It doesn’t taste the same, BECAUSE IT’S NOT THE SAME! – Laurier Gordon Ramsay

Labour day is here and that officially marks the day that everyone comes to terms with the fact that summer is pretty much over. I have to now say goodbye to all the pretty ladies walking around in skirts and tank tops; but if by saying farewell to these chaquitas means also saying good riddance to guys who wear flip flops for eight glorious months, then that’s something I’ll live with. I hope everyone has been enjoying their long weekend, resting well and mentally preparing themselves to get back to the grind on tuesday. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who’s been on the Shut Up and Eat bandwagon and for all the support you’ve given me, without readers like you, I would be writing for myself… which wouldn’t be that much fun because it would be like going to see a funny movie alone; there would be no one to turn to while laughing at Zach Galifianakis’ bare ass. That being said, I wish everyone who’s headed back to school for another year, good luck in your studies, and when you need a place to eat, ask me first, never settle for anything frozen. So with that said, enjoy the labour day super sized edition of the “Monday Freshness” post!

-Jason

A few of my friends and I decided it was time to Hit up Laurier Gordon Ramsay. Forsaking all the reviews, negative press and faulty sprinkler systems, we checked in for lunch.

My buddy started off with the chicken wings. Eight glorious pieces of wings and drumbettes, served with a blue cheese dipping sauce, the wings were crispy despite being doused in bbq sauce. It’s common knowledge that right below bacon on the totem pole of life and co-signing your certification of being non-vegetarian, is the almighty chicken wing. Proud and noble, and the flight force of many a fowl, the chicken variety found here at Laurier, managed to stay crispy amidst a shower of perfectly sweet and vinegary bbq sauce. I’m not a big fan of blue cheese in general, but the dipping sauce was lip-smacking delicious. Should be noted, that this dish comes with a complimentary bowl of lemon soup, served in a really tiny bowl… strange.

There is a list of side dishes on the menu where you can order as – duh – side dishes to your meal, however, we were told by our waitress that they are substantial enough to be ordered as appetizers as well. We managed to inadvertently sampled all of the sides throughout our meal by means of ordering them as appetizers or they came as an accompaniment to our main dish. So the smoked meat macaroni and cheese was ordered to start. Great cheesy flavour and creamy in béchamel sauce, the dish was set off nicely by the saltiness and texture of the cubed smoked meat. It’s nice to see that Gordon Ramsay incorporating elements of “Montreal” in the menu, and on that note, it’s also nice that his food isn’t served out of an orange traffic cone.

We also ordered the cream spinach. Sizzling hot, buttery spinach mixed with garlic, topped with sour cream and bread crumbs. I’m not a big fan of spinach; I scarfed down a crap load once thinking I’d turn into Popeye, until I dry-heaved and figured the results would probably conjure up ideas and start rumours of why I’m single and have huge forearms.

Garlic smashed potatoes. Potatoes swimming in a creamy garlic sauce, smashed into delicious morsels of garlicky tatery goodness, topped with a clove of sweet roasted garlic and sprinkled with chill and parsley. It was nice, nothing super fantastic, a great filler and side to any dish.

This was my green beans and parmesan. As with the garlic smashed potatoes, it was uneventful; I wish I can say that the green beans were grown on a hill-side monastery tended to by blind nuns who only harvest them but once a year when the sun is at it’s highest in the sky and the sisters are able to see a glimmer of light in order to harvest these green beans… but no, plain old green beans; they even tried to sneak in a few sugar snap peas at the bottom. Highlight of the dish was the melty cheese that peeled off like white glue off your palm that I rolled up on my fork and ate in one bite.

The first main was nordic shrimps mixed with fresh snow crab meat, cucumber, spring onions, parsley and chives, tossed in mayo and lots of lemon juice. Really bright and fresh flavours, the shrimp and crab salad sat atop of arugula. This dish was served with a side of homemade chips – or should I say, “crisps”. You can dress it up and make it as fancy as you want, but that’s a hot dog bun, and you can’t fool me by calling it a ‘roll’

The chips were peculiar. They were really tasty, without a doubt, thick cut chips, I would have asked for ketchup. I wasn’t sure if I would have treated them more as potatoes or chips – even though, technically both ARE potatoes, but maybe on some subconscious level, Ramsay had me in mental headlock, giving me nuggies, confusing me and trying to brainwash me by calling fries as chips and chips as crisps, and sausage as spotted dick… WTF?

