Padoca

After going to Pho Viet, we needed something sweet. Isa, who works right around the corner, suggested a new place, Padoca. A Brazilian bakery. Hello. And hello again.

The place itself is really quite quaint (say that 5 times in a row, I dare you!), very simple and very white. They have a counter with lots of yumminess, where there must be puddles of drool where clients have opened their mouth in awe of the deliciousness.

I had two desserts, because why just have one? Exactly!

The pao de mel. This basically comprises of chocolate, honey and caramel. It tasted like a big gingerbread cookie but WAY better. It had the spices and the honey sweetness and then, when I got to the middle, BAM, caramel. Oh, and it was coated with chocolate. SO good! Not overly sweet and I really liked that spicy side. Isa thought it was too spicy but I loved it. I obviously couldn't get enough of that caramel; y'all know I go cray cray for sweet thangs. I ate it very fast. TOO fast.

The queijadinha! Whoa, that was a mouthful! This dessert included coconut and cheese. Weird sounding, right? Wrong! Ok, no, it DID sound weird, but strangely, both flavours went very well together. We could even say they 'married well'. Yes, the experts say that. It was a bit stale and could have been cheesier. It tasted more like vanilla than cheese. Since I've been sadly self-diagnosed as being lactose intolerant (it was hard on the whole family and on the part of me that LOVES DAIRY), when I do eat cheese, I want to eat cheese, you know?

The score: 8

Don't you worry, I'll be back to try more loveliness!

Pho Viet

I saw this restaurant on one of the 8 million best-resto, most-liked-resto, must-go-to-resto, anything-resto lists in Montreal. It was close-ish (the village) and it was Asian. Basically, the perfect place to meet a friend for lunch! Isa and I went a couple weeks ago.

First off, I literally had to open my eyes wider when I came close to the address but couldn't find the restaurant. I finally found it, only because I saw Isa waving frantically through the window. OH, it's there! I entered the restaurant and wow was it ever UN-wow!! No decorations whatsoever, brown paper on the tables, a decrepit coat rack, no ambiance whatsoever, and to finish it off, a huge piece of plastic covering the back wall. It's a good thing I was already in and Isa was already seated, because I had the instinct to get the f outta there! ***Note: Someone made me notice that I should've asked about the wall and, indeed, they had water damage a little while back and that's why it looks like this!

I had the beef pho. The waitress said 'oh, l'authentique'! Omg, she KNEW I was half-Asian! She gave me lemon instead of lime, which did not give the same flavour at all. You can't just give me any citrus; imagine if she had given me an orange. Alright, that's just ridiculous! The broth was very tasty and beefy: just the way I like it. The beef was actually perfectly red; not overcooked like a lot of pho places. The coriander is just always awesome. The bean sprouts could have been a bit fresher and crunchier. Those have a life span of like 2.5 hours. Every time I purchase some, I must cook them ASAP or else it's straight in the compost. Just add a bit of sriracha in there and booya, you got yourself somethin' tasty!

Service was OK. It was quick, and the woman did it with a smile but there was no water refill. And with that sriracha in ma mouth, I was lookin' for more o' that!

And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5
Service: 7

Clean it up a bit (a lot) and get fresher ingredients and THEN I'll consider going back. Muchas gracias.

Haru Hana

If you haven't noticed, I'm part Asian. OK, I'm not. But I swear my great great great great GREAT grand mother was half Asian. OK, that's a lie too. I'm sure I was Asian in another life. You know. My friend Jer from the real Asian persuasion said we should hit up Haru Hana, this Korean resto in the village. And when Jer says we should try a place, I'm always in. You hear that Jer, always. Cue creepy music.

Haru Hana is a tiny restaurant on Maisonneuve right next to Berri Uqàm metro station. It's a good thing I had the address because I would have missed it fo shizzle. It's a very modest place, with two workers, a small counter, some shaky fake wooden tables that seated  around 23 and mix matched chairs. The menu was written on a black board on the wall although they also gave us the paper one. Hey, it's nice to have options. Every time someone would open the door, I'd brace myself for the cold because they didn't have that thang most Montreal (read: Québec. Nay, anything from here to the north pole) have when they don't have a second door. Somewhat of an indoor abris Tempo sorta thang. THAT was lacking. Brrrr. You know when you just can't warm up? That's how I felt. But enough about my body temperature.

They brought us hot water, which was nice considering it was -8000 outside (and inside :p). At some point during the meal I would have preferred some cold water though. Anyhoot, we were warmly (haha) welcomed by a very nice waitress/possible owner/possible cook. I'm somehwat of a creature of habit so I just had to have me the bibimbap. Jer also chose a little somethin' for us to eat before. I never question his decisions when it comes to Asian food. Well, except when he wants to order body parts and such. That's a no. I just can't do urine tasting(kidney) and/or cartilage. I just can't.

