Sparrow

A couple weeks back, my friend Isa and I were looking for a new brunch place. You know the rest: we wanted somethin' hip, somethin' new, somethin' good. We chose Sparrow because it had all those qualities AND it wasn't far from my friend's place on Le Plateau. I also would like to mention that although I am fully bilingual, I'm more on the Loi 101's side when it comes to restaurants and shops' names. But you know what, let's face it, 'Le Moineau' would be a shitty name for a restaurant. 'Sparrow' is much prettier and magical (yes, I'm going for 'magical' here).

We headed there at around 10:15 am and lemme tell you that the brunch crowd apparently woke up way earlier than usual because it was full. Full, full, FULL. I remember a time when going out for brunch at 11 was still considered early. I mean I'm all for the early wake up time but I thought that was MY thing, not half of Montreal's population's thang.

Anyhoot, Sparrow is a bar. Prettier than most bars, it's a nice setting for brunch. A very popular brunch setting! It has high brass-covered ceilings, sparrows on the wooden walls, marble tabletops and a big arse bar you can eat at. Filled with 100 MILLION bottles. Well, it's a bar... duh. Nice catchy indie music was playing and although the place seemed loud, with the 800 people talking, we could still hear each other.

They have what I like to call an international menu (like at Le Bon Vivant): smoked meat, steak, eggs, Turkish plate, Moroccan dish, breakfast banh mi WHAT! I love it. I love eating where they don't only have eggs for breakfast/brunch. This menu was 1000 times more interesting to me than a lot of places. Which is pretty much mainly why I was attracted to it.

 

I had the breakfast banh mi. Duh. I mean, even if you know me a little bit, you just KNOW imma gonna have this. I was so damn excited it! As soon as I read the menu on my computer, at home, I knew. It was pretty much callin' out my name: Maaaaaariiiiiiie. OK, no, not like a ghost. I'm getting off track here! So this is what I got: a huge chunk of leafiness with three slices of radish and sesame seeds they called a salad. I'm sorry, this was NOT a salad. NO! Oh and I got a huge mofo of a bread with tiny bits of things inside. Seriously, this was nothing compared to the 'regular', 'normal' banh mi I usually buy. The only thing that was different was the egg and at least that was well done: runny but not too much, it acted kind of like a spread on the bread. The coriander was nice but I would have liked more and the pickled veggies were few and far between.The pork was quite tasty but sadly a tad dry. All in all, quite the early morning Vietnamese deception ( I AM aware that it was not technically Vietnamese).

Isa had the Turkish plate. Turned out to be about 15 times better than mine. Sigh. She gave it an 8 and said it was a fresh, delicious variety of thangs. I agree. I tasted most of it and it was just on par. The egg actually tasted like a farm egg, olives were nice but a tad too salty (I agreed but informed her that hey, olives are pretty much supposed to be salty) and a tad mushy (mmmya, you do NOT really want that in olives), feta was good but too salty yet again (there's a theme here) and the bread was perfect and moist. a great mix, if you will.

Mimosa. Perfect. One of the best I've had. Eva.

We HAD to have ourselves some donuts. What? Giving in to a guilty pleasure now and then is fine. Right? RIGHT? These were nutella donuts. Yes AND yes. The time we waited for them: NO! I seriously think we waited a good 25 minutes. TWENTY-FIVE. For three tiny bits of donuts. Come on! I'm sure our waitress forgot to punch it in. Grrr. Well, they were effin delicious. Oh GOD. It was very close to orgasmic. They absolutely saved the day for me. Hot, doughy, smushy, yummy, lemony, nutella-y goodness. Right. In. My. Mouth.

Service was.... meh. Basically, we were told we had to wait 20 minutes but got seated at the bar 5 minutes later (yay!) and then relocated to an actual table because the bar was too high for tiny me (I say it was an all-together way too high bar!). That part was good. And then our waitress came to see us and as soon as she did, I knew I was not going to love her. Or like her. Throughout our meal, it just seemed like she didn't give two shits about us. She was just downright unfriendly. She didn't ask us how our food was, and she was plain rude half the time. The bus girl was way nicer, at least flashing a couple smiles here and there.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5 Donuts clearly saved the day
Service: 6 And we are being nice here

I have many friends that love this bar and go there in the evening to have drinks. I would like to go back and try more on their menu but I'm certainly not going to order the banh me again and imma gonna steer clear of that waitress.

