Au Pied de Cochon

I hope my last post didn't discourage you from eating out in Montreal. One of the perks of living in Toronto is that I have a registered nurse that regularly comes to my house from Healthy Babies Healthy Children. She recommended that when I go to Montreal, I take my baby to Au Pied de Cochon, so that's what I did!

Restaurant: Au Pied de Cochon
Location: Montreal
Meal: Dinner
Day: Friday
Son's Age: 12 weeks

We made a reservation for 5pm indicating that we would be bringing a baby, so the staff was prepared for us. It also happened to be St. Jean Baptiste Day, but I'm not sure what impact that might have had on the restaurant.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️
Upon arrival, we were led to a table in the back of the restaurant. We were able to wheel the stroller over but it became apparent that we couldn't leave the stroller open, so I placed the car seat on the chair next to me while my husband folded the stroller and propped it on the wall.

I should probably acknowledge that yes, that is a Habs onesie on my son. It made him a big hit with everyone but I swear I'm a Leafs fan at heart. Let's turn our attention to the stroller!

I only gave two stars, however, because moving the stroller through the restaurant was quite cumbersome, and also there were no change tables available. The restaurant has two washrooms and I ended up using both (I have a small bladder!). The first one was smaller and I don't think I could have even brought my baby with me.

Unrelated to accessibility but the toilet has those buttons like in Japan and Korea with the bidet and no I did not try it. There is also a TV on the opposite wall with sports playing so I feel someone could just sit in the washroom to escape a bad date.

The larger washroom is confusing because it is a single person washroom but for some reason there are three faucets (I know I only got two of them in the photo) - not sure what situation would require one person to need three faucets? Again, no change table but you can see in the mirror that this has a TV as well. At least this is big enough that if you did want to change your baby on the floor, you could, but I think I've mentioned my opinion on this enough times already.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The service here is fantastic. Our server helped us navigate our way to our table and was very friendly. He made good recommendations for our meal and seemed genuinely delighted to see our baby (although I think the Habs outfit helped to curry his favour). I also ended up having to breastfeed in the restaurant and I did not feel rushed or ignored.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Our meal started with a complimentary baguette, which was appropriate for the French setting.

We decided to order an appetizer of the charcuterie. I did not realize until after we ordered that this was in fact my first charcuterie since I found out I was pregnant.

The charcuterie was decent enough, particularly because it's been so long since I've had any, but this is not a top recommendation for me and certainly not the reason I give this place five stars. That honour goes to the pièce de résistance - the aforementioned pied de cochon!

That's right - you are looking at a stuffed pig's foot with foie gras! This dish easily serves two people and requires 45 minutes to prepare, but it's totally worth it. The meat was tender while the skin was crusted to add a perfect crunch. The foie gras was smooth like butter (I should note that there is an entire section of the menu dedicated to foie gras if you are an aficionado), and the juices kept the meat nice and moist. After sharing this, neither of us had any room left for dessert.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
While accessibility is not ideal for babies and strollers, the service makes up for this and the food is decadent and unique. I understand now why this restaurant was so highly recommended to me, and it serves as a nice reminder that you can still enjoy good food even when you have a baby.