Milos

When a restaurant has a lunch special, you go. When a fancy restaurant has a lunch special, y'all have no choice, you freaking go! Actually, Jer bear, Lea and I were totes excited to eat at this Korean resto not far from Milos, but it was closed! Grrr. I hate it when that happens. We started walking towards St-Viateur and noticed Milos. Jer said 'hey, they have a lunch special. And so, Greek food it was!

The place itself is a bit, what's the word I'm looking for, fancy. Yep, it's totes fancy. Someone takes your jacket at the door, waiters wear long white aprons, the lunch table d'hôte is, yikes, 25$. Plus tip, plus taxes. OK, I guess I should've known; it's Milos after all! The place itself seems very grandiose once you get in. I felt a bit out of place (read: a lot). We were all wearing sweatshirts and I was thanking my lucky stars (yes, sometimes I do that) that I had decided against wearing my jogging pants!

They brought us some warm bread to start off with some very good olive oil. I loves dippin' my bread in olive oil.

My entrée was the salmon tartar. So good. So fresh! Perfect cut. Hallelujah! I've had a couple tartars that were cut way too big recently and it is just NOT the same. There was a tiny bit of spice in there; just enough to give it a nice kick. LOVED it. I love me some good kicks, you know? The sesame flat bread was an excellent vessel for the tartar eating. Mmmmmm. I might even go as far as saying that this one might just be one of the best I've had. Eva. Ya. I'm dsoin it.

The main. Now, this was my bad. MA. BAD. My friends laughed at my choice and I think they will, until I dsie. Who eats chicken in a restaurant? Well, in my defense, I hadn't eaten chicken in a whiiiile and I felt like eating just that! In hindsight, I should've chosen either the freaking lamb or the fish, but nooooo, I chose the damn chicken. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but it was still chicken. It was really moist and well charred. The grilled tomato, although a good idea (ish), was meh and left me really wondering why it was on my plate. The fries were a big disappointment: too soft and, well, old. The pita was good and fluffy, although it was a bit too charred. Basically, Jer bear compared this to when I ordered chicken pho: just not the good choice.

The dessert: baklava ice cream. This was very good. Little chuncks of baklava in there with a slight hint of cherry. Yum!

 

Service was right on the whole time. It was actually wow. Water: refilled. Crumbs on table: cleaned up with a ramasse-miettes (a little piece of metal that high end restaurants use to clean the crumbs off of the tables). Dishes: always in a timely manner. I actually wrote in my notes that the service was 'quick-ass'. Yep, that quick.

 

And now, the scores!

 

Service: 9

Food: 7 damn you chicken!

 

I think I'll go back, perhaps for dinner. Try a whole other level of fanciness :)  

Cafe Neko

I stumbled upon Café Neko right after their opening, a couple months ago and had put it on THE list. The BIG list. The ever-growing list. Ugh. so many restaurants, so little time! Café Neko is this cute little Japanese restaurant right at the corner of St-Urbain and des Pins, and although it doesn't look like much from the outside, we were about to be pleasantly surprised! And you guessed it, I was having lunch with my main Asian squeeze, the Asian connection himself, Jer Bear.

There was a lot of construction right outside the restaurant, so once we opened the door, with the lovely classical music, it was like an oasis of serenity. Ya, I'm deep like that. The place is quite small with some tables and some seats at the window. Lots of pictures on the walls that were pretty god damn nice. It's owned by the two sole workers: a white dude and an Asian woman with a baby on her back. Basically, the cutest thing ever. I thought it was a back pack at first, but then realized it was a bébé and then I fell in love.

Jer and I started by sharing a couple very, VERY cheap entrees. Those are my FAVOURITE entrees. First: the Asian slaw with sesame dressing. Mmmm, mmm, mmmmm! So fresh, they had probably just picked the cabbage from their garden 2 minutes prior. It was nice and crunchy and the sesame vinaigrette was a bit gingery too which made it THAT much better. I actually don't think I've ever enjoyed a slaw that much in ma life.