Pajeon: Korean savoury pancake with seafood and green onions. It was kind of crêpe-y, dough-y, egg-y, omelet-y. I really liked it but Jer said that usually, it is less dough-y and that this one was a tad undercooked. It should've been golden brown instead of light yellow. Listen to Jer. He knows. I really liked the onions in there and I could taste the mussels but the rest of the seafood was kind of lost on me. Just didn't taste it. The simple soya based sauce was lovely and I could have drank it all. But that's just not good table manners. I found it just fluffy enough and quite tasty! But Jer was right, it should've been cooked a bit more.

Ah, kimchi, my love. Last year, I made my own kimchi (cause I'm cool like that) and I have to toot my own horn here by saying that it was deeeee-licious!!! Well, obviously, this one was better, but gimme a break, it was my first try! This kimchi was amazing. It was fermented goodness! Just spicy enough, it went very well with every bite of my bibimbap!

Le bibimbap. First thought was that they served it in a cold bowl. Oh no. No. It should always be served in a steaming hot bowl. I loved the pickled veggies, the egg was just cooked right for my taste, and the rice was also perfect. The red peppers, I didn't necessarily care for and the meat was a bit tasteless. Seasoning people, seasoning. All in all, I've had better bibimbaps.

Service was nice. As soon as I entered, I got water and menus. She also brought us a pitcher (of hot water...) and took down our order quite quickly. She did not check to see if we liked it and only asked at the end of our meal.

And now, the 악곡! Yes, that's score in Korean. Sheesh! (Hopefully, it's the right kinda score...)

Food: 6.5

Service: 6.5

Many more Asian restos in Montreal! You know where I'm going with this...

Carte Blanche

I was invited to the tenth anniversary of restaurant Carte Blanche a couple weeks back. I actually had to make sure it was a real restaurant. Why? Well, I had never EVA heard of it. And it has been alive and kicking for 10 years! Only a handful (I may be exaggerating) of restos in Montreal have been open for that long.

To make matters worse (and I say this because it was a bit embarrassing having to tell the owner), I once lived only a couple blocks away! Damn girl! I probably passed by Carte Blanche hundreds of times!

Carte Blanche is a French chef's baby. He came to Montreal a bit over 10 years ago and never left. He has many Martinican friends who helped him put a Martinique twist on his cuisine. Actually, he is present at the festival Martinique Gourmande which is taking place as we speak (as we write? as you read me!).

We got there a bit early as per usual (am I ever late? Really?) and when the clock struck 5 (OK, there was no sound, but you get it), I went to open the door and it was... locked. Pouet pouet poueeeeet. I looked at them through the window and it seemed like they were still setting up. Grrr. They opened the door at 5h05. Don't worry, I'm over it :)

The place itself is actually quite small: they had changed it up for the event but it should not sit more than 30 people fo shizzle. They have a wall with multicolored lines, like a rainbow. Influenced by the fact that they are in the gay village maybe?

Aight so we sat down at this uber long table they had formed which hardly seemed practical. What do you do when you're in the middle and you need to go pee? What do you do, hot shot? What do you DO? OK, I'm just KIND of quoting the movie Speed here, which, by the way, IS one of the best movies of ALL TIME! All time I said, don't even try to say otherwise. Food started leaving the kitchen at around 5h45, which I thought was a bit late, seeing as I had told myself I was going to be outta there at 6h15 ish.

irst bite of the day! House gravlax with a mustarded (=word!) mayo. One of the best I've had. Ever. And I do NOT kid about my gravlax. Hells, I am a MAKER of gravlax at work so ya... I don't kid! It was coarse salt, maple and citrus and it was soft and melt-in-your-mouth èamazeballz. Of course, I like to use technical terms like 'amazeballz'. The little mayo right under it wasn't too strong as to not bury the loveliness of the gravlax. It was puuuurrrfect, as the cat would say. Or something less weird.

Flank steak on a skewer (in case you were wondering). Marinated in soya and caramelized onions, itas juicy and moist (ugh, word hate right here) and everything you want in a steak bite. E-VE-RY-thing. All the flavours came through in a great way and it was tasteful as all hell. Because we all know hell is oh-so-good ;)

Cod fritter. There are no words to describe how much I like me a good cod fritter. OK, there are a couple. It was soooo good. I mean, how can it not be?! It was, damn it I loathe this word... moist. And it was crunchy. And we could dip it in some kind of raspberry/tomato/balsamic sauce which was just oh shizzle damn good. OK, that series of words may not have made much sense to you but to me, it meant that it was just AWESOME.

What I had been waiting for the whole {not so long} evening: kangaroo tartare. Ah, kangaroo, that meat that people are either afraid of eating OR that restaurants are afraid of serving. Or, I'm guessing that maybe it's a tad hard to get, given that it comes from the other side of the world. I actually had never eva EVA tasted this jumping creature (makin' it realz for all of you) and I'd been wanting to, big time. Well, it was all I had dreamed of AND more! So, it was kangaroo with pine nuts and an olive tapenade which was not overwhelming at all as it tends to be. It had such a nice taste and a great texture. In my head (ah, my tiny little head) this meat was going to be on the tough side. But noooo! It was the opposite! The flavours went really well together and it was like a partay in ma mouth!

