Café Clarke

Café Clarke is a small and cute little café on Centre street in Pointe St-Charles. Let me make this clear, Pointe St-Charles has, like, one good restaurant worth the detour and that is Machiavelli. There are a couple other good spots like Miel and Bloom, but I wouldn't necessarily come from, let's say, the Plateau to eat there.

The now defunct Boulangerie Clarke in the Mile-End had a little baby. Frank Servedio, the owner, use to work at the boulangerie, which was owned by his parents. This is a big great family story! Café Clarke is basically a sandwich shop that serves awesome coffee (or so I've heard!). What differentiates them from other sandwich shops is the fact that their sh*t is fresh as can be. Sandwiches are made to order AND they cut their own meat. Hello. What a difference that makes!

The place feels very homey and warm. Feels like you want to bring all your friends there, you know? I also really loved the color scheme: green, white, and light, classic brown. Yes, 'classic' brown. It's a thing.

I started with the pasteis de nata, because it was already right there! I was a bit dispointed that it wasn`t A: made in house and B: not supes fresh. Obviously, it was a day old. I just went to Portugal, see. I KNOW what a day old pasteis de Nata tastes like. I am used to the yummy, crunchy, soft, pastry. Not the dry one. Don't get me wrong, it was still OK, but it just wasn't worth it. I got so excited! And then I got so annoyed. At them. For selling me a day old nata :/

La sandwich in a croissant! I loves me a good croissant sandwich! A good looking sandwich, without any fla fla. Dunno if that's a thang in English, but I'm dsoin it. It just means that it is simple. Thinly cut ham, almost like paper: THAT's the dream. The croissant was buttery and right about melted in my mouth. The only negative, if you can call it that, is that the tomato was a tad too juicy.

The only thing I'll say about the service (which was at the counter.. so I won't rate it), was that it took the dude a while to even say hello to me. Just say hello, and tell me I'll have to wait a couple minutes. GEEZ.

And now, le score!

Food: 6.5

Well, I'm bound to go back now, aren't I?! When it's only 15 steps away from where you live, you go back.

Aloha café

How cute does that sound? Who wouldn't want to go to Aloha Café? I went last week with my coworker who likes all things Hawaiian and possibly related to surfing (like September Surf Café for example  http://www.eatingoutmontreal.com/2016/05/september-surf-cafe.html) to see what this place was about.

You literally feel like you're in another world when you get inside: bright wallpaper with red flowers, wooden everything, colours and more colours. There's no way you can feel sad, or mad, or bad, when you step foot inside Aloha Café. Even the name should make you smile! We would have liked more surf-y music, if that is a thing; it was a bit too much on the chill side. Their wallpaper is ON POINT: very islandy!

I'm always inclined to get hot chocolate in new cafés because I tell myself that hey, if they are coffee experts, they must also care about their hot chocolate. Sometimes, I am wrong. It wasn't hot enough (hello, it's in the title), it had a nice foam goin' but not enough flavour. All in all, a bit disappointing.

Carrot and ginger soup. I love that mix! It could have been hotter and there could have been less herbes de provence. It was a bit overpowering. Still one of my fave mix of flavours though.

Volcano sandwich. They make their own focaccia, which is pretty freaking awesome, if you ask me. It was a cloud-like bread. This is le top du top: a bread you can float on. I swear I didn't take any hallucinogens. So soft and lovely and fresh. YUM! This sandwich had porchetta, caper aioli, grilled eggplant and zucchini, and arugula. A nice little mix o' flavas. This sandwich was niiiiice. I would have liked more aioli because I'm just a sucker for garlicky things, as you may know. I also didn't really taste the capers in the aioli. I absolutely loved the grilled veggies and the meat was fatty and delicious and there was lots of it! A sandwich hit!

Waikiki sandwich. First of, best name ever: 'I'll have the Waikiki please'. Man, that sounds awesome. It was a bit on the wtf side o' things: sardines, hard boiled egg, capers and fine herbs. It was...weird. The anchovies and eggs were a mix that I'm not used to and there was too much dill in there. On the good side of things, the egg was marinated and that was f*ckin' awesome. The sandwich was a bit on the dry side compared to the other one. Not as much of a hit.

We just HAD to share the matcha croissant. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!! That's actually why I wanted to go there in the first place! So basically, you gots a green croissant...It looks a bit bizarre but soon you don't really care because it's IN YO MOUTH. It has a praline mousse with matcha with most likely some kind of food coloring because it was as green as well watered grass (wow, what a comparison) . The paste (or mousse if you prefer) was thick and the croissant, fresh and tasty. It was very yummy, as the experts put it, but the matcha wasn't present enough. I guess that might be a good thing...'I'll have a tea croissant please'. Ya, it IS strange. It was still good tho. Croissants are ALWAYS good. Always.

