Queue de poisson

I loves me a good fish n' chips! I had already eaten at La Queue de Poisson a couple years ago but since I went with my aunt, I didn't write a review. Ya, I can be nice, you know! Anyhoot, Em and I were looking for a nice little lunch spot after gym one day and we didn't have to go very far. 28 steps to be exact. I am lying, of course.

The place is really cute. First of all, you feel like you're on a boat. I will forever remember the 'I'm on a boat' ad for Old Spice. I wanna watch it over and over and OVER. But enough about tv. They have about 30 seats and, as I mentioned, it was like we were in the ocean. Which, btw, is a pretty freaking good place to be. There was no music, but we didn't really care because we were right at the window, so we had some noise happenin' on the street. What's also very cool is that it's basically a fish shop. That's pretty damn awesome.

We shared one order of fish and chips, because a: we're poor and b: we weren't THAT hungry. We had the fried cod: moist AF and oh so tasty! We actually regretted sharing one portion of fish for a moment. Ya, it was THAT good. By the by, the fish was SO fresh: he legit took it from the display at the front and battered it up. The fries were crunchy and crispy and the salad was great. Yep. It's rare that I say that about a salad. It was just so simple and well done: lettuce with some marinated red onions and colored carrots. The carrots and the onions brought a bit of sweetness to it all and the vinaigrette was just present enough. All in all, a great little dish.

Service was OK. Took a while for him to take our order and then a while for us to get our meal. He was the only guy there AND he was taking care of the orders too, so I get it (but I don't). We had water quickly, so at least that's one good thing hahaha. He WAS a nice boy tho, very smiley, which is always appreciated.

And now, les scores!

Food: 9
Service: 6

Awesome fish n' chips: ya, imma be back!

Cartagena Ceviche contest!! (Triple C)

Recently, ma girl Em and I went to Colombia. You know, cause it was getting too cold here. You KNOW. We immediately fell in love with ceviche. I mean, I've had ceviche before, yes. I've had some pretty decent cevich (not a mistake, say it with style), yes. But Cartagena had some didely damn awesome ceviche. To be clear, we ate ceviche more than once a day. #obsession

Welcome to the CARTAGENA CEVICHE CONTEST!!!! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT! We rated 6 restaurants that served ceviche. Some damn good, some aight, some... just plain bad (sacrilege!!)

1. El Kilo: this restaurant was located right next to our hostel. As in, from some of the windows, you could see IN our hostel. Yep, that close. We were quite excited to try this because we had heard great things from a couple people that worked where we were staying. Basically, you choose what kind of ceviche and then you choose if you want either fish, shrimp, octopus or a mix. I obviously went for the catch of the day. Obvi. Duh. I had the bacon and sour cream ceviche. Yep, I went there. I ordered it, but I was scared of what I was going to get. Well, turns out it was DAMN GOOD! Wow! It wasn't too lime-y, and although the fish was cut in slightly bigger pieces than usual, it was actually OK. Pieces of fried plantain could be found within the fish and that was such a nice surprise every time! It added just a bit of sweetness in every bite! The bacon and the sour cream, although I would've never EVA dreamt of eating ceviche with those ingredients, was supes good. Supes! Just a bit of saltiness married very well with the sourness of the lime and the sweetness of the plantain.

Em had the reg cevich (why write the whole word when you can just write some of it, am I right?) and it was delish. You know: lime-y, but not too much, and ubs fresh. I know she somewhat regretted going with the reg cevich, especially after tasting mine!

Le score for food: 8.5

Totes worth walking 3 meters for :p 

2. El Boliche: A lot of people had suggested we go to El Boliche, so, that evening, after going to El Kilo, we headed there. We called it Ceviche Crawl. Hey, it's totes legit! El Boliche was on a side street, so if we had not had the address, I do NOT think we would've found it. It was tiny AND full when we got there in prime dinner time, so we were seated at this huge communal table. All the dishes around us looked so good! We had the 'corn textures': shellfish, white fish, foam corn breadsticks. I think it's safe to say that Em and I thought we were going to be served somethin' else. 100%. Nay. 150%. First off, popcorn? Really? Come oooon!!!! THAT was a big surprise. Under that, there was a huge mother f*ckin' layer of foam. Ugh... so unpleasant! The thickness of it was too much. The little seafood was hiding under all that crap, and most of it felt squishy. Bah. Such a miss! This was another case of Marie-picking-the-wrong-thang-on-le-menu.

