Perles et Paddock

I've had my eye (well, eyes) on Perles et Paddock for a while now. Ever since I wondered what the f*ck had become of that old garage on Des Seigneurs in Griffintown. Well, they did a hell of a job. A HELL of a job. And so, this is where Jer Bear and I went for brunch on a lovely Saturday morning (let's face it, I can't afford their actual dinner menu :o ).

Perles et Paddock, as previously mentioned, is located in an ultra renovated old garage that was quite the eye soar on des Seigneurs in Griffintown. They made it into a legit wonderful looking restaurant. Like, a WOW restaurant. Like, a WOW WOW WOW one. You get the point, iz nice. Compared to what you see from the outside, the inside looks much grander: a big mirror at the back makes it look like a much bigger space than it already is and it seems like the never ending restaurant. Plants everywhere, two big garage doors that open up onto the street, and a huge skylight make it seem like we're still outdoors. The bar was quite spectacular, all dressed in marble, with uber comfy seats (along with a step for short people like me!), and quite an array of bottles under very favorable lighting.

I loves me a good brunch and I was excited about this one, fo shiz! Jer bear had the guédilles aux crevettes de Matane (the best of the small shrimp...). The shrimpies were not in the usual hot dog bread; they were in a home made brioche. They had been mixed into this mayo-ish sauce that was supes taste. Just enough that we still tasted the deliciousness of the shrimp! They were like butta in ma mouth. You know what I'm gonna say though: not enough shrimp!!! NEVER enough shrimp. But I am also the person that, at 6 years old, was eating an actual PILE of shrimp in Maine on family vacays. I go cray for shrimp. Kinda like Bubba from Forrest Gump, you know. I found the brioche was too hard `n' dry for me. Jer bear found it alright. He's too easy to please, pffff. The coleslaw was on the effin ball. One of the best coleslaws I've had, like, ever.

I had the surf and turf! Cod cake, hollandaise mousse, salad, and a big ass slab of bacon. I loves me a good big ASS slab of bacon. The salad was cut on the mandolin and was just dressed enough. You know, I'm talking skirt... not pants. The fish cake was a bit dry, and not even the hollandaise on top was saving it. It did taste good though, with just the right amount of dill and the yolk from the egg atop it, melting onto it. Mmmmm. The bacon was, you know, bacon: fatty and smoky awesomeness.

Service was a bit on the slow side. We had a nice welcome and quick water service at first, but then we waited what seemed like 8 hours for our food (I tend to exaggerate) and did not get more water until the end of our meal. They also didn't ask us if we liked it. I will also mention that they seemed to be overstaffed. Take care of yo peeps, especially when you are overstaffed! On the other hand, I must say that the dude at the bar, in front of us, was really quite nice and did flash his million dollar smile more than once :)

And now, the scores!

Food: 8
Service: 6

Ya, I'm going back for more brunch!

Café Parvis

Every time I eat breakfast with my dad, we eat at chains. OK, almost every time. I ain't supes fond of chains: always the same thing, plastic eggs, over/undercooked potatoes, too much sauce, tiny sausage (hehehe...tiny sausage :p ). When I have the opportunity to go to a non-chain resto with my dad, I jump on it. Well, it's more like I send him an email saying we should hit up that place. I'll send him the menu AND point out things that HE could eat. I have to be thorough if I want to eat a nice breaky! And so, a couple weeks ago, we met at Café Parvis!

The place itself is quite cute, but also a tad too hipster for me. It ain't bad, it's more like 'oh, we have bowl haircuts, and round glasses, and clothes from the 1980s'. Hahaha! I did enjoy all the greeney in there and the high ceilings, but it was a bit too much on the dark side for me. The atmosphere, at 7:30 am was calm and actually quite nice! I really dug the place itself, but the location, on a weird side-street kinda street, was kind of out of nowhere.

