Amigo

I had heard about this restaurant in Chinatown a while back and really wanted to try it. Actually I'd heard great things about their salt and pepper pork so obviously I was going there for that. 

If I hadn't known the address, I would not have found it: it's on the second floor of a now defunct grocery store (used to be my fave grocery store and now iz dead :( ). 

This place looks like nothin'. NOTHIN'! When I got there, there were three men practically sleeping, waiting for someone to come in. Plus, there's wall to wall dirty carpeting and what could possibly be a nice view of Chinatown is blocked by posters, air conditionner and many dusty plants.

I was told to choose my table and my rude looking waiter came to give me the menu, some tea and some water. I knew what I wanted to have so I ordered right away. Let me just tell you that for 5,95$, you get soup AND a huge plate. And by huge, I mean HUGE! 

My meal started off with some spicy soup. It was alright but as it usually is, it was a bit too... slimy for my taste. I did like the addition of the green onions. They added a nice freshness and needed crunch.

Look at that huge mother freaking plate!!! Fried pork (and I'll try anything fried... except for KFC), veggies, springroll and a ton of rice! I still cannot believe the price! The pork was tender and juicy, the onions and the peppers were a tad spicy which was very much welcomed and the eggroll was nice and simple. The sauce they gave to dip it in was a tad lemony so I put some on the rice too to give it more flavor. Only thing was that most pieces of pork were half fat...as we all know... there's a shiz load of fat in pork. 

The service was not as good as the food: it was 'family dinner' time so they were all busy eating. I almost had to yell to get more water. I felt bad so I was about to get up and pour myself a glass when my waiter actually turned around and brought me the whole pitcher.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5

Service: 5

I was not disapointed but better service would have been swell!

ps: they gave me 2 fortune cookies at the end... quite happy :)

Vua

I was talking to my friend Losalie about going to eat somewhere REALLY cheap and she suggested Vua on St-Denis. This is a relatively new resto since, you know, I haven't noticed it before. Hehe! It's right smack in the middle of quartier latin and all the action. It's a tiny place but packed with good flavours! There are about 10 seats inside and 14 outside. There's also a second floor I did not go and see.

You go in and it's full of people. FULL. But them vietnamese girls are quick! OK, I'm not saying us north americans are slow but come ooooon!!! It's like BAM here's a sandwich, BAM here's another one (yes, I'm aware I say 'Bam' a lot). You choose what kind of Banh Mi or sandwich and you can add extras like bacon or avocado for example. And it's so cheap. 7 inches=3,25$ and for 50 cents more, you get a 10 inch sandwich. Nice. That's my kind of lunch! Good and cheap ;) You don't like Banh Mi type sandwiches? That's ok! There's sushi, eggrolls, spring rolls and a bunch of other lovely asian dishes to choose from. I looooves me some asian food :)

I had the pulled chicken mix on a 7 inch Banh Mi. Th3 3,25$ includes onions, coriander, carrots, radishes, mayo and soya sauce. I thought the bread was a tad on the dry side but the whole thing was just so good and fresh tasting. It was like eating a salad in a sandwich :) As mentioned before, there are a lot of customers so everything is very fresh. They have a very high turnover so they don't really have a choice, which makes it all the more fresh!

I also had something that looked like a pogo. I hate pogos but this one seemed to be screaming out at me. Well, for one thing, it mentioned something about having shrimp in there. It was shrimp and chicken on a sugar cane. Meh. It was more dry than anything else and not super tasty. I tried taking a bite every 5 minutes or so to see if it'd get better, but sadly, no. I think once I started sucking on the sugar cane, I realized I should have just bought that; a sugar cane! 

We had a seat outside so it was really pleasant with the nice weather and the people passing by :) And it was also kind of weird that there's a Subway right beside it. It's like 'Asian Subway' and American Subway' :p

And now, the scores!

Food: 6,5 Damn, it's because of that darn asian pogo stick!

Service: 9 Quick and efficient, but we all know it's not a 'real' restaurant setting.

Go there for a quick bite and/or if you're poor ! Hahaha!

ps: I've decided that if I can't take pictures, I'm not posting any. I'm sick of taking someone else's pics or having to go on the restos' websites and 'stealing' theirs.