Gluttonous gratification

Plaisirs Coupables serves up classic if decadent comfort food

High-end comfort food is such a thing these days that it’s not even worth calling it a trend anymore. For better or worse, foie-gras-topped burgers and luxury macaroni and cheeses are here to stay. I’ve got no problem with that as a rule; go ahead and put bacon in your biscuits, or stuff your grilled cheeses with fancy aged cheddar (though please keep the truffle oil away from me). But do it right; don’t just pile on rich ingredients in hopes of keeping us gluttons interested.

Plaisirs Coupables, a self-described “snack.bar.urbain” from chef Jean-François Plante, is the latest Montreal entry in the gourmet comfort genre. The restaurant’s website calls it “cuisine cochonne et gourmande,” with the intriguingly poetic English translation “greedy cuisine for ogres’ appetite.” Located downtown, it’s, as the name implies, a cross between a 5 à 7 snacks-and­drinks place and a proper dinner restaurant. It’s vaguely cozy in that sort of semi-stylish way. On a recent visit, it seemed sort of deserted, but there was a snowstorm going on and it was a weeknight, which could account for that.

Having heard a little bit about the menu—something about ribs, burgers, Pogos (!) and poutines, I assembled a crew of hungry gentlemen to investigate.

We ordered a variety of dishes, looking to take a comprehensive survey of the guilty pleasures on offer. I went for the maple-whiskey pork ribs ($18), because “maple-whiskey pork ribs” sounds pretty good to me. They arrived on a wooden cutting board with a side of “chipotle coleslaw” and a bowl of fries. Let’s start with the sides: the creamy coleslaw was fine, if a bit watery, and I’m definitely more of a vinegar-slaw guy. Also, the “chipotle” flavour was absent, despite the name. The fries: fine, but not impressive or memorable, and they didn’t taste fresh out of the fryer either. The ribs (which also weren’t exactly piping hot) were an odd orange colour for “maple-whiskey,” but the meat slid off the bone nicely. I could have used a little more maple and a little more whiskey in the barbecue sauce though.

I guess I was expecting something more like a sandwich, or a hand-sliced pile of beef with some rye bread on the side or something, from the “beef-rib smoked meat” ($18) dish, also served with the same sides. What we got was a whole (if miniature) piece of smoked beef rib, served almost like a steak. It was tasty though, spiced correctly, nice and juicy and served with a little pot of mustard sauce. They also got the grilled cheese ($10) right—stuffed with (of course) bacon and thinly-sliced apples, it was kind of hard to go wrong with it.

But I can’t say I was nuts about the meatball poutine ($10), made with a barbecue sauce “à la bière rousse.” The sauce was too sweet, the meatballs (made from Italian sausage) were unin­spiring and, again, it was served lukewarm. The burger ($12) was a favourite. I couldn’t taste how it was “spice-crusted,” but it was a nice burg in the thin-patty style, served with copious sliced pickles, which I always approve of, and a tastily trashy soft bun. That was also the delivery mechanism for the duck burger ($18), the strangest dish of the night. A patty formed of breaded and fried duck confit topped with a pat of foie gras, it was totally decadent and ridiculous, but kind of compellingly yummy too.

Actually, scratch that: the night’s oddest offering was the homemade Pogo ($10). Instead of a corn-breaded trashy hot dog, we got a Toulouse sausage breaded in panko crumbs. Again, totally bizarre and weird but pretty tasty (and I bet it would go down way better if you were drunk).

Plaisirs Coupables is hit and miss. Everything could have been served hotter, and while some of the dishes were fun in their audaciousness, others didn’t quite deliver the comfort we were looking for. ■

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