Since Dan, the in-house connaisseur of fine cuisine, was not able to join us and write a subsequent blog on the dining experience at Au Petit Extra on Ontario and Papineau this evening, I thought I'd make a few comments.

First, it was the first truly french bistro I've been to, although 'truly' french may be interpreted in a variety of ways. Whichever you choose, it was as if we were sitting down to a fine meal in the middle of Paris. What added to the allure was the fact that our host first asked whether we spoke French. After answering 'oui, biensur', or something to that effect, he said "bon, parce- que si vous etez anglophone vous recevrez aucun service. Vois-tu les gens qui sont assis la-bas? Ils sont du Nouvelle-Ecosse, ne parlent pas francais, et ne recevront pas du service." Fantastic. Of course, it was all in jest, but a nice touch no less. No one should ever pass up the opportunity to poke fun at Maritimers.

Also of note was the fact that the three Nova Scotians were easily distinguishable by the two teenage girls in hoodies, the father in equally casual garb and their blatent out-of-towner comportment, (taking digital photos of the bistro, them eating, etc), while the rest of the restaurant was more 'semi-casual'. Much respect for them.

The menu itself was also quite unique. Rather than giving you real menus, it's all written on a giant blackboard on the wall. This is a problem for two reasons: first, if you're near-sighted, reading anything at a distance greater than five feet is a real challenge; three out of the four of us had to walk up to the board itself to figure out what it is we wanted. Second, the haute-cuisine vocabulary used to describe the dishes makes things difficult for any non-francophone. It took a little bit of guessing (and good fortune) to decide upon the right meal. I ended up with 'cabis de canard au ceves', which was duck with onions ( I think) in a very dark and flavourful sauce. Excellent, although probably better with a nice glass of wine...which I can't afford. On that note, the water was chilled and refilled in a nice caraf whenever we drained it (as each of us drank only water), so that was much appreciated. PH, JW and AB each finished off their meals with tasty looking pie, while I was content with my cup of coffee. The tab was very reasonable, the waitress friendly and very french....and we all, well I, left with a sense that I've finally had a taste of real french cuisine and would have been disappointed if I had left Montreal without doing so. The key is taking the family there when they visit in May.

C'est tous pour ce soir, alors bonne nuit tout-le-monde, je vous verais bientot.