Cabane à Sucre Au Pied de Cochon

Prepare yourself for a ridiculous, over the top overindulgence, followed by a food coma. There are 4 appetizer, 2 main meals and 2 dessert dishes. Luckily, they give out doggy bags so you get to take your leftovers home. The menu changes every year and it’s really genius! The combination of flavours puts such a modern twist on this cabane a sucre. It’s quite pricey though, so you’ll leave with an empty wallet, but a very very full belly!
Update to 2016: they make their own gin now. It’s pretty darn good with some maple syrup and champagne.

Excellent, excessif, une maîtrise complète de l’esprit de la cabane. Les drinks spécialités sont dispendieux, mais vous né pouvez passer à côté, surtout le gin bière d’épinette. J’y retournerai.

For sure I left pregnant (I’m a guy).
This meal was awesome. Here’s what I remember.
(images at:
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— Spicy cantaloupe soup
— Buttered bread with prosciutto
— Home made gnocchi and ricotta with lardons in a tasty soup base
— Wood fired Pizza
— Foie gras with poached pear
— The meat dish was vast:
— Duck
— Chicken
— BBQ smoked Rib
— Bison tongue
— Blood sausage no blood?
— Pigs feet in honey
— Bone marrow
— Potatoes onions parsnip pickled radish beans
(I probably forgot something)
For desert I recall:
— Mini ice-​cream cones
— Rhubarb pie
— Cute flower-​pot tiramisu
+ Lots of great drinks (we sat at the bar, and it was good interacting with the bar people)
This meal is AWESOME and CHEAP (for what you get).
We had left-​overs (about 60% of the meat plate) that we ate for dinner.
They say (round about numbers, might be wrong as my brain is ‘used’) that 40,000 people try for 16,000 spots. Book for next season Dec 1^st!
So sweet!

I actually can’t believe I only gave this place four stars last year. I think I reviewed it too quickly after going and was still flabbergasted by all of the uneaten food, but it’s been over a week… and I’m already ready for next season.
Twelve (ish) divine courses, peppered with some delicious drinks, shots and glasses of wine with friends. Standouts this year were the hot and sour soup (complete with much meat and maple), the chef’s meat pie, the pig’s head with pancakes, the pineapple ice cream dessert, the good ol’ maple on ice and absinth with maple sugar.
My motley crew traveled from near and far to join in these sugar shack festivities and we were not disappointed. We opted to take a stretch limo from Montréal where we were all staying to ensure optimum coolness and so that everyone could drink until their maple soaked heart was content. If you are someone that likes being super cool like me, I recommend you lean into the extravaganza that is a dinner at Cabane a Sucre Au Pied De Cochon and get a limo, too. Also, ask your server if you can saber a champagne bottle with a lumberjack ax, if you have two fellas as charismatic as Jon and Ruggy, she will let you.
A bientot!

Trop c’est comme pas assez. Des plats qui contiennent 25 ingrédients, la plupart qu’on né peut gouter. Des plats qui n’ont rien à voir avec une cabane à sucre, des fruits de mer, des pâtes, une demi tête de cochon avec à peu près rien de mangeable. Certains plats étaient très bons mais c’était la minorité. Les desserts sont bons.
L’ambiance est terrible, tassés sur des bancs de bois, du bruit infernal mêlé avec de la musique tellement forte que les pauvres serveurs doivent crier pour se faire entendre. Le service se limite à nous apporter les plats à la table, crier ce qu’ils sont et ensuite on doit se servir nous même. Payer $ 100 (incluant une bière à $ 15) pour manger des choses moyennement bonnes avec une ambiance pourrie et un service moyen, je trouve ça cher. Plus jamais, merci.

Une belle ambiance, mais un peu trop entassés ! Malheureusement, il n’y a pas de salle d’attente, alors on est prit à attendre à l’extérieur qu’ils nous appel .Côte nourriture, les plats sont très original. Il avait beaucoup de foie gras dans une grande majorité des recettes. Les gens avec moi ont trouvé ça un peu trop (foie gras) !!! À dire vrai, je m’attendais à plus basé à ce que j’ai vu à la télévision et d’après les autres reviews.

Expérience incroyable, nourriture décadente. Il né faut surtout pas s’attendre à la traditionnelle cabane à sucre. L’acceuil et le service sont très bien et le personel est aimable. La nourriture est abondante et excellente. Très gras par contre mais c’était à prévoir. La tourtière vaut la peine de payer l’extra. Le fait de pouvoir se faire des plats take-​out est fort apprécier. J’ai adoré
Amélioration pour l’avenir: une caisse pour payer n’est vraiment pas suffissant… surtout que les factures arrivent presqu’en même temps pour tout le monde dans la cabane. J’ai trouvé que nous nous sentions pressé pendant le repas… style manger vite car il faut déservir pour le prochain groupe. Une chose que j’aurais aimé est de pouvoir obtenir le descriptif du menu à la fin pour que je puisse me souvenir de ce que nous avons mangé. Il y a tellement d’ingrédients, que je me souviens même plus de la composition de plusieurs plats. Si quelqu’un me demande qu’est-ce qu’elle a d’extraordinaire la tourtière… je né peux que répondre… «Elle a de la viande, du fromage et de la pâte»… sachant très bien que c’est beaucoup plus que ça.

