Baba Yaga

Ah, Polish food. OK, I have NO clue why I opened with that. But seriously: Polish food. Some people say that Polish food is super simple, and usually not uber tasty. I say that you can make anything tasty with a bit of creativity :) OK, that's a terrible saying! I just suck today. Point is, I went there with my friends Lea and Chris. The latter being Polish so that was just perf.

The place is located only two steps away from metro Lionel-Groulx, in the South West. Let's face it, the South West of Montreal is exploding right now. Yes: exploding! It's a cute and tiny restaurant that was playing old school hip hop. WHAAAATTT!!! That was totes awesome. It was very basic, but, seriously, name me one fancy Polish restaurant.

I started with the braised beef pierogies. Let's get something clear: they had me at pierogies but they had me more at BEEF pierogies. DAMN! It was paired with celery of all things and it was perfect! Tender, juicy, hot. With a splash of sour cream and a drizzle of onions, this was an awesome dish. A filling dish. But an awesome dish. Two words: awesome and filling. I am done, this is NOT a class. Geez.

Kielbasa sandwich with Polish mustard and sauerkraut. I loves me a good sausage! The sandwich was egg bread, which was ubs fluffs (I'm really into shortening words now btw) and the sausage was juicy and perf (see!). The sauerkraut was just fermented enough and the mustard had a bit of a spiciness to it, which went really well with the sausage. I didn't finish the bread itself because, hello dinner full of carbs. But that don't mean it wasn't good!

Lea's dish was, in our opinion, the winner. It had ALL the good flavours, for ALL the good mouth feels. The meat was oh-so-tender and the little tiny kopytka (dumplings) were balls of happiness (no, I was not on drugs). The mushrooms were right up there too: we thought they were fancy mushrooms, but noooo: button. You know when something as simple as a button mushroom is cooked just right? Now THAT'S satisfying!

I did not have dessert on account of my ubs full bells (uber full belly--geez, get with the program!).

Service was very friendly, efficient and quick. Water was on the table. One small detail: they had their blender going for almost half of our visit. Blenders aren't really pleasant. Especially when you are trying to have a conversation. Don't get me wrong, I get it: you have an open kitchen, when you need to use le blender, there WILL be noise!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 8.5

A very nice experience. I will def be goin back.

Le Smoking Vallée

I have wonderful friends. Two of them (Lea and her main squeeze) decided to invite me out on February 15th for a little Valentine's day dinner. How nice! And to Le Smoking Vallée no less; a BYOW restaurant I'd been meaning to visit for a while.

We got there, on a -8000 evening and were nicely welcomed by the waitress and unfortunately coldly welcomed by the room... the temperature inside does not need to be the same as the temperature outside, people! It was 6 PM so it was quite empty...but it was about to fill up.

The place is very simple, lots of wood, mirrors, industrial type lighting (recurrent theme recently), no music (a tad whhhheird), and a 'menu à l'ardoise', meaning of course that the menu was written on a black board on the wall.

Our cute little waitress came and explained all the specials. She actually needed a piece of paper where she had them written all down and I don't blame her! I think there were about 5 or 6 specials that evening! I stuck to the menu, which I had thoroughly studied on their website. That's right, when I go to school, f*ck studying, but when I go to the restaurant, it is time to learn the menu, learn about the place and know what I should order in advance. OK, that 'f*ck school' isn't true, I mean I did graduate :)

As soon as this plate was in front of me, I started drooling. And then it became a puddle of drool on my table and it was just not classy. Alright, I'm kidding. But it could have happened! Puff pastry with enoki (to be honest, I'm not sure they were enoki because the head was a tad bigger, but I looked it up and I just cannot find a description) and button mushrooms, truffle, watercress and a poached egg. Let me just say that if I'd only be rating this dish, I'd give it a ten. A ten I tells ya! The puff pastry was super flaky, just like it should be, the mushrooms were juicy and full of flavor, the egg...OH the egg. I broke it and the yolk ran over everything and created the best sauce EVA! Holy bejesus. So silky, creamy, soft and unctuous! It was literally one of the best poached eggs I've had in my life (and we all know how old I am ;p ). The watercress added a great texture and another taste level to the dish and the bacon...OH, the bacon. Y'all know how I feel about bacon :) 'Nuff said.

My reaction to this plate was pretty much the opposite to the first one. Aight SO I had asked for the meat to be rare. It was rare alright... nope.... actually it was blue. For y'all who dson't know, blue is a notch above raw. I don't like my meat raw. I like some fish raw. But not freaking beef. (And I'm too shy apparently to tell the waitress...but I've thought about it...and I will next time instead of looking at my plate in disbelief). I used to eat it 'well cooked' until I discovered the beautiful world of rare. Flank steak (bavette) can get chewy if not done well and damn, f*ck, it did get chewy. I pretty much ate around the middle and left the raw part for the waitress. What they describe on the menu as marinated veggies is actually coleslaw. That's fine. With just a touch of vinegar, it was actually quite enjoyable and balanced well with the other elements on the plate. The potatoes were perfect: crunchy on the outside, smooth on the inside and well seasoned. The mayo tasted like there was a bit of wasabi in there. The hint of spice was very welcomed. 

Brownies with some caramel whipped cream. Whipped cream you say? You had me at 'whhhh' :) The brownie itself was a bit dry and un-fluffy, the caramel chantilly type cream was wonderful and was like a perfect girlfriend to the chocolate. All in all, it was a bit underwhelming but still OK nonetheless.

The service was.... uneven. Good welcome but then it kind of faded into oblivion. But forget about the service; the people watching was wonderful that evening. Lea and I had the better view... of people fighting, laughing, exhibiting most of their boobs (for me, of course) and then when we started singing the Star Wars song, everyone turned around... duh. Why again were we doing that? OH, because I brought TWO bottles of wine to the party :) Anyway, sad thing is that I believe one of the couples may have broken up during their Valentine's day dinner. Happens every year. 

And now, the scores!

Food: 7
Service: 7

I'll go back fosho but y'all know what now? I now speak/write with a Southern accent. Hehehe, no but seriously, I won't have the bavette, oh and if I do, I'll say it if it's blue. Mmmmmthank you.