123 Bulgogi

A couple weeks back, it was bbbbbb-eautiful outside so I spent the better part of my day with Gigi, playing with Maya, the dog she was babysitting. Well, dogsitting. Anyhoot, we walked on the canal, we went to the dog park, we drank some fine wine (thank you, one litre dep bottle!) and then we went out to get some take-out. We ended up going to 123 Bulgogi, this new-ish place on Notre-Dame. As you know, I am Asian at heart, so this was right up my alley!

We had one order of fried dumplings and one order steamed. Hey, variety is key! The fried ones were very good but it felt like the stuffing was almost... not there. Kind of like looking for intelligence in Trump. OOOOoooh! DISS! Booya. BAM! I'm done. The steamed ones were perfect! Just the perfect amount of dough to stuffing ratio. Disclosure: my dumb*ss self did not even write down what kind of dumplings these were. I know they were vegetarian, and I know there was cabbage. AND I know I liked 'em!

On top of dem dumplings, we had the bibimbap. I looooves me a good bibimbap!!! I would do a lot for a good one: I'll spare you the details! Sadly, this one was quite the disappointment :/ First of all, it was cold. And I'm sure it was cold even when they put it in the container. The veggies weren't pickled in any way, shape or form and there was no meat. The egg was no good, and even if it would've been, the rest was cold, so... a cold egg on cold rice is, again, no good! But you know what, the rice was good. Au moins! 

And now, le score:

6.5, only because of the dumplings

I shant go back for the bibimbap (can you tell?), but I might for those dumplings :) You never know when I'll get a craving for a dumpling OR a cravling. Damn it, that is a bad mix. You get it.

Maison du Nord

Ma boy Jer wanted to bring me to sumthin' uber authentic so we headed to La Maison du Nord on St-Mathieu where they serve up genuine Chinese food.

What to say about the place? Nothing, really. To say it's run down would be an understatement. The place is tiny with 30 seats and from the outside it looks even tinier. It kind of looks dirty when you walk in and it seems like they wanted to save $ on electricity because all the lights were off. There were cool holograms on the walls... as in they would've been cool back in 1992. The ambiance was next to nil. Oh and the man that most likely owns it did not speak a word of English (or French), so I thanked my lucky stars that I was there with someone that could actually communicate with him.

Zhajiangmian OU spaghetti à la chinoise. The noodles were way overcooked and although I did like the cucumbers in there, the whole thing tasted watery and was a bit blah. That's a technical term by the way. Yep.

Roujiamo. Is it a sandwich, is it a pancake, who knows! The bread was hard. Very hard. A good hard. You know, like.... I won't even go there :) The bread itself didn't taste much but the stewed pork inside uber flavourful and had a great texture.

Pork and cabbage dumplings. Oh, how I love dumplings. Marie and dumplings: a love story. They were very tasty, although a tad on the doughy side. The chili sauce went really well with the dish and made me want to eat 8. Hello, carbs.

Pork yuxiang. Yuxiang is a mix of spices that originated in Sichuan, which has, since then, spread all over China. You know, like the plague. The basic sauce contains pickled chili, ginger, garlic, sugar and vinegar, with a starch. All that to say it was YUM-MY! It was a bit spicy but not tooo much to make me cry. There were some woodear mushrooms, which I rarely get to eat (like, ever), that tasted almost smoky. Their name suits them very well because it did feel like I was eating wood. But in a good way, you know? Yes, there IS a good way. The bamboo shoots had absorbed the sauce which was just AWESOME. Ya, that much.

Don't even get me started about the service. I can only hear Jer bear in ma head: NEVER rate Asian service. Well, I gots to. First off, well, as I mentioned, I was lucky Jer was with me because I would have had a LOT of trouble, communication wise. It took really long for us to get our food which made us wonder if the dude was working in the kitchen as well as the dining room.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5
Service: 6

It was good. It was authentic (especially the service :p) . But I don't see myself goin back, especially not without my Asian connection.

Ichifuku

I am continuing my best ramen in Montreal quest!!!! Now, this.. THIS is a quest I like! My Asian persuasion friend Jer and I decided on Ichifuku on Ste-Catherine. We headed there last week with Em and Jadster (short for Jadsteramasterooniepoo, no joke).

