| I have to admit that I never expected to be devouring so many Montreal smoked meat sandwiches and other Quebec specialties while living in Calgary. With Palace of Eats in the southwest, Café Metro in the southeast and King of Subs in the northeast, the new Elisabelle Resto-Bar (137 Fifth Ave. S.E., phone 232-5499) really should have opened in the northwest to complete the city’s quadrants.
Geometry aside, owners André Southière and Alain Ethier, former CP Rail employees who moved here from Quebec in 1996, have found a home for their 150-seat Quebec eatery in the former Salvation Army building. In this cherry-red restaurant, the main floor is a casual dining room and the second level is a bar.
Since opening at the end of November, Elisabelle – named after Southière’s two-year-old daughter – has been particularly busy in the mornings. Breakfast, featuring French toast and a Canadian breakfast platter with cretons (shredded pork), cheese curds, hard-boiled egg, toast and coffee, begins at 7 a.m. Monday to Friday (11 a.m. on Saturday), which is especially convenient for the new hostel next door that caters to French expats.
Lunch is by far the most popular time, when the downtown office crowd converges for their fill of popcorn cheese curds ($8.95); maple bruschetta ($6.95), which consists of tomato, onions and spices marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and maple syrup served with baguette slices; Italian poutine ($6.95), homemade fries topped with cheese curds and spaghetti sauce; Montreal smoked meat sandwiches ($8.95) and the Forum Special ($3.95), which is made up of two steamed hot dogs and fries. The bilingual menu also features four pasta dishes as well as grilled meats – burgers, steak sandwiches, and chicken, beef and pork kebabs.
My friend and I began our recent dinner with an order of poutine ($5.95). Piping hot with big pieces of cheese curds in delicious gravy, it disappeared within moments. Next, I ordered the Elisabelle salad ($6.95) because I was curious to taste one of the four maple dressings – maple raspberry, maple port, maple pear and maple Dijon, all bottled in Quebec. The maple raspberry was delightful as the hint of maple syrup softened the raspberry’s sharp flavour.
For our entrée, we enjoyed the beef fondue ($29.95) in an onion and wine broth. You can also order chicken, pork or a mixed meat fondue in a ginger and wine broth, as well as Gruyère cheese fondue with white wine ($29.95), seafood fondue ($39.95), and dessert fondue (chocolate, $11.95; chocolate and Grand Marnier, $12.95; and maple, $13.95). Our meat fondue came with our choice of side dish, Caesar salad, rice pilaf and a baguette. Accompanying the meat for cooking were cauliflowers and mushrooms, but this fondue called for more colourful and flavourful vegetables.
With white lights twinkling around the street-facing windows, a single red rose on our table and the candle lamp glowing between us, our fondue dinner felt almost romantic. I say "almost" because, with the darts whizzing above us on the upper level and the hockey game on TV, the dining room just isn’t designed for intimacy.
The fondue was a fun, interactive meal, making for a most enjoyable evening at Elisabelle. I’d like to return for the Montreal smoked meat sandwich so I can compare it to its contenders in the other quadrants. |
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