Kimchi. I loooves me a good kimchi. I also hates me a bad kimchi. Thankfully, this one was up there! Perfectly fermented and just spicy enough. It wasn't my all time fave but kudos to the chef!

Beef dashi. FYI, dashi is a fish stock or simple broth usually made with kombu, bonito flakes, and it tastes damn didely delicious! There was rice, edamame, marinated ginger, green onions as well as some boiled onions. This was just wow. You should've seen Jer's face when he bit into a piece of beef. Holy hell that beef was tender. It was just falling apart in my mouth and oh, the flavor that it had absorbed!!! Umaaaamiiiii! Every time I say that word, I remember my Food Science teacher making a 'mmm' sound. Ah, ITHQ! The ginger added just what was needed to complete the lovely taste and the edamame added a nice texture. Oh, and the rice was perfect! Damn that dish was good!

Jer took the salmon tataki. I'm ALWAYS in for a good tataki. By the by, tataki means half-cooked. This was also a hit. The salmon melted in my mouth and the avocado just fit so well in there and had the perfect consistency! The nori added umami to it and the rice was perfect. YUM!

We were forced into having dessert. FORCED I say. OK, not really. We were full but didn't want to miss out on all that homemade goodness! I had the yuzu cheesecake. YES, a YUZU cheesecake. I'm gonna say that again: a yuzu cheesecake!!! I don't even know what to say to this except DAYUUUUMMMM! After each bite, it was like a punch to my taste buds with all that lovely citrus flavor. After Jer took a bite, his eyes opened wide and he said he wished he had ordered that instead of his homemade goodness.

Jer bear had the green tea ice cream sandwich. The ice cream tasted like green tea just the right amount and the homemade cookie was really freaking good and crunchy. But this had nothin' on my cheesecake. Nothin'!

Service was great throughout: water refill, quick service, smiles all around. Extra points for carrying the cutest little baby whilst doing it!

And now, the scores!

Food: 9 overall, 11 THOUSAND for the beef
Service: 9

What a great new discovery this was. Jer bear kept on saying he'll be going back and I'm for SURE going back too. OH, and it was cheap too! Excellent when you're on a budget!

Tri Express AND Wizrd

There are more and more food delivery services in Montreal: Uber, Foodora, Just Eat, À la Carte Express, and the new kid on the block, Wizrd. I was contacted by email because I'm, like, a super freaking great and popular blogger. Hahaha, just kiiiidding! But seriously, I guess I do have some kind of reputation, being one of the number ones in Montreal. Ugh, I wish I could say THE number one (I'm tied with Montreal Food Divas).

 

Anyhoot, I had to choose a restaurant to get food delivered from. This was hard. Why? Because I have about 100 restaurants on my go-to list. I decided on Tri Express, having heard that it was one of the best sushi in Montreal (I still maintain that it's Furusato on Parc).

 

The way it works is that you text 1-855-659-4973 with what chou want from where you want (seriously) and when you want it. They answer you in less than 1 minute, I swear. They ask you what they can bring you, and then you say I would like 1 miiiiillion dollars. OK, that's what I thought about saying. But I'm special. You send them items from the menu and then they ask you to sign up online with your name, address, and credit card number. It was just not working but the Wizrd dude totes got on it and fixed it within 5 minutes. I felt like this was awesome service (and no, they didn't pay me to say this 😊). I asked for a delivery at 7h30pm. They text you when they pick it up so you know it's on the way. The -pretty freaking hot- dude arrived at 7h25pm. Great timing. He gave me the food and said ok thanks bebye. They charged my credit card and so no need for tip or what have you (trust me, I tried). The delivery and the food goes straight to yo card. BAM. BOOYA. All in all, a great delivery experience. I'm not one to get delivery, like ever, but if I feel the need for it, I'll totally be calling Wizrd.

 

The resto: Tri Express is located in Le Plateau, right at the limit (or a bit passed) the delivery territory for my apartment. As afore mentioned, I had been meaning to try this place for a whhhile. I ordered Omakase I, a combo that includes 4 nigiri and 10 maki, the syake maki (salmon--and YES, I'm fluent in Japanese) and the scallop and grapefruit salad.

