Restaurant: Maison Christian Faure
Location: 355 Place Royale, Montreal, QC H2Y 1Z6
Price Range: $$
[wp-review id=”5693″]
Located in the beautiful Old Town of Montreal, Maison Christian Faure encompasses a baking school, private lounge and a pastry shop. Christian Faure is no ordinary pastry chef as he is a Meilleur Ouvrier de France – meaning that he has studied and been tested at the highest level in the world for his pastry making abilities. At the baking school, Chef Christian Faure offer workshops for amateurs as well as more specialized pastry courses.
I didn’t take pictures of the interior but the shop was a cute little patisserie with an all-white decor against a cement statement wall, which adds that extra je ne said quoi to the already fancy decor. The tables were a tad too close to each other though so it could get uncomfortable at times. Other than pastries, they also sell quiches from their refrigerated fridge, as well as jams, biscuits, marshmallows and organic teas that you can take home as gifts!
The choux pastry was so dry and chewy that I didn’t finish it, thus I was quite disappointed to see that a French bakery would fail to make a choux pastry.. With that said, there were good chunks of lobster and crab meat, and the light mayonnaise didn’t overpower the delicate seafood and still let their natural sweetness come through.
C got the brunch on the plank and to be honest, it was such a small portion for $20. I didn’t try the egg benedict since it was tiny – but C said it was good, and the brioche was delicious and decadent. However I thought I could have gotten something more substantial with that price point.
When we asked for dessert, our server brought a full tray of pastries that was available on that day – it was quite a sight to see! Note that these are just for display, you will choose the item and the server will bring out the fresh ones for you.
The name of mille-feuille translates into a “thousand sheets” – which refer to the layers of the puff pastry. All I have to say is that this mille-feuille was heavenly! Crisp, crunchy buttery layers of puff pastry that crackle when you bite into them. The slight glaze on the first layer of the pastry gave that hint of sweetness. Alternated with a velvety smooth pastry cream. The perfect combination and contrast between crunch and silky smooth. Buttery and sweet. Deeelicious!
The pastry was light and airy, filled with a rich and luscious chocolate cream. Seriously, is there anything better than the mildly sweet, rich, and chocolaty goodness of an eclair? If you are a dark chocolate lover, you will definitely enjoy this pastry. However for myself, I wished there was another flavor in the pastry cream to complement the rich chocolate.
Maison Christian Faure is to Montreal, as Maison Ladurée is to Paris. It is the quintessential French pastry shop. While I found the brunch offerings to be mediocre, I really loved the pastries and I wholeheartedly recommend this place for the baked goods! The only other gripe I have with the place was the service. Since the shop was quite busy for lunch, the service wasn’t exactly attentive and they forgot about us once the food was brought out.