We came for the sugar shack dinner experience.
Décor, the place is interesting. There isn’t anything fancy to it, just rows of tables and benches to sit on. You may be seated with strangers depending on the size of your group so do keep that in mind. It is not quiet here, so don’t expect to have a nice meal with your date here.
Service, this can be a bit on/​off depending on how busy it gets because it does get quite busy. You can easily flag down anyone if you need anything since everyone was fairly helpful. Do note that some of the wait staff don’t speak a lot of English, so do understand that when they don’t understand what you say or when they try to explain the dishes to their abilities.
Food, this is the biggest meal that I have had. It is divided into 4 courses with anywhere between 2 – 4 dishes each, so do pace yourself even though there is plenty of food left over. I found that while I did not like everything I had, the ones I did like, I liked a lot. Overall, the dish course was my favourite, but you can’t really go wrong with any of the other courses.
Here is what I remember, sweet & sour soup with dumplings, pasta, omelette with tongue, cake with maple syrup and foie gras, pig face with donuts and fennel salad, duck with squid ink and stuffed calamari, rabbit stuffed with foie gras, maple taffy, maple and pineapple ice cream with beaver tails, maple cotton candy milk shooters with baklava and lemon soufflé.
Price, I thought the price was actually really good for the amount of food and the quality of ingredients that you get. Mind you, it depends on the person but I thought $ 65 + tax/​tip for what we got was well worth it.
I wouldn’t have a problem recommending people to come to try it, but I don’t think I would be making a trip out to try this again.

The end of an era. It’s sad to say, but now this place has lost its charm.
I’ve been a big fan for the past 6 years. But this was the most disappointing experience i’ve ever had… and i organized a trip of 20 including friends from around the world.
Everything was wrong this year. The tables were sticky. The service was terrible — almost comparable to a self serve cafeteria. The flavours were strange — a little too out there to even work. Dishes with too many competing flavours. Seemed like the dishes were simply conceived to make an outrageous point rather than a cohesive dining experience. Dishes were also hard to eat. The slight deviation towards more international flavours didn’t work either this year. The quality of produce wasn’t there surprisingly. The menu itself seemed rather lessened compared to previous years — i. e less of everything and all the good stuff that APDC is known for.
I wanted to keep these thoughts to myself, for respect to Martin Piccard, but the entire group felt the same way… and especially for those of us that do this annually, we all noticed the differences. It’s sad to even think of this — the truth is this isn’t an off year in our opinion — when you look at it over the years — the increased number of services days and services within the days itself has now taken it’s toll on the restaurant — there is less love and more factory output — and this is just a result of popularity and a busy chef. C’est la vie.

Had two meals at the PDC Sugar Shack (winter 2014 and winter 2015) and the experiences were quite different. The food is decadent, delicious, and plentiful. The service on the second outing really subtracted from the meal. Half portions were brought out late or entirely forgotten (easy to notice since tables beside you are eating the same meal), and then delivered to the wrong table. I was unsure if it was the kitchen or the servers who were responsible — but either way, what ends up being a $ 100 a plate meal became quite disappointing considering the hype, expectations, and previous experience.
That all being said, the meal of 2014 was great!

Cabane a Sucre
Having never enjoyed going to a Cabane a Sucre or the food served there I was ready to be swayed.
A different twist on Cabane food but conceptually the same.
Gluttony gone overbord.
What restaurant starts by giving you a doggy bag?
And what would you do with it once you got it home?
Once you sit the food arrives in quantity with no stop.
Just enough time to shovel it into mouth and take out container.
After the mains it was straight to the dumpster with the leftovers.
Shame for such waste.
A day later I can’t remember one dish I enjoyed except perhaps the oysters.
There must be reason I’ve never gone back to the Pied de Couchon in Montréal.
This place is worth a try just to experience it .
Just can’t guarantee you will enjoy the experience.
Wine at 50 plus a bottle was plonk. Fotunately there are only 4 or 5.
Go straight to the hundred dollar plus bottles. Maybe better.

OMG!
I’ve been looking forward to this meal for months! That’s how far in advance you have to book. It’s good to plan ahead, especially coming in from another city, in my case, Toronto.
I’ve heard apple season isn’t as good as maple syrup season but guess what? I will take what I can get!
Our drive to this location wasn’t too bad since we were staying in the west island. That in itself saved us a solid 30 minutes. It’s approximately an hour drive from downtown Montréal.
Upon arrival, we walked around the grounds, took some photos, and eagerly awaited the feast that was soon to come.
I had booked for 4 people and were assigned bar seats. This was good in the sense that you’re not cramped on a bench, but you sit with your dining companions in a row, so not conducive to dinner conversation. Let’s face it, it was all about the food anyways! If you’ve got a group of 8 – 10 (maybe even 12) you get an entire communal dining table, similar to a giant picnic table. I think the one square table was the best seating arrangement for a large group.
If you have allergies, you’re kind of screwed. They don’t make changes to the dishes so you just make do with what you can eat. The server will inform you about which dishes won’t cause you an epipen episode.
Onto the food: 6 appetizers, 3 mains, and 5 desserts.
1. Tomato soup served from the can with a PDC Campbell’s style label, with puffy bread and sausage (good).
2. Baked oyster for each person topped with a chunk of foie gras (good).
3. Squid ink pasta with ricotta (cannelloni) (amazing).
4. Another pasta with tofu (good).
5. Vietnamese style fresh roll but with sliced meats (kinda weird).
6. Fried calf brains on roasted cauliflower (delicious).
1. Pork served with sweetbreads, turnips, and carrots (good).
2. Mackerel served with eggplant, zucchini, peppers, and chickpeas (good). Tagine from the outdoor smoker!
3. Meatloaf with Brie and potatoes wrapped with bacon topped with Brussels sprouts (way too heavy).
1. Lemon cake layered with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sorbet, surrounded with meringue topped with whipped cream and some plums (amazing).
2. Pear something (good).
3. Strawberry pie (good).
4. Chocolate tart (good).
5. Some other baked goodness (good).
I’m not sure I like the idea of dining while scooping extra food into containers on the side. I hate wasting food, but seriously, the portions here are just insane.
The value is unbelievable for the quality, quantity, and variety of food. $ 55 per person for the apple season.
The bar has a good selection of drinks to satisfy everyone.
After everything was all said and done, I would recommend this as a unique dining experience for people who are adventurous and who love food, especially meat. Vegetarians and vegans need not apply. Don’t come and give a crappy review because they don’t have anything for you.
I’m definitely going to try for the maple syrup season!