Let's begin with the Omakase. The nigiri were all super fresh, as if the chef had just gone on a boat and fished them out of the ocean. They literally melted in my mouth. My mouth appreciates the melting. Mmmm, melting. OK, no more melting talk. The maki were also very fresh tasting but I found that salmon was a bit too present. Don't get me wrong, I loves me some salmon in ma sushi, but this was salmon + salmon + salmon. One the rolls had asparagus in there which was bang on what I like but it was so small, we couldn't even taste it. I also found that there was a bit too much tempura in there. There was another roll with apple, which is another LOVE for me, but it was not that well rolled, and so the pieces were comin' right out. Not a fan of super tight rolls but definitely not a fan of super loose rolls either.

The syake roll was very flavourful: there was just the right amount of green onions. And just the right amount of fish. This was a YES!!!!

The scallop and grapefruit salad. I ordered this because a: I loves me a good scallop, b: I loves me a good grapefruit and c: hello, what a combo! The grapefruit was very nice in this green salad. It was very fresh! The enoki were perfect and the wakame was... wakame. Ugh. I always ALWAYS forget to say NO WAKAME when I order Japanese food. I just do NOT like that texture. Just can't dso it. The scallops were very good but few and far between and they were cut in half but not totally. How weird. The salad was on the bitter side o things but putting the Tri Express sauce on it saved it a bit.

Gravlax with apple and kumquat. The salmon was perfectly gravlaxed (new word alert!) and the kumquat gave such a nice punch of flavor! The apple, I could've done without. This was sent as an extra! I love not paying for food!

Since I got this delivered, I can only say good things about Wizrd. On top of it, they are Montreal based, open from 5pm to 2am (hello, students!) AND they deliver from ANYWHERE. Literally. Check them out here: https://wizrd.me/ Oh, and by the by, they also deliver advil for your headache, maxi pads for that time of the month, shampoo because you forgot to buy some and, well, EVERYTHING.

And now, the scores!

Wizrd: 10
Food: 8

I had heard AMAZING things about Tri Sushi. It was good, yes, but not nearly as amazing as I've heard.

 

IKEA

About twice a year, I IKEA. Oh ya, it's a verb: I IKEA, you IKEA, we IKEA. As in 'hey, you want to IKEA today'. Yes. Don't mind if I do. When I went with my mom recently, I specifically asked we go around lunch time so that I could try somethin' on their menu. Somethin' other than their (awesome) meatballs. It was time for new adventures.

Last time I was in the IKEA cafeteria, it must have been last year. Thing is, from my recollection, it had about 10 tables and a small counter. That hardly makes any sense seeing as now, they have room for at least 100 clients and they have an actual ordering system in place. I told my mom about this and she was like 'ça fait longtemps que c'est comme ça, fille' (it's been like this for a while, daughter). I instantly blamed my brain surgery. Hey, I gots to use that excuse!

The actual place is very nice, complete with every last piece of IKEA furniture you'll find in the store. I mean, is there a better way to showcase what you are selling? No. No there isn't. You can take a little cart to put your trays in and sometimes, if you have the family card, you get discounts. Yaaassss! I loves me a good discounted meatball. The ambiance included lots of rolling cart noises and the view was on the big ass parking lot. Lovely, really. I'm kiiiiidding.

IFS or IKEA food services include the Swedish food market (hello, meatball sauce) and the restaurant. Whoever had this idea was a damn genius. A genius I say! They have good quality food and very competitive prices. OK, so, you go shopping, right? And then you stumble upon the restaurant and you decide, HEY, why not have a meatball or eight, and you have more time to talk about furniture buyin'. Then, you leave, you go through the store, and you buy more sh*t, because you are well rested and full of energy. And BAM: you've just spent another 200$!