They have a small selection of breakfasts, written on a board at the cash: a small menu, just the way I like it! I had the pain doré with tomates confites (translates to candied tomatoes... but I'm not supes fond of that), lots of herbs, bacon, swiss cheese, and balsamic syrup. Mmm: balsamic syrup. That thick liquidy goodness makes everything better. Everything. I LOVED all the herbs that made everything more flavourful, but I found that they had thymegerated (come on, get with it!). The tomatoes were just lovely: not too oily and very savory! I was a bit disappointed by the bacon: it could have been thicker. I like me a good, nice slab of thick bacon. Let's face it, I love me some bacon. The bread was way too eggy in the middle; it was basically one big runny egg :p The cheese was, wait for it, cheeeesyyy! It completed this savory pain doré quite well.

The service was at the counter so I shant rate it, but I will say that we waited a sh*t long time for our food. For a girl that's hungry as soon as she wakes up, this did NOT please me.

And now, le score!

Food: 6.5

I'll probs go back, this time for lunch or dinner!

Trou de Beigne

After eating spicy stuff at Pum Pui, Jer bear and I were lookin' for a little somethin somethin sweet. You know, a little somethin somethin. Jer had a marvelous idea: "oh, there's a tiny donut shop right there'. Ya, ya, I'm ok with that. And THAT's how it went down!

These donuts are hand-rolled, fried and glazed every morning. Actually, they have two sizes which is just gosh darn awesome. For full on fluffy experience, they suggest, nay, TELL you, that you must eat them the day of. Makes sense: no one likes a stale donut. The place itself is tiny, with only a couple tables and le counter to order. They only have a handful of varieties, but even then, they go like cray cray. We were there for a big ol' 10 minutes and I saw at least 3 peeps coming in for big orders. I was like dang this bound to be good!

Jer had the bacon+maple donut and I had the green tea one. You know, might as well make it a "healthy" donut. HAHAHA! Ps: there is no such thing. The bacon 'nut (yep, it's happening) was ubs sweet (like, more than a usual donut) and I just thought that if you're gonna put bacon on something, make it worth it, no? The answer is ALWAYS yes. Like, put some IN it... make it proud of being a bacon donut. I gotta say that the bacon that was actually on le donut was quite lovely indeed: it gave just the right amount of salty and crunchy.

The matcha donut I had was too sweet for a matcha donut. Didn't feel it, you know? It was so cute though: I had the small version and it was green with some crispy rice on top which made for a nice little crunch. It was also overly sweet which kind of turned me off.

And now, le score!

Imma give a 6. Obviously, there are some other flavours I'd like to try like the S'more and the Chocolate-raspberry. So yes, I might go back if I'm in the hood.

Bagel St-Lo

I love trying new places when I have my bi-weekly (ish) breakfast with ma dad. I looked up breakfast spots in Verdun and found Bagel St-Lo. I loves me a good bagel. Let's dooo it!!!

Bagel St-Lo is a small restaurant with lots and lots and LOTS of knick knacks. Everywhere. I absolutely loved it. Looked really nifty: Tintin, cartoons, old kitchen apparati (you know, the plural of apparatus, geez!), old signs, old sporting equipment. Some nice dream catchers completed the eclectic décor. Chill music (hello, Bob Marley, master of chill!) was playing and the place was empty when we got there at 8 am. Duh. There are about 26 places with mix matched chairs. Apart from a bit of cold that was seeping through the door, it was a very comfortable place. I could've imagined just reuniting with some friends there. You know, let's have a reunion n' bagel kinda thang. Maybe this is why they seem to have many regulars!

So, everything that you get there is served with/on a bagel. I rarely eat bagels, or any kind of bread for that matter, so this was an exception. I was happy to make the exception at St-Lo, where they make their own.

First, I gots to warm myself up! Mmmmm. This was surprisingly good! Although the foam on top could've been hotter, the hot chocolate was uber tasty, with the undertone of hazelnut. I just love me some hazelnut in ma hot choco! Let's face it, it just makes the best kind of hot chocolate!

The bacon benedict. Listen, if there's bacon on the menu, it's bound to get in my mouth. It's almost a prerequisite. Bacon directly in ma mouth. I must say, 2 years ago, I would've been happy to see all this fruit on my plate. Healthy, right? WRONG! Full of sugar. Thanks to my nutritionist, Lucie, I now eat 2 portions of fruit a day. I used to eat 12. Roughly.