Le Bon Vivant

Val and I set out to have brunch a couple weeks back. This turned out to be QUITE the adventure, seeing as she had her dog with her and we wanted to find a terrasse to eat on. Turns out, not that many terrasses open for brunch. Where you can tie up your dog. Or where it's easy to park. Or on the island.

Anyhoot, we finally just dropped off Lola at home after pretty much driving around the city and went to a restaurant very close to our apartments: Le Bon Vivant. I'd been meaning to go there since it opened some months ago. Well, it was time.

It was surprisingly empty-ish when we got there at 10h30---prime brunch time---or is that later? I'm lost because I wake up uber early on weekends to take full advantage of my day. What? I'm old. We were very warmly welcomed by the waiter with a 100 Watt smile (seriously, it was blinding, almost). We were seated right away at the open window and felt like we were pretty much on the sidewalk. People walking by were literally brushing up against us. OK not really. Oldies were playing and then some great classics from the 90's. Basically, music that makes me want to say yay!

We were oh-so-hungry by then so we ordered... drinks! Morning drinks are almost AS good as evening drinks, you know.

I had the bacon caesar because, well, there's... well... there's the bacon and well, the bacon! Oh and the caesar part. The bacon was crunchy, perfect goodness. Yes, yes, YES! The rest... was so disappointing I felt like returning it (but Val gave me dem eyes) and telling them that tomato juice a caesar does not make. Seriously, it was thick, tomato-y, and straight up unpleasant. Val's mimosa looked about 100% better at that point. I ended up not even finishing my drink. ME!

Yes. Oh, AND yes! This was approximately 800% better than the dreaded drink. Val and I shared huevos rancheros and the 'bene' BLT. I mean, come on, look how amazing those dishes look!!! Damn amazing I tells ya! Lets start with the huevos:  fresh corn right off the cob (like, seriously, 2 minutes prior), yummy juicy sausage ,and perfect potatoes that were just a bit spicy (I loves me some spice). The guacamole was as soft as a baby's butt and the bean puree too. Rrrrrrrr, that's me drooling just thinking about it. The only thing was that the eggs were a tad dry. That's seriously the only damn bad thing I could find :) And also, please note how nice the presentation is. A+

The BLT. First off, let me just say that when I saw 'green salad' on the menu, I thought fosho I was gonna have some God forsaken mesclun on my plate. Would you believe that it wasn't? It was a mix, yes, but a good one. F*ck mesclun! Yes, that's how much I hate it. Alright so first off, the open face sandwich was on brioche bread. So already there, that's like 100 points! So soft and yummy. The mayo was nice and tangy, the egg was nice and thick and runny, the bacon was 'fou raide' as Val described it. And everything was hot. Which, as you and I know, is a must. The only thing I could possibly find that was wrong was that it was a bit too salty and the egg could have been cooked 10 seconds less.

Service started off awesome and got a bit less awesome but remained good. Water was ALMOST always in our glasses and service was quick in general.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 7.5

This restaurant has such a variety of choices (from kimchi to steak to fish n' chips) that I'm just gonna have to go back 8 times. Yes, 8.

L'atelier d'Argentine

I got invited to try out the new brunch menu of L'Atelier d'Argentine that started at the beginning of April. I LOVE getting invited because it means two things: you get served like you're a superstar AND it's free! Well, I mean, free but I always leave a good 20-25% tip to make up for it.

L'Atelier d'Argentine is a pretty freaking huge restaurant with two rooms: one that is more dinner-y and one more brunch-lunch-y. The first one has darker tones and the latter has more light coming in. This restaurant has a great view of the Old Port, located just a hop and a skip from de La Commune. And the atmosphere is just so nice with people talking and, hum hum, drinking over brunch!

Bloody Mary bar!