Ichifuku is new (not even a year) on Montreal's ramen scene (it's a thing). According to Jer Bear, the resto used to be a Bubble Tea place. Hey, Asian for Asian, am I right? The place itself is quite long but narrow. So narrow that if two people were to hold hands and stretch out, they could totes touch both walls. It is basically pinkish walls and lots of wood: wooden counter, wooden tables, wooden recipients for chop sticks and what have you.

There were around 26 seats in the house plus 12 at the counter. The music was all over the place. It was wheeeiiird. One second, we (I) were singing along to the Spice Girls and then Savage Garden came on and I started to cry a bit. Hahaha. Ah, Savage Garden. Bad. BAD Savage Garden!

Karaage. OR not karaage. The green onions and the sesame seeds were good but that's about it. The too big pieces were not crunchy and lacked flavour. They were more like wet and flavourless. Meh.

Vegetarian dumplings. After that karaage, I gotta say, I wasn't uber excited for these. But they were yummy. Oh, they were yummy! They were boiled with one fried side. Hey, who said having options isn't nice? The sauce was plummy but had a tad too much vinegar. The dumplings were full of awesome veggie flavour and quite moist indeed! It never gets old, every single time I write that word (m*ist), I flinch a bit.

Ichifuku has many kinds of ramen, one more interesting than the other! How exciting!!! I had the tan-tan men: spicy sesame pork (oh GOD yes!) in chicken broth with some snap peas, bean sprouts and tralala mushrooms. Oh, and HOME MADE noodles. Ya boy! That's what I'm talkin' about!!! There's something about home made noodles! This specific ramen originates from Chinese Sichuan cuisine: the minced pork, the chili oil and the spices.

Let's start with the broth. Ah man, that broth! I gots to say, it was close to being the best broth in the quest, but again, Yokato won out. It was nice and thick and oh-so-ooooozing with flavour! The noodles were right on: not overly cooked and not underly (hey, if I say it's a word, it's a word!) cooked either. The pork was just wow. As in I'd wanna eat that pork over and over again until, well, pretty much until the end of time. I mean, it was like the chef had taken the pork and shot it full of spices. With a spice gun, of course. The snap peas and the bean sprouts fit really well in there and added some crunch and some freshness to the dish. The wood ear mushrooms (or kikurage in Japanese---YES, I researched it!) added some earthiness to the ramen. On top of it, they absorbed all that lovely broth! That made them twice as awesome! In hindsight, I should've ordered a boiled egg to go atop the ramen but hey, what are you gonna dso?

Service was aight. I got there and my friends were drinkin' so I already had water and they had ordered the appetizers. It took a while for our waitress to actually take our main course order but, then again, our ramen arrived pretty damn fast after ordering. Our water glasses were always full which is a good thing because sh*t got spicy!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8
Service: 8

So many ramen restaurants (there's actually another one a couple doors down from Ichifuku), so little time!

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.

 

Chez Bong

I had been meaning to go back to Chez Bong for a while--I went about 5 or 6 years ago mostly because it was in the book 'Cheap Thrills' (they tell you where you can eat for cheap in MTL). Obviously I had loved it AND I love Korean food AND it's in Chinatown (because here, if it's anythin' Asian, it's in Chinatown...which we will henceforth call Asiatown).

Anyhoot, went a couple weeks back with my homie Lea with a sole purpose: to eat a good bibimbap! Oh how I love thee!If you don't like bibimbap (for shaaaaaaaaame!), you have about 27 choices on the menu. Dem Asians don't do shiz half assed I tells you.

Aight, so when you get into this resto, there is, you didn't guess it, techno music! What the what? The place looks nice and out of the ordinary with wood everywhere including the walls. The ceiling though is made of panels... with some mold. I tried not to concentrate on that.

We started off with some pork dumplings. The looked great but turned out to be a bit on the doughy side and even though there was a nice, vinegary sauce to go with, it couldn't save the dish. They were still alright though, por favor don't get me wrong (that's right, I use Spanish only when I'm serious about somethin').

They also brought us some boiled potato cubes and my fave by 8000 units (it's a thing!---remind me to tell you about that time in the tent when my friend Jadster said I was taking up 8000 units, just do it!), the BEST thing ever to come out of Korea, kimchi. Ps: I tried my hand at making kimchi last summer and it was quite good indeed (if you don't know what kimchi is, for the love of little baby Jesus, look it up! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi).