The sesame bagel was very fresh, as if they had just baked it. Wait. Are bagels baked? OK, there's was a heat reaction and those things were cooked. Yes. The beans were right on. Almost on par with the ones at La Binerie on Mont-Royal. And, for you who know La Binerie, it's sayin' somethin'! The amount of bacon was very disappointing. It was gone in 2 seconds. I can say I would've easily wanted 5 times the bacon. FIVE. The cheese was also disappointing. It was a piece of Kraft Singles. No. Just no. First of all, that can barely be called 'cheese'. Second of all, what is it doing in a restaurant? I will never know. The hollandaise was so thick, one could have argued the fact that it was liquid  (it was solid). You know when it sticks to your teeth? Ya. I gots to give em' props for the egg: it was perfectly cooked and seasoned.

My dad, who, usually, would totes eat somethin' cheesy and bacony like this, chose, for some unknown reason, their 'healthy plate' with a plain bagel and fruits and cottage cheese. Kinda wish I would have chosen that!

Service was... comme ci comme ça :) When we entered the resto, it looked like the waiter was somewhat ignoring us so we just sat down on our own. Ya, were savvy like that. The waiter ended up being super friendly and even reheated my dad's coffee (if my dad could/would describe love, this would be it). We did not get a water refill. You KNOW how I feel about that, boy.

And now, the scores!

Food: 6
Service: 6.5

So many breakfast spots, so little time.

Burger Bar

I was meeting my ex boss (and without sounding like a suck up, one of my all time faves) to discuss my almost six year old blog. I know, it makes me sound totes old. Well, maybe cause I am. But let's not dwell on my 35, almost (yish) 36 year old self. We wanted something close to his office so it had to be downtown. I am SO not an expert on downtown; I'm more of a Sud-Ouest specialist.

I picked Burger Bar simply because I had already been to mbrgr and Deville's and that was pretty much the next one on the list, burger wise. Obviously not because of the SUPER original name :p This place has been there for at least 5 years, so that's like a 100 in restaurant years. Props. Oh and it's on Crescent. I'm not super fond of Crescent; it's always loud and it's as if every gino (ya, I went there) with a nice car has to drive on that street and make huge engine noises. Ugh. 

You get in and it looks more like a pub than a resto: very dark, wooden chairs and tables, tall club-like waitresses. That's right, I now describe girls as 'club-like'. They had a little terrasse up front with about 14 seats that was kind of hidden yet in plain sight, complete with uber plastic-y tables and chairs. Uber. Plastic. Apart from all the blinding plastic, it was nice because it was around 100 times more personal than, let's say, Winston Churchill's huge mofo of a terrasse right next door. 

I obviously had looked at the menu 8 times and already knew what I was having. Oh, AND it was my return to alcohol so I wanted to make it a good one.

Limonade Burger Bar. It had pineapple juice in there! And lots of vodka. Or maybe it was the first-drink-in-a-month sensation. It was fresh, it was sweet but not too sweet, it was delicioso. Uhuh, I'm goin' all Italian up in here.

Le Supersonique. Dear lord! My mouth is really small. Like, really small. Like, dentists curse whenever I get shit done in there. I tried mouth stretching exercises as soon as I saw this approaching. My first thought was that I was slightly disappointed that the rings weren't IN the burger. Took off the rings, squished the burger. To the max. The lower bun was soggy because of all the squishing juices so that made it even harder to eat. And not that pleasant. The bacon was awesome but, let's face it, when is bacon NOT awesome? The rest was... normal. A normal burger. I mean, it was good, but not wow. The potatoes, which, by the by, cost an extra 4 bucks, which I think is kind of steep, were up there: crunchy, soft on the inside, hot, well seasoned, perfecto (oh, there goes my Italian again). With some spicy mayo dippin' it was just p-e-r-f-e-c-t. 

Service was aight. She waited just long enough to bring me water for me to be annoyed. I know Max had not arrived yet but that dson't mean I can't get no water. We got our food in a very timely manner and our drinks even timelier. Is that a thing? It's a thing.

And now, the scores!

