Barley

Barley is new new NEW. So new that most people dson't even know it exists! BAM! Yes, I'm that cool. I knew it was opening before THEY knew they were opening. What do you think about THEM apples. Wow, I'm obviously getting overwhelmingly intense. Imma stop. I went for lunch-ish, last week, with ma girl, little Boo.

Barley is the new (and only) cereal bar in Montreal. It's located on Notre-Dame (what else is new?) and it is a huge space. HUGE. Think about the biggest thing you've seen, ever. Multiply that by 8 and you have Barley. Hihihi! Basically, you enter the place, you have couches and tables and comfiness and then you enter somewhat of another room and you have some more tables. There is also this meeting room surrounded by glass, which, I think, is there only to, like we say in French, nous faire parler. 'Like, what the f is THIS doing here'. THAT kind of talk. We weren't even certain that it was actually part of Barley's... I really dug (ya, I talk like a surfer dude now) the brick wall and the fact that there was a lot of greenery. I likes me some good greens! No, not THAT kind of green. Sheesh! 

At the far end (far, far, faaaar end), the cereal bar. The owner actually brought in cereal from many places, and a lot of them reminded me of my childhood. OK, not necessarily MINE, because my parents weren't really fond of us eating crap like fruit loops, or just any kind of cereal that was overly sweet. But I totes get the reminiscence. Hey, I remember my rice krispies like it was yesterday. They don't only serve up cereal, but also smoothie bowls, parfaits, chia bowls, and salad.

I started off with a white hot chocolate. Excuse me, homemade white hot chocolate. I specifically asked because I do NOT pay for powdered choco at a resto. I do NOT. I was uber happy to be able to order a homemade white hot choco. When do you get that? Well, not all the time, that's when. I took my first sip, getting ready for pure joy, and I got... pieces in my mouth. I was like 'what the f*ck is that?'. Little boo tasted it and, in 2 seconds flat she said 'it's coconut'. She is a coconut expert, see. I love it as well. I can't get enough of it. EXCEPT, when I'm getting ready to drink soft, velvety goodness, I get coconut flakes in my mouth. I would've loved for them to warn me so that a: I would not have been so surprised and b: I would've probably thought long and hard about actually having it IN ma drink. Apart from the coconut incident, it tasted lovely: not too thick, as if I were drinking a chocolate bar, and not too thin either. Also, it wasn't overly sweet. White chocolate tends to be just that and I was glad to be drinking a hot chocolate that wasn't on the uber sweet side-o-things. I'd go back for one of those ASAP IF I'd have the no-coconut promise.

We were there for lunch, and I hardly saw us having, like, a bowl of cereal on the side, as you do with appetizers in most restaurants. So, we both went for the smoothie bowls. The guy behind the counter told me it was thicker than most smoothies and it was more consistent, seeing as there were berries and grains and what have you on top. I had the Tassie Devil: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, avocado, tofu, acai, double chocolate granola. It was very VERY berry! I loved the fresh berries on top and although the acai added an extra crunch, they added TOO MUCH crunch. As in, if I crunch you one more time, my teeth will break. I am being very serious. I am ALWAYS serious when it comes to my poor little teeth! I liked how the smoothie was thicker than a usual one, but, let's face it, this was not a meal. I really don't know how I feel about this. I'm having a big internal dilemma. OK, here it is: even if I would've had this for breakfast, I would've STILL have been hungry. On top of it, if you're going to be open all day, perhaps add stuff to this dish that will make me full. Like a salad with protein or something. NOT a mesclun. Don't do that, because then I'll really be disappointed.

Le Tannery: avocado, baby spinach, pineapple, mango, banana, ginger and green hemp granola. I do give them props for two things: beautiful presentation and different granola flavors! I absolutely loved the ginger-avocado mix! It was fresh on top of fresh! The granola was good (better than mine) and the banana was perfectly ripe. The whole time, I was thinking DAMN I should've ordered this.