We both had the salmon, another IKEA classic. Well, I think the meatballs are number 1 and the salmon is number 2. Oh, but then there are the hot dogs downstairs. AND the ice cream! F*ck it, they have a bunch of classics. Anyhoot, poached salmon with mustard sauce and barley salad. Hey, you can't go wrong with this healthy alternative. The fish was nice and hot and went really well with that smooth mustard sauce. A match made in heaven. Actually, I've been cooking my salmon with mustard ever since. Yes, I'm that impressionable. No I'm not. OK, only if YOU say so :p I really loved that salad: I rarely eat barley and damn it, I'm lookin' for new grains in ma life. It was cooked just right. The parsnip was undercooked but the other veggies were damn awesome. All I's gots to say is that it did NOT taste like cafeteria food.

After the cash, thee are more opportunities to get us with extra purchasin': ice cream, hot-dogs, fries, oh my! We just had to have ourselves a nice little choco/vanilla soft served ice cream cone.

I wasn't the one that got up and went to the counter but according to my mama, service was quick and efficient and very well organized. I would not expect anything else from the most organized store in the world.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5

Service: 9

Don't even ask; like the Terminator, I'll be back! (OK, it's only because I JUST saw Arnold on my computer... and no other reason)

 

Vivalia

I was invited to one of the openings of Vivalia. I was sick as a dsawg with gastro (ugh, memories) but I brought my gurl Al to help me with the eating (or lack there of) and judging.

Vivalia is a cute little restaurant in Old Montreal. And I do mean little: if I stretched out my arms far enough, they would be as large as the restaurant itself. TOTES not exaggerating. Believe me you. It was crowded in there and at some point I felt like I was prisoner of the wall, but apart from that moment, it was nice. I felt a bit like I was hanging out in a garden. I like gardens. I like em' a lot.

The ambiance was  happenin', with some jazzy, loungy music playing and people gathering around high tables. The concept of Vivalia is that they serve up 100% organic food (gooooodies!!) in a kind of buffet style, so that you can choose what you want from what's in front of you.

As soon as we arrived, someone took our jackets. I liked it already. We were told to choose whatever we wanted to drink: bubbly, white or red wine OR between a couple different flavours of kombucha. Yay! I had tasted kombucha before and loved it and y'all know I'm a sucker for fizzy beverages. Plus, the fermentation was bound to make my stomach a bit happier.

Sometimes, when I get invited to these things and I get there right on time (as everyone should, pfff), I wait and I wait AND I wait for food. I am not a very patient person. This time, we got our drinks, we walked over to a free table against the wall and a couple minutes later, a dude came out with food. Yes. Food! And by that, I mean, 'yes, food that I will barely taste because I'm uber sick'.

I actually got to discuss with the manager and the people responsible for thinking up ways of making Vivalia better and more known. They are already thinking of franchises, which is awesome, albeit a bit early and I got to discuss with them how to do this and where to do it, which was awesome (hey, I AM important!!!).

Sushi! Since I've stopped working at Sushi Taxi, I haven't had sushi, like, at all. T'is sad. So I was pretty happy when sushi started arriving. They had a couple different kinds including a california roll, a salmon roll and a vegepaté roll! Let's face it, I'm kind of a sushi expert and these did not feel or tasted like real sushi. But A for effort! The rice was undercooked and the pieces were falling apart. BUT the taste was still there. The california roll was apparently the favorite but I preferred the vegepaté! I mean, when do you get végépaté in a sushi? Never! It was quite lovely! I've had végépaté, I've made végépaté, I've bought different kinds... one could even say I'm somewhat of an expert. Yes, it was a tad whhheird to have it in sushi, but quite original! It was moist, yeast-y and home made goodness. Just the way good VP should be.

Celery and apple salad. I gotta hand it to them, they had cute little vessels. I mean, how cuuuute is that??? But celery and apple? Meh. I'm sorry. I'm a firm believer in 'if I can make it at home, I won't eat it in a restaurant'. And could have definitely made this at home. It was good, but there was too much vinaigrette and it was missing seasoning.