Food:7.5

Service: 7.5

I'm sure there are 100 other restaurants I need to try before I go back to Burger Bar. And my burger quota is pretty much maxed out for the next 6 months!

Ma Douce Moitié

Juju (cause that is just such a cute nickname) and I had planned on going to Ma Douce Moitié about a month ago. She had already been and was excited for me to try it. I was totes excited. New restaurant? What! New brunch place? Whaaaaat! So we met there aaaand realized that they were freaking closed. And they were supposed to be open. Damn them. The cook came to tell us that it was to be closed all day. We cried only a little bit. OK, a lot. Seriously, it became a very embarrassing situation for us, with all the crying and what not. Anyhoot.

Hence, we decided to go back 2 days prior to Juju's departure back to Belgium (because Canada doesn't want her to stay but that's another [sob] story) and, surprise surprise, it was freaking open this time! Woohoo!!!

The place is oh-so-cute, the kind of cute that when you step in,you go 'aaaaw!'. It had old tables and a very cottagy feel, bronze ceilings, and wooden boxes on the walls. One thing I did not like were the tall faux-leather chairs. They did not go. No! Well, AND they were the same chairs that we had when I was with my ex so maybe they brought back some bad memories. Who knew an ugly leather chair could do that? I must divulge that the table was quite sticky, which obviously means that they never clean. Just kidding. They probably just forgot a spot, and they didn't know that a very highly ranked (yes, that's how I describe myself now) blogger was going to sit there next. 

Anyhoot, food looked awesome. Y'all know I have a special spot in my heart for awesome food :p A fun thing about their menu (btw, it had JUST changed... lucky us, we got first dibs) is that you can choose dishes OR you can choose to make your own dish with different components. We opted for the first one. We were going to share everything because we tight like that, you know!

How effin good does THIS look? Well, it looks like a freaking million dollars. That's a million dsolla plate right there! Maybe I'm getting over excited, I mean, it's only bread and fruit, right? Wrong! This, ladies and gents, is chai french toast. Chai french toast! CHAI french toast!!!! I can keep on saying it and it will still be as real! And thank the almighty Heysus for that, dsayum!!! First off, I have to say that this was the right amount of fruit, unlike when you go to Chez Cora and they give you a full watermelon. But who cares about fruit right now? The bread was soft in the middle, crunchy on the edges. The good kind of sugar crunch, you know? The caramelization across the nation oooooof the sugar. Yes, that made a lot of sense (might still be on a sugar high). The chai totally came through in such a nice and subtle way while remaining oh so present. There was some cinnamon in there too which kind of reminded me of Christmas. Let's face it, every time cinnamon is involved, Christmas comes to mind. It's a thing. It actually fit right in there with the chai! It was just such a special, NOT your run-of-the-mill pain doré that was that much more appreciated by Juju and I.

Eggs benedict with candied bacon. Hello. AND hello! Let me tell you a story about me and candied bacon:  it was love at first sight AND it's the kind of love that keeps on giving :) The hollandaise was thick and lovely but a tad under seasoned, the egg was a perfect 10 in all respects (runny yolk, tasty, buttery, smooth) and the bacon... OH the bacon. The bacon could only be described as better than heaven itself. That's right, I went there. And I'd go there again. It was crispy and salty and all that bacon-y goodness X 100. It wasn't your store-bought thin-ass bacon. No no no. It was thick and I could have eaten it like a sandwich. Or somethin. On the other side of the plate was an abomination called mesclun. Mixed salad shall never ever EVER be part of any meal I am enjoying. Is that understood?

House made scone. It was flaky, it was light, it was soft, it was awesome. I rarely order scones because of the dryness that many can't escape. But this one was a little piece of alright! Ya baby! And the blueberry jam, again, home made, was, well... great! I am in no way a fan of jams or anything fruity except for whole fruits. It's just not my thang, my cup-o-tea. I blame my dad's ex ex ex ex because she always used to make pies and I got oh so sick of them. This jam was as if they had just hand picked the blueberries. For realz yo! It tasted so fresh and not overly sweet. Fosho one of the best jams I've ever tasted.

