Every review of Antonio Park’s Lavanderia seems to mention the parillada completa – the mixed grill of homemade chorizo, crisp-skinned fish, marinated cornish hen, beef short ribs, lamb shank, beef and charred broccoli, cauliflower and celery root that comes to the table on a sizzling platter accompanied by homemade pickles, guac and salsas.
But once was enough. As succulent as the hen was and as tasty as the sausages were, it’s a lot of pretty basic – albeit nicely cooked – meat for the money.
And the money’s really my only complaint with Lavanderia.
I’d have no problem returning regularly for plates of ceviche with little dots of sweet potato purée that have nothing in common with their Peruvian counterparts made with thick, steak-like slices of spuds and generous cubes of marinated fish – if the tiny portion didn’t cost $14.
I’d eat a duck confit tamal a day with chickpeas, okra and marinated onions (a nuevo salsa criollo) if it wasn’t $12 and mostly inexpensive corn.
And the roasted sweet potato with watercress and crema would be my go-to side dish if it wasn’t $7 a potato and came with only one tease of a potato. I hear Romados, La Banquise and Frite Alors! chuckling away…
But it’s Westmount. And the very WASP-y crowd sucking back fruity martinis and appropriately diet-size quinoa, currant and radicchio salads didn’t seem to care. I don’t think the bleach blonde-haired woman next to us was about to order the homemade chorizo with black beans. And the heat scale on what’s supposed to be fiery South American food was an disappointingly Montreal-friendly level (aka about a two on a 10-point heat scale). I swear that if war broke out, the province would run scared from incoming chile peppers.
But the leche de tigre on that ceviche was right on – salty but not too salty, sour but not too sour. And I know the fish was carefully sourced and sustainable.
The half cornish hen also deserves a repeat (it’s just $16 on its own without any snack-sized accompaniments…). It was juicy on the inside and crisp on the outside.
And I bet the woman next to me ordered the passion fruit sorbet for dessert. Me? I’ll stick with a well-made, not-so-fruity cocktail or a privately imported South American red with some kick to it.
Lavanderia
Where: 374 Victoria Ave., Westmount
How much: $85 per person with a drink, salad, ceviche and main (and no sweet potato)
When: Tues-Wed 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30-10pm, Thurs-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30-11pm, Sat 10am-2:30pm, 5:30-11pm, Sun 10am-2:30pm, 5:30-10pm
514-303-4123
lavanderiaresto.com
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