The Unvegan

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Dinner Perfection at Liverpool House

Kinda like Joe Beef, kinda not.
Kinda like Joe Beef, kinda not.

Where were you when you ate the greatest meal of your life? Until I went to Liverpool House in Montreal I wasn’t quite sure. You see, Liverpool House is the sister restaurant to Joe Beef, which is often considered one of the best restaurants in the world. Yet, after paying a visit to Liverpool House I can’t imagine how Joe Beef could be any better.

See? Food!
See? Food!

We had ourselves a bit of a fixed price (prix fixe for you fancy folk) meal because there was a huge group of us. Having said that, I can’t imagine going to place like this any other way. It began as you may or may next expect, with a seafood platter. This thing was topped with crab legs, crab bodies, oysters, clams and maybe even more than that since I couldn’t possibly eat it all. It was a solid start, but just a warm for what was to come.

The cheesiest.
The cheesiest.

This next step was the “appetizers.” I put that in quotes because the seafood was technically an appetizer, but not in the same sense as these next dishes. One of them was a Brussels sprouts dish that I did my best to ignore (but heard rave reviews about), while the other two were made for an unvegan. The first was a bruschetta-like dish with some incredible bread and amazing mozzarella to go with it.

Animal abuse never tasted so good.
Animal abuse never tasted so good.

The other was foie gras served with a cinnamon bun. I have no idea where this idea came from, but I can say with certainty that this was an idea on par with the Cheesy Gordita Crunch (easily one of the greatest culinary concoctions of our time). Having never eaten foie gras before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but holy crap this stuff was mind-blowingly delicious. I can now completely understand why we humans torture the crap out of ducks and geese to get this stuff made. I like to think the foul would understand as well if they knew how good they tasted.

On the lamb.
On the lamb.

Next came the main dishes, beginning with a shoulder of lamb that was probably the best thing on the menu. I had never eaten lamb so tender and flavorful without the metallic flavor that mutton can sometimes take. There were some sliced potatoes and a giant onion with the lamb, but I obviously passed on these because all my stomach space wanted to be filled with meat.

The eye of the rib.
The eye of the rib.

Then we had ourselves a ribeye steak. Once again, I was impressed by how good the thing was. I won’t go out and say it was the best steak I ever had, but damn if Liverpool House didn’t come close. It was a perfect medium rare packed with flavor and joy. We also had some barbecue ribs, which were nothing to complain about, but just couldn’t compete with the greatness that had invaded the rest of the table. And also there are much better barbecue ribs to be had even in Pittsburgh.

Worth every strand of pasta.
Worth every strand of pasta.

For the final main, we had lobster spaghetti. I know I mentioned that my stomach only had room for meat, but the lobster spaghetti was supposedly one of the best dishes and I made space for the noodles. And this stuff lived up to the hype. The noodles were were good and buttery while the lobster was crazy fresh-tasting and full of claw meat.

Solid decor.
Solid decor.

When all was said and done, there was a surprising amount of lamb left on the table and a lot of people too full to eat any of it. Thus, I grabbed some lamb and went to town on it until my stomach couldn’t take any more. It was a perfect ending to what may very well be the greatest meal I have ever had in my life. Believe the hype: Liverpool House is an amazing restaurant. But try to get there while the US Dollar is strong, because food like this doesn’t come cheap.