Sushi Pro

Everyone knows I'm a sucker for some good sushi. I'd even say that I'm a sucker for OK sushi. But do not fret, I know how to recognize it. I mean, as some of you may know, I rolled sushi for a good five years. For some people, that's, like, a quarter of their life. WHAT! I had a sushi craving the other day, so I hauled my ass supes close to my house to Sushi Pro, on Centre. Basically 200 meters from my place. You know, a long walk :o

I called to order because I was being super lazy: what's better than to order in advance so that everything is already packed and ready to go when you get there? I was ordering an avocado roll, a spicy salmon roll, a salmon nigiri and ---. That woman crushes my sushi dreams when she said 'no avocado roll, we are out'. How? How is that possible? Do NOT tell me that there aren't any more avos! So yes, basically their supplier had brought them unripe avocados. And they were paying the price. I remember, when I worked at Sushi Taxi, and I was ordering our supplies... the avocados were a very tricky game. How many do I want ripe, how many do I want almost ripe, and how many do I want green. They were supposed to have all three but it wasn't rare that they, themselves, didn't have any ripe ones. I had to do all the grocery stores in the area to find avocados. THAT was a pain in the ass.

The nigiri. Since when are nigiris sold separately (by Maden!)? By separately, I mean by unit. Who gets ONE nigiri? Well, except me, hahaha! Didn't they all used to come in a pair? Anyhoot. The salmon was ubes fresh, and the nig was well... nigged :p You could see she knew what she was doing.

The spicy salmon roll. I loves me a good spicy salmon roll! As with the nigiri, the salmon in this was melt-in-your-mouth fresh. And it had just the right amount of spice. I likes me some spice, but sometimes, it's like, dude, don't ruin it with too much.

The salmon kamikaze. Salmon, tempura, avocado, cucumber, goberge (apparently "pollock" in English?!?!), tobiko, some house mayo. House mayo= probs just mayo + sriracha or sambal. Maybe a bit o' yogurt. There wasn't nearly enough salmon in there. If you're not gonna put salmon in it, don't call it a SALMON kamikaze. Geesh! The flavours were all awesome together, and it was well rolled, i.e. it wasn't falling apart like some sushi I buy at the bio grocery store in Galéries du Parc.

And now, le score!

Food: 7

I'll go back next time I'm home and I have a craving, but I would prefer other places!

 

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.

 

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!

KYOZON

I was invited to try this self-proclaimed hip New-Asian restaurant on Crescent. It was going to be big. Oh-so-big. I invited my boss, V, because a: she's super duper fun and b: she knows her sushi. Media was at 6 so as per our usualness (that's a word, I swear!), we got there at 5:55. Kyozon joins the Nacos Group family, including Weinstein and Gabinos and Newtown on Crescent (my fave is Atelier d'Argentine in Old MTL).

The place looked really big from the outside and even bigger when you enter. Holy bejesus!!! It was HUGE! You get in and there's a huge mother freakin bar on the first floor along with many tables. Then, on the second floor, you have the kitchen, in full view behind a window and the kaiten belt. I had never experienced 'the' belt so that was fun and new for me! 

There was a huge sky light which added a certain charm to it all. So in one word it was damn huge. Ok, two words.

Anyhoot, we got in and were nicely attacked by some waiters carrying drinks around: red or white wine, proscecco or their specialty drink for the evening, the Shojo Sour. We started off with the Shojo: Bombay Sapphire, Midori, lime, simple syrup, egg white and the kicker, 3 drops of sesame oil.

It was very tasty and special (and dangerously not tasting of alcohol) at first but after a couple drinks and burping sesame oil, it became less special... Let's just say that the next day, at my sushi restaurant, I did not want to hear anything about sesame oil (my chef made a lovely joke telling me he had switched the oil in the fryer for sesame oil). And just one whiff made me want to you know whhhhaaaat.

The ambiance was great, as it usually is at media gatherings where everything, including alcohol, is free. Abeille was spinning for most of the night and it was loud! We saw many-a-people making out and almost just getting right down to it at the bar.... twas quite hilarious!