Quinoa salad. Same concept here. Some veggies and some quinoa. Again, it kind of lacked flavor. AND a wow factor.

Falafel! I loves me some falafel! Awesome mix of flavors and very herbal! Which, by the by, I love! The mayo was vegan! Hey, you can make mayo without eggs, I give you 28$! Why? Who the hell knows, but I feel like it. It was very nice and my stomach actually appreciated this.

This was a favourite. Al and I wanted more of this. Like, a LOT more. Basically, this was goat cheese and.... yep... goat cheese :) It was quite strong for goat cheese but it was good and soft and goaty? Hahaha, you know what I mean! It had much pepper in there which made it taste awesome! There was a little cracker under but, really, who gives a sh*t about the tiny cracker when the goat cheese is so good?

Saaaaandwicheeeees!!! With home-made bread, no less!!! The salmon one was uber tasty with some cream cheese and some greens! The home-made bread made it even better. Yes, it was quite simple, but it was simple made awesome, you know? The chicken sandwich was as good. The chicken was moist and the tomato fit right in there. Surprisingly, the tomato did not make the bread soggy. I will have to email them to see how this phenomenon did not occur.

The wannabe tajine. Ha, my friend Val exploded with a 'whaaaaaat?' when she saw that I posted this as a 'tajine'. Hey, she's married to a Moroccan. I was a bit bummed to see more quinoa here, instead of the usual couscous. Apart from the fact that it wasn't a real tajine, per se, that little tiny dish tasted really good: the chickpeas were  nice and spiced up and actually felt like I was eating a somewhat-real tajine. Well, except for the quinoa. I would have preferred some couscous, of course.

Sooooo, there were a couple other dishes buuuuut I totes forgot to take pics. I was sick, ok? I wasn't really there :/

Service was great throughout the evening! There were a couple of uber friendly people passing around food and emptying our tables and what not! They were also moving around with bottles, which, let's face it, is very important when it comes to openings! Hahaha!!!

And now, the scores!!!

Food: 7.5
Service: 9

I'll be going back fo shizzle! Especially now, that I can actually eat and taste the good stuff!

Nozy

Since before I can remember (I have a very bad memory), I've wanted to eat brunch at Nozy. I went with Lea a couple months back to have their omakase menu (about 7 or 8 dishes, chef's choice) and had been pleasantly surprised. Well, baby gurl (yes, I call MYSELF that too) was back. With a vengeance! OK, I do NOT know what that entails.

For the restaurant itself and the décor and what have yous, por favor go read my first blog post on Nozy: http://www.eatingoutmontreal.com/2016/07/nozy.html 

Aight, so, I was there with Jer, Lea and Bridgert, all fans of the Asian persuasion. Who isn't, am I right? I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm convinced I was Asian in another life. Totes fosho. And by that, I mean foshizzle my nizzle. And by THAT, I mean imma gonna stop talking. The end.

I had seen pics of Nozy's brunch on facebook and since then, I had been drooling uncontrollably. I look weird when I drool. I try not to do it often.

Sashimi X 4. So what if I KIND of forced Jer bear to share this with me. He got LOTS of thai basil from my garden in exchange :) I think that's a fair trade. Aight, so we got tuna, yellow fin tuna, salmon and snapper. OR the best damn sashimi anyone has ever had. The presentation was oh-so-pretty: beautiful plate with some shiso leaves and some very fine daikon. This shizzle was super fresh. Nay, it was uber fresh. The yellow fin basically melted in my mouth and the snapper was like fish candy. That dson't sound good. Let me rephrase: it was one of the best pieces of fish to ever hit my palate. It was very tasty and had a great sweet side to it. The tuna and salmon were also awesome but the two other pieces of fish were the stars of the plate. OH, did I forget to mention that it was REAL wasabi? Fo realz! Man, that stuff is so rare, they must sell it on the black market or some sh*t. Well, it makes all the difference in my book.