Basically, you go up to the counter and you order and they bring it to you. What we found a bit on the funny side was that the guy gave us a block with a table number 'in case' it got busy. We turned around, only to find a very empty (except for 2 patrons) restaurant. I think it took just a tad too long to get our food; just long enough for us to look at each other and give each other weird looks. He checked up on us which is always a plus.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7
Service: 7

Maybe I'll go back for a snack, but I hardly see myself going there for lunch or any other kind of meal.

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.

Canal Lounge

I've had my eye (ok, both eyes) on Canal Lounge since last summer, when they opened. I'm a member of H2O Adventures where I get ma kayak on every couple days and ride the canal from lock to lock and I was like hey wattaf*ck is that. My friend Margo from work told me she knew the guys that started this wonderful, first restaurant on water in Montreal. We HAD to go. Oh, and we did. Clo joined too.

The two owners renovated a bateau-mouche (or pleasure boat) and moored it to the Atwater dock. Prime spot. Prime. A floating lounge if you will. It's full of beautiful flowers and they have two outdoor spaces for clients. Inside, it's actually quite spacious and nicely decorated. They did an awesome job.

Basically, it's a bar with some bites to eat. I'd say they could have more to offer, snack wise. I understand that they have limited space to store goods, but I do know they have more stuff in an outdoor area, close to the boat. We saw one of the owners run back there for alcohol a couple times. They serve up olives, profiteroles, chips and a plate for two with cheese, tapenade, bread, crackers, what have you.

Sangria Tinto de Verano. I loves me a good sangria. Summer=sangria. Especially since Saturday was a pretty effin decent summer day, FINALLY! Man, it was like drinking water! Like, the best water ever. Tinto de Verano, created in Cordoba (one of my fave spots in Spain), unlike sangria, has no fruits. It's actually very simple: wine, soda, and some lemon fiz. It's known as summer water. Aw! Apart from a couple strawberries in our drink, there were none in the actual bottle. Although it was a tad on the sweet side, we really liked it. Hey, it's the summer drink d'excellence!

It was cute how they brought us a little bowl of popcorn. Who doesn't like popcorn? Plus, their cost on this is probably next to nil. Bravo. BRA-VO. We all like free stuff, am I right?

We got some olives on the side, because, let's face it, olives are yummy. And these hit the spot. Nothing like a little salt to counter sugar.

We also ordered the tapenade for two: hummus, tsatziki, guacamole, ciabatta, brie, charcuterie, pumpernickel bread, and some crackers. Very cute presentation! What was oh-so-cute were the little jars with all the dips but they were oh-so not practical. It would've been fun (yes, FUN) to dip but we had to take a spoon and put. Yes: spoon and put. As Chandler in Friends said: 'Baaaah, you licked. You licked and you put!'. I must admit this has NOTHING to do with this situation (except for the presence of a spoon) but I love talking about Friends too much, that's my problem. And what a big problem it is! Anyhoot, the charcuterie was just salty enough and went really well with some hummus and the brie. Or with the tsatziki, on a baguette. OR... You get the point. Everything was good with everything.  

We finished off the evening with their Aperol Spritz! Aperol is this liqueur made of bitter orange, rhubarb and some plants. This, mixed with bubbly Henkell, was A: really f*cking good and B: really f*cking good. Wait. Did I say that twice? Yes, yes I did. Needless to say it finished us off REAL well. Alcohol, hello! We certainly felt drunkered after this.

Service was. That's it: it was. It wasn't very quick and it wasn't very good. She only checked on us at the end of the soirée so that became somewhat of a moot point. It was long before she came to take our order and it took a while to get our food.

I *have* to mention that, by the end of the night, it had started to smell like boat washroom. You know, THAT smell? Mmmmya. We were leaving so it didn't bother us as much as the peeps that were still eating and drinking. It was NOT a very pleasant smell.

And now, the scores!

Food + drinks: 8
Service: a generous 6

I'm going back fo shizzle but I'm going to wish that service is quicker and that, maybe, they have more to offer, food wise.