Way too much food — and not well prepared and menu made no sense
1. We were there for the apple season but there was only one dessert served with applies.
2. Service was good, consistent and staff friendly
3. reservations were made in April for the October dinner — sold out in 5 seconds flat so if you are interested in attending this smörgåsbord anticipate a 6 month or more wait
4. Wine list was extravagant — one bottle at $ 40 & 60, then over to $ 80+
5. Lots of rushing and no chance to settle in between courses
6. we were served a whopping 6 «entrées», 3 main dishes and 5 desserts for our table of 12.
Entrees: First plate was my favourite: cream of tomato soup and cheesy sausage cooked in brioche in a tin can. Flavours blended well and made sense. After that things went downhill fast. Next course was a baked oyster served with something cheesy and a hard lump of foie gras. There was something sugary and odd — waste of a nice oyster and foie gras. Followed by roasted cauliflower with capers and deep fried calves brain — just awful mix of sour and fried soggy sweetbreads. Handmade pasta with pesto, cheese and tofu (!) — another nonsensical blend of over the top. Then there was another pasta dish of one giant black cannelloni made with ricotta (this was well done) — however to slice it up among 6 people just squashed it to death (better to do individual servings in a dish, no?).
By now no one was actually eating much, just dumping it into metal tins to actually eat when they had an appetite. This is not how I like to have a nice dinner.
Main dishes: one roast of pork with an incredible amount of fat still on it, served with carrots. They brought out the roast and did a nice side table preparation. Ate about an ounce, too pink and fatty for me. Next came mackerel served with eggplant and chick peas — I didn’t try this dish but made no sense for the menu. Finally a meat loaf of gargantuan proportions: minced pork, wrapped in bacon and a whole brie wheel blended into it served with garlic, brussels sprouts and mushrooms. It was swimming in oil — a mish-​mash of flavour and average at best.
Desserts: my second favourite part of the meal and there was nothing left over to take away. One pâté amandine with apples and a nice pastry, pear tart with custard, a strawberry pie (teeny tiny for a table of 12), a chocolate tart with blueberries, and two ice cream cakes with meringue walls, topped with honey whip cream. These were fairly well prepared and had a nice blend of flavours.
All this with a $ 6 glass of cider came to a whopping $ 70 before taxes.
My suggestion? Skip it and go somewhere else. It was like going to New Orleans: all the fat but without the finesse of the preparations. The menu had no flow to it, many dishes didn’t compliment each other and way way way too much food. I tasted most, had a little of each and took NOTHING home.

Je vous écris aujourd’hui en direct de mon hangover de la Cabane à Sucre du PDC. Pas que j’aie abusé de consommations alcoolisées (quoi que j’ai quand même profité de quelques breuvages malsains), mais c’est plutôt à un hangover stomachique auquel je dois faire face. C’est sans aucun regret que je vous rewind le tout:
Respirer fait mal. Le simple fait d’exister me rappelle que mon estomac est au delà de son point de saturation. La cabane est réputée pour ses «take-​out» de fin de repas (tout ce que tu né manges pas, tu le ramènes chez toi), mais étonnamment notre groupe de 10 n’a pas quitté avec tant de restants. On était clairement plus gourmand que notre sentiment de satiété.
Le plateau des desserts fait finalement sont entrée. Pas un, ni deux, mais bien 5 œuvres d’arts sucrées se prélassent devant nous: Un magnifique gâteau chocolat bleuet encore chaud, une tarte aux fraises, un trottoir pomme rhubarbe, une bombe Alaska; le reste est flou. Tout ce dont je me rappelle, c’est d’avoir commandé un café alcoolisé au cidre de glacé qui finalement a perdu tout son intérêt face aux desserts qui étaient beaucoup trop bon pour né pas être mangés. Je n’avais définitivement plus faim, mais ma cuillère faisait des allés-​retours vers ma bouche sans rien écouter d’autre que mes papilles gustatives qui criaient «Oh oui, encore!», au grand regret du reste de mon corps qui savait plus où stocker ces bouchées de bonheur.
Le service est rapide (dirais-​je même un peu trop?), né nous laissant pas une minute de répit pour digérer entre les services. Se présentent à nous les plats principaux: Une tajine de porc surmontée de riz de veau cuite au BBQ, du maquereau fondant servit sur un lit d’aubergine et de tresses de merguez, ainsi qu’un pain de viande avec du bacon, du brie, du bacon, et du bacon. Les assiettes se déplacent et se remplissent de protéines, et il va sans dire que tout était délicieux. Mon coup de cœur personnel va au porc, viande que je trouve habituellement ennuyante, mais dont j’ai rempli mon petit pot de «take-​out» lorsque plus personne n’étaient capable de lever sa fourchette. On se dit tous qu’on doit se garder de la place pour le dessert, mais comment rester de glacé devant un si bon repas? On a beau en rapporter à la maison, une fois passé au four micro-​onde, c’est jamais pareil que fraîchement sorti du four.
C’est après à peine 10 minutes d’attente que les premières assiettes font leurs entrées. La table est fébrile, et on né peut pas quitter des yeux la serveuse qui nous présente le premier plat: Une soupe aux tomates servit depuis une énorme canne de soupe «Campbell» et du pain brioché fourré à la saucisse dégoulinante de fromage, pains ayant été cuit à même les cannes dans lesquels ils nous sont présentés! On commence à peine à engloutir notre décadente soupe que d’autres plats se rajoutent à la table: Des huîtres gratinées au fois gras et béchamel (highlight de la soirée pour bon nombre de gourmands), rouleaux de printemps au tataki de bœuf et fois gras, cannellonis à l’encre de sèche et ricotta maison, chou fleur roti surmonté de cervelle frite et un joli plat de pâtes avec tofu maison pour finaliser le tout. On prend presque tous la bonne décision d’accompagner notre repas d’un liquide doré qu’on appelle amoureusement un White Velvet (bière blonde du PDC + cidre), on cheers et on débute. Pire que des aspirateurs, on en est presque à licher les bols pour être certains qu’il né reste plus rien, sauf un solitaire cannelloni qui terminera sa vie en lunch le lendemain midi.
On a été prévenu, et je vous préviens à mon tour: Il faut arriver le ventre vide et prêt à manger la lune. On a peine à le croire sans l’avoir vécu, car avant de s’asseoir on a toujours un peu trop confiance en notre appétit de loup. Ain’t no mountain high enough qu’ils disent, sauf the one full of food and fat and joy at La Cabane à Sucre du PDC.

