIENCE. Even if the owner, manger, chef, has owned or worked at different restaurants, the new is terrifying. Everything is different from the service,  the food,  the prices, the clientele, it takes a while before things really start rolling. This time, it might be different. David Adjey (Restaurant Makeover), star of Food Network's The Opener, helped this little place "open". I have never watched his show, but i have watched countless hours of the Food Network, and Gordon Ramsey's show and noticed some similarities. The menu should never be too complicated, not too many items, nor too many ingredients per dish, prices in the middle scale, fun atmosphere with good service and fast turnovers.

A late reservation on a Saturday afternoon led to an 8PM dinner. The 50 sum seater eatery in Little Burgundy was busy throughout the night with quick client turnovers. A couple of TV's on the walls with tennis playing and some semi loud music had a calm yet fun atmosphere. I noticed only two waiters/hostess/bartenders for the whole place, add one more please, service is slow.

The night started off with a very bland mac and cheese(8), skip please. Next came the "famous" pork ribs, half rack(18) which were overdone, but the barbecue sauce was smokey and sweet with a hint of spice. Too bad the ribs were over cooked, this dish could of been a huge hit, I can just imagine it, melting off the bone, succulent and tender pork with that delicious sauce. Perfection! The pulled pork guedille(13) was pretty decent, could of been just a little bit more tender and I wish it had that BBQ sauce. It is basically a hot dog bun with a ton of pulled pork layered inside. Another dish that could of been! The last main course was the 5 napkin burger(15), a guarantee that five napkins will be used to clean up. I don't think 5 is even enough! Why does everything here have to be overdone!!!! It had the BBQ sauce that I couldn't get enough of, another could of been.

Every dish comes with 2 sides! Now that's what I like to see, the fries were nothing out of the ordinary, so was the salad and the coleslaw. The best thing was the potato salad and generally I don't like potato salad!

The desserts are the biggest hit at this small joint, starting off with the bacon brownie(7). Yes, I said there is bacon in the brownie! A great idea, a mix of that salty flavor with the very sweet chocolate and vanilla ice cream. One thing i would change about this dessert is to have the bacon crispy, instead of chewy. The other dish was the buttermilk pie(7), that I actually thought was better tasting and not as heavy to eat.

I left here wondering, what if? What if everything was cooked a couple minutes less, crispy bacon instead of chewy, and what if they offered a glass of milk with the most chocolaty brownie ever! This review would be sky high! I would praise the food at this price, I would actually be there as I write this! I will go back, that's for sure, in 2011 that is, when the dust has settled and everything is on point.

Food:7.5/10
Atmosphere:7.5/10
Service:7/10
Location:7/10
Price:8/10
Overall:7.5/10