Nozy

Since before I can remember (I have a very bad memory), I've wanted to eat brunch at Nozy. I went with Lea a couple months back to have their omakase menu (about 7 or 8 dishes, chef's choice) and had been pleasantly surprised. Well, baby gurl (yes, I call MYSELF that too) was back. With a vengeance! OK, I do NOT know what that entails.

For the restaurant itself and the décor and what have yous, por favor go read my first blog post on Nozy: http://www.eatingoutmontreal.com/2016/07/nozy.html 

Aight, so, I was there with Jer, Lea and Bridgert, all fans of the Asian persuasion. Who isn't, am I right? I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm convinced I was Asian in another life. Totes fosho. And by that, I mean foshizzle my nizzle. And by THAT, I mean imma gonna stop talking. The end.

I had seen pics of Nozy's brunch on facebook and since then, I had been drooling uncontrollably. I look weird when I drool. I try not to do it often.

Sashimi X 4. So what if I KIND of forced Jer bear to share this with me. He got LOTS of thai basil from my garden in exchange :) I think that's a fair trade. Aight, so we got tuna, yellow fin tuna, salmon and snapper. OR the best damn sashimi anyone has ever had. The presentation was oh-so-pretty: beautiful plate with some shiso leaves and some very fine daikon. This shizzle was super fresh. Nay, it was uber fresh. The yellow fin basically melted in my mouth and the snapper was like fish candy. That dson't sound good. Let me rephrase: it was one of the best pieces of fish to ever hit my palate. It was very tasty and had a great sweet side to it. The tuna and salmon were also awesome but the two other pieces of fish were the stars of the plate. OH, did I forget to mention that it was REAL wasabi? Fo realz! Man, that stuff is so rare, they must sell it on the black market or some sh*t. Well, it makes all the difference in my book.

Take Kago or 5 appetizers. If you can't decided what the f to eat, I suggest ordering this bad boy. I mean, how pretty is this? I'd say 13 on a scale of 1 to hells yes. We got marinated beets, a house salad, salmon sashimi, eggplant dip with wonton chips and karaage. OK, first off, I could've done without the salad. When I get a salad like this one in a restaurant, I feel a bit cheated. And that's all I'll say about that. The beets were actually really nice: not too sweet and not too acidic. And I loves me some good beets so it was right up my alley (you know, that beet alley!). The chicken, forget about it. Just forgeeeeeeeeeet about it. Hands down, way down, one of the best karaage I've eaten, ever. Jer took a bite and looked at me with a face that said 'dsamn', or 'wow'. I couldn't quite make it out. When something is both crunchy AND moist, I give them 8 thumbs up. Iz a good thing we were four. The spices were subtle but still present and, well, it was, wait for it, you know it's comin'.... heaven in my mouth! I should totes have a copyright on that phrase.

OH! Don't forget that every dish comes with one of the most marvellously misoed soup.

Service was good throughout. We got water and then we got more water and then... you get the point! She explained the specials ..twice! Hey, we are not the easiest gang of eater outers. Ya, it's a thang. All in all, good service.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 8

Well, of course I'm going back. Why? Because Nozy is surprise after tasty surprise!

El Gordo

I bike past El Gordo all the time. It's only natural that I'd want to eat there. AND it's new. AAAAND they serve tacos. AND mojitos. Hello. Checking them out on the internet, I discovered that it was more like 'goodbye' because it was obvious that the food sucked a**, if you know what I mean. Ew, I don't even know what that means! Seriously, even for a new resto still trying to fit in and find its way, the critics were very harsh. One thing really made me want to still try it tho: the fact that you can get any drink in pitcher form. Yep, that's right! And since I was about to be able to start drinking again after 1 month off.... Hello mojito! 

It's way smaller than I thought it would be inside. I think they may have more seats outside than in, which is a rare occurrence. I really liked the lamps which kind of gave a homy, almost gypsy feel to it. Skulls were drawn on the walls, dia de los muertos style. The decor was a bit over the top but keeping with a chill feel. And I'm sticking to that!

