Café Cantina

A couple weeks back, Val and I ate breakfast at Café Bloom. One of its neighbours is Café Cantina. So we obviously had to eat a late afternoon snack there. Duh. Two restaurants in one day? I say bring it!

This is another one of those places in a very bad spot: end of rue Centre, close to the tracks. I mean come on. Who in the holy hell goes there? Absolutely butt f*ck no one. Which is why it closes at 4 (YES, 4!) on weekdays! I don't even know how they make their money. I just don't.

Amazing thing for them is that they were voted last year as one of the best Mexican restos in MTL to warm up your [cold as hell] winter! (http://notable.ca/The-7-Best-Mexican-Restaurants-in-Montreal-to-Heat-Up-Your-Winter/).

The place itself is quite small, with about 20 seats on the ground floor and perhaps another 20 a couple steps higher.We were the only ones in there at 5 PM and we got a warm welcome but it was eerily quiet in there! Kinda good, kinda weird. We weren't looking for a full meal so we decided to share some guacamole (guac and I: a love story) and some quesadillas.

Simple, yet, delicioso! Wait a second, that ain't spanish at all! The guacamole was nice and soft and oh-so-DAMN-yummy. Oh and very limy-lemony, which is mucho importanto (here I go again!). The only thing that I would have added is a tad more salt. That's it. There was a lovely salsa roja (I got it!!! Spanish, finally!) that was quite spicy but never enough for me. Val kinda choked on the spiciness but I say BRING IT ON. These were devoured by us with homemade tortillas. Hello.

Cheesy quesadillas! This was a nice surprise. Very fresh, very tasty. The quesadillas were hot, crunchy and cheesy, but not too much... You know when you burn yourself because of an overload of melting cheese? Ya, it wasn't the case here. We had some salsa, guacamole and sour cream to put on top and basically bring us right smack to Mexicano heaven! Just the contrast of the cold sour cream and the hot cheese was awesome. We also had a little coarse coleslaw with, hold on to your hats, wait for it, cumin in it! Now THAT was a nice surprise! It brought Val aaaaall the way back to Morocco apparently. Who knew a Mexican dish could do that?

Service was good. Nothin' special. Our waitress was very quiet but very nice. Our food was there in 2.5 seconds. She answered all our questions and knew her shiz.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 7.5

I'm fosho going back... just have to find a day that I'm not working passed FOUR! Sheesh.

 

Café Bloom

Look! Look, it says 'Café Bloom' on the window!

Do you know how many restaurants are opened at 8 am on a Saturday morning in MTL? 3. OK that's a lie. But for us early risers (yes, even on the weekends!), there aren't that many options if you don't want to go to a 24 hour diner (meh) or a coffee shop (let's face it, NOT breakfast!). I was looking at my options on Zomato and I found this little gem, hidden in plain sight, about a 10 minute walk from my place. Oh, and in the past 2 years of living in this neighbourhood, I had neva eva EVA heard about or seen Café Bloom. Oy! 

Alright, so, located in a weird part of Pointe St-Charles where people rarely go if they don't work/live around there (unfortunately restaurants often close their doors because of lack of clients in that area), Café Bloom closes early on week days alike many restaurants around it (i.e: Café Cantina) because, well, there's pretty much no walking traffic. Like, at all.

This place was a lovely discovery, I must say! It's tremendously cute with its kids corner, mismatched tables and chairs and kinda hipster-y vibe (only kinda :) and great indie music. I kind of felt at home. They have an open kitchen, which I love... well until you see the cook pick his/her nose but thank the little baby Heysus I didn't witness any of that that day. 

The menu is on the black board behind the oh-so-very-cute bar: viennoiseries, coffees, home made juices, and brunch. Val and I both had the same thing, which, I must say, is a rarity; we usually try to get different things so we can taste them both but apparently we had our eyes on the 'tartine du brunch'. 