Service was not so super. We were rather disappointed, actually. It is a new establishment and they should really get their act together! I feel like a teacher telling a student they did something bad. But seriously. On top of it, they were no less than about 6 people working there with about 6 patrons. AND 'our' girl just talked to a friend for the better part of our visit. We had to ask for water and YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THAT. Also, no one asked if we liked our food OR if we would like to order anything else after having finished our meal. You are there to make money, people...act like it! This is no way to run a business. OK, I feel like I'm being a bit (a lot) harsh... but it's for your own good :)

And now, the scores!

Food: 7
Service: 6

If I go back, it'll be for that sandwich.

Le Doggy Café Super contest!!!!

Oh hi!

Ya baby, my first contest! Now THIS is exciting!!!!

Who better to eat with than your best friend: a doooooggy!!! Oh, and maybe a friend! Share my blog FB page on your FB timeline AND go to  https://www.facebook.com/EatingOutMontreal/  (or click on the title of this post) to like this pic or any other Le Doggy Café pic I will post in the next week! Oh and why don't you like my fb page AND Le Doggy Café page (https://www.facebook.com/LeDoggyCafe/?fref=ts) while you're at it. By the end of next week, a lucky dog owner/ lover will win TWO meals at this uber-cute dog-friendly resto on the plateau! Oh and your name will be entered as many times as you share my page on your wall :)

Ça vous dit, un p'tit repas en amoureux avec votre.... pitou? Et avec un ami, bien sûr! Partagez ma page FB sur votre mur ET aimez cette photo ou une autre photo du Le Doggy Café dans les 6 prochains jours au https://www.facebook.com/EatingOutMontreal/ (ou bien clickez sur le titre de ce post) ! Pourquoi pas en faire plus et aimer ma page FB ET celle du Le Doggy Café! À la fin de la semaine prochaine, quelqu'un se méritera un repas pour deux au café le plus dog-friendly sur Montréal! En passant, le nombre de fois que vous allez partager ma page FB sera égal au nombre de fois que votre nom se retrouvera dans le tirage! Woohoo!

Woof woof!

Le Baobab

I was looking for a new spot to eat breakfast with my mama and Le Baobab just happened to be on my list. It's located on one of MTL's newly hot street, Wellington! Oh, iz hot. There are so many restaurants on Wellington now... and good ones too! This fact makes this blogger a very happy one!

You get in and it's oh so cuteness. Wooden everything including shady, rickety wooden floors that kind of look like they would give under someone heavier than 200 pounds. Just sayin'. French/Creole music is playing and everyone is in a good mood. There's also an uber cute kids corner with 8000 drawings on the wall. It looked like so much fun that I felt like I should be sitting there too!

We ordered at the counter and they would bring us our food at our table. We looked at the menu for a while and then, right in front of us was the answer: oatmeal mason jars. What!!! They had three kinds: apple cinnamon, banana chocolate, and date pumpkin. I totes would have picked date/pumpkin because, let's face it, it's the most original one, but apparently someone had forgotten the pumpkin. Grrr. So I had the choco/banana one and my mom had the apple/cinnamon.

Alright, so my mom's looked like normal oatmeal n' milk. Mine was drowning in milk. Drowning. It was kind of like a soup. I'm not kidding. They had taken dried bananas so they were still hard and that was not very pleasant. On top of it, the chocolate was very overwhelming. I had agreed to a little bit of breakfast chocolate, not a mountain. The apple/cinnamon one was good and normal lookin' :p It was actually very tasty and the apples in there were sweet and delicious. 

Hot chocolate: too liquidy. There was cinnamon and cacao powder on top so that gave it a nice first sip but the rest was kind of watered down.

Service was nice and courteous but nothing great. We ordered stuff, they gave us stuff. That's it, that's all.

And now, the scores!

Food: a low 5

Service: 7.5

The concept of oatmeal in a jar is good, but as my mom pointed out, for it to be liked by people like me (ze blogging kind), it has to be a bit special. Not like apple/cinnamon or choco/banana. Something more original guys. Come on. I'll be back when you have squash n' bacon or better yet, lemon n' mascarpone oatmeal on the menu.

Station W

As I've mentioned in a previous post about Station W, it's right in front of my gym. I like things that are close to my gym because, well, let's face it, if I'm not working or sleeping, I'm at the gym.

I've already talked about the place, the decor, the vibe, etc. This will be a tiny review about something other than grilled cheeses. This will be about their vegetarian chili! 