Jad had called me at around 8h50 to tell me that the 5$ (usually 9$) margarita deal was finishing at 9. Totes wanted one to start off my evening of mojito drinking. I really loved the glass! It looked like a recipient you put your candle in. Right? Totes. The margarita itself was whhhaaaayyy (you know I'm serious when I add h's everywhere) too salty and sour. It made all my taste buds go cray cray. And not in a good way. And it was strong as all hell. Wow. Imagine this ad: 'Wanna get drunk fast? Well, just have a sip of El Gordo's margarita and you're on your way!'.

This is the reason why it all started: el mojito. Ah yes, my love affair with mojitos rages on! We obviously had to get the pitcher for 40 $. The waiter brings it to our table and also brings a can of San Pelligrino limonata. Why you ask? Well, he informs us that this drink is SO strong, that he STRONGLY recommends we dilute it. Hahaha! Me, dilute a drink? NEVER! But I sure did, after a sip. Ohhhh, did I ever. It was pretty much like taking shots one after the other. Dang! So, as weird as it was, that limonata did come in handy.

Tacos con puerco. I was bracing myself for narstiness. For realz. But these were really not that shabby. Not too shabby at all. The pork was moist, the pineapple brought in a bit of sweetness, the salsa was a tad too hot (and I LOVE me a good hot-as-hell salsa) and the cilantro was obviously awesome in there. All in all, a great little taco. Hello little taco, you want to get in my mouth? Ya, that's what i would say to it if it'd be walking down the street. I know what you're thinking: i need to stop doin' drugs. Ya, I'll get right on that.

Service was not the best. I had to actually physically get up to ask the waiter for water because after 5 minutes of being seated, I think it's ridunculous to not have a glass in front of you. The food arrived quite rapidly to our table and the drinks even quicker. That's the way I like it. All in all, really nothing to write home about. I ain't writing home about this, you best be sure of that.

And now, the scores!

Food/drinks: 7
Service: 6

Tacos are the new 'in' thing right now so there are about 800 new restaurants that serve them up in the area. I went to El Gordo and I had my pitcher of uber strong mojito.  I'm happy. I'm ready to try something else.

 

L'Gros Luxe

I wanted to write another restaurant review. Ah, it always starts like that. Whenever I only have one review left on the back burner, I start feeling antsy and feel like I should have another one goin'. Why L'Gros Luxe? Easy: open late on Sunday evenings, close to my place, and cheap food that one would eat when wanting to pig out. OK, I didn't totally want to pig out but, since I hadn't had dessert in a couple weeks, I was planning on doing just that. Oink oink.

L'Gros Luxe is located where Limòn used to be. I loved that restaurant and I still, to this day, do not understand why it closed. Especially to be replaced by a l'Gros Luxe. It's very sad, really. Let's all hold hands and cry. Aaaaand we're good! But seriously, even if you serve awesome food and you have 8 billion clients, your restaurant is always at risk of closing. Yep, this is what I retained from my stint as an ITHQ student: 'Your restaurant WILL close. Do NOT open a restaurant. You will NOT succeed'. And all that jazz. Props to my friends who actually have opened restaurants and are still successful (read: surviving) to this day.

L'Gros Luxe kind of feels like a saloon. 'Hey, meet me at the saloon', I'll say. OK, no. No one ever says that. Forest green walls, wooden everything, chandeliers hanging. Alright, does that even sound like a saloon? What IS a saloon? Maybe I was a bit off. Hey, I was comin' off a 12 and a half hour work shift so I might have been a bit woozy. Bob Marley was playing and everything was irie man.

I was seated very quickly by the window. Great little spot so close to the sidewalk that I was afraid to leave my phone on that side of the table. I had already looked at the menu and knew what I wanted: a grilled cheese with pork and a pickle. Or pickled pork? Hum, ew. Side note: apparently they make awesome caesars with lots of stuff in there AND out (i.e.: a burger on a stick WHAT!!) but I'm still doing my month-without-alcohol business.