Service was good: the waiter came about three times to see if we were ready to order, haha. It was quite difficult with so many yummy sounding dishes! We got water quickly and from then on, service was very homely. One thing that bugged me was that our empty plates stayed in front of us for what seemed like an eternity. I'm the kind of person that used to push her plate when I was done dinner so in a restaurant, please just get it away... I'm done AND I'm full!

And now, the scores!

Food: 9

Service: 7.5

With the arrival of their new menu and therefore a bunch of new and exciting things (that include bacon of course), I would totally be up for going back soon!

MTL Bakeoff!!!

I was once AGAIN not able to attend an event. Grrrr. J-A was kind enough to go in my stead and as a dessert lovin' girl, she was pretty diddly damn happy to replace me. Plus, she is pretty much the person that runs the food part of the COOP HEC (where I did my management internship for ITHQ) so, mmmyyaaaa, I can say that I trust her with food. 

Dimanche dernier, alors que les pauvres cyclistes du tour de l’île maudissaient mère nature, j’étais bien au chaud à noter des desserts (poor me…). La première édition du Mtl Bakeoff, organisé par The Lincoln Apartment Bakery, se tenait au local Air de Tango au 4324 Boul St-Laurent. L’événement, avait pour objectif d’élire le meilleur pâtissier de Montréal et une partie des profits ont été versés à la Mission Old Brewery.
 

Le principe était simple : j’avais 3 coupons de dégustation avec mon billet régulier. Les billets VIP donnaient droit à 5 coupons et d’autres coupons à 3$ l’unité étaient disponibles. Je devais ensuite noter mes 3 desserts sur 10 pour chacun de ces aspects : originalité / apparence / goût. Les pâtissiers étaient divisés en 2 : les «amateurs» et les «semi pro». Un total de 11 semi-pro étaient présents et 8 amateurs. Donc, 19 desserts à goûter, mais seulement 3 coupons. Le choix était difficile!! Les vainqueurs ont été nommés par cinq juges du domaine de la pâtisserie et par l’audience. Trois vainqueurs au total : vote du public pour le meilleur dessert / vote des juges pour le meilleur dessert amateur / vote des juges pour le meilleur dessert semi pro.

En arrivant, j’ai reçu un dépliant (en anglais seulement) décrivant les juges et les différents items à déguster. J’aurais bien aimé une description des pâtissiers (par exemple, est-ce que les semi pro ont des boutiques? Si oui, où? Des spécialités? Les amateurs sont présents pour quelle raison? Est-ce qu’ils ont créés leurs desserts?...). Juste avant le go pour aller se servir, on nous a offert une sympathique démonstration de décoration de biscuit. Dommage que l’aménagement de la salle ne permettait pas à tous d’en profiter; seuls les 15 personnes très rapprochées de la démonstration pouvaient tout voir et entendre.

 

Ensuite, le temps de goûter!! J’ai attendu un peu pour aller me servir parce que tout le monde s’est lancé sur la longue table en même temps. Ça aurait été judicieux de séparer la table en 4 sections, réparties dans la salle. Par exemple, utiliser les 4 murs de la salle pour diviser l’amas d’affamés qui se jette un peu partout en même temps, devant les desserts qu’ils trouvent les plus appétissants.

J’ai choisi 2 desserts chez les semi pro : un «brownie-cheesecake- toffee butter cake with salted caramel and buttercream filling» (Chrissy Ross) et un «chocolate cupcake with dulce de leche filling, topped with vanilla buttercream and bacon» (Kathleen Orellana). Chez les amateurs, j’ai choisi le «chocolate and raspberry cake with whipped vanilla filling, raspberry compote and fresh raspberries» (Lauren Galerio). Bon, dans un sens 3 dégustations c’est en masse lorsqu’on regarde ces descriptions, mais je dois avouer que j’ai sélectionné mes options par la grosseur de la portion servie et le degré de «ça a l’air solide cochon!!» J’aurais pu choisir un petit macaron, un cake pop ou un sablé, mais bon, dans ce contexte, size matters… Dans le futur, peut-être suggérer un format de dégustation standard pour l’ensemble des pâtissiers. Je n’étais clairement pas la seule à faire mes choix selon ces critères et donc de très beaux produits ont été peu populaires car moins «gargantuesques».
 