Take Kago or 5 appetizers. If you can't decided what the f to eat, I suggest ordering this bad boy. I mean, how pretty is this? I'd say 13 on a scale of 1 to hells yes. We got marinated beets, a house salad, salmon sashimi, eggplant dip with wonton chips and karaage. OK, first off, I could've done without the salad. When I get a salad like this one in a restaurant, I feel a bit cheated. And that's all I'll say about that. The beets were actually really nice: not too sweet and not too acidic. And I loves me some good beets so it was right up my alley (you know, that beet alley!). The chicken, forget about it. Just forgeeeeeeeeeet about it. Hands down, way down, one of the best karaage I've eaten, ever. Jer took a bite and looked at me with a face that said 'dsamn', or 'wow'. I couldn't quite make it out. When something is both crunchy AND moist, I give them 8 thumbs up. Iz a good thing we were four. The spices were subtle but still present and, well, it was, wait for it, you know it's comin'.... heaven in my mouth! I should totes have a copyright on that phrase.

OH! Don't forget that every dish comes with one of the most marvellously misoed soup.

Service was good throughout. We got water and then we got more water and then... you get the point! She explained the specials ..twice! Hey, we are not the easiest gang of eater outers. Ya, it's a thang. All in all, good service.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 8

Well, of course I'm going back. Why? Because Nozy is surprise after tasty surprise!

Nozy

I go to restaurants a lot. Like, a LOT! With this blog and all, I feel like it's a second (unpaid) job. That I love. I usually try to go to budget friendly restos, but once in a blue moon, I wanna splurge. Splurging is good. It cleanses the soul. Or some shit.

Nozy had been on my radar for a little while so when Lea mentioned we should hit it up, I was totes down. BTW, for those of you wondering why it's called 'Nozy', it is for chef Nozomu Takeuchi. The restaurant is quite small with about 30 seats, and mostly everything is white. I kinda liked it, it looked very pure. White walls, white chairs and white pieces of cloth hanging from the ceiling made for a nice and calm ambiance. As a contrast, the tables were black and there were tiny wooden things hanging on the walls that kind of looked like pasta portioners. 

There were seats at the bar and a table located at the front of the restaurant that made for such a cute little nook. Jazz music was quietly playing, and at some point, it totally became awesome with some old 90's Janet Jackson! Hahaha! Weird, but awesome.

As per usual, I knew what I was having: the Omakase menu: a series of dishes selected by the chef. According to the internet (the whole internet, yes!), it was about 6 courses. We told the waitress we wanted it to be a surprise. On their FB page (side note: I'm not uber fond of the fact that many restaurants now don't have actual websites, only FB pages), it said that it was 50$ but when we got there, we noticed that it was 60$. OK, not a huge difference, but a difference nonetheless. I still had to go for it though. And Lea followed suit. Just a little note here: the drinks could be more original. I mean, litchi martini, cucumber cooler, bloody caesar? Been there, done that.

Miso soup. A nice little starter in any Japanese restaurant. This costs about minus 5$ to make. Seriously. It was good and simple and effin hot. I think I burnt my tongue to the second degree with this bad boy. Of course, Lea waited until it wasn't as hot. Wise girl.

The appetizer. It looked just beautiful and very colourful. I love colours on my plate. It makes me want to eat it more (the dish, not the plate!).  Fresh snapper sashimi. Get IN ma mouth! Now. It had finely shaved dikon, radish and ponzu sauce, which, for anyone interested, is a citrus-based sauce. Not a seafood based sauce like the waitress informed us. Citrus. Her brain may have made a wrong connection like ponzu-citrus-seafood... or something :) There was a hint of sesame oil in there, which was a bit too heavy for such a light dish. The ponzu was nice but there was a missing element, like salt perhaps. The fish was awesomely fresh though and absolutely and irrevocably melted in my mouth. 

