Verses Restaurant: In praise of slowly braised lam
If verses of poems give way to sumptuous temptations and far-flung fantasy, then a good many meanderings of those creative thoughts seem to have ended up at Old Montreal’s Verses Restaurant. While many high-brow eateries make the claim to being a fusion of this or that style of cuisine, this restaurant is one of the few that fuses traditional ideas of what a plate is to transform that into creative culinary concepts. Some of these actually help you re-think notions of even basic plates.
Only here is a Greek salad only that in name. Here it is a recreation of tastes and smells: a tomato flan, a feta emulsion beat into it is creamy core, simple olive bits served on a crouton and your run-of-the mill onion rings. Here the chef plays with your memory of tastes and lets you experience new twists. The Chef’s Greek salad was only our appetizer, but it led us to understand that here it’s not about if your salad is good – it’s more of a creative affront to just what the salad is.
The atmosphere at Verses Restaurant is decidedly romantic, with the soft candlelight reflecting on the grey-stone walls, bricks and several giant framed mirrors and their beveled edges that simply rest against the wall. If you’re lucky like we were you can find a seat in one of the spacious mauve circular benches set with pristine white linen and facing street-front Old Montreal and it’s European-style mood. Behind us was an exposed glass cased wine cellar that made the space double as a potential watering hole.
While the business crowds make one imagine a conservative cuisine, on the contrary everything is about surprises here. Our inventive starters included an Ostrich tartar of all things that was pampered with ground cherry, pumpkin seed crumble with hazelnut oil – and this burst of taste was tempered by a flavored chicken infusion. It took a while to understand that a little tartar followed by a swig of the broth allowed for little bursts of spice and flavor.
All of this set the stage for the main course, the apex, the moment that won us over. Strangely our waiter had to correct the menu, which humorously misstated our next course as the “slow braised Quebec leg…” – in place of, “leg of lamb”. I personally was taken off guard, knowing that lamb very rarely hits home – and here it’s being sold as a Quebec leg… What to make of this?
But if Montreal is famous for Schwartz’s smoked meat – to its credit Verses leg of lamb is its haute-cuisine cousin. It should be as famous and inspire gourmand pilgrims who go the distance to find unique dishes and creative fare. I now aspire to return again, and hopefully again. The leg of lamb here is braised for seven hours and served with an Ile d’Orléans mustard crust, caramelized shallot, potato mousseline, Guinness cheddar and glazed vegetables. The result is a tender and savory meat with a consistency to peel and melt in your mouth, triggering the herbs that were infused by a slow day-long simmering. A lamb like no other here, because at Verses Restaurant – re-think all notions of what you’ve had before – here they seem to make it different, and better.
Verses Restaurant
Address: 100 St Paul Street West
City, Province: Montreal, Quebec
Phone: [514] 788 4000
Fax: [514] 788 4001
URL: http://www.versesrestaurant.com
Email: verses@hotelnelligan.com
Neighborhood: Old Montreal
Hours of Operation: Breakfast Monday to Friday 6:40