Tartine du brunch: scrambled eggs with herbs, parmesan and mushrooms on rye bread, mixed salad and cabbage salad. Let's start with the bad. Neva EVA put mixed salad anywhere on your menu. NO! I do not care if YOU like it (I don't know why you would) OR if you think it's oh-so-cheap (obviously there's a reason for that). Just don't do it. It was slightly acceptable about 8 years ago. Then, it was arugula, which is MUCH better, and now it's somethin' like kale which is MUCH MUCH better. Needless to say the addition of the three slices of radish was lost on me. Then, the cabbage salad. It was alright: adding sesame seeds was a nice touch and brought a little je ne sais quoi to the dish but it lacked salt, therefore flavor.

The scrambled eggs were nice and fluffy and moist (I despise that word--cringing!). The parmesan could have been a tad saltier, surprisingly. The mushrooms which were mainly morels (hello!) were good and full of flavor (garlic, hello!) but a tad on the squishy side. The herbs were great and obviously fit right in there: eggs? bread? mushrooms? I'm gonna have to say 'hello!' again! All in all, good but I wished the parmesan would have been a bit melted, ya know?

Service was ok: First off, when we said we didn't want coffee (that's right, TWO non coffee drinkers eating breakfast together), she didn't even bother asking if we wanted something else. Well, she a: lost more sales and b: more tip. And we had to ASK for water. I don't like asking for water. It should always be in my glass. Point final.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7
Service: 6

I'm toooootes going back to try more! And soon!

FYI: they have hosted exhibits in the past 2 years for up and coming artists!

Épicerie Jean Guy

This place had been screaming out for me to try it: located but only two blocks away from my apartment, it was either closed when I wanted to go or opened when I was off to work. Grrr. But one day, miracle! Oh, it was on. It was on like the break o' dawn yo. Ok, getting a bit ghetto here.

The only thing I knew about this place was that it was Asian. Yes, with a name like Épicerie Jean Guy, obviously the name of the dep that was there before it, it seemed really freakin' Asian! When you enter, you actually realize that its real name is Frais Inc. , which, seriously, isn't that much better. And don't even try finding info on the internet... I think there's a little paragraph about this place..on ONE website.

So I knew this wasn't going to be the most gastronomic adventure of my life but I just had to try it. With their menu outside listing they had General Tao, I knew this wasn't going to be the best.

I got in and discovered this wonderful place. Wow. There were 4 seats around a two-booth table with a guy telling me it's so cheap that he eats here at least 4 times a week.... and as I look at the prices, I'm happily surprised to see that its uber (yes, I can use that word) cheap and that the owner doesn't charge taxes. Ok, that's a tad whhhheird.

This was 7 dollars. I think I could have fed 2 countries with this portion only. Man. There was a bare minimum of veggies and lots and lots of noodles with lots of soya sauce. I took about 5 bites and then I was full. It was very salty and seriously, I don't even know why they bothered putting veggies in there.

Pork dumplings. The texture was nice and for 2$/6 dumplings, I believe this is called a great deal. They were good, just not great. They had a nice crusty side which was good but what was inside was nothing exceptional (really? you thought it was going to be exceptional at 0.33$ a dumpling?).

Service was...funny. Ya, I think that's the right word for it. Basically, I thanked my lucky stars (ya, I have some, don't you? :p ) that there was a regular there waiting for his order because I would not have gotten any sort of explanation about anythin'. Nothin. Nada! Oh and the cook (the only dude working there) also prepared the guy that got there after me's meal before mine because he was, you guessed it, a regular. You know, I wanted to be annoyed but somehow I doubted it was going to do anything.

And now, the scores!

Food: 5
Service: a well deserved 4 but in his defense, I don't think he spoke any of the languages I speak (French, English, some Spanish, a tad bit of Russian and a smidge of Italian. Oh, let's not forget my best friend's native tongue, Tigrinya. But, as far as I know, only a handful of people speak it. OK, maybe two handfuls. Aaaand I'm rambling again.)

I really don't think I'm going back there. It was an experience. But not one I'd like to revisit.

 

Ludger

I loves me some good brunch. I'm always looking for a good place to do just that and so last weekend, I decided to try Ludger: it's close, it's popular, it's a tad hipster-y. So basically, everything one would want in a brunch resto. I went with J, my ex English teacher, who is always a great partner in crime when it comes to critiquing restaurants.