Le score: 4

NO.

3. Tecado: Tecado was our first ceviche exp (get with the program people!), and it remained the one we went for the most. I think we went a good 5 times in 7 days. It cost 15000 COP (or 7,50 $ CAD) for an appetizer size ceviche. Totes worth it! Oh, and it was about a 2 minute walk from our hostel. The pieces of fish were just the right size: not too big, not too small, just bite size! It was simple ceviche, which, let's face it, is often best: coriander, lime, onions, fish. BAM. With just a tiny bit of spice, this ceviche wasn't drowning in lime juice like most were. There were deep fried plantain in the dish that were just damn awesome. It actually MADE the dish. It soaked up all that lime-y goodness and maybe, just maybe, you could put a piece of fish on it with, perhaps, a little sliver of onion. And just eat it like a sandwich. Just. Like. A. Sandwich.

Le score for food: 9.5

Obvi, we went back many times!

4. Cebiches y seviches: We were told that if we wanted to try another ceviche spot, we should try this place. It was located right at the entrance of El Centro, in plaza de los Coches, which was a nice meeting spot. Also, you could see it from everywhere, so if you'd get lost, you'd just look for the tall-ass clock tower. We also ordered limonada de coco, which, by the by, was such a nice discovery! I personally think (and I'm sure Em would agree) that if I'd do a ceviches y limonada de coco evening, it would be a HUGE success. They served us the ceviche in a to-go container exactly like the one at el Gramo, which was kind of meh. They knew we were about to eat IN the resto. Just take a plate out, dude. Take a damn plate out. But enough about their manners! The ceviche itself was very fresh, and the pieces of fish were perf. It had some crunchy corn on top which was wonderful: it's nice to have more than one texture in a dish. The avocado was just the right amount of ripe. It was actually a fish AND shrimp ceviche (I think all ceviche should be fish... I mean, come ON), so I took em' on the side. They were... OK. I mean, y'all know I'm totes in lurve with them shrimp, but I would've figured that shrimp ceviche was going to be this: cut up shrimp with some coriander perhaps, and some lime juice. But these were just shrimp in a tad bit of lime.

Le food score: 7.5

5. Agave: Em and I wanted to have a nice fancy dinner, so we went to this restaurant a couple doors down from our hostel. It looked fancy, the menu looked good, and so we went. And what a bad mistake it was (can you guess who DIDN'T win the contest?). As soon as the ceviche hit the table, we smelled it. We smelled the fish. That is NOT what you want. It didn't seem inedible, so we ate it anyway, risking our LIVES. In hindsight, we should've gotten the heck out of there. I loved the fact that there were peppers in there tho, and also that it wasn't overly acidy. The pieces were uneven and some had some fat on them: it just wasn't pretty to look at. And obviously, the fact that it was quite expensive, and that the wine was expensive, and that the bread was stale, and that my main was too oily... just made for a bad experience all together. We should have  known it was going to suck; there was no one in there. ARGH. This was a major fail on the resto's part, but also on ours.

Le food score: 4.5

We SO didn't want to go back that I think we purposely walked on the other side of the street every time we passed by it.

6. El Gramo: My friend Chris had been to Cartagena 2 weeks before me (believe it or not, we were 5 out of 8 people near my cubicle at work that decided on Cartagena), and he had strongly recommended this place for ceviche. We HAD to go! What's fun with El Gramo is that you can pick what you put in your cevich! Obvi, for me, it was fish, and I added some avocado, because who would be cray enough not to add avo?! There were some onions in there, corn, kennels, and coriander. I must admit, the onions could have been chopped finer... it was like eating an onion salad with some pieces of fish in there. OK, I exaggerate. The whole thing was ubs fresh and the corn added some needed sweetness. At first, it was perf, although they COULD have mixed the whole thang instead of just adding layers. In the end there was a sh*t load of lime juice left at the bottom and that became quite acidy very quickly.

Food: 7.5

As you MAY have noticed, le grand winner is Tecado. We just LOVED that place and it was SO close to our hostel! Cartagena was an awesome spot to eat so many types of ceviches! Our fave remained the classic fish-onion-coriander-lime cevich. Hey, sometimes, the simpler... the better... the BEST!

