Joe Beef

Montreal, Canada (The Joy of Food) — When I saw two jolly guys on television traveling with their own stash of truffles on a train jaunt through the Québécois countryside, I knew I needed to visit whatever restaurant they were hawking on the show. 

Those jolly guys were chef-owners David McMillan and Fred Morin and the restaurant was Joe Beef.

Few places in the world promote gluttony quite like Montreal, and Joe Beef is a leader in the over-the-top food culture in this part of Canada. Together, chefs McMillan and Morin co-helm this celebrated restaurant, opened in 2005 and inspired by chef Martin Picard’s Au Pied de Cochon and the bistros of Paris. Like neighboring Au Pied de Cochon, Joe Beef is dedicated to epic and excess eating and drinking. 

Here, you’ll come across a clear theme of broadening horizons and embracing unusual ingredients. Yes folks, horse (filet de cheval) and eel (croquettes d’anguilles) are often in the building. 

Much of the menu changes every 30 days or sometimes by the hour. Interesting combinations are rooted in whatever happens to be available at the market or at the local fair. Just kidding. The menu (in French, of course) gets scribbled in chalk on a board that covers an entire wall, and it may be impossible to see or read depending on where you sit.

If adventurous curiosity isn’t your thing, you might stick with an appetizer of buffalo mozzarella with squash (mozzarella de buffalone), both common things in various parts of the world, but rarely found on the same plate. One part (the squash) is grilled and warm, and the other (the mozzarella) is cool and creamy, a contrast that works insanely well when combining bites.

Another study in contrasts might be the echine de cochon, calmars, et palourdes, a dish of pork shoulder, squid, and clams. Cooked sous-vide for 48 hours, the pork is tender like butter and gets coated with a saffron-rich sauce so thick and decadent you won’t believe it’s made without dairy. The savory pork gives the seafood a round of nuttiness that magically harmonizes everything together.

The Spaghetti Homard-Lobster is a Joe Beef staple and as close to standard menu item as you’ll find, served in a reduction of lobster cream sauce and bacon. More contrasts, in this case, your every day run-of-the-mill linguine elevated and made classy with a lardon-studded lobster on top. 

Dessert might arrive in the form of a chocolate bomb like the chocolate tart (tarte au chocolat), served as chocolate ganache topped with whipped cream inside a flakey sweet pastry crust. If you consider what comes before it, this might be the lightest, most sensible part of your meal.

For all the fame and hype that surround Joe Beef at this point, the impetus behind the food remains the same, which is to just cook good stuff. The food is fabulous, but unfussy. So, too is the restaurant. There are no white table clothes or napkins, and the plating, while lovely, is very much unpretentious. For diners attracted to exuberant immoderation, a blend of the haute, gluttonous, and creative, Joe Beef is destination dining.

Pro-tip: Make sure to pay a visit to the little boy’s or girl’s room. You’ll be kept company by a life-size buffalo while you tinkle.

Written by Joy

Thanks for reading. The Joy of Food blog celebrates eating well, traveling often, and living la dolce vita. San Diego, California is home base, but thoughts are from all over. Reviews and photos help to highlight wonderful (or not) food experiences from around the world.

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