APPETIZING IN AYLMER
Pub fare a cut above
No offence to humble Québécois casse-croûtes, but hot chicken sandwiches have never ranked very high on my list.
As much as I like chicken and french fries, maybe it was a bad encounter with some too-salty, sludgy gravy, soggy white bread or flavourless, light green peas from a can that turned me off.
Happily, the hot chicken sandwich ($14) at Le Maçon Pub, which opened last fall on Aylmer’s main drag, is another bird entirely. When I tried it just before Christmas, the dish wasn’t quite haute cuisine hot chicken, but it was pretty close.
Its flavourful meat was from Gatineau’s Ferme Aux Saveurs des Monts, the bread was grilled sourdough, the gravy tasted true and chicken-y, the fries were massive but properly textured inside and out, the peas were bright green and, for good measure, there were crisp chips of chicken skin as garnish.
Score one for the pub and its 31-year-old chef, Kyle MortimerProulx.
Formerly the chef at the meatforward, high-volume Lowertown Brewery and, before that, the discerning vegan destination ZenKitchen, Mortimer-Proulx now helms the kitchens for Le Maçon and the restaurant upstairs from it, the fancier and even newer La Maison Conroy.
The two eateries replace Le Bostaurus, an upscale steak house that opened in late 2012 in the handsome stone building built circa 1855. Le Maçon retains the trappings of a casual pub — TV screens galore tuned to sports, a selection of video lottery terminals — but it’s also a renovated, comfyseated, stone-walled place.
At the bar, 16 beers, most of which brewed in Quebec, are on draft.
Mortimer-Proulx’s menu is a taut and appealing one of a dozen or so items plus a few snacks, stressing well-made, slightly cheffed-up affordable everyman food.
Like its hot chicken sandwich, Le Maçon’s fish and chips ($18) was an appealing, lighter remake, with a substantial filet of sustainable striped bass, crisply fried and bolstered by a house-made, caper-flecked tartar sauce. Just as impressive was the fresh, superior side salad.
Beef Stroganoff ($15) was portioned on the smaller side but still heartily flavoured, featuring chunks of braised brisket, the frequently tough cut properly tamed, in a bowl of well-seasoned spaetzle.
Creamy seafood chowder ($9) comforted with mussels, salt cod
and bacon as well as potato and celery. The slice of grilled sourdough on the side was a nice touch.
Duck wings ($14) here were better — meaning juicier — than duck wings I’ve had elsewhere. With their prominent soy and ginger flavouring and side of potently spiced kimchee, they were the menu’s only nods to Asian influences.
Speaking of comparisons, Le Maçon’s burger ($15) was simply and unpretentiously tasty, without the fancy fixings found at less rooted gastropubs.
The pub also serves oysters, Quebec cheeses and house-made charcuterie. We enjoyed the disc of foie gras torchon, the slices of beef bresaola and quenelle of potted fish, although we found the $25 price for the three of them a little steep, even if the platter’s breads and accoutrements were house-made.
We skipped the terrine of the day, which included not only pork and lamb but also duck hearts, thereby hinting at the edgier interests of Mortimer-Proulx’s cooking. (This is the same young chef whose Gold Medal Plates entry a few years ago featured duck testicles.)
Surprisingly, there was just one dessert on offer on two separate visits — a square of pecan-studded bread pudding with bourbon caramel and creme anglaise ($7). It was good, even if it didn’t pull out all the stops.
Perhaps the more lavish mealenders are at La Maison Conroy. The downstairs pub’s satisfying dishes make me optimistic about Mortimer-Proulx’s elevated offerings upstairs.