Food - le Hachoir

After getting the final things together for our long weekend at Blueberry Lake (like buying snow pants, go figure), we decided to go out for dinner at Le Hachoir. We've tried to get a table there before, but since we rarely make reservations and just decide last minute where we'll have dinner, it hasn't worked out so far. The restaurant is pretty small and has been full every time we've tried to go there. This time we got lucky, probably because it was Thursday and it was snowing out. The restaurant was still full, but we got a table after only a few minutes of waiting.

The staff was friendly and welcoming. I always appreciate the little extras, like the maitre'd who told us he'll go clear a table for us, but we could have a seat at a booth by the window while we waited. He also bought us a glass of water (little things, like I said, make all the difference). Ultimately he asked if we just wanted to sit by the window even though it wasn't set up for diners.

Le Hachoir is known for burgers, tartares and vin (or so the tagline goes). My husband and I both ended up ordering a tartare, he got the bison and I the beef. The bison tartare sounded a tad odd to be honest. Tartare with barbecue sauce? Our server, Cynthia, mentioned it is sweet, but we ended up trying it out anyway.

The tartares (as mains) come with salad and fries. Both were good, but the salad trumps the fries. The salad seemed super simple, basically lettuce and olives, but the dressing/marinade was great, tangy and fresh. Nothing wrong with the fries, but the salad was better. The tartares were great! I asked mine extra spicy, which was perfect for my taste. I always enjoy it when restaurants actually make them extra spicy, not just say so. The texture was creamy and even though I prefer my tartares chopped a bit finer, this had larger pieces of beef in it as well, I definitely enjoyed my meal. And as for bison and barbecue tartare? Surprisingly good! It had a hint of barbecue flavor, but it wasn't overwhelming, I preferred the texture of that one, but only slightly.

Pictures from the le Hachoir website

As a dessert we shared a "ice cream burger". The cookies and the butterscotch sauce it came with were fantastic, the only tiny minus was that the ice cream took a backseat with the rest. It could've used a bit creamier ice cream, you know, the really old school thick vanilla. That was a very minor point though (and perhaps I was just too eager to eat it, a few minutes to melt might have made all the difference).

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. Only improvements in my opinion would've been the ice cream and I would've liked to see a bit more variety in the wine list when it comes to single glasses.

The experience was definitely positive! Really great food, the tartares were worth it. The burgers looked great, I'll have to try one next time. I definitely recommend this restaurant and will absolutely return! Extra props for the nice staff!