i think there is no need to introduce this nice experiment of Martin Picard. If by any chance you are reading this review on december 1^st, just grab your phone, give a call ask for a reservation for 4 (you’ll find the 3 others I promise! And they’ll be grateful you did) and be ready for a 50 $ gargantuesque heaven.
That’s it. Just call now. You won’t regret it… oh well, unless you are vegetarian ;)
ps: if you can’t get there, call throughout the year, they sometimes get cancelation, sometimes, very few, but worth a try…
Bonne chance, et bon appétit!

Après 3 ans d’essais infructueux, nous avons enfin réussi à avoir nos places à la cabane. Nous étions 14 et avons choisi la table du chef, située directement dans la cuisine.
C’était en fin d’hiver, il pleuvait, le stationnement (en terre) était dégueulasse, plein de bosses, de trous remplis d’eau, bref, mes chaussures et mon pantalon étaient bien sales avant même d’entrer dans la cabane.
Comme nous étions dans la cuisine, nous avons pu regarder l’équipe à l’oeuvre, et il faut avouer qu’ils ont vraiment du plaisir à faire leur travail. La moyenne d’âge est basse, mais ils savent ce qu’ils font.
Nous avons pu fournir un iPod avec une playlist (variée, mais du bon son).
Ensuite, l’orgie a commencé. Orgie est vraiment le mot approprié, tant la quantité de bouffe était simplement hallucinante. Je né saurais honnêtement pas dire ce que nous avons mangé, mais c’était bon. Très bon. Mais impossible de tout finir. Je crois que nous sommes repartis avec 7 ou 8 doggy bags.
Les «highlights» de MA soirée (nous étions 14, je né sais pas ce que chacun a préféré): le foie gras entier gavé au sirop d’érable, la tourtière, les croûtons à l’ail géants, les pâtes à l’encre de seiche.
Ça nous a coûté en moyenne 200 $ par personne (cocktail, repas, cafés, alcool).
C’est «raisonnable» compte tenu de la renommée de la place, mais ça reste cher pour de la bouffe de cabane à sucre, même si c’est loin des habituels bacon/​oeufs/​saucisses.
Est-​ce que j’y retournerais? Sûrement car le menu change chaque année.
Est-​ce que je reprendrais la table du chef? Non, c’est trop de bouffe, trop cher.
J’ai aimé ce que j’ai mangé, mais je préfère moins gras et plus gastronomique.
Cela dit, c’est une expérience à essayer au moins une fois !

Oufff. An experience. Ultimately a super positive time, an exuberant, delicious, decadent family style dinner with piles of take-​away containers to mitigate the otherwise overwhelming too muchness and waste.
So many courses I can’t even. The ham in homemade donuts, the omelet covered in deep fried Parmesan cheese, the squid ink pasta with boudin, these were just a few of the memorable standouts. Our table, knowing this was likely a one-​time thing for us, opted for the $ 70 additional tourtière, which is a crazy thing to do, but was swoonworthy. After the first few courses we took smaller portions and started filling up the to-​go containers which was the right move, because you need to leave room for dessert.
The frozen maple yogurt was tart and amazing, the banana cake was dreamy, and the optional flaming maple absinthe was the perfect digestif.
One hour out of town into the country, a $ 60 flat rate made this a very different experience from the downtown Au Pied de Cochon, less fancy and for me more fun and more worth experiencing. But I couldn’t look at the leftovers the next day, my friends through them on the bbq and I had a salad. Very fun to experience, but likely just a one time thing for me.

Je commencerai par dire qu’il faut y aller pour l’expérience culinaire. Oubliez les oreilles de Christ et le bacon mou, ici on vous sert des crêpes frites dans le gras de canard, du foie gras et des omelettes aux tripes de boeuf. Certains plats m’ont définitivement fait sortir de ma zone de confort (du genre les dites tripes), mais tant qu’à y être, il faut essayer. En plus, c’est tellement bien cuisiné (et noyé dans le sirop d’érable) que c’est probablement la meilleure façon de se lancer!
Il n’y a pas de menu, vous mangez ce qu’on vous sert. Les tables sont de grandes tables de 12 personnes, c’est donc idéal si vous êtes un groupe. Le prix de base est de 62 $ par personne, c’est donc pas donné et il faut vraiment apprécier quelques trucs:
1. Manger. Beaucoup.
2. La viande.
3. Le gras
On né parle vraiment pas ici d’une cabane à sucre ordinaire, au risqué de me répéter. J’ai beaucoup aimé le fait que ce qui reste sur la table est à emporter, mon chum qui n’avait pas pu venir avec nous à beaucoup apprécié aussi! Les desserts sont tout simplement à tomber par terre. Le yogourt glacé à l’érable, oui, s’il vous plait. Une belle expérience, je vous conseille de né pas trop manger durant votre journée avant de vous y rendre et de réserver plusieurs mois à l’avance (pas le choix!)