This review will be on the short side cause I lost all my notes and pics (except these two) along with my beloved phone. Where, you ask? Well, in the canal Lachine of course! Dumbass. 

The place itself looks really nice, chic-ish but not too much, cool-ish but not too much. I would just like to go there with all my friends and sit and eat and drink all night. That's the feeling I was getting. But this was brunch hour so we sat on their narrow terrasse that still could hold about 45 clients and put our sunglasses on because it was a hell of a sunny day!

I usually go for the largest breakfast on the menu but this time, since I had just come back from the gym, I was feeling more on the healthier (ish), smaller (ish) side of things.

I had the rillettes de porcelet (I thought you'd prefer that over 'potted meat'!), poached egg, potatoes and strawberry, apple and endive salad. I love having freshness in my plate. It just makes me happy! AND corny, apparently. Aight, so the potatoes were oh-so-diddely-good: cooked just right and tastier than most potatoes I've had in a long while! There was a lovely mix of herbs on the potatoes that made them even better! The egg was perfecto mundo. Yes, yes, get over, it, I speak Italian. But seriously, it was soft, unctuous, seasoned to perfection. Hence, perfect egg. The rillettes were very tasty but were a tad too salty. But don't get me wrong, they were great on toast with the egg yolk. Oh yes. Wait for it... yes! The salad was just yummy. the strawberries were fresh and uber sweet and the endives' bitterness countered that perfectly. The apples added some crunch and another level of flavor. I would fosho order this salad on its own. Fosho yo.

Service was perfect when we first got there because, well, we were the only ones on the terrasse. She brought my two mimosas (no, silly, not both at the same time!) in a timely fashion and water was on our table before we even had time to sit down. Of course, when it filled up, we had a hard time finding her. Tis the way it goes!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8,5

Service: 8

I am definitely going back. Mmmmmmm poached eeeeeeeeggggg!

 

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.

 

Burgundy Lion

This pub, being a 10 minute walk from my place was on my must eat list, but after 1 year and a half of living in close proximity, I still hadn't gone. Damn it! So, a couple weekends ago, it was time. I mean, when I go out to drink in my neighborhood, it's either there or at La Drinkerie but this is brunch we're talking about. Brunch people! English brunch :)

This place runs like there's no tomorrow; a must go in Griffintown with two stories, a terrasse on Notre-Dame, an interior courtyard and lots of cleavage. LOTS and lots of it. Ok, some times too much, even for gay ol' me! But that's neither here nor there. Let's talk boobs. Shiz, I mean brunch!

I knew what I was getting, duh. This is what happens when I get really excited about a place. I wanted the whole English breakfast experience. I wanted the whole shabang. I wanted...blood sausage!

But first, a morning drink shall we? Oh, we shall! Recently my brunch drink is a good Bloody Caesar instead of a mimosa. I believe the spices and all that jazz is better for one's hangover. So I had two :)

Alright, so, y'all know my number one rule: always get the biggest breakfast. Oh and I did. Let's begin. The beans were a little piece (or tiny pieces...) of heaven IN my mouth. Heaven in my mouth I say. And I know my beans. They were amazing: just salty enough, well cooked but not mushy, great tasting overall. The eggs were good and again, well seasoned, but a tad cold. The tomato was the disappointment of the plate. It tasted as if they took an old tomato and cooked it with lots of spices. Which is probably exactly what they must do. Meh. Didn't taste fresh at all. The potatoes were yummy and crispy with a nice moist interior. Ps, you guys know I HATE the 'm' word so it's a big deal if I describe something by it. The ham was nice and maple-y but sadly, a tad on the dry side. The pièce de résistance, the boudin noir, was amazing. A-mazing. It was onion-y (hello is it me you're looking for?) and well seasoned and lovely and had a great texture. So basically, perfect. Oh, and the bacon was so thick and fatty that I felt like I gained 300 calories only by tasting it. But that too was oh-so-good! Mmmmmmm....faaaaaaat!

Service was great. Quick and efficient as any good service in any good pub should be! We had our water glasses refilled and were asked if we were satisfied with our food. Plus, I got a boob or two near my face...I was a happy camper. ;) The only thing that was kinda meh is that it took a while to get my second drink. It's ok, I forgive you.

