We don’t often post restaurant reviews here, but we certainly do go out. This past week, we tried La Maison VIP in Chinatown for the first time, and were very happy that we did!

This was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Usually when we are heading out to a restaurant, we scour the internet for reviews and compile lists of all the must-have dishes. We didn’t this time, but I think we still fared okay. The menu is enormous – dauntingly so – so after a few bewildering moments, we gave up and instead asked our server for recommendations. We’re more of the daring type, so when he offered up chow mein, we decided to go with the few specials listed on the wall instead.

We were initially going to go with the salt and pepper pork cutlets, but when we saw the restaurant had salt and pepper soft shell crab, we told our waiter we would go with that, and would skip the pork (and much salt and pepper can two people eat?)…imagine the surprise when a platter of pork and a platter of soft shell crab reached our table. We decided we’d keep it, as both looked great. We also ordered the VIP sizzling platter, which included beef, chicken, shrimp and one lonely hunk of lobster meat, with some carrots and broccoli, covered in a bean sauce. A last-minute addition (this was before we knew we’d be getting both the pork and the crab) was the BBQ duck. So. Much. Food.

The star of the meal was the soft shell crab. Perfectly fried, crunchy and flavourful, we kept popping it in our mouths. It sat atop a bed of sauteed lettuce.

My second favourite was definitely the BBQ duck, with its crispy skin and fatty, juicy meat.

The battered pork was good for a few bites, but as it sat out, it got heavier and tasted greasy.

The sizzling platter was a little dull, though we did enjoy the sauce. Of course, we took half the meal home with us.

We ended the meal with orange segments and some buttery-tasting fortune cookies.

This wasn’t high-end dining. This was a meal for two ravenous people who like things flavourful and greasy, so it did its job perfectly. VIP is open until 4:00am, so I imagine that’s just the crowd they’re trying to draw in. I don’t know if I would go out of my way to go back, but I certainly wouldn’t say no.

La Maison VIP
1077 Clark
Montreal, QC

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