Da Fish Shack

Another Grand Cayman review! I could get used to this. Fo realz! Maybe I should just move there. Fun fact: I was in Cayman for 13 days and I stopped counting the times that Rachie would whisper, in a very creepy way: 'You should move here'. If I could, you know, work from home, from Cayman, I would jump on that sh*t in 5 seconds. Imagine, instead of my view on the Mont Royal, which I must say ain't so shabby, well, it would be on the freaking Caribbean sea. Ya, I'm down. But before this happens.... Rach and I went for lunch at Da Fish Shack, located right smack downtown Georgetown.

It looks like your run of the mill restaurant... you know... with a view on the freaking sea. Argh, it was so ugly. I can just hear Rach whispering the same thing in my ear. You enter the restaurant and there's a big bar and then there is the terrasse overlooking you know what (I'm writing this, waiting for my flight home in Miami, and I literally want to cry). There was a huge mother f*ckin fan that was very VERY loud, so we had some trouble hearing each other but at least we got to practice our lip reading. It was a tad grey yesterday, with intermittent showers, but this view is always breathtaking!

We started with some breadfruit. I had never ever EVA eaten this! It's so much fun eating new things, isn't it? That sounds like a trap parents used to use when we were young. Breadfruit is very akin to a potato, in flavour and also in texture and appearance. Basically, it's a god damn potato, yo! Our waitress gave us an enormous amount of butter (I don't think I use this much butter in a full year) to put on the breadfruit. It was nice and crispy and SLIGHTLY dipped in butter and a bit of salt, it was a feast! I'm totes ordering more of this when I go back!

I ordered the Bammy Rundown. What is that, you ask? I had no effin clue before I ordered it. I actually wrote 'bambi' instead of 'bammy' on my phone. Bammy is a fried (because, when you can fry it, why not do it) Jamaican flatbread, made from yuca. It felt like I was eating polenta. It had absorbed all the yummy flavours of the broth and it was so easy to eat! Hello, calories! The snapper was fried and was looking at me with all its sharp teeth. Quite scary indeed! But man, that fish was gooood! Basically, it is cooked down with carrots, onions, okra and other veggies, so it literally was falling off the bone(s). I absoluely loved the okra, which we all know can be slimy if not cooked well. Mmmm, sliiiiime. Bah. You know me and textures! The veggies were cooked to perfection and oh so tasty. The broth was made with coconut milk, although it didn't taste like it. Rach told me that Caribbean cuisine uses a lot of coconut milk, but not necessarily for the flavour: her mom cooked rice and beans (yuuuuummy!) in coconut milk and we could detect it at all.  Anyhoot, this was a winner of a dish! AND it was cheap. Well, it was cheap in Cayman standards.

Service was great throughout the meal: we were greeted with a smile, seated right away and we got water and water refills in a timely manner. We also got our food quite quickly!

And now, the scores!

Food: 9

Service: 9

Do me a favour and go next time you're in Grand Cayman. You know, next time :)

Luca

This is my second time on Grand Cayman. I came here last March to visit my old roomie, Rachie, who is from here (one of the 12 people that are actually FROM here), her husband Carl and their little one, Nini! One of the things I remembered the most fondly was Boozy Brunch. OK, 'remembered' is a big word. Basically, they give you mimosas until you drop. And I did drop. When we got home, I passed out on their beach for 2 hours and got a huge sunburn. It was like, 'what is that, a tomato? NO, it's Marie'. Ya. Anyhoot, I really wanted to do that again so we settled on Luca's!

Luca is located right on Seven Mile Beach, in a building that comprises of long and short term luxury condo rentals. We had a table indoors because it was oh-so-hawt, but the view from outside was just jaw dropping. Well, pretty much everywhere you go in Cayman has jaw dropping views. I wanna live here. I wanna live here so bad. But enough about my moving day. The restaurant is quite big inside and has a big terrasse as well. It's a bit on the dark side indoors, with lots of dark wood and dark ceilings. It's a good thing I was wearing my hot AND sexy (ya, that's right) dress because the hot girls started pouring in right after we were seated. I say 'it's a good thing' like I was gonna hit that or something. I wish. I. Wish. 

