Montréal: Le Petit Moulinsart

Denise de Castro

14 years ago

Last month, I finally visited Montréal. I was only there for 2 days, so I had to make sure I ate at as many restaurants as possible, in small portions so I had enough room in my tummy to go elsewhere, if needed.

My first night, I had a craving for moules frites (mussels with fries). So we wandered throughout Old Montréal to see what we could find. We were bound to find something great.

And so, we stumbled upon Le Petit Moulinsart. Le Petit Moulinsart is a Belgian restaurant located in Old Montréal and has been in business for over 20 years. Don’t let the images of Tintin discourage you from going in. I had some doubts because of it – I couldn’t take the place seriously because of the cartoon, but after walking up and down the streets, I couldn’t find a place that looked like it served really good moules frites (mussels with fries).

We turned back and headed to the restaurant. More and more people were going in, and looking through the windows, everyone was indulging in moules frites.

So my husband and I stepped in and had a beer. The extensive list of mussels had me debating for several minutes – the classic Mussels with garlic and white wine? Mussels with bleu cheese? Moules à la snob, aka mussels with mushrooms, herbs and red wine (menu pictured, left)?

Finally, as I nearly finished my glass of Chimay Rouge, and with the help of our waiter, I opted for Moules crème à l’ail (Mussels with cream and garlic).

Oh so delicious. I don’t even know how to describe it. PEI mussels were plump and cooked well. The sauce was amazing, not too heavy, and the frites were perfectly cooked.

Out of time, I didn’t get a chance to go to its lounge called Le Pharoan, but will definitely try it the next time I’m in town.

I highly recommend this restaurant. Bon Appétit.