And now, the scores!!!

Food: 7.5

Service: 8

Well, let's do the math: 1 huge breakfast and 2 caesars cost me 35$ including tip. Yes, yes I'll be going back.

 

Terrasses Bonsecours

I was invited to attend the Summer opening of Les Terrasses Bonsecours in the Old Port a couple weeks back. It was beautiful and sunny and rather hot, basically the opposite of the crap we've been having in the passed couple days (read: weeks). It was hosted by Jillian Zrihen, the grand master of huge openings. Oh and it was. Huge.

I was going with my friend Jer and obviously we got there at 4h55 for 5 o'clock. You know me, I hate being late. Anyhoot, we were given selfie sticks... whatever those are... We never really were able to take an actual pic. Maybe we're just retarded. Or maybe they just work on IPhones.

First off, we could not have asked for a better day: it was warm, like, only wear-a-t-shirt-warm and even as the evening got colder, we just got drunker so it equaled itself out. This was to be a 5 à 7 with free booze (hello!) and free bouchées (well hello!). There was a lot.... a LOT of free booze, but the food was practically nonexistent or just really bad. I'm sorry, but when you are serving obviously-straight-from-Costco-frozen food, it ain't restaurant food. Therefore, this will be short and sweet.

I would like to give a shout out to all (and I think there were about 8000 of them) the girls that were working in super high heels (I do not know how no falling occurred) and super high skirts. I mean thanks but oh poor you! I just felt like petting them and telling them it would be ok. Hahaha. No but I'm pretty darn sure they got good tips out of it. 

Anyhoot, we started off with rum and cokes or, you know, vodka cranberry. And then we discovered that we could just take these...

Shots! Oh. God. Vodka anyone? Best and worst decision of that week. THIS is the reason why I was hungover the next day...although in my defense, the hangover wasn't AS bad as I thought it was going to be. Anyhoot, we had many of these. Many. And when the 5 à 7 was done, I heard Jer say to the waitress: 'open a tab with this card'. And then, it was over. Donzo. 

I won't speak of food because in my opinion, there wasn't any: dry chicken on skewers, bruschetta on a cracker or tasteless meatball on a stick.... it was all bad food. Kinda just there to say 'hey, we have food' (but not really).

Service was obviously good. I say 'obviously' because, well, I likes the ladies. And there were a lot of them. In short skirts. And quite tall. Yes. Seriously, they were very attentive to our demands and drunken orders... and drank lots of shots with us. Which we all know is very important.

The venue itself was wonderful. This picture was taken when we arrived (the first ones) but when it was full, people looked oh-so-comfy on those couches. We were sitting at a more modest table ;) Seriously, the outside portion could easily sit at least 100 people and I don't even want to venture a guess about the inside which boasts two stories. The view was nice all around: Old MTL, Old Port, the St-Laurent. This is the real deal, guys. THE partay place. Seriously, if I had the money, I would bring my friends there every Friday evening to have 2 or 8 drinks. And ps, they did have a menu... we just were too cheap to actually BUY food from it. Ha. Ya, joke's on us.

And now, the scores!

Food: 11 for drinks (but really, 9)

Service: 8000 for short skirts :p (but really, 9)

As I said, once I win some kind of amount of money OR I become a jet setter, I'm there!

 

Branzino

Recently, I was invited to try Branzino, the restaurant located in l'Hôtel Méridien in Downtown MTL. Actually, it was one of my old ITHQ peeps, who is now the manager, that invited me. Let me paint you a picture: when I started at ITHQ in restaurant management, we were around 65 in our class, about 35 or so graduated, half of which have left the business and I'd say about 3 or 4 have managed to get jobs as manager/boss. The rest are like me, fools! No, I didn't mean that. We are either in the kitchen or in the dining room. Ps: although I would love to be ZE boss (cause y'all know I can be bossy!), I do love my job :) I must also mention that this restaurant is at least 50 % ITHQ: the manager, the chef, the sous, the waiter. Talk about surrounding yourself with family!