You get in and before even entering the restaurant, the dessert table is there to tease the hell outta you, and when you get in, dang, there is, wait for it, a plethora of platters filled with seafood (hello!!!) and breakfast fixings and fish and meat. Oh my! Basically, everything that is good on earth (except mr unaffordable lobster). I am MADE for all-you-can-eat buffets: I totally prep my stomach for it. You know, like the people that enter pie eating competitions? Like that. The stomach is a muscle, people! The trick is I eat a bit less the day before and in the morning, I'll eat maybe an egg and a fruit. That's it! You get there and you eat slowly so that your stomach doesn't fill up so quickly. Follow me. Trust in Marie.

As soon as my ass hit the chair, we were asked if we were going to go all the way (with the mimosas, not with the waitress). The answer to this question is yes. Always yes! Don't even think about it and just nod in the right direction for bottomless mimosas!

My first plate was...seafood! Just FYI, most of my plates were seafood. Why? Hello!!! I want to have my money's worth, I eat the expensive stuff. Sheesh! I put some crab legs in there, shrimp, mahi mahi ceviche, lobster salad, and a devilled egg, because I likes me a good devilled egg. I don't even know what to say about the crab: it's crab... it's the second to best piece of seafood you can eat. With butta. Oh, the butta! I had crab on every subsequent plate. The shrimp were good, you know, your normal shrimp. They had like 4 sauces to go along with the yummy shrimp. The lobster salad, although very flavourful, was a tad on the squishy side. Meh. Hey, at least I had like 3000 more things to choose from! The mahi mahi ceviche was damn good. DAMN good. Which is why I had it at least twice more. The flavours were right on and they weren't overpowering either. Very citrusy, which is what I like, Nay, love. The egg made me laugh because who makes devilled eggs this way? My friend Little Boo, that's who! I had to send her a picture. For all you non-makers of devilled eggs, you usually cut it the other way, so that the egg is longer and more stable on the plate. It was good but not the best.

Oysters!!!! As some of you know, I used to hate oysters. Ugh, just the thought of having something slimy go down my throat was enough to make me gag. It's a good thing those days are over and I am able to fully appreciate those bad boys. I've eaten some from the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean... and my next words were going to be 'but never from the Caribbean' (she says with a big smile) but my friend has assured me that they probs got em' from the States. Damn YOU Donald Trump! OK, he has nothing to do with this, but...any chance I get...#FUdonaldtrump Point is, they were oh-so-good and juicy and just briny enough. Mmmm, just add a bit of tabasco and lemon, and you've got yoself a partay!

The salmon tataki had some cumin on it and was rather sweet, but not too sweet. It was really good. This, coming from a girl who used to be an expert at tataki (yes, I am many things). The tuna with sesame was good but not as good as the one we used to prepare at Sushi Taxi.

The meat! They had a table with a rather good looking man, serving up manly meat. I'm not straight, I swear it! Anyhoot, I had the rack of lamb and the ribs. The beef Wellington wasn't ready yet. As soon as I got back to the table, Carl asked me why I had taken the really REALLY fatty ribs. My only answer was that it is automatic for me to have the ribs. I see ribs, I want to eat ribs. But they were on the fatty side and not uber tasty (my life is over!). The lamb saved the day: juicy, tender, perfectly cooked and full of flavour. I was pacing myself so I had only taken one piece but man, I could've gone for at least another 4 (or 8). I saw someone bring the beef Wellington (not pictured) to the table and I may (or may not) have tripped, trying to get there faster. I gots to say, it was very good. BUT the dough around it was a tad on the undercooked side. 

The duck carpaccio. It was really really good. With a bit of sweet mango on top, this hit the spot. You know, THE spot. Nothin' else to say but YUM!

Not pictured is the beef carpaccio, with some wasabi butta, man! That butter made the dish, and then some!

The winners for me were the craaaaaaab (mmmm, put some clarified butta on that sh*t) and the mahi mahi ceviche. Mahi mahi is not a fish with much flavour, so koodos for making it so damn tasty!

Let's not forget dessert. As you can attest, I did not go overboard (taps herself on the shoulder). I had a tiny lemon tart (how tiny can one be?), which had just the right amount of lemon without being too tart, the sweet brownie with crunchy chocolate on top, the cheese cake with soft berry mousse that was just melt-in-your-mouth awesome and the meringue pop on a stick that was just so cute! Well, it was good too: crunchy and sweet as a meringue should be!