My other friend ordered the 8oz all-beef burger. It’s served with caramelized onions, bib lettuce, sharp cheddar on a toasted brioche bun. Served with homemade chips like the previous hand-held dish, the burger was thick and juicy. From the looks of it – no picture included – the burger was cooked to a perfect pinkish-medium.

Across from the burger, the Laurier poutine was ordered. Like I say with most Portuguese places I’ve written about, Ramsay must be part Portuguese, or have some affiliation with Portuguese BBQ, because the fries were fried in straight up SEX. Crispy and flavourful and seasoned perfectly, the fried stood up the the gravy of the poutine. It’s definitely worth mentioning that the cheese quotient of this poutine was off the friggin cheese truck rolling down cheese street in cheeseville. I’m still not sure if this dish was cheese on fries, or fries on cheese.

If you haven’t noticed, no one ordered chicken. I know right? Yeah, I knew I was going in ordering chicken. I got the quarter chicken leg. Dark meat = FLAVOUR, ALWAYS. The first thing I noticed was how incredibly crispy the skin was. The meat was tender and juicy and quite flavourful and you can taste the herbs the chicken was stuffed with while roasting on the spit. Each chicken order is served with a side of those sex fries, coleslaw and their famous gravy. Coleslaw was crunchy and fresh, not overly vinegary and just a tinge of sweetness.

I was not a big fan of gravy. It tasted like they took a rosemary bush, and boiled it directly IN the gravy. I like the smell and taste of rosemary and everything, but it was a bit overpowering, like the perfume of the blue haired lady at Pharmaprix that you can smell from thee rows over. Really really fragrant if you like it like that – it was the same gravy used in the poutine, but the noxious rosemary fumes dissipated through the fries and calmed down by the cheese.

Not to be outdone by the tasty meal so far, the dessert menu beckoned us and we couldn’t resist the sight of a few of our favourite items on that list.

Two of us split a slice of the home made Laurier lemon meringue pie. The lemon custard was intensely lemony, but the tartness wasn’t paralleled, which is nice so it doesn’t render your face looking like you’re sucking on a vacuum hose. The meringue was fluffy and had a nice caramel singe on the top.

I TRIED to split the Maple creme brûlée with my friend who sat in front of me who got belligerent and violent after I went past my two-bite declaration after being stuffed from my meal. The brûléed sugar crust was nice and candied and gave way to a brilliant maple sugar custard. The dessert was served with a homemade shortbread maple cookie.

The service was… not that great; wasn’t sure if our wait was due to the lack of attention by our server, but I still had to get up and mind my own ketchup and bill. Like everything else, there’s going to people who like it and HATE it. This is going to have to be one of those places that you really have to try for yourself and draw your own conclusion. Purists and long time customers will slam the place for not being the same as it used to be, and to those people I say, “it’s not the same because it’s not the same!” That being said, there will be people who will like it for the sake of it being a product of Ramsay, but in the same breath, some will NOT like it BECAUSE it’s a product of Ramsay. I hope you enjoy the restaurant for the quality of food it serves, as well as respecting and acknowledging its surroundings, history and legacy, while at the same time, building on top of that to establish a foundation to create its own revitalized name and entity. I went in with an open mind with no expectations, hopefully everyone else can as well; but if you can’t, build yourself a time machine around your living room chair and head back about five or six years and start going there everyday so it would never get to the place where it was before it was begging to be bought over.

Laurier Gordon Ramsay
514-273-3671
381 Ave Laurier Ouest
http://www.lauriergordonramsay.com

Tagged as: BBQ, burger, chicken, gordon ramsay, poutine, rotisserie, shrimp and crab roll, smoked meat mac and cheese