The potatoes were a tad overcooked and although they weren't necessarily bad per se, they didn't taste like much. Obviously the kimchi was wonderful. Oh God, I want some now! That fermented cabbage, in my mouth, RIGHT NOW. OK, I shall calm down.

Bibimbap actually means mixed rice, did you know that? Well, I didn't either until about 3 seconds ago :) The egg is kind of supposed to be raw but I was happy with this one; raw egg is a thing I not-so-much appreciate. Traditionally the rice is served with veggies, some meat and chili paste. I had all sorts of goodness in my bowl (which is scalding by the way---which is why I had to blow on my food throughout the meal!). There were some pickled veggies that had just a hint of vinegar and went well with the rice, the meat and the egg and well, everything. There were even some fiddleheads which was quite surprising! A damn nice surprise! They were cooked to perfection. And I ain't used to eating warm cucumber but you know what, it's pretty damn darn tootin' good!

Service was alright: we got water quickly and he came to take our order in a timely fashion. He didn't come check once if we liked our meal or to serve us water so that's -23 points right there. He did, however, bring us hot sauce 3 seconds after asking.


And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5
Service: 6.5

If I ever get the bibimbap craving again, I'm going back! Oh, wait, ya, it's here :) You know where to find me!


 

Noodle Factory

*Flash review alert* (yes another one... but hey... I just wanted something simple to take out and eat at home so... )

After work today, I decided to go try one of the restos on my list. I call it THE list. A list of places in MTL and this one was located quite close to work, in Chinatown. I find it funny that the best Chinese restaurants in Chinatown have very Americanized names: Amigo (ok, that's Spanish but you get what I'm sayin'), Noodle Factory, Jade Garden... It is a little place with a great menu: dumplings, noodles, etc... I got a great welcome from ze dude at the counter and I asked him what I should have for my first time. He asked me if I felt like having noodles (hand made, no less!) and I said meh... not really. SO I ordered the Hunan. Hunan is known for its use of ginger, chili peppers and green onions.

Hunan
-kind of dumpling like
-pork, my fave
-peanut-y goodness
-great spices including ginger (me loves ginger)
-some green onions to add a certain je-ne-sais-quoi :)
-lots of yummy well seasoned sauce

And  now, the score!

Food: 8

I will definitely go there again! For 7,95$ inc taxes, I got about 10 of these lovelies and I'd gone to another resto on Ste-Cat a couple months back, and got half of that for the same price! Well hello there Noodle Factory!

ps: sorry about the quality of the pics.... I think my camera got shiz on it at work today. I shall clean it up :p

Qing Hua

When I work, I don't always feel like eating the [free] restaurant food: I've eaten almost all the crepes, salty and sweet and I can't eat another brownie for fear of balloning up to 300 pounds. So on a recent evening, I decided to go just around the corner to CT #2 (Chinatown #2) and try Qing Hua.

I had heard many good things and I didn't want to get anymore 'hate' mail from friends telling me I'm going to the wrong or 'fake' asian restaurants (wink wink) so I went there. Plus, I'd been meaning to go to Qing Hua either in Chinatown or on Lincoln but sadly never got around to it.

So I got the pork and coriander buns. Mmmmm buns (rrrrrrr...drool). First off, be careful when you eat them because when you bite into one, it's steaming hot plus hot yummy juice leaks out so you're bound to burn your tongue and your whole darn tootin' mouth. It took about 10 minutes for the two women in the open kitchen to make'em and cook'em. Got them and walked back to work just to devour all 10 of those little pieces of heaven (came up to around 9$ including taxes). They were juicy, the pork was just right (not chewy like some over cooked pork can be) and the coriander added just a hint of 'je ne sais quoi'. They weren't as tight as I'd wanted them to be though: a couple times, the filling fell out. But still damn good.

And now, the score!

Food: 8.5

A great place to go if you want to eat dumplings or cute little buns! If you take it to go, be ready to wait a bit because they are prepared 'à la minute`.

Kam Wing

After a long work day, I decided that I would get some take-out. Kam Wing is not too far from my place so I decided to go there! Warning: flash review!!!

I had the general tao combo that comes with either wonton soup or sweet and sour soup (I chose s+s) and either a spring roll or little peanut sauced dumplings (had the dumplings, of COURSE!).

