MAS Cuisine

Mas Cuisine
3779 Wellington
Verdun, Montreal, QC

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9 out of 10

French/Local

This is not a normal restaurant review. I did not come to this restaurant to review it, but I loved it so much that I just wanted to write about it. These guys are good...

First came out a little platter of black and green olives with some very mildly-seasoned cashews. The cashews were at first lacklustre, since you expect them to be so salty, but that's what the olives are for. Genius! Only after that does the bread come, since it's not necessarily supposed to be enjoyed together. Three kinds - a beautiful potato-like texture with a perfect crust, a nut-spiked heartier version, and one with milk that I could not try. These are small pieces so you can sample each.

Appetizers were spectacular. A beautiful cream-based soup that I was sorry to fore go, and an incredibly-shaped circular tower of duck tartar with remoulade (egg yolk-based sauce). The duck was fine but the sauce was spectacular. Then the house gravlax. This was incredible. Not sweet, not salty, but so fresh and so much flavour. It just tasted...beautiful.

For mains, scallops in an orange sauce the likes of which I couldn't believe. Apparently the orange is put in a special European food processor that heats as it processes, so the orange is emulsified like nobody's business with oil for 30 minutes. Imagine holding a hand mixer for 30 minutes over a double boiler. Europeans are sensible. This food processor was apparently created for at-home use, so it's not industry-sized. Perfect for MAS cuisine's small restaurant and ever-changing menu. So 30 minutes of processing just to coat the most simple of sautéed foods - scallops. These were very nice, seared scallops. Along with some local asparagus, it was a great plate.

The veal organs (sweetbreads sounds so much nicer. Maybe too nice) were actually phenomenal. I hate ordering veal, mostly for ethical reasons, but also because they're so easy to do poorly, but these were tender and not stringy and the sauce was sweet and to die for. I don't even remember what it was, horrible food writer that I am, but it doesn't really matter since you can't have it anymore. The menu is changed. The lamb was also very good. That's all I can say. Simply that everything was very good to spectacular, and care was put into each element of the dish, including complementary offerings. Never would the same sides appear with each dish. Risotto, fingerling potatoes (which were heavenly, soaking the sweetbreads sauce), etc.

The desserts are the only things that don't change as regularly. So you can still enjoy a very rich chocolate brownie with slightly melted pieces of dark chocolate. No milk, a little butter, HEAVY on the eggs makes this seem very luscious. Since it's not milk chocolate the brownie on its own can seem a touch underwhelming, but the accompanying caramel ice cream is mostly milk and not so much caramel (a home-made not overly-salty version of which gets poured under the brownie) to add creaminess. On its own the ice cream isn't that great either, but put it all together and add a sweet cocoa syrup and it's divine. There is also a dairy-free option that isn't sorbet!! Even though I opted for the brownie (not TOO much butter, like I said), you can go for oranges and grapefruit with almonds, all of which I assume comes IN tea. Kind of like a fruit salad, or fruit soup, but the tea and almonds are a nice touch, and make it less disappointing. The replacement on my brownie for the ice cream was the raspberry sorbet that accompanies the lemon soufflé cake, and I'm happy to say it was very good for sorbet.

What I absolutely loved about the restaurant (besides the food, of course), was the service. Our server was a true professional. Perfect wine service, attentiveness to water, dishes coming out together, knowledge of the dishes. Wow...That's an art. All in all, I was just blown away. For approximately $35 plus tax and tip you get a table d'hote including the beginning freebies of olives, nuts and bread, an appetizer, a main, a dessert and coffee or tea. If this place were more downtown and not in Verdun, they'd be charging $50, I'm sure. At least! But all that would just go to rent, probably. Still Verdun is my new favourite area (Montreal borough?) and it's worth a stroll around Metro De L'Eglise. Definitely, definitely stop at MAS Cuisine for dinner.

Expect to Pay: $65-$95, including tax, tip and a glass to a bottle of wine (with a bill split between two or three people) from the reasonably-priced, well-chosen list
Hours: Wed-Fri 12-2, Wed-Sat 6pm-close
514-544-3779