Juliette et Chocolat in Montreal

Juliette et Chocolat
Plateau Mont-Royal
3600 Boulevard Saint Laurent
Montreal, QC

If there is one thing that I love to spend my hard-earned dollars on, probably just as much as on a great meal, its clothes. Not much can top the feeling of putting on a new outfit and just knowing you look great. I probably have more clothes than any one person needs, which isn’t helped by the fact that I have issues donating old clothes, (“but… it still fits… and I might use it for a costume one day!) but I just can’t help myself.

So, when I discovered that my cousin Kyler’s wonderful girlfriend, Jackie, and her friend, Debbie, had started a fashion blog based out of Montreal, called Bouquet of Frocks, you better believe I was checking out their blog every day. Both girls have such an awesome sense of style, mixing vintage pieces with beautiful new items. If you consider yourself a fashionista, I definitely recommend checking them out!

About a month ago, Jackie contacted me to see if I wanted to do some sort of cross over post. Well, of course I did! You should be seeing my fashion post on Bouquet of Frocks soon (aka when I can get my pictures done). Naturally, I asked Jackie and Debbie if they wouldn’t mind doing the same, and they have written up an awesome guest post for me on the most amazing looking chocolate based restaurant in Montreal, where they were “forced” to eat all sorts of delicious looking creations. I know, poor them, right?

A few weeks ago, we Bouquet of Frocks gals met up at Juliette & Chocolat for a post-work sweet indulgence. For all you non-Montrealers, Juliette & Chocolat is a popular dessert restaurant that focuses mainly on chocolate delights, but offers a few savoury options as well. Now let it be known, we are no professional food critics, but we are quite experienced in the realm of junk food and chocolate is no exception. The whole place is inspired by chocolate bars, complete with scrumptious couches with bites taken out of them! This is no candle-lit dinner affair but rather a bustling café, full of eclectic clientèle.

For a sweet appetizer, we selected some hard chocolates from their extensive collection: the ganache au vin chaud épicé, the mangue poivrée, the beurre d’arachide et confiture de fraise and the confit de poire et gingembre. The ganache, peppered mango and pear and ginger hit us with a surprising spice and the peanut butter and jam took us right back to childhood. Although the chocolates weren’t bad, the flavours of the fillings really overwhelmed the taste of the chocolate and the spice overwhelmed the rest of the flavours in the fillings. There lacked a certain balance.

For our main courses, we tried three different crepes: the pesto goat cheese with walnuts, the asparagus complète and the goat cheese with pears and honey. Besides the delicious pesto, there wasn’t much to write home about. They generally lacked seasoning and harmony amongst the ingredients, which tasted just as you might imagine just on their own rather than a cohesive dish meant to work together. The dry consistency of the crepe also left something to be desired.

The climax of the evening was definitely the dessert.You would think that you were in a cocktail lounge with the selection of “vintages” available on the menu. But these are no 50-year-old scotches. We had the Peru origin vintage, a rich, thick syrup that puts hot chocolate to shame. It had a pleasing balance between sweet and bitter and can we just say how much we love that it was served in a brandy glass?

Next we tried the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, which was an explosion of intense flavour.The ratio of raspberry, cheesecake and topping was fantastic and the texture was incredibly rich and creamy. The crunchy, crumbly topping also complimented the sweet and sourness of the cheesecake just perfectly. And again, we take our hats off to the presentation as this sweet and sour delight was whimsically served in a little glass jar.

You also can’t go wrong with a J&C brownie. We ordered what they call “The Fleur de Sel,” a mix of white and dark chocolate cake chunks in a classic brownie mix. Served warm, this dessert literally melts in your mouth with its moist, sweet centre invading your taste buds. Drizzled with fleur de sel caramel, this brownie is the perfect mix of sweet with a subtle nuance of savoury.

All in all, we suggest passing on the crepes and hard chocolates, and saving room for the dessert menu and chocolate bar. Juliette & Chocolat is perfect for late night treats and chilly autumn afternoons with friends. Why go to any old bar when you can go to a chocolate bar?

Thank you so much, Jackie and Debbie, for sharing just a little bit of Montreal with us. Montreal is a city that I have heard so many wonderful things about and I can’t wait to get there one day… and I really want to try that brownie!

Happy Thursday!