And now, food!

We were two of the first people there so we went upstairs pretty quickly to see what all the fuss was about with that belt! Turns out... no fuss. We were sitting in an arm's length of food that we could pick out so that was cool but the food itself...

-Rice not too good and this is coming from someone who knows her sushi rice

-Fish on top a bit too fishy

-This literally tasted like nothing even if, as you can see, there ARE ingredients!

-This one was my favourite

-No rice

-Salmon and tuna tasted great

-Calamari in a cone

-Great taste and crunch

-BBQ type sauce fit really well

-Not too salty, great panko crust

Sorry about awful pic

-This spring roll was just awful Sushi Shop quality

-Fake crab meat with tobiko and a tiny piece of avocado dson't make a good quality roll

-First dish with lots of flavours

-Salmon well cooked and moist (oh how I hate that word but sometimes, you just gotta use it!)

-Lobster maki

-Was there really lobster in there?

-Pork bun

-Taste was there but the pork was way too fatty and the bun was slightly undercooked

-Looked good but tasted like nada :/

-This was a great papaya salad

-Good flavours

-Very refreshing

-Popcorn shrimp

-Again, loved the panko crust

-Juicy on the inside, crunchy on the outside and just a tad spicy... just what you want!

Bah, pink ginger... really? That is all.

OK, now, I can see it now: 'Marie, you're so tough, you're so harsh...' Well I feel it's my duty to tell y'all the truth!!! Also, when there are huge openings like this one, the capacity of the kitchen to deliver the good stuff is always limited and stuff starts going awry as the night progresses. I would like to go back and experience the real deal though. As the Nacos Group promo/marketing dude told me: 'Ce soir c'est pour faire le party mais il faut y retourner pour la vraie expérience!'.

And now, let's talk service! It was great!!! Nothing bad to say about it! Not one thing. They were all smiles and they were always there with a drink or passing food around when you needed it. The barmen and women were always there for you (just like Friends!) and we stayed that much longer because our bar dude told us that 'we were fun and we should stay'. Damn him!!!

OK, and now, the scores!!!

Food: 6

Service: 9

I definitely want to go back for the real experience. You'll see it's hard to keep this chick away from asian food!!!

Furusato

*Flash review alert!*

I was having lunch with my dad today and yesterday he called me to tell me that we should go to Furusato! How happy was I? And today, he told me that his girlfriend would be joining which made me even happier :)

This place is tiny and it opens at 11h45 AM so you should get there by 11h40 to be sure to have a spot. You can make reservations and so you get in and half the tables are always reserved! I've been there with my dad at least 10 times and we've always been satisfied.

Enough of this, let's talk food!

First, THE tea. It comes in this oh-so-cute little tea pot :) Plus, when it's empty, we get more! It's nice and hot and so body warmin' on cold days (damn you never ending winter).

Salad

-could not get simpler
-iceberg and ONE piece of pepper (sheesh!)
-nice tasting japanese vinaigrette

Miso soup

-Like the tea, very nice on a cold day!
-Not that much seaweed=good and not overwhelming
-Nice taste and simple soup
-Must cost about 0,02 cents to make :p

Sushi Mori: 5 nigiri, 1 cone, 2 heiwa (futomaki), 3 cucumber hosomaki

-2 tuna, 1 shrimp, 1 salmon and 1 white fish (TBD ...) nigiri

-Not VERY well rolled
-Quite tasty except the white fish had some fat on it

Desert

-Neapolitan ice cream
-NOTHING special
-Liked their green tea ice cream: much better and much more fitting

The service was OK. The girl, who barely spoke any english or french had a hard time understanding us. First off, I asked for three glasses of water but she only brought ME one. Then we had to tell her we said three. Meh. And I mean, poor her, until 12h30, she was alone, serving the whole restaurant. Even if it's not that big, with 4 courses + tea plus person, it can get quite hectic I bet! When we asked for water the second time around, we got it 10 minutes later.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7
Service: 6.5

Even if it's not the best rolled sushi in town and doesn't have the best service, at that price (around 11,50$), I'd go back every day :)

Sushi Taxi

I was invited to try this new restaurant on Notre-Dame West and, while looking it up on the internet, my mouth was watering as I was looking at all the great sushi! Sushi Taxi has a bunch of other restaurants everywhere in Québec, including one in St-Sauveur which is doing really really well.