Mon mari et moi avons été assez chanceux pour obtenir une réservation pour deux à la Cabane à sucre Au pied de cochon. Nous avions très hâte d’y aller et nous n’avons certainement pas été déçus. Durant notre visite, nous étions assis au bar, et nous avons donc reçu un service privilégié de la barmaid. Comme le menu était très long, je né ferai qu’une critique générale de l’endroit plutôt que de me lancer dans la description de chacun des services.
D’abord, la Cabane à sucre Au pied de cochon est une expérience culinaire en soi qui vaut la peine d’être vécue. Ensuite, si vous trouviez le restaurant montréalais extravagant, sachez que sa cabane à sucre est pantagruélique: on mangeait moins dans les antiques orgies romaines, j’en suis certain! L’amabilité (et le grand esthétisme) des gens au service se doit d’être souligné à deux traits, même si certains font preuve d’un léger manqué d’expérience et de maîtrise du menu. L’inventivité du chef exécutif, Vincent Dion Lavallée, se doit aussi d’être reconnue, même si son jeune âge lui fait créer certains plats qui vont dans beaucoup trop de directions simultanément.
Si vous avez l’opportunité d’y aller, voici nos conseils et rremarques: le menu est fixe, vous n’avez pas de choix à faire et vous mangez ce qu’on vous sert; allez-​y avec un grand groupe de gens très gourmands (voire carrément cochons); préparez-​vous mentalement à manger comme vous n’avez jamais mangé auparavant (tant en quantité, qu’en valeur calorique, qu’en qualité); amenez-​vous une grand glacière pour rapporter vos restes chez vous (car oui c’est la pratique établie: tout ce que vous né mangez pas, vous le mettez en doggy-​bag et le ramenez chez vous); prévoyez 62 $ par personne plus de l’extra si vous voulez qu’on vous serve la tourtière et aussi pour acheter les charcuteries et confiseries à apporter à la maison.
Pour finir, voici le menu qui nous été servi ce soir là suivi de mon appréciation de chaque plat sur cinq étoiles (cinq étant miam et un étant beurk):
Entrées
Canapé de foie gras, fèves au lard, oreilles de Christ *****
Omelette soufflée, ragoût de tripes de boeuf et jambon, polenta frite ****
Quenelle d’esturgeon, sauce aux moules *****
Gâteau de saumon et mousseline de légumes ***
Oeufs dans le sirop **
” Entremet «
Jambon au foin, beignets frits au gras de canard *
Plats principaux
Magret de canard farci de ses chairs confites, sauce aux poivrons rouge, polenta crémeuse **
Pâtes à l’encre de seiche et sang de cochon, sauce à la farce de tourtière et boudin *****
Patate sucrée à la guimauve à l’érable ****
Desserts
Tartelette à la banane, meringue flambée à l’érable ****
Yogourt glacé à l’érable et liquer d’érable ***
Tire d’érable sur neige *****
» Mokabane «(gâteau moka à l’érable) *****

Called for reservations on December 1^st, midnight, didn’t actually get a confirmation until mid-​Feb. Score! It was our first time in Montréal. We drove up that morning and went to Mirabel for 6pm. A nice drive in a pretty, rural area. Wish we drove out earlier so we could look around some of the other sugar shacks first.
This place was a bit chaotic. Our seating was at 6 and we didn’t have to wait. We were at the bar and it was a nice way to talk to the friendly (and typically beautiful — jeez an inordinate percentage of the population of Montréal is really good looking) girls serving us food n’ drinks. We started with cocktails — a maple daiquiri and a maple Manhattan. Both were pretty good, but the daiquiri didn’t go as greatly with the food itself. We wish we had drank more of the delicious maple beer.
The courses were great and very varied — our favorite was probably the foie gras with baked beans. Or the sturgeon cannelles in mussel sauce. Or the blood sausage and squid ink pasta. Or the ham. I don’t even normally like ham, but this was transformative ham. Like, I could cry thinking of that ham. We actually really didn’t like the duck dish. There were four desserts, all amazing.
We took home 3 tins of leftovers. It’s a lot of food. The whole experience wasn’t our favorite of the trip though. It was very sort of touristy, in a way. I know it’s a destination, restaurant but there were a lot of big group and photo flashes and loafs of bread stuck with sparkers and things flambeed tableside for show. We felt rushed. Courses kept coming out before we could even try the last dish to come out. It just felt like Get-​em-​in-​get-​em-​out. I’m grateful we sat at the bar and could at least chat with our server and get a little history, but still, the descriptions of the dish were really minimal.
Despite being so touristy, you can buy the $ 40 cookbook in the gift shop, but not any actual bottles of maple syrup. Or maple beer. Bummer. We’ll probably try to come back again next year, but it’ll be with tempered expectations. The food was fantastic, it was the ambiance itself that left me wanting more.