Service was greatness. Wine was poured many-a-times and the waitress was so cute. I mean, she was so cute. Damn it: she was so nice! She came to speak to us for a good 10 minutes and we talked about Carte Blanche and we talked about Sushi Taxi and we talked about waitressing and the service industry and all that good stuff. It was nice. She brought us some water and refilled our glasses. The chef came to talk to us a couple times about his vision and a woman, who I can only presume is his wife, also came to check on us a couple times which was uber nice!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5

Service: 9

I will go back fo shizzle dizzle. When? I do not know. But I will. Oh yes, I will go back.

Le Passé Composé

The boss Val and I just HAD to see Mel before she either got too fat to move or gave birth. Val's sis once owned this restaurant and she wanted us to go there. To be honest, looking at the menu at first, AND the prices, I was not convinced. She promised me that I would not regret it so hey, as the awesome blogger that I am and discoverer of all things restaurant, I said suuuure!

Le Passé Composé has recently moved from the Plateau (on Roy) to the village. Although the place looks very small from the outside, according to many peeps the new venue is 100 times better. And bigger. They actually have a huge mother effin terrasse at the side of the restaurant complete with a little garden (with the biggest zucchinis I've EVA seen) and many picnic tables. I would say it could easily hold up to 55 people. If not more. 80 if you are tiny.

Val was somewhat known there so we were in for a treat. I love treats. And THAT'S why I love Halloween! Haha! But seriously: treaaaaaats! We sat down outside on the sunny terrasse and ordered some freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Yaaaaaaz!!!

You know how freshly squeezed orange juice is just so damn good. Multiply that by 8. This was so fresh and sweet and served at the perfect temperature, as if it had just left the fruit itself! One second it's in the fruit, one second it's in ma glass! Mmmmm! You'd think it would be a bit sour because, well, it is a citrus after all, but it was just perfect! Perfecto mundo! People say that, right? And look at that colour!!!! Well, that's just my favorite shade of pink!

Panko crusted french toast! Yeeeeeeeeeeeees! This was courtesy of the chef, so yes again! It was crunchy and sweet and soft on the inside. It was kind of like eating candy (second Halloween reference=I can't wait!) but better. Wow, this was a big winner in my book. Adding that maple syrup just made it unbearably good. Seriously, I was like ,'what the f is this awesomeness in ma mouth?'. Obviously I couldn't eat this every day because I would balloon up to 800 pounds, but maybe once a week?

The pièce de résistance. Mmmkay so you know what a good breakfast tastes like, right? How about a great one? Well this was one of the BEST freaking breakfast I've had. In my life. And y'all know I eat out a lot (whaaaaat? it's my second--unpaid--job)! Fresh fruit, home made smoothie, poached egg with foie gras, pancetta chip, caramelized onions and foie gras sauce on brioche.

I don't even know where to start. Easy does it: the mango-lime smoothie was perfect, not too sweet, very smooth, just thick enough and uber flavorful. Fruits were very fresh but that ain't why I ordered this dish. Duh. Who orders anything for the fruit? The brioche was cheesy and spongy and airy and like a pillow. Yep, I was eating a very tasty pillow. Oh, with it absorbing all that yummy foie gras sauce, it was the best sponge ever. EVER! The sauce was a tad on the salty side but still awesomeballs. It was thick but managed to infiltrate everything and that's what made it damn good. The pancetta was a great textural element, adding a nice salty crunch to the dish. The egg was perfect. I'm very egg-difficult. This was a perfect egg. I hate having to add salt 'n peppa, you know? I'm way too lazy to grab those shakers! It was splendidly seasoned. Yes, I chose 'splendidly'. It's fitting. Trust me. Go there and you'll be saying 'splendidly' left and right. The foie gras was, well, come on, it's foie gras people! Think luxury. Think delicacy. Think $. Think FAT! It was really tasty and went really well with the whole dish. Egg and foie gras? Yes! Brioche and foie gras? Yes. Foie gras sauce and foie gras? Well, sheesh, that's just a match made in food heaven. For the record, that is the heaven I would like to go to. The only thing that was NOT perfect was that it wasn't as clean as I would have liked it to be. You always have to 'clean' the foie gras by taking out the veins of the liver. I could still taste some sinew when biting into it and that was a bit unwanted to say the least.

Service was excellent, but again, maybe it's because Val knew the owner. Kind of like when I get invited to try a restaurant; I never know if it's the real service or the fake we-invited-you-therefore-you-are-special kind of service. Water was on the table and she checked if we liked our choices. No, they were just awful, I think you should bring more so that I can make an informed decision. Mmmmthanks!

And now, the scores!

Food: 9
Service: 9

And I shall go back 8 times. Because I must, damn it!