La salle était pleine; c’était sold out! Est-ce que c’est dû au grand nombre de participants qu’il faisait aussi chaud à l’intérieur? Je ne me plains pas de la température; mais les desserts oui! Avec l’effet de la chaleur, la crème au beurre perd sa texture agréable. Sachant cela, j’ai décidé de garder une partie de mes desserts pour les réfrigérer à la maison et les essayer plus frais. La différence est énorme… Mes 3 desserts étaient nettement meilleurs au frais.

Au niveau de l’originalité, le gâteau brownie m’a impressionné par le mix de tous ces ingrédients! Ça prend du talent pour assembler tout ça (et le couper…). Le cup-cake, je crois que le bacon et chocolat, ce n’est plus trop «in», mais je n’avais jamais gouté! Je confirme; ce n’est pas trop mon style. Mais tout le reste (dont le dulce de leche filling évidemment) était très bon. Finalement, le gâteau aux framboises (dessert d’une «amateur») était vraiment l’ultime mariage entre la fraîcheur de la framboise et la richesse du chocolat. Mon coup de cœur! C’est d’ailleurs pourquoi j’aurais aimé avec la description des participants. Est-ce que c’est la recette de la pâtissière-to-be ou c’est du Ricardo vraiment bien interprété?? Si elle a vraiment créé ce gâteau, il faut la financer pour qu’elle parte sa propre pâtisserie!!

 

Le pointage: Brownie-7  Bacon-7 Framboise-9
 

Mention spéciale à l’assiette de dégustation qui était très éco-friendly en bambou biodégradable. L’organisatrice principale, Jess, était super sympathique comme tous les compétiteurs et le personnel sur place (pour la plupart des bénévoles / commanditaires). Bref, un événement qui a besoin de quelques ajustements, mais qui était somme toute très agréable et m’a permis de faire de belles découvertes!
 

Pour votre info,
Audience Choice Winner: Melissa Di Peco (Smores macarons)
Amateur Runner-Up: Lauren Galerio (Chocolate Raspberry Cake)
Amateur Winner: Genevieve Vielleux (Key Lime Cupcakes)
Semi-Pro Runner-Up: Eva Bendayan (Lemon Cake, choco bark)
Semi-Pro Winner: Sapna Patel (Mini Eclairs)

Le Bon Vivant

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 7.5

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

Nini Meatball House

I was meeting my ex English teacher J and her girl Yez for dinner. Soooooo, I thought we should meet two doors from work (Sushi taxi), you know... cause I have such a hard time being away from work :p  Geez! So, we did! On top of it, since I'm two doors down, I'd been through the buying, the remodeling and the everything that makes this resto what it is today!

The place: very simple, very white, industrial type of lighting. Cool feeling.

The drink: Rebel lemonade. Maker's Mark, soda, lemon juice, simple syrup. Told the waitress we make a really meeeeaaan lemonade at Sushi Taxi and she convinced me that hers was going to be better. Nope. It was OK, very strong and not lemon-y enough.

OK, let's talk food! First off, I must mention that their menu has pretty much nothing too original or new, which was a tad disappointing. We ordered 4 sets of 3 meatballs and our own sides. 1- Beef meatballs with tomato sauce and parmesan: lacks taste, lacks salt, nothin special there. 2- Beef, cheddar and bacon meatball with a smoked BBQ sauce: the sauce was great! I'd even go as far as to say mouth watering. BUT the meatball itself was tough and again, lacked flavour. 3- Pork and fennel meatball with spicy tomato sauce: I'm not even kidding when I say that this tasted like NADA. 4- Pork and chorizo meatball with chimichuri sauce: Man, you had me at chimichuri! I LOVE that stuff. Needless to say this one was my fave. As a side, I had the mashed potatoes which tasted alright, although they could have used more salt. I was more annoyed at the price (7$).

Service was alright: we got water quickly and the dishes a bit less quickly. Plus, our waitress kept on going back and forth between English and French so that got annoying really fast.

And now, the scores!