Got very lucky to tag along with a friend who had made a reservation one year ago to get in. Given that piece of information, I was expecting it to be good.
It exceeded expectations.
It’s out in the sticks — took us an hour to drive out from downtown Montréal. The setting is fantastic (it feels like a big converted farm house).
Then the food starts coming out.
This isn’t just holy cow. This is holy barn yard animal. Absolutely epic. I’ve never had so much food of this high a quality just brought out… and then it just keeps coming out. More and more. It’s all amazing. It’s wholesome, extremely rich, and not complicated.
I ate so much, I didn’t need breakfast. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Fall is sadly here (speaking as a true Summer baby here). The air getting crisper, the leaves are changing colours and it is getting a heck of a lot darker when we all wake up in the morning. However, there are a few positives… and Martin Picard & company opening up their Cabane à Sucre is definitely one of them. Earlier this year, I got to visit for the first time for sugar season. Following that experience, I made sure that I would be back for the fall apple season menu as well.
First up, there was a nice selection of special cocktails to try out. The options were an apple Martini, a raspberry Margarita, an apple cranberry & spiced rum slush and lastly, an Irish car bomb variant with apple cider, apple brandy and crème de cassis.
And now onto the food. The first course brought forth a huge amount of dishes: an apple pie topped with cheddar cheese, foie gras and an optional chives cream; a seasonal vegetable soup with pork, chicken, shark and a housemade pesto sauce; sauteed apples with noix de grenoble; a squash risotto with sausage mixed in a cheese wheel and salad still in pots with the vinaigrette sprayed onto it. Not a single bad dish amongst the group. The apple pie was flaky and sweet. The foie gras was the proverbial icing on the cake. The vegetable soup was nice and hearty with a beautiful deep and flavourful broth. The presentation of the salad was quite original and good as well. The sauteed apples brought some nice sweetness to the mix and the risotto was perfectly executed — the mixing in the cheese wheel really helped to create that rich texture.
And then the main course came up — a meat plate that bordered on the absurb. A mountain of different meats with housemade sauerkraut that was left to ferment for 6 weeks. White ham, pork tongue, smoked meat, bacon, liver, dry sausages, apple and foie gras sausage, pork tenderloin and a pig’s foot. Everything on this plate was delicious — great use of different types of meats and preparations. This may not be everybody’s thing but I loved it.
Paired with the meat dish was a cheese plate. I don’t remember the names of each cheese here but other than the blue cheese (which I don’t mind in a dish but not by itself), I enjoyed all of them. Similar to the meat plate, there are a great mix of textures and flavours within the plate. Add to it fresh onion rolls, baguettes and crackers and you get a great side-​dish to all those meats.
Last but not least, we get to dessert. Dark beer and squash soft serve ice cream, squash & honey millefeuille and powdered doughnuts stuffed with homemade apple sauce. Now, I know that squash ice cream and a squash millefeuille seem weird but both were amazing. Both soft serves were simply perfect in terms of consistency and richness. The doughnuts were odes to their food truck and, like those you can get there, were delicious although it prefer a little less powdered sugar personally. The millefeuille was perfectly done as well.
Once again, as it was during the spring, the amount of food you get for the fixed price (50 $ for the fall) is insane. Compared to the spring, I would say that this menu is more accessible given its relative lack of offal and other non-​typical food items. Either way, I enjoyed this meal very much and rolled myself home — all while saying I’ll be back next year. Pretty much exactly what expected from the Au Pied de Cochon crew.
Cheers!

The food here is so very, very delicious, it can’t be adequately described. You can read all about it all over the internet — just know that it’s all true. The staff is fun-​loving, friendly and helpful. I have nothing bad to say about the experience. In lieu of another long rave about how great a meal at Picard’s Cabane a Sucre is, here are some tips:
First, in case you’ve never looked into trying to come here: You need to request a reservation (which is not guaranteed) months in advance. This seems like a hassle, but the trade-​off is that meals are much less expensive than they could be at $ 59/​person before drinks, tax and tip.
Second, while you can make reservations for any size group, tables seat ten people. If you come with fewer then other groups will be put at the same table as you — but each group will be served their own meal. I suspect if there were more than ten of you you could request the number you’d like at each table.
You are going to take home leftovers. Our group of six took home six pounds of leftovers. Don’t feel like you should finish any of the courses, because you can’t finish all of them.
The cocktails are unique and tasty. Try at least one.
If you own Picard’s cookbook, bring it along. He was around when we went and is very friendly and willing to chat with you briefly and sign cookbooks. They also sell the cookbooks at the shack, which include recipes for a lot of the dishes. (At least in Maple Season.)
As others have mentioned, you can look into the kitchen and see them cooking. If it’s a nice day arrive early so that you can snoop.
If you do manage to get yourself a reservation, here is the advice that Picard gave me before our first course: «Please, enjoy everything! And remember to eat slowly… there is a lot of food.»

A three tiered wooden tea-​tray like monstrosity that looked like it came straight out of a Quebec Lumberjack hell.
At the top sat maple glazed doughnut fritters; doughnut holes, Timbits, Martin Picard-​Timbits… Mimbits topped with maple sugar cotton candy, that sat atop of a ramekin of maple sugar crème caramel.
Below that was the tier of diabetic’s nightmare; sweet maple delights of little cornets of maple glazed popcorn, maple whippets of homemade marshmallow and maple biscuits, homemade crumbled of maple sugar honeycomb toffee, maple canelés, maple sugar ice cream cones (the ones that used to be sold on the depanneur counters in the open air) and homemade almond croissants.
At the bottom saw a tray lined with tiny mason jar whiskey and maple syrup shots — obviously to weed out the weak ones who couldn’t handle the insulin spikes during the first course of the Sugar Shack season, and having them pass out on the floor in a maple overdose coma.