I mean, how freaking pretty is that picture? Thank you instagram. I can't believe I refused to get on that for at least 1 year before giving in to my friend Lea's demands. Well... I'm damn happy I did. I would just like to say thank you; you have changed my LIFE. Back to business. Vegetarian chili with cheese on top (extra), a little bit of sour cream and some bread. Yes. The bread was not buttered which was awesome because, really, who needs buttered bread when you can just dip it in chili and sour cream? The dish was full of flavours and loveliness. There were peppers, tomatoes and many kinds of beans. Beeeannnns. Chickpeas were awesome in there. I don't know about you but I don't see a chili with chickpeas that often. Or ever. It was nice and spicy, just the way I like it/it should be. Very fragrant too; you could smell a bunch of spices in there like cumin and chilis. What I didn't like as much was the amount of liquid in there. Doesn't it look like chili soup on the picture? The other thing I wasn't totally fond of was the way the cheese was cut. I thought they were going to grate it and that it would be a melting fountain of cheesy goodness buuuuut no. That was a tad disappointing. The sour cream gave that contrast of temperature in my mouth that I really like:hot chili, cold sour cream. Mmmm just dip the bread in both and you got yourself a chili dream come true!

I just had to have a hot chocolate. Its just so good! And look, they drew a flower for me! Aaaaaw! It was just like I remembered it: smooth, silky, thick, very chocolaty and nutty! Totes going back soon for another one of these bad boys.

Service was aight. the girl at the counter was hooooooot AND nice. A perfect 10! Hahaha! But seriously. I asked for chili and for a hot chocolate and then I thought ew, that dson't go together and she suggested I could have the drink kind of as a dessert and I was like whoa you're smart too? We ordered and went to sit outside and i think we only waited a couple minutes for our food. But no water... We actually had to go and ask for some inside. -8 points right there.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8

Service: 7.5

Well I'm obviously going back for at least a hot chocolate and perhaps a kimchi grilled cheese that I haven't tried yet. Oh. Kimchi grilled cheese. On second thought, I'm going back tomorrow :p

Pétale Sucré

Since I had finished writing my blog on Le Mousso, I was on the hunt for my next restaurant to visit. I had 20$ in ma pocket. I was going to boot camp from 12 to 1 and I had dentist at 3. It was going to have to be close and it was going to have to be quick. I glanced at the eateries near my gym on zomato and quickly saw this. I basically pass by Pétale Sucré every time I go (so, you know, 8 times a week) so it was the obvious choice! 

I got my pal Vanes and our fave gym teacher Daizz to join, because it's always more fun to get other people's opinion too! As we entered, we noticed that it was really small. I dunno, in my head, it was going to be 4 times the actual size. It's rather made on the narrow side, which is not the best when people are in the way or when there are strollers. Just sayin'. It was still rather cute, although the flower shop side of it seemed kind of anything but organized. But hey, we weren't there for dem flowers, we were starving.

The woman at the counter, who was definitely the owner (when you have a place this small, you can't afford to have actual employees and you do everything) seemed a bit nervous/overwhelmed at first with our orders and trying to memorize them. I say, take a piece of paper, write em' down! That's what I do with everything. Meet someone new? Write their name down. Want to watch a specific show? Write it down. Anything? Write the damn thing on a piece of paper! I certainly don't judge waiters that write down shizzle. How are you supposed to remember a whole table's orders? OK, it's just my brain surgery and subsequent memory problems talking. Feel bad for me. Now. I kid, I kid! Going back to the lady... She was really nice and since not everything was on display, she said that wasn't a problem and she could make it right then and there. I mean, it's a little café; the choices weren't that abundant but there were 4 or 5 salads and 4 or 5 choices of sandwich type thangs. Oh, and dessert of course. Duh. It was not called 'Pétale Sucré' for nothin'.

Celery root remoulade and pressed tortilla. That tortilla looked like a tiny little gift. The emmenthal was ooey and gooey and made it taste different than any other tortilla which was a welcome change. The tomato made it a bit soggy; no surprise there. The pesto could have been a bit more present. I was looking for that herbal quality but had a hard time finding it. All the ingredients tasted fresh and it was a mighty good lunch bite. The salad was good. It had a bit too much dressing for my taste but apart from that, it was also very fresh and had just the right texture. Plus, it was seasoned just right (you know me and damn seasoning!). I'm not sure what the cucumbers were doing there but hey, more veggies for me!