Getting off track here. P-F invited me to try their new menu before the soft opening (which was taking place this week). How special am I? Yep! 

The place itself is located right at the corner of St-Mathieu and Sherbrooke. There's a huge sign in front of it so it's hard to miss. Let's just say if you miss it, you should get your eyes checked, seriously. It seats over 100 people, including the terrasse and has somewhat of a dark décor which actually fits really well.

Aight, so I started off with a nice drink, as every dinner should. P-F just read out the names of their cocktails and I chose the one I liked the most: Torreador! Good for me cause it turned out to be a sangria! I loves me some sangria! It was white wine, vodka, basil and watermelon. Hello refreshing! The basil wasn't too present which was a shame but the watermelon was just a burst of loveliness. Mmmmm, I can just taste it now! But not really. DAMN IT!

I asked the chef to decide what I would eat since, well, A:he was sitting right beside me and B:he knows what's good.

First off, the scallop. Wonderfully, wonderfully done to perfection. Crispy and tender and seared and raw. Basically, just what you want when you cook a scallop. You could just see that lovely char on it just begging to be eaten. Oh and I did! Accompanied by an edamame puree that was nice and smooth and some corn that added a great texture. And a lardon emulsion. AND a maple-y sauce that tasted almost fruity and paired really well with the dish. Hello! Basically, the perfect appetizer. I just might be biased because this is one of my fave things to eat, like, eva.

Second appetizer (that's right, I'm special so I get two) was the grilled octopus and pork flank. There were also root veggies which just scream out 'garden' or 'hello it ain't winter anymore'. The pork flank was the best damn pork flank I've eaten yet, in my long long life ;) It basically just melted in your mouth. No need for a knife there! Ah man and it tasted so good! Seasoned just right. The octopus was not as satisfying. I love octopus when it's well cooked but I have such a hard time eating octopus when it's not. It just became really tough to cut and although it had a very tasty charred flavour, the fact that it was so hard and chewy was really what mattered at that point. The radishes were awesome and fresh but the potatoes were just a tad undercooked. There are some things you could eat if undercooked OR overcooked but octopus and potatoes are not in that gang. 

The main course! Man, as soon as this was in front of me, my mouth started watering. Hake (think cod or haddock) was the main part but the star of the dish was surely the Israeli couscous. I think I had only eaten Israeli couscous once in my life. ONCE! I now think my life has been a waste. To live without eating this is just...SACRILEGE! It was like having little balls of goodness in my mouth. Mmmkay, I realise how that sounds, but still. It was like an explosion of flavor! The morels on and around the fish had a great texture (not much I like less than squishy mushrooms) and had pockets full of that lovely jus that was swimming on the plate. Asparagus were not shaved but were thin enough and perfectly cooked. Oh and there was this perfectly silky sweet potato puree. And then, there was the fish. Sadly, it wasn't the star of the dish and it should have been. It was a tad too flaky for my liking and quite dry. Tears ensued.

Oh, I must mention the bread! Deeeeelicious, home made by the sous chef who was inspired by one of my teachers at ITHQ, Julie Faucher (whom we all feared and loved) who made everything herself including tofu and taught spinning at 5 am and walked her dogs at 3 am.

Dessert. I was asked if I was too full and I responded by 'yes but I'll still have it please'. Spoken like a true pig :) This was damn didely good. Just looking at that picture...On the left, a lemon panacotta. Holy crap. I took only a couple bites and it was like I had a lemon in my mouth but not the sour kind. It was a tad on the thick side but I still enjoyed most of it before taking a bite of the next dessert. Ah yes, they called it the chocolate log. And man, if there would be a competition for the most chocolaty dessert, this one would definitely be amongst the top contenders. A crunchy base and a soft middle plus some Chantilly on top just made me see stars. I SO wanted to finish it but just couldn't. And last but certainly not least, a chocolate macaroon. Crunchy enough, soft enough, just like it should be. It was scrumptious.

Service was great, duh. I was sitting at the bar the whole time, chatting with some good peeps I went to school with a couple years ago. Twas nice.

And now, the much awaited scores!