Ever have a mystical experience with Maple Syrup? I know, it sounds weird. But when Martin Picard decides to cook up his take on «The Sugar Shack» you best buckle up and prepare for the second coming.
First he flips it all on you and starts you out with desert… a whole tower of deserts, Whippets, maple pop-​corn, some kind of croissant thing with maple, maple taffy, some kind of maple iced Ultra Tim-​Bit and this maple flavoured Jell-​O/​Yogurt thing which was insane. I won’t go into details on each item because, damn this review would be pages and pages long and Unilocal won’t let me go beyond 5 001 characters. The tower was supported by Jack Daniel’s shooter with maple syrup.
Then came the starters. 4 of them. Each more insane than the other. There was the salad with offal, topped with Oreilles de Christ, the best damn Oreilles de Christ you’ve ever had. The waiter informed me they take 3 days to make… I didn’t get the details because of the hustle and bustle but it’s like eating really amazing pork-​rinds in the form of airy Cheetos, without the cheese. Bacon in pop-​corn form. DING DING. You win a bucket of awesome.
The traditional omelette took a direction most wouldn’t expect from a Sugar Shack. The omelette had, of course eggs, and potatoes, pornographically thick cut bacon — probably cooked in maple syrup — which I could eat all day. But then comes the «road less taken» part. It’s also got lots of brains… calf brains to be precise. They were prepared more or less like Picard prepares foie gras and they were just as melt in your mouth. It was the first time I’ve had calf brains and they weren’t much unlike the sheep’s brain I tasted a few years back. Simply put, the whole thing was foodgasmic.
Further down the traditional sugar shack menu are the omelette and the baked beans. Picard mashes them together to create magic, real magic… The pancake is topped with baked beans which made my own taste like canned crap and I used to be proud of my baked beans and if that weren’t enough… he takes you to town. You see there’s also foie gras and smoked salmon and cream and a lot flavour and decadence and it leaves you with the feeling that nothing else can be better. But I was wrong, really wrong…
You see, for me there’s The Holy Trifecta of Meat. It starts with the most loved of all meats; BACON (check) followed by FOIE GRAS (check) and then comes the DUCK…
Yes DUCK. I have a love affair with duck. And Picard just whored it out like a really expensive escort. Duck confit legs — already perfect — then deep fried and slathered with ooey gooey maple flavoured glaze and some crunchy stuff I didn’t have time to identify as I devoured it. So freakin’ delicious, I could have eaten a bucket full of those duck legs and then probably would have developed diabetes, but woulda been worth it. Now in my Top 5 courses of all time.
Still reading? Good. I’m about to go into the main. It kinda slows down from here though. There’s chicken stuffed with sausage, foie gras and lobster which I’m allergic to so I couldn’t eat of it but it looked pretty damn good. There was also a succulent smoked ham with mash potatoes and I thought I was bored out of my mind with ham… but not this one. Basically smoked to the point where’s pulled pork, pulled ham maybe? In any case, again, best ham ever. The desert was Maple toffee served in maple ice cream (mindblowing ice cream) followed by a big squishee maple cake. At this point my head was already wobbly from the sugar and I had to call it quits.
As a whole the food is beyond succulent, as you would expect from Martin Picard. The service, just like his restaurant, is professional and friendly. But I have one small caveat though. I was hoping to escape the feed-​lot experience from the other sugar shacks where you are led to a table with uncomfortable seating arrangements and made to eat like cattle and be expulsed outside to wander off until you die from overeating. Just once I’d like to go to a sugar shack and sit on a chair and have room to move around and have more than 2 square feet to occupy. The meal was the kind of God-​Like meal you dream of, the atmosphere was reminiscent of a high-​school cafeteria set in a barn. But then there’s the Maple Cotton Candy.

WOW. That’s my initial reaction to the PDC Cabane. It’s quite the overwhelming experience, that’s for sure.
I won’t get into details about the individual dishes, because others have already done so quite well here, but I will highlight the fact that you will eat things you never thought of eating before, and things you have eaten before, but in combinations you never thought of eating together. Food wise, it’s an adventure! And every bit is special.
What is also an experience is the atmosphere. While it isn’t your typical sugar shack, it definitely has that «party in the countryside» vibe going on. I’m not sure if it was because we were at the last seating of the day at 8pm, but there was definitely a party vibe going on. The music being played definitely contributed (Radio Radio, Malajube, amongst others), and you could tell people were genuinely excited to be there. Seating is at HUGE tables. We were a group of five, and we were seated at a big table with a group of three and a couple. It made sharing the dishes interesting, as often the platters were just too huge to pass around, so it became teamwork to make sure everyone got to try everything. And even if we could have passed the dishes around, the table was constantly covered in dishes. This was fun as it contributed to the big family party vibe going on, but a teensy bit of a downside if you’re the kind of person who likes to admire presentation from up close.
Word of warning regarding drinks: if you order a beer or a cider, the pints are the not the pints you are used to. They are HUGE! Which can be a very good thing. .. or a bad thing if you’re the designated driver of your group (because remember, windy country roads in the dark to get back to the main road, STAY SAFE!).
The staff there is awesome. They come around and explain each dish, bring water, drinks, etc. Everyone we interacted with was super pleasant, and you could tell they were having a good time. Even more awesome is that Martin Picard himself came around the room welcoming everyone, and then afterwards hung out at the bar chatting. You could tell he loves his cabane.
Finally, a super nice touch is being able to see into the kitchen from the front deck. When we first arrived the previous seating wasn’t quite finished yet, so we hung about and it was so neat to see the kitchen activities. I love how no nonsense everything is at the cabane. Someone from our group went out for a smoke partway through the meal, and he got to see hams being unloaded from the smoker.
If you want a fancy meal you get to pick, stare at, and then devour at your own pace, go to the restaurant. If you want a meal that is beyond your wildest dreams, in a festive atmosphere, go to the cabane. One has definitely given me a new appreciation for the other, and vice versa.

Un des meilleurs repas à vie. J’ai eu la chance d’avoir une réservation à la fameuse cabane à sucre du pied de cochon. Chance??? Peut-​être pas… Dès la première journée de l’ouverture de leur livre d’or des réservations j’étais sur mon ordinateur. Je dirais même dès les premières minutes. Envoi fait le 1er décembre, confirmation reçue à la mi-​janvier pour une réservation début mars. La salle à manger de la cabane est petite. On est un peu coincé.
Le menu est très innovateur, soda-​wisky avec morceaux de jello à l’érable, tourtière avec porc effiloché, poulet farci au homard, omelette avec morceaux de lardons et autre…
Une partie du dessert a été servie en entrée, whippet à l’érable, barbe à papa, beurre d’érable, flan à l’érable, croissant à l’érable et aux amandes (un des meilleurs croissants que j’ai mangé).
Le service et impeccable, simple et sympathique. Martin Picard est toujours aussi accessible et présent. Ce n’est pas un environnement très baby-​friendly et menu pas idéal pour les enfants. Je le recommande à tous, sauf au végétarien. À essayer une fois dans sa vie. Pour ma part, je vais réserver à chaque année.