Pear and chocolate tart. Imma gonna say yes to THAT! Yummy. Daizz had the Écureuil which was basically a mousse and lots of nuttiness and Vanes had an éclair au café! Lots of goodness there! It was very chocolaty and thick with a little layer of pear. Perfect for me since I'm not the biggest fan of fruity desserts! It was obviously too small but that's the story of my over-gymming-I-lose-1500-calories-per-workout-session life. Not too sweet but sweet enough. Yuuuuummy! Overall tho, Daizz' dessert won. Nuuuuuts!

Service was good. She came to check if we were pleased, she gave us water. She was right there if we needed her :) She was very attentive. We got our food in a timely manner. Oh, but Vanes would have liked her coffee quicker. 

And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5

Service: 8

I mean, there are so many restaurants in the area...but if, let's say, I'm having a girlie party that includes flowers and desserts... I'm totes there!

September Surf Café

Val and I needed a cute place to eat at. We wanted something different. And cheap. OK, more cheap than different. But different nonetheless. I AM aware I just said the 'd' word like three times. Still. We decided on THE newest place around: September Surf Café. Which, by the way, sounds like they will have their first run in soon with the Office de la langue française. I mean come on, they're just begging for it.

So, we all know that for a new restaurant to be successful, it needs to have either extraordinary food, a great concept or really rich owners (as I've seen before, even uber rich people sometimes can't save restaurants). Well, I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that they are going for the concept here. This is a coffee shop with, wait for it, a DIY surf board repair shop! BAM! Whaaaaat! Oh and a little surf-related store-ish (definition: a couple shelves). I mean, I would have never, ever, EVA thought that I'd see this in Montreal of all places! I mean, we only have two natural waves for surfing and an indoor one at Quartier dix 30 if I'm not mistaken.The surf shop is in the back and hardly seems like anything else but an excuse to be uber cool and different.

The space itself is quite big, with really high ceilings and lots and lots of room wiiiith... one big table!?! I mean, they could be making much more money if they added a table here and there (think W Station on Wellington where every inch of the place has a table). Basically, it's that huge table, seats at the windows and a couple at the bar plus some random chairs in one corner. I don't believe that's using the space wisely. Anyhoot, it's very industrial meets cottage style: brick wall, single bulb light fixtures, big wooden table, clean lines.  The music was a bit too relaxed when I got in but then it became more upbeat which, compared to the first one, did not make me want to sleep ;) The vibe in there is nice tho: you can see that they already have regulars that come in often and that know the employees and on a weekend day, I've seen this place full with parents and kids and a many hipsters. 

I had to have a hot drink. When in Rome right? Val and I were there for lunch but a nice chai latte sounded like just the thing I needed. First off, they drew a heart with the foam! Aaaaaaw! OK, I know it's apparently not that hard to do but hey, it's the little things. It was smooth, hot and creamy. Three aspects I look for in my foamy hot drinks. 

To be clear, we had three choices for the eating lunch part: homemade granola (this is obviously a breakfast item), a cheese toast (it was more elaborate than that but still...) and the bol balinais (which is what we had---duh). I must say I was quite disappointed with the lack of choices, especially since I had read that you could eat there. The bol balinais was made up of coconut rice, cabbage, peppers, cucumbers, green onions, lime zest and peanut sauce. First off, the rice was largely (and this is an understatement) overcooked. I mean, when u can smoosh it as easily as I was smooshing it, iz because iz overcooked gurl. Oh, it's overcooked!!!! Plus, I did not detect any coconut until my last bite (to be fair, Val did). The lime, both our palates had a hard time finding. We could see some but we just couldn't taste it. The veggies were a bit too raw and crunchy for my taste: you got rice in there, why not cook the vegetables just a bit. Blanch them for all I care but having crudités in my rice is not what I like best. The peanut sauce was way too present and overpowering. It was too strong and this is coming from someone who absolutely loves her peanut sauce.

I had to have something better to make myself feel... better about going there. Hahaha! They only have a couple dessert type thangs so we had the zucchini and chocolate chip bread. The sides were a tad dry but the inside was moist and chocolaty but not at all zucchini-y. I could see it but there was no hint of it when I took bites. All in all it was still good.

Service was meh. Seriously. Neither of us were impressed. On top of it, we were AT the bar, right in FRONT of them. We had to ask for water, and come to think of it, we had to ask to get the menu AND to order. They were not busy at all; that would have been the only possible excuse. They were actually a bit rude, to boot! It seemed like there was a September Café club and we were totes not members. And I must mention this: when we were paying, she asked us if it was separate and we said yes and THEN she asked us if we wanted two bills. Some people.

And now, the scores!

Food: 6 (but only because of the chai and the OK dessert)

Service: No. OK, a 5.

