Les Brumes du Coude — Restaurant in Moncton

I came to Moncton with my wife for a special weekend away. I looked at all the restaurants, and not knowing the restaurants I read the reviews.

I didn't see any redflags, and really the bag reviews seemed like sour grapes.

It started well, the restaurant is very nice and quaint. The servers we good, it is a little more French than English, but I have Acadian background and I was able to make do...the appetizers were great, only single cheese and bread but presentation was top notch.

It was only the mains where things came Completely off the rails. I was very impressed by the photos and comments, so I was caught off guard by what we were served.

There is only 2 options per night, so my wife and I each picked one of the offerings. My wife had the chicken. It was bland and dry. We are decent cooks, and it felt like the chef was on auto pilot on that one....but really, what I was served I can only describe as garbage. It was pasta with prime rib in a kind of ravioli. I scraped the sauce off and the beef was not too bad, but the sauce was almost a exact replica of Chef Boyardee® ravioli. Thr colour's, texture and flavor. It was overpowering and terrible. You could not taste the beef at all and there was some roasted potatoes (I think) that were basically McCain home fries. This was a Saturday night seating at 6:30....what the hell?! Was the actual chef sick?

I ate there once before a while back and remembered it being good, so I took and chance and brought my wife... Never again. There is now excuse to serve this. You need to test things out before you serve them.

I didn't want to post this, I was going to send a note privately, but now I am second guessing all those reviews that said this place was not worth it.

I decided I should make.this.public so no one else makes the mistake I did....this was the only negative on our whole getaway to Moncton. I did not want to cause a scene, But I really wish I sent my meal back. But since there was only 2 main courses, and the other one wasn't acceptable either, we would have ended up at Macdonalds because what chance was there of getting another decent restaurant with no reservation on a sat night.

If you are feeling lucky, give these guys a shot, they are rated well, but don't trust them with a special occasion, they don't...

Location: Close to the downtown core - for us, it was a 6-minute drive from West Street. Street parking is available but limited so I'd get there a few minutes early in case you need to circle.

The place: The space is great - it's small, with bar seating and about a dozen tables or so. Very hip, casual vibe with great tunes.

The goods: Well, where oh where do I start? We ate our faces off is where I'll start. I ordered the shrimp as a starter - these were served in a ceramic, covered pot and I think they had been cooked in the oven but I don't know. All I know is that they were served in butter or oil, they were NOT cheap on the serving, and I enjoyed every last one of them along with that delicious crusty bread. But wait - I'm not done. I actually ordered another starter (yes, I am a pig but I shared this one) - olives and anchovies. I'm generally not a fan of anchovies but these were so, so good, with lemon and this nice zest of flavour that initially startled the heck out of my taste buds. My friend also approved. In fact, the first words out of her mouth were 'Oh my God, WOMAN.' She had the beef tartar and loved it. As a main, I ordered the squid ink risotto (yep, you read right - risotto) with baby turnips and seared scallops. Jesus, Mary and Joseph was it ever good. There's not one thing I didn't like about the dish except for the fact that I had a little too much risotto! My friend ordered the homemade pappardelle with Portobello mushrooms. She didn't say much while she ate which means it was a hit. Then, because we hadn't eaten enough already, we ordered the chocolate tart for dessert. I'm shaking my head as I write this because I'm a) in disblief that I ate that much food and b) I am still in awe of that tart.

Service: Great! Our waitress even gave us tips of places to go the next day, and drew us a map of a secret beach spot.

Price point: $117 including tip, for all of that deliciousness. Definitely add this to your list if you're in the...

Was going to have a nice glass of red with the steak, but, was surprised that the selection was either, French, or, US. There was no Canadian selection, that has award winning wines, and the restaurant seems to pride itself on being locally sourced. After taking our order, the waitress/hostess, left without asking how I preferred my steak. I chased her down at the front, and advised her that I wished to have my meal, medium rare. She then told me that this is how they ALWAYS prepare their steaks. This seemed a little presumptuous, and was surprised to find my steak rare, and bleeding into the sauce, with a very fine layer of pink. I didn't complain, as this was how I preferred my filet, rare, and ordered it medium rare so my wife could try it. When the meal was presented to us, it was simply dropped off at our table. It seemed odd that a short description of ingredients, and preparation was not narrated, followed by an, "Enjoy." This was a first from a fine dining establishment for me. Not that there's much you can say about, Steak frites. At the very least something about the sauce, and I was curious as to what the scallops were resting on, as well as the ingredients, and preparation of the very nice apple dessert.

We had the impression that something was off with us personally to be received in such a perfunctory way. We were tourists, dressed casually? The doors had just opened, and it was early in the dinner service, there being only one other table that appeared to be occupied by locals? It was off season?

We had traveled all the way from the west coast to NB, and was recommend this establishment by another local restaurant that we fully enjoyed. I certainly wouldn't recommend this place to anyone in, Victoria, and have had better here, at, Saveur.

The back end was good, the front...