Please note, you should eat VERY light for about 2 days before heading to the Cabane a sucre PDC so you’ll stand a chance at trying all of the foie-​gras and maple-​slathered deliciousness.
The 2013 season Sugar Shack menu started out with a dessert tower which included maple cotton candy, some of the best amandines I’ve ever tasted and jack-​maple shots… a great start!
The entrees included a smoked salmon, foie-​gras/​lardons crepes, foie-​gras omelette topped with veal brain, balsamic-​maple glazed deep-​fried duck legs, arugula and duck heart salad topped with traditional cabane a sucre «oreilles de cris». The mains consisted of a full chicken (head and feet included) stuffed with lobster and foie-​gras and a giant ham… not for the unadventurous palate but cooked in such a way as to be rich, decadent and very appetizing.
We also opted for the $ 70 special tourtière option — an exercise in gluttony but delicious!
There were also maple-​themed cocktails. We had a few pitchers of maple beer, which was quite good and had a nice maple after-​taste.
The desserts were a very rich cake which was good, but didn’t seem very special after all we’d just ingested, and of course, their version of «tire sur la neige». The maple syrup was served on vanilla ice cream and was a definite highlight of the meal!
The atmosphere was crowded and boisterous, the staff was friendly and knowledgeable and the «doggy-​bags» were necessary and much appreciated!

J’adore le sucre, j’aime l’érable et tout le monde aime le gras et la viande. C’est un peu l’attitude qu’il faut avoir en allant à la Cabane à sucre du Pied de cochon.
Nous sommes étés là-​bas avec un groupe de 32 durant la saison du menu sucre.
Il faut être prêt mentalement pour aller à la cabane à sucre au Pied de cochon, pour de vrai. Il faut s’attendre à manger beaucoup trop, à voir beaucoup d’excès, mais surtout à voir beaucoup de mélanges.
J’ai été content de l’expérience, mais après déjà 3 ans d’affilés que j’y vais, la magie y est moins. C’est très bon, c’est très spécial, mais c’est too much un peu. Le nombre d’ingrédients dans une tourtière est assez hallucinant. Par contre, je recommande à tout le monde de vivre ça une fois dans leur vie.
Pour commencer, vous serez accueilli par un plateau de desserts. Une partie des desserts est servie en premier, car ils se rendaient compte que personne né les mangeait une fois arrivé à la fin. On y trouve de tout: Mais enrobé de sirop, amandines au sirop d’érable, whippet, cannelé et cornets de tire. C’est très bon. C’est parfait pour commencer un repas.
Ensuite suivre plusieurs services de plats que vous vous direz «j’ai pu faim, mais je vais y goûter». C’est un des problèmes de la cabane à sucre au Pied de cochon, il en reste assez pour manger le lendemain pour une famille. Vous
Vous y trouverez une tourtière rempli de viande, de fromage et de cervelle que vous aurez de la misère à mettre dans votre bouche.
Vous y trouverez aussi un poulet farci avec du homard et un peu de gras.
Vous aurez une omelette de saucisses avec un peu de cervelle de cochon dessus.
Ce sont quelques-​uns des mets que vous pouvez y trouver qui vous feront dire «comment il a trouvé l’idée de faire cela».
Finalement, vous aurez un, ô très bon, gâteau des anges avec une meringue à l’érable avec de la crème glacée à l’érable avec un morceau de tire. C’est un vrai délice, je dois l’avouer.
À vivre une fois dans sa vie.

Pissing in the Wind
A friend got a table for the ‘apple sessions’ at PDC, it was pretty darn awesome. There are a few things that I disagree with, like the cavatelli dish, and a coupe of other things, here and there but bothering to point them out would really be nit-​picking and are, for the most part, a matter of preference.

Suffice to stay that whilst dining here, you will be in the presence of greatness, as Martin Picard seems to roam the grounds and say hi to his guests. It is an experience.
Sure, i think confiting foie gras is retarded, but who cares what I think, it is Martin Picard. The man could drop a deuce, wrap it in tinfoil, bake it for an hour, call it ‘terrine de picard’ and it would sell like hot cakes.
And by the time you read this there will probably be a new menu anyway… so just go.
Waka Waka

C’est ma deuxième visite à la Cabane à Sucre au PDC et bon sang que ça né déçoit pas! Sérieux, pour 59 $, on nous gâtes avec 3 entrées, 4 plats principaux et 6 desserts… non mais quand même! Vous vous en rendez compte?!? Moins de 60 $ pour 13 services! Si vous avez une chance de vous tailler une place dans leur longue liste de réservation, voici ce que vous aurez:
— Harengs marinés avec sirop d’érable, pommes de terres finement tranchées, onions marinés, mayon à l’érable
— Terrine d’abats et foie gras, fromage à la crème à la chèvre, salade d’endives et blinis
— Simili sushi d’esturgeon frits, d’oreilles de crisse et d’une sauce soya
— Tourtière et ketchup maison (frais de 20 $ supplémentaires)
— Omelette soufflé avec homard et smoked meat, fromage à la crème
— Vol au vent garnis de lobes de foie gras entier (!!!), sauce béchamel avec fromage Victor et Berthold, oreille de crisse, salade de cresson et pommes
— Fèves au lard avec fromage cottage et canard fumé
— BBQ Pork Belly, et cochonnet de gaspor, choux, et pommes de terre
— Canard rôti et rondelles d’oignons frits dans le gras de canard
— Blizzard à la crème glacée à l’érable et skor
— Tire d’érable servi dans la crème glacée
— Mini cornets d’érable et de guimauve
— Crêpes cuites dans le gras de canard
— Éclairs à l’érable garnies de barbe à papa à l’érable
Ai-​je vraiment besoin de vous décrire la décadence de ce repas?!? De plus, vous pouvez commander des cocktails à base d’érable ou la bière Au Pied de Cochon. À l’extérieur, vous pouvez jeter un coup d’oeil au fumoir qui donne ce smoking hot taste aux viandes! La cabane est à Mirabel près des cabanes à sucre un peu plus traditionnel comme la fameuse cabane à sucre Constantin! Les portions sont plus que généreuses et nous avons droit à des doggy bags pour continuer à savourer le lendemain ;) Il y a également des produits à emporter comme des meringues à l’érable, des guimauves faits maisons, la barbe à papa, etc. Si vous avez rater votre chance, mettez le 1er décembre 2012 à votre calendrier, c’est la journée que la liste de réservations s’ouvre!!! Sautez dessus!!!

Vraiment bon! Cabane à sucre pas comme les autres! Dispendieux, mais très belle expérience culinaire.