No meat market

>> Le Marquette offers varied vegetarian tapas

by SARAH MUSGRAVE

It’s a somewhat contested fact that meat stays in your digestive system for at least four days, and can remain in the intestinal tract for months and months. It’s part of the rationale behind why humans were supposedly not designed to eat animals. And it certainly makes that commercial that goes, “There’s a little McDonald’s… in everyone!” take on a disturbing new significance. With that ad slogan echoing in my mind, I thought it might be time to try some meatless meals.

Le Marquette is situated in an old diner just a few steps from Mont-Royal Ave. I used to go there for breakfast when it was a cheap, kitschy, neighbourhood greasy spoon. The new restaurateurs have done just enough to make it their own, leaving some of the original hole-in-the-wall feeling. Not that it’s much of a hole—it actually has a bright front window looking onto an open expanse of street. The booths have been replaced with about six enamel-topped tables and simple wooden chairs, making for a charming space that’s very much the type of little eatery people dream of starting themselves.

Open for three months now, it’s a place for light vegetarian eats. From the open kitchen, the chef told me he’s got 55 different tapas on his roster, and he’s just starting to slow down on new ideas. The menu changes all the time, with a few classics regularly appearing on the chalkboard.

On the snowy night that we visited there was a list of about 10 choices. The soup was cauliflower, chickpea and vegetable ($3.50), but all three of us share an aversion to cauliflower (definitely one of the lesser vegetables), so we didn’t try it. Still, you can get a soup, one choice of tapas and a coffee for $8—the makings of a light meal.

We ordered six tapas between us. My favourite was the serving of hush puppies ($6), small cornmeal patties deep-fried with pieces of soft onion inside. Dipped in a plain tomato sauce, they were delicious. In traditional Dixie cooking they’re fried in bacon fat, but here they are sizzled a little lighter in oil.

The Thai vegetables with peanut sauce came in a little bowl containing baby corn, mushrooms, bamboo, and other veggies including, I think, fresh fig. The sauce was clearly homemade, creamy peanut with some hot pepper zip—spicy and yummy. The bowl of mushrooms in wine sauce ($5) was deep burgundy in colour, and served warm, like a rich stew.

The slices of fried plantain ($5) also had some Southern spicing, blackened on one side and served with a tangy sauce. We all found the texture unpleasantly firm, though. The zucchini cake ($3), shredded and shaped into a round, could have been slightly less bitter and, like the eggplant roll ($4) with tomato salsa, bordered on that hippie-food taste I’m not too fond of. Nevertheless, all the dishes were done with flair and care.

Le Marquette is a great place to go for a mid-afternoon snack and coffee, or a light dinner and a drink. In addition to a very British-style tea service, there’s a selection of beer, wine and port. I also saw them shaking up some house cocktails, worth checking out during the happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m.

While they do bring you some freshly sliced baguette, keep in mind that there’s no rice to round out the meal, so it’s not hugely filling. Figure on about five dishes between two people, and you’ll eat well for about $12 (tax included in all prices). Our six tapas and three pints came to just over $40. :

Le Marquette
Address: 4515 Marquette
Phone: 223-8523
Hours: Tues–Sat 11:30am–10pm;
closed Mon & Sun
Best features: charming setting, veggie tapas
Alcohol: yes
Vegetarian friendly: completely
Credit cards: no
Wheelchair access: one step
Price: $12/person with tax,
before drinks or tip
Rating: HH1/2 out of HHHH

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