We were welcomed very warmly by the hostess and it was nice to see that when she saw who I was (well, wellll), she had a huge smile on her face and took our jackets. We were seated and at first I gotta say I was a bit disapointed in the fact that the maïtre d' was around but didn't come and say hi. Well, I'm just a little winy princess, aren't I? Fak. He came to say hi like 5 minutes later and he was very nice and charming and said he remembered where I was sitting when I was invited last time. He also said that everything was on the house; food AND drinks. Did you say drinks? Ah yes, ah yes he dsid :p

I started off with a nice mimosa :) I mean, what,s a real breakfast without a mimosa? It was just what a mimosa should be: sparkly orange goodness. It could have been a tad colder though. Note: you can have an infinite amount of mimosas for 26$/person!! What the what now?

Then, we both had the bloody Mary (inifinite amount for 19$/person)! What's o-so-cool is that there's the 'bloody Mary bar' where you can make your own with all these veggies and sauces and shiz! Just my type of thing! And oh, it was good!!!

Lea had somewhat of a fruit punch-y thang with rum. Hallo! It was really good and as per usual when you drink alcohol with fruit juice, it did not taste like alcohol therefore very dangerous!

So throughout the meal, I drank 2 mimosas (second drink was supposed to be a bloody Mary but the maitre d'  brought me another mimosa instead and when I told him I had asked for a bloody Mary, he said OK, well just keep that one too). 1 bloody Mary and half of Lea's fruit punch. Needless to say it was a happy brunch :)

I had meself the huevos fritos. I mean, come on, they had me at bacon! Basically, it was baaaacon, caramelized onions, eggs, purple potatoes (nice!) and sweet tasting toast. OH, and fruit. But, let's face it, when you have all of that, who cares about fruit? Ok well,bacon was yummy crispy goodness and so darn tootin' tasty! Oh goodness, thinking back, I want more, like NOW! The bread had a bit of sweetness to it which actually paired really well with the rest of the dish. The potatoes were great and well cooked but not TOO cooked (but lacked a bit of seasoning). The eggs were well seasoned: I hate it when I have to add seasoning to my eggs! The onions were just a great addition, with their sweet yet not so sweet taste! Basically, amazing.

Lea had the leeks and goat cheese quiche with a cherry tomato and arugula salad. Great also. I had a bite of the quiche and although it could have been warmer, it was still marvelous and pretty much melted in your mouth.

Ps: both our plates were only 12$ so it's really affordable and I like that too!

We were persuaded to eat a desert. Holy bejesus, I was so full on food and alcohol but hey! We had the dulce de leche crepe with milk semifreddo. Holy cow was that semifreddo great! It was gosh darn succulent! It melted in your mouth with all of its goodness! And the crepe too! It was very chic and only 9$! Does it seem like I'm astounded by their prices? Well, I AM!

Service was excellent, of course! The waiter was there to give us water, to ask if we had questions, to give us our food and our drinks (VERY important!). He was very professional and that's what I like in a waiter!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 9

All in all, another great experience at L'Atelier d'Argentine!!! If you have 15 to 20$ to spend on an excellent brunch, PLEASE go there!!!

Café Aléatoire

Coupon time! Bought this one for 15$ and it gave me a 30$ credit at this restaurant on Notre-Dame. The place is very cute and quaint, with a little reading corner when you enter. You also see the tiny kitchen in the corner with the bar.

Art

Reading corner

Anyhoot, we got there with a reservation (you need to reserve when you have coupons), but the place was empty except for 2 people. We got a warm welcome by the waitress and sat at our table. Looked at the menu and I was dissapointed to see that the mimosas were not included in the brunch when just yesterday, I saw on their website that they were. Grrrr. I had one anyway.

It wasn't the best mimosa I've had but it wasn't bad either. Just the right amount of bubbles. Mmmm... starts the day off right :)

The waitress came by to explain the menu to us and we decided on two choices: Le Griffon and L'Aphrodite.

Le Griffon

This was my breakfast. It sounded so darn good: pain doré sandwich with cheddar and bacon de dos (thick ham). Unfortunately, it really didn't taste like much unless you put some maple syrup on there. Oh but it looked soooo good :/ It was moist and the ham was great but again, it lacked in flavour. The potatoes were hit and miss: some were good, some were pasty and dry.

