Haystack Calhoun was a mountainous man from Texas, a professional wrestler in the 50s and 60s, who, it is rumoured, was discovered when promoters witnessed him picking up and carrying cows on the family farm. As a kid he ate a dozen eggs for breakfast, and a photo of his gargantuan self looked down upon me as I sidled onto my stool at Le Gros Jambon diner.

I’m not up for eating a dozen eggs at any meal, but it helps to have a robust appetite at this Old Montreal breakfast and lunch spot. Though the space is skinny, the dishes are broad in a thoughtful and fun interpretation of Americana classics. Reinforcing the diner nostalgia is the bevy of photos on the wall – wordy mid-20th-century food ads, guy and gal wrestlers, a freckly kid tucking into a fried chicken drumstick with gusto. The ceiling is wood panelled à la family rec room, the back wall is a turquoise matched by the dessert napkins. But the staff’s inspiration includes the forward thinking, as evidenced by the copy of A Day at El Bulli on the kitchen-side bookshelf.

My lunch date and I started with the cream of mushroom soup, a salty, buttery concoction, thick with puréed mushrooms, one of the better ones I’ve had.

Aside from the mainstay burgers, there’s mac ‘n’ cheese. The pasta isn’t mac, but the kind that our household refers to as "piggy tails," more rightfully known as cavatappi (corkscrews). My mate ordered the darkly flavoured duck confit version and had the pleasure of the dish arriving so hot the cheese was still bubbling.

I was all over the hot dog special, which was a Chilean completo, topped with guacamole. The avocados were a bit past their prime, and the fries done a little King Alfred, but the thick, satisfying hot dog was gilded with a wraparound bacon slice.

For dessert, our happy waitress pushed the profiteroles, stuffed with what must have been more than mere whipped cream. I liked even more the cheesecake-as-cupcake. Was it too sweet? Nope. The berries on the bottom balanced it out.

As we left we admired the cookies on the counter, and the old fridge in the front that had a supply of sandwiches to go, for lunchers in a rush. I felt more like a fat ham than a wrestling champ, but I bet I had the energy in me to heft some minor livestock.

Le Gros Jambon
286 Notre-Dame West; 514-508-3872
Lunch for two: $20-$30