Service was 150% on par the whole way. We got seated in a second, got water and drinks in a minute. Our mimosas were filled every couple minutes which made for a very happy (and drunk) Marie. We could hear them opening prosecco bottles left and right. That is the sound of heaven, right there. They took our plates away as soon as they were empty. Now THAT's service, my friends!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 9.5

I really want to say that I'll be back but, let's face it, I don't live here. Sadly. And with roughly 115$CAD (including tip) a pop, I can only do one boozy brunch per visit. Last time was at Agua, this time at Luca's, next, we're heading to the Ritz baby!

Les Street Monkeys

This restaurant JUST opened up on Wellington. And you KNOW I needed to go! Hello, a new Asian resto, a 6 minute bike ride from my place? Uh, YES! I was QUITE excited to try this gem. See, I knew it was going to be a gem because my fave boy from CEGEP, Mike, told me it was THE best Cambodian in town. Oh, did I mention he is Cambodian? Mmmya. So off I went with ma girl Margo!

This place is nothing like the other places on Wellington in Verdun: it's hip, it's cool, it's happenin'! It has roughly about 60 seats, with cement floors and a long bar. They serve up tapas style dishes. I loves me some good tapas because I like tasting every damn thing on the menu. OK, I MAY be exaggerating! Sheesh, I ain't THAT rich (I wish!).

We had to start with a drink, duh. They have a very nice, very original cocktail list so that pleased us right away. I likes me a good cocktail! I had the Mango Monkey Mojito. The triple M! OK, no, that's not what they call it. Although it was a tad too much on the sweet side, it was lovely nonetheless. The Thai basil in there was so refreshing and the mango flavor was oh-so present!

Shrimp ceviche with wasabi. Wow oh WOW! Did I say wow? Yes, yes I believe I did. As soon as we took the first bite, our eyes started watering, and Margo's cold went straight out the window. I believe I actually wrote this in my notes: "Margo is dying". F*ck that was HOT!!! Just thinking about it now, my eyes are watering. I SWEAR! The shrimp were perfect (y'all know I loves my shrimp!) and the wasabi was a perfect match.

Poisson Amok. Le fish. Oh. My. Bejesus. This was like a gift sent down from heaven. Heaven I say!! It was crunchy, yet soft. It was oh so tasteful with the lemongrass hitting your palate like a ton of bricks. Ya, that much. The fried taro on the side added crunch and even if it was fried, it wasn't oily at all. Just the way I like eating fried stuff! I HATE it, nay, I LOATHE it when it's oily. Ew.

Chicken skewers with Khmer spices. You know when you eat peeeerfectly cooked chicken? Do you even know how good that is? OH, iz good! Perfectly grilled, perfectly cooked, perfectly chickened! The spices were perfect too. Oh, did you notice I wrote 'perfect' more than once? That's because it was damn PERFECT! Juicy, tasty chicken that literally melts in your mouth!

Beef laab. Yes AND yes! A little lime vinaigrette, thai basil, rice powder, galanga, dried peppers and fish sauce. Mmmmmmmm! That's what I'm talking about! All those flavours together definitely equaled a big win in ma mouth. So fresh. The lime brought out all the flavours, the rice powder gave another texture to the dish and the galanga was just a great surprise that my taste buds appreciated to the fullest. Everything went well together. Ah man, I want to eat more. NOW!

Beef skewers with Khmer spices. Super tender and super well seasoned. Oh, those Khmer spices, how I love thee.

Portions were a bit small, we thought. Yes, they are tapas, but the shrimp and the beef laab were way too small. And when it is SO good, you always want more!

Service was very good at first: we were seated in a moment, quickly got water and our waitress was uber nice and had a huge smile on her face. And then it got later and later and the restaurant got fuller and fuller and the service got slower and slower. That's the big challenge: how to maintain the same quality of service throughout the evening.

And now, the scores!

Food: 9
Service: 7

Duh, I'm going back fo shizzle! AND I'm telling all my friends.

 

Vivalia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now, the scores!!!

Food: 7.5
Service: 9

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

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!