Our waitress then arrived with 2 rectangular boxes, one on top of the other. I found that really cool. She placed them one in front of the other and opened the first one. A+ for presentation. My first thought was 'f*ck, I should've told them I am not a fan of wakame'. Shizzle. I just really am not fond of that texture. The taste is OK, but the texture is not. I know a lot of people like it. I am not one of those peeps. Anyway, I'm a good [food] sport, so I tasted it and apart from that stoopid texture, I can tell you for sure that this was one of the best wakame around. You know, around. It had a lovely sesame taste and wasn't as hard to chew than others (I REALLY have a problem with weird textures, I do realize this!). 

In the middle, a trio of three sashimi: snapper, red tuna and white tuna or hamachi as it should also be called. All super duper uber fresh. I'm pretty sure they were caught out at sea about one hour before our arrival. It's possible, right? Right? They all just pretty much dissolved when they hit my tongue. Man, that was fresh fish. This may just have been THE freshest and best sashimi I've ever eva tasted. The white tuna was my favourite. Perhaps because i rarely have any. F*ck me that was good. I'm sorry about the cursing but this deserves it :) It was accompanied  by fresh wasabi from the freaking root. The rooooot! This is a very rare occurrence. And one I oh so appreciated. It was hot as all hell but a little bit on each piece of sashimi made it even better! Right under, there was a nice little not overly dressed salad with a great big shiso leaf. Mmmmmmshisooooo. If I'd be a Kung Fu master, my name would totes be Shiso. Oh wait, I just stole that from Kung Fu Panda, didn't I?

In the third bowl, beef tataki in ponzu sauce + secret ingredients. I like secret ingredients. It was so tasty, again with the raw meat just melting away on my palate. I thought that the use of ponzu was good here, but that it was a bit of a repeat from the appetizer and lacked seasoning. 

Yuk, bad lighting. Sorry.

Second box! This is exciting! Lets start on the right with the karaage chicken. I've had karaage before. Many a times, it can be dry and many a times it can have an amount of fat on there that is... unflattering AND many a times, it lacks in spices. Well, this one was purrrrfect. No, it's not a cat people, it's chicken. I'm getting off track here. First of all, usually (OK, MY 'usually'), you have white meat in there. This was brown meat. Much much moistier. Is that a word? I think SO. The spices were a mix of ginger, garlic and hot pepper. A winning team, I'd like to say. With a bit of soya sauce, that chicken won every chicken contest. Crunchy, moist, spiced just right, seasoned correctly. 

In the middle, mashed potatoes with pork. I like to say that it was a cloud of heaven, those potatoes. Wow! So soft, I think they put it through a fine sieve about 8 times. The dish kind of looked very Christmasy to me. Not Japanese. Christmas. Japanese Christmas? Anyway, the braised (I presume for many hours) pork needed no cutting because it broke down as soon as I touched it. So damn good. A bite of potato mousse + pork transported me back to, you guessed it, Christmas! i don't even know why. It was really tasty and well executed but I don't know how well it fit in with the other dishes.

Miso marinated salmon. Miso? Yes. Salmon? Yes. Put em' together man! The salmon was so tender and it was oozing miso. Yes, oozing. Just by looking at it, it was flaking off. Is that a thing? Anyway, it was simple, yet very tasty. Just like most things should be.

Salmon X 3. Salmon tataki, salmon sashimi and salmon tartare. On rice. Although the rice was perfectly cooked to perfection (did I say that twice?), I don't know how I feel about eating cold fish atop hot rice. I'm not sure I'm fond of it. It feels weird to me for some reason. The tartare had a miso and tomato sauce and was really spot on. The naked sashimi (hihi, naked) was as on the ball and as fresh as the ones we had in the first place and the tataki was tatakied (new verb guys!--put it in yo dictionary) with nanami, an Asian spice that is akin to chili powder but with sesame seeds and other spices in there. Iz hot yo. AND good. AND smoky. But again, it felt funny to eat warm tartare. No? 

After that, we really debated whether or not we should have dessert. After the waitress told us that the ice cream that was part of one of them was not homemade, I lost my dessert erection. 