Food: 8.5

Service: 10

I was highly surprised by my meal at Branzino. Highly. Don't know when I'll go back but if I have the chance, I shall!

T & T Tacos and Tortas

I was invited, a couple weeks back, for a 'blogger event' at T & T Tacos and Tortas on Rachel in Le Plateau. I think they've been opened for about a year and I guess they wanted some good publicity from us bloggers. I just have to say that I'm always in for that. Hint hint.

I went with of my favorite people, my little cousin, who it so happens is only about 7 months younger than I am. Oh and she's taller. Little cousin my arse!

I've been to big openings and smaller openings but never a blogger event. Basically, we got there and I wondered if I had misread the date. There were maybe 2 other tables and that was it. Usually I have to force my way in... kinda :) Turned out great in the end: more time to talk to my cuz and my fellow blogger Val (from Juliette et Choco)! Plus, hello, more attention from the super cute waitress!

Gen had been there a couple times since her office is about 3 steps away and knew what she liked. I, on the other hand, know I love tacos but didn't know what to pick on the menu. Actually, I must admit that in the end, we totally forgot about the tortas! Bad blogger, BAD! 

But I obviously didn't forget about my drink! We could order one and then pay for the rest: good deal! I had me a mojito. But it wasn't just any mojito, it was the BEST mojito I've had... EVER. Ever, people! You know, minty but not too minty, sweet but not too sweet, perfect but oh-so-perfect? Ya, that was it. Good God I'd want one of those right about now!

We wanted to get an order of every taco on the menu (there are 6 kinds and 4 tacos per order) but the waitress strongly suggested that we calm the f*ck down. SO, what we did was narrow it down to 4 and got 2 of each instead of crazy 4. But first, there was the tortilla sopa!

This was a tad watery but it was the only bad thing about it. The flavors were great, the avocado was oh-so-good and creamy and there were little islands of sour cream that just popped in your mouth! Coriander was also present and as always, appreciated. I just LOVE coriander. I remember, when I was in my 'Découverte des aliments' class at ITHQ, we had to make something and present it in front of the class and then the students would eat it. I made coriander pesto. Because I love it that much. The tortilla itself was ok but could have tasted more.

Beef with grilled cactus taco was a tad disappointing. Basically it was thin sliced marinated beef with some onions, and grilled cactus. The cactus was special, cause seriously, when does one eat cactus, but the meat was dry. So dry that we needed to add some lime juice but to our very dismay, the lime wasn't juicy! *Sniff* There were some great salsas on the table that helped out: salsa verde, and two salsas rojas including one hot one that y'all KNOW I was licking off by the end of dinner.

The other tacos on this plate were the chorizo ones. You can add cheese for 1$ but when it's free you don't even need to think about it--just add the damn cheese! Unfortunately, they weren't much better than the beef tacos (enter sad face). The meat was also a tad dry--although not as dry as the beef. The coriander saved the dish-ish but again, we needed to put lots-o-salsa on it for it to taste good. Hey, at least the tortillas were good: crunchy but not too much, and flavorful!

Tacos el pastor should be renamed 'tacos al Maria'. Mmmkay, I see how that makes no sense but they are my fave. Just having pineapple on a taco makes my mouth water. This one was very nice: the juiciness of the pineapple and the tang of the onions made it heavenly. The pork was nicely cooked and well, you know, the coriander :) This was our fave by far. The last pair of tacos were the carnitas: pork belly, onions and coriander. The meat itself was a bit tough and chewy and lacked in spices. I love pork belly but this was a bit of a let down.

Churros!!!! The tacos may not have been up to par but the churros were riiiiiight up there! A set with chocolate and the other with dulce de leche, they were cinnamony, crunchy, yummy goodness. I was suddenly back in Spain.

Again, food may not have been extraordinary that evening but the service surely was! First off, there was the hotness of the waitress, of course. But apart from that, we always had water, we got our drinks in no time and she explained the menu to us and what we should order.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5 (those churros and drinks saved the day)
Service: 9.5

I think I'm gonna be bold here and say that I'd go back. I feel like this place has a lot to offer and that maybe, just maybe, it was a bad night.


