Montreal Eats: L'Express
L'Express, along with Au Pied de Cochon and Schwartz's, probably makes a trifecta of most-mentioned restaurants in guidebooks and blogs. Like Au Pied de Cochon, it's located in an unmarked space, at the ground floor of this residential building.
There was the restaurnt name in a tile pattern in front, along with checked tiles on the outside matching the tiles on the inside of the restaurant, as if it's one continuous strip. Very clever design.
Once again, I had low expectations for the service, especially since many people described the service as "traditional French." To me that indicates extremely slow service, but once again, I was blown away by how friendly everyone was. Whenever a new server would approach me or bring me bread, cornichons, butter, and mustard, I would be greeted with "Bon soir, monsieur." When I took a picture of my food, the waiter joked, "The smiling duck confit salad! But I'm not sure if the duck confit is smiling!"
This was my favorite dish of the trip so far. Though duck confit is a special ingredient, it really felt like comfort food to me. The duck was hot (it was sauteed), and served with lardons, spinach and cabbage, French green beans, radish slices, and tiny croutons. The dressing tasted mainly of oil, but the addition of cornichons and the pungent French mustard made the whole assembly a delight.
