What You'll Get
Hunger, unlike ambulance sirens, meningitis, and restraining orders, is not something you can safely ignore. Answer the mighty call of a bellowing belly with today's Groupon: for $25, you get $50 worth of upscale fare at Café du Lac. This deal is valid toward Café du Lac’s regular dinner and Sunday-brunch menus and cannot be used on Tuesday or Sunday evenings (when the only menus offered are prix fixe options).
Café du Lac offers contemporary Quebecoise cuisine created from Quebec-based ingredients (when possible) in an intimate bistro setting for dinner and brunch. The dinner menu pits a charcutiere plate of house-cured meats and foie gras ($18) against three flavours of poutine—including the heart-stopping all-dressed poutine with cream sauce, curds, beef short ribs, and foie gras over a crispy pile of frites ($20)—in a delicious battle for culinary domination. Entrees include a wild boar burger topped with monterey jack and foie gras ($21), a duck confit served with a potato gratin and drizzled with a rich cranberry sauce ($25), and a pan-seared Canadian black cod with celery root puree ($26). The Sunday-brunch menu (served 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.) features fresh-made crêpes ($7+) as well as oeufs ($9+) and omelettes ($7+) of several savoury styles.
Café du Lac is an elegant and cozy eatery, with rich hardwood floors and sophisticated neutral tones throughout the space. Stop in for a snack when your Montreal-bound Segway sputters out 400 metres south of the border, or finish an elegant evening out by sparring with a sweet-mannered shortstop for the last spoonful of the maple and espresso crème brûlée duo ($9). Reservations are required, so call ahead to save your spot.
Reviews
The Toronto Star and the National Post both like Café du Lac. Toronto Life gave a spot to the restaurant on lists of the city's best specialty poutine and burgers.
- The plate of poutine is an affront to the temple of our bodies. But it's a shrine to the holy church of gluttony. – Corey Mintz, Toronto Star
- Cafe du Lac, run by a transplanted Quebecer, serves up its own take on the distinct high-low repertoire of our eastern neighbour. You'll find gooey poutine alongside refined duck magret, maple creme brulee competing for your sweet tooth with pouding chomeur -- poor man's pudding. It's an irresistible combination. – Jon Bricker and Kate Swoger, National Post
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires Feb 9, 2011. Amount paid never expires. Limit 1 per person, may purchase up to 5 add'l as gifts. Limit 1 per table. Dine-in only. Not valid Tues. & Sun. evenings. Tax and gratuity not included. Reservation required. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.