Sweet and sour soup
-too thick
-a bit gooey
-some kind of tofu ishh slimy thing in there that I don't appreciate

Tiny dumplings with peanut sauce
-yummy in my mouth!
-thick and nice!
-very tasty and full of flavour
-so good, I ate three in 2.5 seconds

General Tao chicken
-Tasty sauce
-Dry-ish chicken
-Liked the fact that it's in a ball
-Rice was nice and sticky
-3 tiny pieces of brocoli (so if you're looking for veggies... mmmya... good luck)

And the score for food: 6.5.
Could have been higher but damn that soup!

A nice take out place. One of those where they sell everything asian from chinese to sushi. Ha. Worth a try if you have a small budget! (this cost me, with taxes, a mere 11$!).

Mikado

Flash review alert!

My friend Lena was in town from Vermont and so we decided to go to Grenadine. We got there and two things came up. 1: the hostess/maîte d' was a friend from school and we were super excited to see each other (we met in Session 5 at ITHQ and you know when you meet someone at the last minute and you're sad that you didn't have the time you needed with her?) and 2: it was full :(

Therefore, we headed to Mikado. You can't go wrong with Mikado! I had been there once before and everyone I know loves this place. Seriously in the top Sushi restaurants in MTL.

Edamame
-tender
-tasty
-way better than most I've had

Dumplings
-Sweet sauce
-Did not fall apart
-Mmmmmmm

Sushi
-Avocado was soft and silky
-Tuna and salmon rolls were 'solid' like Lena said
-Well rolled or 'tight' like I said
-Crab futomaki was good but a tad dry
-Delightful like lena mentioned

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 6  Our waiter was not very present

Go there. That's it. Best sushi in town.

Mai Xiang Yuan

I had heard great things about this restaurant and how it had possibly detroned Qing Hua. I was all getting ready to go eat marvellous dumplings at Qing Hua but then decided to go to its better half :) So I went with Isa and we had really high hopes. You know what it's like when you have high hopes right? You get easily disappointed. 

Anyhoot, we got to this chinatown resto (which looks like nothing from the outside) and there was only one table left. Score! There are about 40 to 50 seats in this tiny, crowded room. 

You can see four people, mostly women, making dumplings as fast as the wind behind a window in the kitchen. It was fun to see them go at it with the dough and the filling (yes, that's right, go at it). Could not be fresher than that. Amazing! The place itself is nothing special, with chinese art on a brick wall along with some cartoons (ish things).

As an appetizer, we splurged and shared a 1,50$ cucumber salad :p It was nice and refreshing although a tad to spicy for Isa. She still ate it though! It had some chillies in there with a tiny bit of carrots, coriander and sesame oil. The cucumber pieces were cut a bit weirdly though; one could say they were really roughly cut! Actually, everyone would say that. It's almost like they used their hands.

We had two orders of dumplings. You can either have them fried or simply boiled. Obviously they take longer if fried and obviously (duh!) they are better fried (isn't everything?). I was told to have the chinese cabbage and pork one and we also decided to order the shrimp, coriander and pork ones. Oh and FYI, the lunch special from 11 am to 3 pm is 15 dumplings per plate for less $. Nice if you are more than yoself :p You must also know that if you order for under 15$, you have to pay cash. 

Alright, so both were good. Both weren't fried the same way though: it seemed that the chinese cabbage one was fried on both sides and the other one, not so much. Both were more squishy than crispy unfortunately. Apart from that, they both had wonderful taste and just enough seasoning. The shrimp one reminded me of shrimp dumplings I used to buy au Jardin de Jade just on the other side, on de la Gauchetière. Yummy. I loves me big chunks of shrimp! And the coriander was great in there! 

Shrimp, coriander and pork dumplings

The cabbage ones were silky and juicy. We also had both soya sauce and hot sauce on the table. The hot sauce was a bit disappointing though---not hot enough. Just one advice, these things tend to be juicy, as previously mentioned, so if you bite into it, the boiling juice may squirt into your nose. Just sayin. And it hurts.

Chinese cabbage and pork dumplings

The service was nice. Poor guy was alone. He was running everywhere but was quite efficient and managed to say 'bonjour' to everyone coming in! He served us hot tea as soon as we sat down and since there's a high turnover, he's quick to clean the table.Fast waiter=good waiter :)

And now, the scores.

Service: 8,5

Food: an average of 7,25. I would have loved to put higher but it just wasn't a 10

If you like dumplings, it,s a good place to go. Don't get your hopes too TOO high though. But don't get me wrong, it WAS good :)