Beans Beans The Magical Fruit…

On the eve of Canada Day, I decided to stroll down Mont-Royal street and soak up the yuppie life that has become a staple of Le Plateau. It being around supper time, I was also searching for a place to dine. Although Mont-Royal street contains a multitude of dining experiences, I decided to go back to an old staple of the area: La Binerie Mont-Royal.

Serving up traditional Québec dishes since 1940, it is one of the few places in MTL where one can sample meals “come moma le faisait” (like mom made…lol). Already a place frequented by many Quebecers throughout the years, La Binerie heightened its profile in 1985 when the restaurant played a significant role in Yves Beauchemin’s book turned movie “Le Matou”. The restaurant has long been run by the Lussier family. However, in 2001, La Binerie was purchased by outsiders. Since then, La Binerie has changed hand on another occasion. Although ownership has changed, the original recipes have always been passed from owner to owner.

On this particular visit, I was seated at the counter right in front of the bean oven, my usual spot whenever I eat there and Maurice Richard’s favorite spot when he used to eat here. A waiter once told me that the Rocket Richard sat there because he always wanted to be the first one served when the newest batch of beans was ready.

Seated on my right were 3 old French-Canadian men, who look like they were part of the furniture and received their food without ordering. They spent the majority of their meal discussing how much money they would be making later on that night at the racetrack.

On my left, was a guy eating breakfast for dinner. I later found out that the guy was heading to the Public Enemy concert, which I had put some thought into going earlier in the month. With the idea that I could have been going to the same concert as he did, I decided to have breakfast for supper too! lol

My meal consisted of hash browns, bacon, sausage, crepe, an egg, baked beens and pan toasted bread. I also, ordered a side of meat pie. The breakfast meal was probably the best meal I’ve had over there ever. The pan toasted bread was slightly burned on one side, but according to the menu, this was done purposely. I slathered a layer of maple syrup on everything except the bread and dug in. I broke a piece of bread and began soaking up the excess syrup I had just poured. Man! The taste of the burnt bread combined with the sweetness of the syrup produced a taste like no other. It felt right, it tasted awesome! At this point, I was euphoric…lol

My better half had “ragoût de pates de cochon avec boulettes de viande” (pigs feet ragout with meatballs).

We ended our meal with a blancmange, a pudding chômeur and 2 tall glasses of milk.

A blancmange is a sweet dessert commonly made with milk or cream and sugar thickened with cornstarch. This one was vanilla flavored. A pouding chômeur (poor man’s pudding), is a dessert of Quebec origin. It was created by female factory workers in 1929 during the Great Depression. It consists of a mix of flour, water, brown sugar, and other cheap ingredients that were common during the era.

La Binerie Mont-Royal is a historic place in Montreal. Very few places are able to recreate moments of the past. La Binerie is one of them. Step through its door and you will be greeted and fed the same way as if you had walked-in in 1940…

~ by gabvoie on July 6, 2008.