The place itself is damn cute! Very simple, very cool with a brick wall and wooden tables and chairs. It sits about 40 people. They also have specials. I LOVE specials!

I was welcomed by Valérie, the manager. She told me about Sushi Taxi's history and their philosphy of not doing the usual sushi (aka kamikaze, california) and I told her that MTL is probably the best place for a restaurant that is innovating. She also made me taste a maki, kind of a teaser... and it just melted in my mouth so I was excited to eat more! I was about to order an appetizer and a main. So many choices! And they all looked so good. Valérie helped me out and I ended up choosing the Guac-amore and the Shogun. This was going to be good!

Guac-Amore 9.95$

Oh man! This was heaven in my mouth. HEAVEN I say. If you are a fan of avocado, order this!!! Por favor!! Mmmmm! The idea was to kind of imitate guacamole but, well, way better! Fried ball of avocado that just bursts in your mouth, red onion, salmon tartar and mango topped with a tad of sour cream. It was very original and oh-so good! I was actually kind of sad when I finished all four.

Shogun 23.50$, 18,50$ lunch special

This plate of sushi came highly recommended by the manager so I just had to dso it! The shogun (this month) is a salmon wafu roll with mandarine on top, snow crab maki with leek 'fondant' on top, shrimp tempura maki with a little peeper mousse, tuna and salmon tataki nigiri and scallop tartar with some strawberries. I chose well, I tell ya! First off, let me reiterate my love for sushi and let me RE-reiterate my love for funky, original sushi. I LOVES it! The maki with the mandarine on top was just sweet enough and fit perfectly well! It was quite refreshing. Oh and the Taxi sauce was soooo good!!! Kind of a spicy mayo mixed in with soya sauce. Added a certain je ne sais quoi :p The tuna nigiri just melted in your mouth but the salmon tataki one was not as appreciated. Don't know why but it just didn't fit with my taste buds. The scallop and strawberry roll was good but the strawberries were a tad overpowering. Even so, there was somewhat of a cereal in there adding just the crunch needed! The snow crab maki was great but I didn't really feel the leek fondant on top... Just didn't go for me. It WAS original though so points there. The shrimp tempura maki, again, just melted in my mouth. Man, that was a great roll! The shrimp wasn't SUPER crispy which was all good and the little mousse on top added the touch that made the roll.

When I was done, even though I was darn tootin' full, I wanted more! They DO deliver (to a 4km radius) but I wasn't about to exaggerate!

Although I didn't eat there, I have to comment on the service! Obviously, I'm biased because I got invited because of my blog, therefore, got great service. Still, Valérie was really cool and explained all the dishes to me and told me about the other Sushi Taxis out there. We talked about management, food cost and revenue.

And now, the scores!

Food: 9
Service: 10

You must try this new sushi restaurant! If you like innovation and new things, go to Sushi Taxi!

dddd

Kyo bar japonais

Since I didn't have the chance of going to the media event  of the Happening Gourmand, I KNEW I had to go to at least ONE restaurant of this lovely Happening. It's my third year and I've been satisfied every time. First, at Verses, then at Aix and tonight, at Kyo (strangely, where Aix used to be). Lea came with me to have a good time at Kyo!

Imagine my surprise when the first guy I see when we walk in is P-F, this guy that was in my class at ITHQ! And then, BAM, another Kyo employee was SL, this other dude in my class. It was fun to catch up for a couple minutes... and knowing them, I was sure to get good service.