 

Kazu

My bro's bestie, Erik, loves this place and swears by it and assured me it was THE best Japanese resto in MTL (that doesn't serve sushi). You have to believe him because he lived in Japan, goes back whenever he has time off, pretty much exclusively goes out with Japanese girls and well, lives and breathes Japan. Just like I live and breathe everything Asian.

I believe I'd been wanting to eat at Kazu for years. YEARS people. Do you know how long years are? OK, that's an easy question. How would you feel if you didn't have to just wait 5 minutes or 5 days for something, but freaking years! Mmmkay, you get the point. And it's my fault really: the thought of waiting in line to eat doesn't usually please me. A couple weeks ago, I made that leap with Lea! She went to Tokyo last year so she really wanted to try Kazu and since I'm almost half Asian (work at a sushi place, hang out in Chinatown ALL the time-it's basically my second home, buy all these Asian produce and make Asian food at home), we went for it.

Kazu is this tiny restaurant with around 20 to 25 seats MAX. Now you know why there is always a line up. Don't even think about going there early; there WILL be a line outside the restaurant. The menu is pretty much written on the wall... somewhere :) But they do bring you either the lunch or dinner menu... hand written... WITH corrections....which are stuck on with scotch tape. Love it.

I had my heart set on the Japanese Bibimbap (uh, hello!), but when the time came to order, I was told this was a dinner special. Noooooo! I didn't feel like ramen or a salad so I chose the 48 hour pork bowl. Pork? Good. 48 hours? Good. 48 hour pork? Hells good. Lea had the Tuna and Salmon salad bowl. Oh and we also had a tiny soup and an even tinier salad to start with. When I say tiny, I do mean it; two bites and donzo!

The salad. The crispy noodles on top made the plate look oh-so-good! I mean come on, look at it! And they were actually tasty; I've had my share of non-tasting crispy noodles. A big ass portion I would call it! There was rice in there, some veggies, dem noodles, and lots of flavors! Thing is I didn't taste the fish as much as I wanted to and it needed a bit of spice. Either that or I'm just a spice whore now; seriously, I put sriracha on everything, even my cereal. AND I'm kidding. Sheesh, I ain't that crazy.

The pork. Basically, pork with onions, green onions, and ginger. The flavors were there but they weren't necessarily in every bite. I dunno, I felt like one bite was better than the other and vice versa. What I have to say was that the onions were abundant and y'all know I loves me some onions. They tasted great too: perfectly caramelized to the power of 1000. The green onions gave a little kick to it and the ginger was nice too. The rice was unfortunately a tad overcooked. It was a sad moment for me. Japanese resto hailed for being one of the best (or THE best) in MTL and they f*ck up their rice. Mmmmkay, I'll stop it with the anger. What I really appreciated was the fact that even if there was still fat on the pork (not usually a big fan of fat), it wasn't squishy like it usually seems to be and it was full of flavor. Let's just say I gained 5 pounds of actual pork fat that day. Again, I could have used some kind of hot sauce to make everything pop a bit more. 

For dessert, we could choose out of many flavors of ice cream: basic vanilla + syrup. I had the wasabi one! Oh ya! This was exciting! And it tasted just the way I pictured it in my mouth ;) Wasn't too hot but in the end, with the melted ice cream left in my bowl, it reminded me of a little shot of wasabi. It wasn't too much and it was cool to try something different!

The service was, well, Asian ;) It's actually a good thing people: they know what they have to do and they are super focused. Plus, you know you'll get your food 10 times faster in an Asian resto than in any other type of cuisine in the city. Bam bam bam. Done. Sit, menu, drink, order, food in seriously, and I'm not even kidding, 2 minutes. Out. You don't really need to talk to your waitress cause you have no time. Ps, everyone that works there is straight from Japan, which is actually kinda great. Do me a favor and go on their FB page, you'll see what I mean! They write cute stuff like this: 'We'll closed 2.3.4.5 to the staff meeting. It's to ensure the feelings don't forget forever when we began the restaurant.' How cute is that? 

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5

Service: 8

I'm going back fosho. But next time I'm going for dinner, I'm ordering the bibimbap AND I'm going with Erik so that we can be Japanese together.