Food: an average of 6 

Service: 6

If you ask me again to pay 7 dollars for mashed potatoes, I'll say no.

 

Ma tante quiche

Ma Tante Quiche is now one of my fave breakfast spots! Whenever someone's in town, where do we go? Ma Tante Quiche. I go kayaking with a friend, where do we go after? Ma Tante Quiche. They know me now. I mean, I go there to buy a quiche or two but I mostly go for their 'everything homemade' breakfast! YUM!

This lovely establishment is run by a couple of lesbians in their 50's (ish) and employs people that are so damn nice, like my friend E would say, you'd want to drop kick them in the face. But not really. They sell a bunch of great homemade stuff. And it's ALWAYS good.

That day, I went with my best girl, we'll call her Sylvia, for a nice hungover breakfast. I think it's a given that half the people eating breakfast anywhere are hungover. Right? RIGHT? Anyhoot, the ambiance is nice and chill and the music went with that setting. Quite enjoyable indeed!

Since I'm mostly a creature of habit when it comes to breakfast: I always have the biggest breakfast offered on the menu. In this case, I had the 'Assiette Ma Tante Quiche' which is basically braised ham (in local beer--Brasseurs de MTL!), beans, cretons (hello!), baby potatoes with mushrooms in mushroom stock, homemade sausage, smoked bacon, an egg (or two), and some fruits.

Ok, so, fruits. So, I love fruit, blablabla, but they basically are an afterthought when I eat my 'déjeuner de la construction'. But hey this fruit 'cup' deserves an A: fresh raspberries, blackberries and blueberries? What what? Three of the most expensive fruits we can find in our supermarkets? Well hello foodcost! :p Nah, I'm sure they make up for it elsewhere; these are two smart ladies!

Aight, let's get down to it! The egg. OK, so eggs usually are just... eggs. But this was a GOOD egg. You know what I mean? I believe it may have been cooked in a bit of maple syrup which obviously makes it taste whhhhay better than other eggs! The ham that is cooked in beer for many-a-hours basically just melts in your mouth. It just MELTS in your MOUTH! The flavours explode and you are in ham heaven. And yes, there is such a thing! The bacon is smoked so obviously all the yummy bacony flavours come out and again, bacon heaven! The potatoes are just lovely! What a great idea to cook them with mushroom and add mushroom stock! Not too salty, just great! The sausage is also home made but it was a tad tough to eat and the beans, even if they were perfect the time before, seemed a bit fermented which was not so great. The cretons just melt in your god damn mouth. I'm a HUGE fan of cretons and these are well worth the trip!

Service was good. OK, not as good as many other restaurants but here, they seem so chill that YOU are chill, ya know? We got water quickly, food not THAT quickly and she didn't check if we liked it which, in my book, they should do.

And now, the scores!!!

Food: 8
Service: 7

I LOVE this place and anyone and everyone that lives remotely close should visit it at least once!!!

ps: and the price is right too! I believe it costs around 12$ for this plate!

Dilallo

This resto is located right at the corner of Charlevoix and Notre-Dame and I remember biking by there from my house to my friend's house many years ago. Well, I decided to finally go in!

It is quite the small restaurant with around 40 seats. It has somewhat of a diner vibe, complete with old women at the counter.

I chose the cheesebuger with fries with 2 extras: fried onions and bacon.

Because who in their right mind would not take the option of having delicious bacon in their burger? And all this for under 10$! What what! Alright now: the fries were nice and crunchy, just the way they should be! The bun was kinda loose and flaky (it MAY have been made that way intentionally... but I am NOT ok with that) and made it hard to eat without it breaking apart. The meat itself lacked a bit in seasoning but the rest was great! The bacon? YUM! The fried onions? YUM! Basically, I was very happy with my choice of extras as they added lots-o-crunch to my burger and a lot of flavour! Oh and the bacon added some smokiness which I love!

Service was good! This little boy, could not have been over 16, came to my table with water in no time and brought my food in a very timely fashion. Plus, he was very polite.

And now, the scores!

Food: 6,5

Service: 8

An OK burger joint but I think I'll try another one next time.

L'atelier d'Argentine

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

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

Bloody Mary bar!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 9

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