Grilled cheese Cubano and sweet potato fries. Lets start with the fries. Think about the most perfect fries you've ever tasted. Got it? Well, these were it. Crunchy, yet soft on the inside and seasoned to the t. Perfect. This, paired with that tangy dijonnaise type of mayo was a great match. The grilled cheese had 3 cheeses: mozarella, cheddar and suisse. Should be good right? Wrong. The cheese actually tasted like nothing and the only way I knew there was cheese in there is that it was all stringy and shizzle. They could have put water in there and it would have tasted the same. It would have been a bit soggy though. The pork was nearly nonexistent and the existent part was dry. The pickle was nice and briny but a pickle-only grilled cheese? Not a huge fan. On the menu it mentioned that the bread was artisanal (hehe, anal!--yes, I am 5) and from my point of view, this was white bread bought at Maxi. Nothing artisanal 'bout that!

Not sure I mentioned it, but I hadn't had a 'real' dessert in over 2 weeks. I deserved my dessert. I picked this: fried cookie dough, vanilla ice cream, lemon, white and dark chocolate. Before I say anything else, let me just mention that having known it was gonna be like dat, I would have waited to have a different dessert somewhere else. First off, it tasted nothing like the cookie dough I had been dreaming about. Yes, I have weird food dreams. It just tasted like a ball of fried dough. Bah. And it was quite hard to get through with my spoon. I would have needed a fork AND a knife! The ice cream had transformed into soup within a couple minutes and the white chocolate and the lemon were no where to be found. I looked, I swear! All in all, a very disappointing dessert.

Service was ... normal, for a lack of a better word. Got seated right away and mentioned that I was going to start by my lonesome but probably would be joined by a friend in a bit. They took that as 'I am waiting for a friend and am absolutely not hungry or thirsty right now so don't come to my table for 10 minutes'. I may be exaggerating. It was at least 6 minutes. Actually, I had to wave him down so that I could order and get some agua. I hate waving, it makes me feel like the Queen. Ha! At least he came and asked if we wanted anything from the kitchen when it was about to close. Many places don't do that and then you are still hungry and annoyed.

And now, the scores!

Food: 6 (potatoes can't always save the day)
Service: 7.5

On account of the flat grilled cheese and the uber dough-y dessert, I shant go back.

Patrice Patissier

Y'all know I'm a pig. I consider myself quite the glutton from time to time. I totes own it. I know I go overboard. Well, to continue in that same vein, I went to Patrice Patissier the other day. Whaaaat? I craved good pastries and... I craved good pastries! Oh, and it's a 3 minute ride from work. What!!!

At first, I wanted to try the whole shabang: lunch AND dessert. After further consideration, I decided to only do dessert because A: lunch is a tad pricey and B: obviously they are known for their desserts!

So this is what I could only describe as a fancy pâtisserie. There are many employees in the kitchen with chef hats looking all clean and professional and what not, making awesomeballz desserts. Patrice Pâtissier also do catering so that's why there were so many people working hard, I presume. The place itself is on the dark side, with dark wooden floors and grey walls and black chairs. There is a counter that can hold up to 6 peeps and the dining room, around 20 ish. Everything just looks flawless and impeccable. And that, ladies and gentlewomen, is a rare thing in the restaurant world. Oh you can trust me, I've been there (8 times), done that (I'm gonna go with 20 times).

I needed to taste more than one thing, of course. For the blog, you know! I do it all for you, duh.

I didn't go THAT overboard, right guys? I mean, something sweet and something not so sweet. This made me feel way better about the fact that I was having TWO desserts! Banana bread: one of the best I've had, hands down. OR hands up in celebration? Mmmmyes. The crust was just so tasty and crunchy with sunflower seeds and sesame seeds! And it made it THAT much healthier! Although effin awesome, was a tad on the salty side, which, in smaller portion would have been a nice balance, but it was a tad too much. The inside was so moist and I would actually get pieces of banana. Pieces. Of. Banana!