I know I seemed harsh but hey, when you have a bad experience, you can't be Mr. Nice Guy. I might go back for one of those chai lattes tho.

Station W

You know how the story goes (or how MY story goes): restaurant exists, I hear good things about said restaurant, I want to go to restaurant. Station W, on top of it, is right in front of my gym. A I-have-only-that-10-dollars-left-from-my-last-pâycheck kind of place. And it was right there, right in front of the Énergie Cardio in Verdun! So a couple days ago, I walked the 12 steps (Ok, I'm exaggerating, 15. I may still be exaggerating) from my home (the gym) to Station W.

This über cute café is oh-so-popular amongst students and has no doubt many regulars that live in the neighbourhood. There's a big table at the back with plugs and what have you for their computer needs, counters at the windows and many 2-person tables. A bit too many in my opinion. I get the need to have more clients=more money but it can get tight in there; as in, 'oops, I just stepped on your foot AND hit your friend simultaneously' kinda tight. It does have a very comfy feel and a very chill vibe, and all of this, with no music!  

I was rather surprised and oh so pleased that Station W turned out to be the grilled cheese nation! Uh, hello, I absolutely love grilled cheeeses. And if I get to eat bread, imma gonna make it a damn grilled cheese. Back to the 'nation': they have around 8 kinds of grilled cheeses to choose from. Whaaaaat!!! Heaven. I chose the yummiest looking one of course: raclette, caramelized onions and cranberries. Yes aaaand yes! They also have cheddar and kimchi (which I'm totes going back for), provolone and prosciutto, goat cheese, apricot, thyme and black pepper and some others that are just as mouth watering.

Obviously, I had to start off with a hot chocolate! In a glass no less! And, you know what? It stayed hot as long as it would have in a cup. Revelation of the day. First of all, look how cuuuute it looks; they made me a heart! Aaaaaw! Ok, enough! It was thick, silky and seriously, one of the best I've had. Creamy and airy; I had to control myself not to lick the foam in the end. I still have the desire to be socially acceptable, you know!

The grilled cheese. Enter Homer Simpson drooling sound. Hot and crunchy bread made for a great start! The onions were perfect and the cranberries added some nice sweetness. With the raclette, the flavors totally complimented each other. Cheese was obviously awesome, not too salty but still flavourful, but it was funny how in one half, there was a shiz load and in the other half, not nearly enough, making it just a grilled.... Hahaha! All in all, I'd totally go back to eat one of those bad boys!

Service was quick and efficient, as it should be in a busy café. I would have liked some water but I also could have asked for it (I'm a real lazy person ;) ). 

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5

Service: 8

I'm fosho going back. And soon!

Caravane Café

Caravane Café opened right around Christmas time, only a couple blocks away from our place. It was nice to see the youngsters (the owners seem quite young) make this place what it is today and transform the old bakery that was there (man, that lovely smell that came out of that bakery every time I passed by... yum!). Anyhoot, we don't usually go to cafés next to our place... but we wanted to see the changes that were made.

You go in and it's so darn cute! There's about 20 seats (including two at the side counter) and it gives the student a new place to study instead of Van Houtte, Starbucks, or Second Cup in Upper Côte-des-Neiges. Even though I hate coffee, I like the smell of it and this place has plenty of that!

We were just going there to check out the place and see what they had to offer. They have about 8 varieties of sandwiches, 1 salad of the day and 1 soup of the day. They also have some crème brûlée in cute little white pots. Ze wife found it 'sooo cute'. They have a bunch of coffee (they make their own blend), tea and hot chocolate. All at a very reasonable price! Mama loves low prices (ps: 'mama' is me ;)

I had hot chocolate, ze wife had the chai latte and we shared the crème brûlée. The crème brûlée was really good and unctuous, with a smooth texture. Just great! On top of it, to make sure it had a nice crispy top, it was torched right when we bought it. The hot chocolate was good but not the best. It was obvious that it was made from powder. The chai latte was watery just like my hot chocolate. It didn't taste like the amazing (yes, amazing!) one we make at home with love (and wait until it has seeped into the milk). I'm sure the coffee's good... but we don't drink coffee!

The service was great: very nice waitress, very friendly. She was quite pleasant.  She was the only one there and she was quick and efficient! I like me some quick and efficient restaurant peeps!

And now, the scores:

Food(and beverages): I'm gonna have to half it...drinks: 5.5 and crème brûlée: 9

Service: 10 (ok, we only had 2 drinks and a crème brûlée, but still)

If you need a nice place to relax in a pleasant environment, perhaps a place to study or just a place to have a little coffee, go to Caravane Café!

ps: They also have a great terrasse for summer fun!