Anyhoot, the place itself is good lookin', with a definite 'cool asian' vibe (whatever that means!) but played music by Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake. I guess they're going for a cool asian-american hang out bistro-type?! :) The place has a nice long bar and around 60 to 70 seats.

We were asked if we wanted a drink while we decided on our dinner choice and well, we couldn't resist... as per usual! I had the Kyo cesar and Lea had the Pinky Ginger. Mine was shochu, vodka, clamato and wasabi. It... tasted like your run of the mill cesar. It was good, don't get me wrong, but it was your usual cesar, maybe a tad spicier--wasabi and all. Lea's drink was very sweet and very girlie: shochu, chambord, cranberry, raspberry and ginger. Like I said, girlie! It was VERY sweet. Not my kind of drink, especially for a sushi dinner. But Lea loved it and found it 'dangerous'...you know, the kind of drink that you can have 5 of and not taste the alcohol and then bam, you're drunk. 

Alright, it was time to EAT! As an entrée, I ordered the beef sashimi with crispy garlic, green onions and ponzu sauce. YUM-MY! The ponzu sauce was marvellous and added just the right amount of tartness to the dish. The little garlic chips were perfect (uh, do you not know I love garlic?) and added just the crunch needed! The only thing I didn't appreciate, and this is personal because of my tiny mouth, was that the pieces were a tad too big.

Lea had the sunomono salad with harusame noodles, coriander, cucumber, wakame and kanikama (a fancier sounding word than mock crab. This was actually a delicious blend! I could have done without the wakame though; not a huge fan of it on its own. The mock crab was actually really delicious! Who knew? The harusame noodles (also called cellophane noodles or glass noodles) were very tasty and had absorbed the lovely flavor of the sauce. It was all very fresh. The sesame seeds added a certain je ne sais quoi to it all and made it a great dish.

For the main, I had the chef's selection of 15 makis: the tuna maki, the kamikaze, the dragon roll and the california roll. The plate looked great with zigzags of soya and spicy mayo. The tuna roll's rice was a tad dry but it tasted really great neverheless. With a hint of soya sauce, wasabi and spicy mayo, it was wonderful. The kamikaze was as tasty and the avocado was just ripe enough. The dragon roll just melted in your mouth. Plus, the tempura shrimp was nice and not as crunchy as usual, which I usually hate because it gets stuck in my teeth :p The california roll was good as well but not the star of the dish.

Lea's salad was very colourful. I mean, look at those colours! It was like deconstructed sushi! On the menu, it said this: Chirashizushi (Lea had a hard time saying this, even after a couple tries!): seafood, assorted raw fish, asparagus, omelette on sushi rice. I don't know if there was a change in the menu because of missing ingredients but there were no asparagus in there. Good thing is that they replaced it with edamame. And maybe Lea ate it all before passing it to me, but I didn't taste any omelet in there. That was also alright with me! The whole thing was just so pleasant to eat, with little surprises of raw fish here and there.

For the desert, I had the yuzu donuts with the condensed milk and sesame and Lea had the homemade green tea flakie pastry. My donuts were very good and it was obvious (especially with the waiting time) that they were freshly made. They were moist and lovely tasting: the yuzu kind of reminded me of eucalyptus and the condensed milk+sesame added just the touch that was needed. The flakie was just so didely-dam good! I took a couple bites and Lea slowly pulled the plate back towards her just to devour the rest. Damn it! It was so soft and daaaamn, melted in your mouth, literally! Just a hint of chocolate on the plate was a nice touch. basically, the keyword here is YUMMY!

Service was great, duh. Our water glasses were always full, our waiter came by to check how our food was at every course and we had pleasant discussions :) The only thing was that when we were done the main, it was a bit long for them to pick up our plates. And that'll be all :)

Oh, and did I mention that we got our drinks for free? Yep, P-F went to tell the maitre d' that he knew me and she was nice enough to offer them to us! Ah, I love it!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5

Service: 9 (I MAY be biased)

If you want sushi or a good tataki plus get great service by experienced ITHQuois (its a REAL term!), go to Kyo!