Au Pied De Cochon

Now that I feel a little less obese, I can write about this no-nonsense, hog-loving, damn-I-got-full-too-quickly restaurant called Au Pied De Cochon. The only wisdom I will pass on to you today is EAT LIGHT before you step foot in here - the portions are massive, the food is fatty but the meat sweats will be worth it.
As we waited for our apps, out came the bread/butter. I always believe this understated pre-app sets the tone for the meal to come....what did we get? Warm bread that drank all the butter = EXCITEMENT!

After staring for the foie gras menu for what seemed like hours, we decided on the special, which was foie gras drizzled with cranberry compote and bedded on gingerbread. Mama Mia!! What is going on in my mouth? That would be tart, sweet, spicy goodness. I've never been a huge fan of foie gras but I could force-feed this to myself everyday.

In tandem with the foie gras came the tarragon bison tongue. I can say that I'm somewhat of a tongue connoisseur given that I grew up with it (i.e. my mom used to make a mean tongue roast), so I can tell you that you need to order this. This is a close-your-eyes and go-to-your-happy-place dish. There's only one other place that I would endorse tongue and that's at Harbord Room in Toronto. Between the two, I would choose this one. Why? Larger portions! Om nom nom nom.

As our mains approach, I slowly loosened my belt. We bravely ordered the PDC hotpot and the veal bourguignon. I feel lame saying this, but I slurped about 5 spoons of the bourguignon and I was done for. Hey, at least I tried! The dish itself was magnificent with tiny cubes of veal dancing with a myriad of vegetables, all enrobed in a silky broth. I was heartbroken not to have finished it. The PDC hotspot was a pork lover's dream - cheek, blood sausage, regular sausage, shoulder and belly sitting on top of mash. How any one person can eat all that meat is beyond me, but my husband sure did it. So proud!

On to dessert! Yes, we ordered some - don't judge. Let me cut to the chase: the creme caramel was one probably one of the worst I've tasted. The sugar was burnt, which completely ruined the flavour, and it was way too thick. Also it wasn't un-moulded so all the burnt caramel settled at the bottom, which made for a goopy mess. In addition, look at how boring it looks. Effort people! I guess the chef thought at this point we would be in a food coma and not care about appearance. Please chef, I'm a professional eater. You better check yourself.

I also tried some of my husband's dark chocolate pot with graham cracker crumble and it was definitely not for me, although he said he liked it (I now, and forever will, question his palate). It was more bitter than my espresso - that can't be right! Needless to say, dessert fail. Come and stay for the pork, have dessert at home - if you know what I mean ;) - BAM!