Lawrence Montreal

Posted By Jennifer Ho Jun 14 2011 · 1 comment · Dining Out

Rhubarb Pie With Créme Fraîche

Ethan Wills and Marc Cohen, owners of the Sparrow (check this out if you don’t know about Sparrow already) opened Lawrence relatively recently and have managed to create an admirable online presence. Generating online buzz both in Montreal and abroad, their menu that changes daily/weekly depending on what the freshest ingredients at the market are. This enables the chefs to explore their creative culinary talent as well as to play with the menu options so that customers that go often are never bored – check out their Twitter account (@lawrencefood) for live updates of what’s to be served. This was my second time here – I love the atmosphere and the staff who work there. Everyone is extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the food, the way it is prepared and are able to suggest dishes that would most likely please the customer’s palate given some basic information.

Drink-wise we ordered the elderberry margarita (caution: very strong), a negroni, a vermouth and whisky cocktail, a poire William and a rum and coke with grenadine.

To start, I had the veal tongue which was super tender and moist – paired with capers, fennel slices and a sprinkling of croutons, the dish was balanced and surprisingly not too salty. To list out several of the other entrée dishes my friends ordered and their comments: the duck confit got two thumbs up, the house salad received approval – it would be difficult to mess that one up, the mussels were loved, the soup bowl was scraped dry and the mackerel with rhubarb all but disappeared before I could get a forkful to try it for myself.

For the mains – the rainbow trout was by far the most popular item amongst us as four out of eight ordered the dish. Described by the waitress as a very “summery” dish, the trout was marinated in a cucumber and olive oil jus, a flavor that managed to penetrate into the flesh of the fish giving it a wonderful taste. Beautifully plated, the fish came in two filets, one piece lying gently across the other in a diagonal fashion. Others ordered the beef heart, the rabbit, the striped bass and the pork (the one complaint was that it was too salty – the diner felt there were too many anchovies and that overpowered the taste of the meat itself).

Finishing off our meal with an order of a chocolate ice cream sandwich and a slice of rhubarb pie with a dollop of créme fraîche, we left sated with our bellies full and our spirits high.

*Please excuse the dark lighting of the photographs. An iPhone can only do so much!