The Forêt Noire was just freaking right ON. Lemme get something straight: I am not a fan of fruity desserts nor do I go out of my way to order them. Except, of course, in this case. And look how fancy that looks! I should have bought one for all my friends! First off, the dreaded dessert fruit. It was... AMAZING. That cherry had just been picked out of a nearby tree... in Montreal! Ha... I swear! It was juicy and everything a cherry should be. And then some! The little pieces of chocolate on top were very delicate and I felt almost bad eating them. Oh but I did. And oh, it was good! Imagine great dark chocolate, but better. The chantilly was just out of this world. It was to die for. I would ACTUALLY die for that. Not too thick and so soft and smooth and AWESOME. The cake part was just heavenly: moist (I've been using that word---that I hate---way too much recently) and just plain tasty. There was a cherry gelée, that I would usually hate, that I found really nice and not jellied up. Does that make sense? The important thing is that I understand what I'M saying :p

Service was good, although it wasn't like in a restaurant per se. She was very welcoming, with her cute hat and all. She described the desserts very well and totally made my choice easier. I got myself some water at their little fountain thingy on the counter and that was just fine and dandy.

And now, the scores!

Food: 9
Service: 9

Oh I'm going back there. Just watch me!

Buck 15

Buck 15 Espresso bar is this tiny little place on the north west corner of Notre-Dame and Atwater. I had checked it out a couple months back and had put it on the back burner. Well, 2 weeks ago, it was time!

The place is tiny. Tinier than most coffee shops. Tinier than my freaking closet. OK, I exaggerate. There's a table right in the middle with about 10 seats around it and two counters with high chairs making the place big enough for 16 regular sized people. Chill reggae music (wait, is reggae ever NOT chill) was playing and most people seemed to be studying for finals. There also seemed to be many regulars, saying hey to the waitress and the cook. There were a couple girls pretty much screaming out and I just wanted to say this to them: calm down.

Warning: they do not accept interac. Which, by the way, is really annoying. Come ooooon! Everyone accepts freakin' interac these days. Had to go across the street and take some money out. When I came back, the line had sort of disappeared which made me happy because that meant I was going to get my food THAT much faster! Or so I thought (oooooh the suspense!).

I started to order and the first two things on my list that I really REALLY wanted, they were out of. Are you seriously serious about this? Darn tootin! I ordered a hot chocolate and an 'Avo yo toast'.

The hot chocolate. Oh. My. Chocolate. God. They could have sold it to me for 10 bucks, it still would have been a good deal! It was creamy, chocolaty, HAZELNUTTY goodness. Right. In. My. Mouth. The hazelnut was a surprise and it made the drink that much better. It tasted so flinging flanging great. It wasn't as hot as I would have liked it to be so I'll only give it a 10. Hot, it could have won contests, medals, olyyyyyympics!

Avo yo toast. Avocado? Good. Egg? Gooood. Avocado AND egg on toast? Goooood! This was lovely. The bread was hot and tender and oh-so-multigrainy-tasty, the avocado was perfect and the dill, which y'all know I'm not usually a fan of, was actually pretty awesome. I would have appreciated a runny egg yolk though. The dukkah was a first for me but what a great discovery. It's basically a mix of herbs, nuts and spices. I will put dukkah on everything from now on. You know; bread, veggies, omelets, cereal. OK maybe not that last one. I'm just going cray cray for dukkah! 

Service was, what's the word I'm looking for... CRAPPY. I'm not even trying to be mean, it's just a fact. The regulars (and favourites) that arrived way after me got served way before me. When I asked the waitress where in the holy hell my food was, she kind of shrugged and said 'soon'. If I hadn't payed for my food in advance, I would've been out of there in a jiffy. So I waited and waited and waited some more. I was thinking to myself how long it could possibly take to make this dish. They must have parboiled eggs at the ready and then there's the spread and the toasting of the bread. I'd say 3 minutes tops? I waited, and I ain't exaggerating here, at least 30 minutes. THIRTY! For a freaking toast! Ridiculous! I also had to ask for some water. Y'all KNOW how I feel about this. Oh, you know.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5

Service: -2 No, but seriously, I give it a 5.

I really want to go back to eat whatever I didn't get to eat when I went. But I also don't want to wait half an hour for a toast. Decisions, decisions.

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.