Antidote FoodLab — Restaurant in Sherbrooke

2021 December 4.5★ Located inside Place Andrew Paton, you'll find this restaurant on the lower level. There's free parking just on the west side or at the back of the building. At night, most other doors maybe locked, but there's a door on the east side that is opened for the restaurant as there's no other door.

The atmosphere: a fairly unique setting. You'll find a rustic yet cabin feel of designs. The rustic feel comes from the oval doors, wood interiors, the old fashion metal pieces, the old style sewing machines placed throughout and the candlelights on the tables. The cabin aspects come from the the cork design of the wine rack and the bear bust mounted above. If you pay close attention, there's also a metal deer pieces featured outside of the restaurant.

The food, all presented well... Gizzards - cooked in duck fat, this has a soft texture with micro greens and kind of has an Asian like taste. Salmon - cooked well and a nice crisp. The cauliflower couscous was quite good. The cauliflower ginger puree was good too. Lac Brome Duck - they used the duck breast, was nicely cooked, a bit crispy but I found that the duck was a bit harder, almost rubbery. Bison - pistachio crusted and grilled well, this was cooked just above rare. The meat was soft with no running blood. The pairings, a selection of vegetables were good too. Crackerjack - a different take on ice cream. Vanilla smothered in popcorn pieces and the taste of salted peanut butter. Certainly an interesting taste. Pretty good. Asian Style Reese - kind of like a chocolate mousse with black sesame ice cream. Not bad. Garde La Peche - an interesting peach cocktail... beautifully presented... Sweet yet bitter. Some might not like it.

Overall, everything was good. Only thing that was a disappointment was the bread. I thought that could've been better. Seemed a bit dry to me, not quite soft nor crunchy on the top, but this type of bread is like that. Though expected a better style of bread to pair with the type of foods served.

Would recommend trying it. Personally liked the...

Probably the best single restaurant experience I’ve ever had in Canada. I’m actually restoring my other ratings to match. I would go back to Sherbrooke just to eat here again. Why? Read on. First, the night my brother in law and his brother, both Americans from Indiana with a love of the QHL, went, we had a hell of a time finding the place despite google maps. As a result we called three times to let them know we were coming and late. They kept our table and gave no indication of being exasperated or even miffed. We were greeted by our server who happened to be the bartender and that was the second good thing about the evening. The cocktails we sampled were imaginative, well balanced and delicious. I’m not a cocktail type of guy, but I am now. The recommendations were spot on. Next we had a combination of different appetizers that were again inventive and surprising and delicious. Highlights included the shepherd’s pie, the rabbit, the riff on coquille St. Jacques, and the Cracker Jack dessert. I wish I had taken pictures, at some point I will try to compare notes with my dining mates, because it was all so good. Our server was fantastic the whole night, and there wasn’t a single miss on anything we ordered. We genuinely felt welcomed and satiated. The decor isn’t the highlight. It’s not bad, just not the focus. It’s pleasant, unpretentious, and spacious. There is a theme of sewing machines in homage to the space and the name of the restaurant is something your should ask about, because it makes sense once get the measure of the place. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. The hockey...

We googled best restaurants in Sherbrooke, Quebec and were intrigued by the horse cheek Shepherd’s Pie (shepherd’s pie being my partner’s favorite dish). Came in late night with no real expectations and we were honestly blown away with the ambience, service and food.

In the uber ride over, our driver said he dropped three separate groups at that restaurant the same night, so we knew we were going somewhere great.

We opted to sit at the bar since we knew the kitchen/restaurant were getting ready to start shutting down. The bartender/our server - Corinne, was warm, extremely knowledgeable, had amazing recommendations and explained every dish with remarkable detail.

We had the bison carpaccio and duck tartare to start, then the shepherd’s pie and duck breast as our mains and the sea buckthorn tarte for dessert. To drink, I had an espresso martini and my partner was extremely pleased with the corn on the cob cocktail (sounds wild but so so so good!). We both had the Pinot noir with dinner, as per Corinne’s recommendations and it went so well with our meals.

The restaurant is in what appears to be an old textile factory, and they pay homage to that with the cellar-esque vibe, sewing machine decor, and stylish aprons and mixed glassware.

We thought we’d have an interesting late night meal and ended up having one of the best meals we’ve ever had with amazing service and the coolest vibe.

10/10 would recommend!...