Lea had the Aphrodite: crêpe burritto, scrambled eggs, sautéed peppers & onions, marbled cheddar, tomato amd pepper coulis. Again, it lacked in flavour. It LOOKED great and sounded great but man. The vegetables inside were savoury but the rest didn't taste like much. We just wished we had more of that coulis to actually put taste in the dish. Funnily enough, the most savoury part of our dishes were the onion sprouts on the side.

The service was OK. I mean, we got a nice welcome and we got coffee, water and mimosa pretty quickly. The waitress came by to see how we liked it and we lied saying mmmmm (I can't bring myself to tell waiters/waitresses when I don't like it---I save it for the blog). But then we didn't get any water refills and seriously, she would've had the time... because we were now the only customers in the place.

And now, the scores!

Food: a generous 6
Service: 7.5

All in all, I always like trying new restaurants and I'd rather that than go to the same spot all the time. And I won't go back there.

The County General

After getting up super early to be at Ontario Place for Sylvia's bf, Morton's triathlon, we needed something to eat that would hit the spot. On the way home, we passed by The County General and thought that perhaps this could be the spot. 

 

As soon as we got in, we were seated at one of the 5 (or 6) 2 person tables. There are also about 10 seats at the bar and 6 or 7 outside. As luck would have it, they had room for the three of us. Half an hour before we finished our meal, a line started to form. 

It was quite a modern looking restaurant, with chic lines and lots of wood. The music included 90s classics such as Postal Service and Radiohead. Oh, the memories! It was a great ambiance overall with the music and the chatter around us. Not too loud but loud enough.

Bloody ceasar

Mimosa

They have great drinks so I started with a mimosa which was, well, a mimosa. Nothing special, you know, orange juice and bubbly. Seeing as it was freaking 12$, I would have liked something more...exceptional. No? Isn't 12 bucks a bit steep for a mimosa? On our way to this resto, we saw a place that was advertising 4$ mimosas and 4$ bloody ceasars. Pff. Then I had the bloody ceasar and THAT was dsamn good: a very spicy rim with paprika and other spices and the whole thang just had this incredible taste to it. It was spicy but not too spicy and tasted like celery and loveliness (that's right). Needless to say I really liked it.

Let's get down to the food! Sylvia and I ordered the fried chicken (do you not KNOW me?) and Morton ordered the Croque Madame which was HUGE (well, he burned QUITE a lot of calories this morning so he probably could have eaten two!)! Fried chicken is apparently their specialty. They change the menu a lot but that item never changes. They served this in a milk bun which was soft and airy with an avocado chutney spread. I wouldn't call that a chutney; actually you didn't really taste it until you really looked for it. There was also coriander which added to the mix of flavors in a great way and pickled red onion which completed the sandwich. The onion was great but hey, I'm biased because I'm an onion freak. Now, the chicken. YUM-MY! In Sylvia's words, it was much lighter than she had thought and I agree. It was well seasoned and moist. Just the way you like yo chicken! 

Fried chicken

Morton had the Croque Madame and for him, the highlight was the pickled tongue. The rest was really good too and filling. Perfect for after a race but maybe a tad too much for a 'normal' person.

Croque Madame

Now, you could choose between fries and salad. Sylvia had the salad and in her words, it was not exciting. The fries were good, although some were not crispy enough and they were tiny. Tiny little fries. Kinda hard to dip them into anything without putting your fingers in there. Meh. Speaking of dipping, the plate came with their homemade smoky ketchup, made with hints of cinnamon and paprika. Delicious.

As for the service, it was OK: we got water 2 seconds after sitting down but it took the waitress more than 10 minutes before getting our order. Also, it feels like it took a while before we got our food, but then again, maybe it's because we were so hungry.

And now, the scores!

Food: Morton gives his tongue :) an 8.5, and for the chicken, it's an average of 7,75

Service:7.5

I would totally go back. They have interesting ideas and I think it's fun that they change the menu!