Service was great throughout our meal. Our dishes were quick to arrive and our waitress answered my 600 questions. She knew I was writing an article (I never say it but this time, I asked her to explain our dishes 'slowly, so I could write it down') so I'm not sure if we got special treatment or not. Anyhoot, water was on the table right away and we could just serve ourselves which was nice. She was very attentive and checked many times throughout our meal to see if we were satisfied. 

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: the scores!

Food: 8

Service: 9.5

Will I go back you ask? Hells yes. I've already started putting money aside for it. True thang.

Le Vin Papillon

Le Vin Papillon had been on my list for a short time, basically since Val had gone a couple weeks prior to my visit. She had loved it and raved about it so, hello! I had Lena and her hubby in town that weekend and I wanted to bring them somewhere hip and cool and all that jazz so I thought about this restaurant. Plus, it's a 12 minute walk from my place, like a lot of new restos. By the way, I'm a cool person that lives in a cool hot neighbourhood. Yes, that's correct.

This resto is David McMillan and Fred Morin's third baby after Joe Beef and Liverpool House. It's tiny and corridor-like and sadly went unnoticed (by me) for about 1 year and a half. Note to self: open eyes. They take zero reservation so get there at a weird eating time OR pray that you'll get a table. We did the latter on a busy, warm Friday evening and I think we waited about 10 minutes. Nice.

As soon as you get in, the ambiance of the restaurant fills you and suddenly you feel happier. Seriously; smiling faces everywhere, people hustling and bustling, waiters explaining the menu left and right. It was just a welcoming, wonderful atmosphere. There was a terrasse out back which seemed happening as well. The menus were on the wall, which as we all know can be a good and a bad thing. A tad annoying when you're sitting up against them and you have to turn around. Oh, also annoying when it's quite dark.

Now the premise of this resto is, if I'm not mistaken, tasting good wine (hello!) whilst eating some simple, yet well made dishes. These dishes are made with fresh produce, mainly from Québec, if they are available of course.

Our first dish: sea urchin. I had actually neva eva tasted those. Me! What. So obviously, this was an obvious choice. It turned out to be a tad bit disappointing: although the texture was actually quite nice en bouche, the taste was nearly nonexistent. It was kind of a sad beginning. 

Shaved ham with awesome cheese (I totally forgot to note which cheese, damn it!). Now THIS was goooood! The ham was so thin that it melted in your mouth and the [awesome] cheese was peppery and sweet all at once. Mmmmmm, it was yummy, peppery salty goodness. I want you to promise me that if you go there, you WILL order this. Just do it.

Gravlax! Oy, the asparaguses (that's how you spell it, right?, hehehe) were cooked just right. I hate overcooked asparagi (second try?) and I loathe undercooked ones too. The fish just right smack melted in yo damn mouth. It wasn't too salty, it was just right. Texture was just right. Ok, it's safe to say it was just right, yes? The bun that was accompanying it was just lovely. Airy, soft loveliness. Probs (it's a word) almost just out of the oven. Although it was wonderful, it didn't really belong in this specific dish.

The 7 layer dip. YES, 7. I can't even begin to describe everything that was in there; I just know it was tasty, zesty, feta-y and soft. The chips, on the other hand, were a bit on the too-hard-for-my-liking side.

Morel stuffed bread. Or, as we should say en bon québécois, guédille aux morilles. This was a tough one. Only because we were three and I think there were two morels in there. Lots of button mushrooms, but two morels. It was good, but again the lack of the main ingredient was kind of frustrating.

The best picture ever. I mean, the cauliflower. AND the worse pic ever taken by anyone, EVA. I think le Vin Papillon is popular in part because of this plate. Why? Because everyone orders it and everyone likes it. Plus, it's so damn simple yet oh so good. Mmmmm, I'd go for another charred one of these bad boys!

Service was on par, even if it was a bit slow at times. the restaurant was full to the brim so perhaps that was why. We didn't really feel it so that was all good. Our waitress was cute and quick (those two qualities go together, right?) and she explained the wine and the food and answered questions.

And now, the scores!

Service: 8
Food: 7.5

Well, its a 12 minute walk from my place, it's good, AND cute girls work there? I'm obviously going back.