4/5 for dinette triple crown. the most important thing to be aware of right off the bat is that dinette triple crown is not a bbq restaurant. yes, they do serve southern american cuisine, but there is more to this type of cooking than just bbq. this place's focus falls on the parts of southern cooking that don't necessarily have anything to do with bbq. so don't feel disappointed when you encounter a lack of pit masters at this joint. you'll find the tiny restaurant in little italy, adjacent to parc de la petite-italie, which will become an important tidbit of information later on. i first heard about dinette triple crown when it was voted as montreal's #1 best new restaurant 2013 in cult mtl's annual poll, and it was also featured in the day of gluttony: 24 montreal restaurants in 24 hours video.
did i mention that this place is very tiny? when you walk inside you will be met with a small space that almost entirely consists of counter space. stools dot the circumference of the counters, and even though the space is very small, the vibe still maintains a specific identity. it feels almost like a rustic barn, with canned and jarred preserves on the shelves around the room (you can buy these). some of the walls are covered in wooden slats and others are wallpapered in burlap. and don't forget the extensive amount of bourbon bottles on display. patrons can see straight into the open kitchen and feast their eyes upon the proceedings. it sounds as if they also have a separate dining room next door, but since we were seated in the main room at the counter, we did not ever end up seeing it. the friendly server explained the various parts of the menu to us, however she failed to mention what the specials were. we ended up hearing about them by eavesdropping on nearby customers. i do give the service credit though, as the room was packed full and busy the entire time and we were consistently taken care of in a timely manner and with a pleasant demeanour.
first up was drinks! as i previously eluded, bourbon is heavily featured. it's almost like a wine list! they also make a bunch of fun-sounding cocktails (including hot buttered rum, one of my favourites! although not a verygoodsummertime beverage...), and also some really interesting non-alcoholic drinks. these include housemade ginger beer, bitters and soda, iced tea, lemonade, and floats. i opted for the soda chili & mûre ($4.00). this was a soda made up of spicy chili and blackberry. it was so different and interesting! i loved the way that the spiciness played with the tart and sweet blackberry, and although it might sound strange, it works in a similar way to how cayenne pepper is great in orange juice. expect something very tart and super zingy with this one! my husband had the ginger beer, and it was very mild and delicious and tasted like christmas.
the menu features several different types of items, but everyone talks about the fried chicken. many say that it's the best in town. while it's possible to dine in, it is very popular for people to call in to place their orders and then pick up their meals to-go. remember how i mentioned the nearby park earlier? dinette triple crown will also pack you an entire picnic basket, complete with checkered table cloth and all of the fixins that you'll need to be able to enjoy your meal in the park. adorable! (you need to return the basket afterwards.)
a popular combo that they offer is called meat & threes where you can pick a meat and three sides to accompany your meal. this seemed like the ideal way to sample a lot of different things, so we ordered two of these. the smoked brisket ($20.00) with hushpuppies and small mac & cheese (counts as two sides) and the 3 piece fried chicken ($17.00) with pinto beans & bacon, biscuit, and fried sweet potatoes. the food arrived after a reasonable amount of time and looked every bit the southern part. we excitedly dug into all of it! first the smoked brisket. this is anothergoodmoment to remind you that this is not a bbq restaurant and that you won't find an epic bbq bark on this brisket. instead, the meat was a little bit on the dry side, however the flavour was very nice and it was seasoned well. it was pretty easy to yearn for something a lot more bbq-style in this case though. the hushpuppies on the other hand were one of the biggest highlights of the meal! fried to golden perfection, they were crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. the sauce that they were coated in was heavenly!! it reminded me a little bit of a tzatziki in a way, very garlicy and bold. the mac & cheese was covered in a beautiful sharp and creamy sauce. i loved that the flavour of the sharp cheddar came through so strongly and also marvelled at the chunks of cheese curd nestled within the pasta (a wink at quebec is never lost). however the pasta itself was under cooked and far too al dente.
the fried chicken is certainly their strong suit, and i would probably lean my efforts towards the chicken going forward. it is quite excellent, with a perfectly crispy and flavourful outside coating, shielding the tender and juicy chicken within. i think that i really would agree that this very well could be the best fried chicken in town. the beans & bacon weren't anything especially special, and they were a lot wetter than i had expected. the biscuit however, was fabulous!! one of the best i'd ever had! i loved the saltiness to it, and you could tell that frozen butter had been used in the preparation. just amazing. the fried sweet potatoes were incrediblygoodas well, deliciously caramelized and drenched in a yummy sauce.
if we had gotten the chicken with hushpuppies, a biscuit and sweet potatoes it would have been the perfect, most amazing meal. now we know.
they also provide you with an array of sauces to experiment with; memphis bbq, south carolina mustard, and east carolina vinegar. these were all tasty and ranged from very spicy, to bold, to sweet. it was fun trying each of them out.
there were three different desserts on offer for the evening and we chose the black walnut bourbon pie ($6.00). this pie was unlike any pie that i'd ever had! it was topped with whipped cream and the pie tasted very boozy! it was certainly more than a hint of bourbon used, but i really enjoyed it. this was like taking a classic pecan pie to a whole new (adult) level, and it worked very well.
there were hits and misses at dinette triple crown. now that i've tried a bunch of the items i have a much better idea of what i would do in the future. they also serve some pretty great sounding sandwiches (the big nasty, namely), and i think that it would be a lot of fun to try them while also going for the picnic in the park route.