Pum Pui

Another Asian persuasion resto, another lunch date with Jer bear! Interestingly enough, Pum Pui is owned by the whitest of Canadians (no offense to your skin tone, dude). He DID live about 5 years in Thailand and learned the tricks o' the trade. And we should all feel lucky that he did. Why? Oh, you'll see. YOU'LL SEE. I feel like I should put in a 'mouahahahaha' in there.

Pum Pui is located in the heart of... Little Italy! Perfect place for Thai food! I compared it to La Capital tacos in Chinatown. I mean, it's the only Asian there, so, kaching! It's a small resto, with a market portion, probs why it's called Épicerie Pum Pui. I am SO smart. I loved what was on the walls: very authentic pics and calendars and what not. Also, Jer bear mentioned that the sauce thang on the table was supes off the boat.

We had the papaya salad to start off with. I will just say that I've had papaya salads. Oh, I've had some. And this one was.... how can I put it... THE BEST I'VE EVER F*CKING HAD. It had just the right amount of acid and sweet. Also, I loved the fact that there were dried shrimp in there! Added a little crunch and lots-o-flaves! I'd go back right now for some more of that!

I had the beef green curry. Or green beef curry? Quwhatever. I'm gonna say exactly the same thing I said about the papaya salad. It was THE BEST Ì'VE EVER F*CKING HAD. Holy bejesus. Just by smelling it, I knew I was gonna fall in love with it. And yes, I'm serious about my food, god dammit. The beef was cooked with such perfectness, that it legit almost made me effin cry. Crying because of meat. Now that's new, even for me! The presence of lemongrass and kaffir leaves gave it a whole other level of flavor. With some peppers, it was hot but not TOO hot. As in, my lips weren't completely on fire. I may, or may not (I MAY) have told Jer bear that this was my all-time favourite curry. I'm talking EVER. Best thai curry in town made by some white boys. Who would've known!

Jer bear had the jungle curry: fermented rotten fish (wow, sounds WONDERFUL), green beans, bamboo shoots, thai basil, green peppercorns, kaffir leaves, ginger. This sh*t was spicy, and then some! Jer started sweating pretty much 30 seconds after his first bite. And then he got the 'spice cough'. And then his nose started running. The whole spiceffect, really. The fish was sooooo tasty and had obviously picked up all o dem flavas: I really didn't mind that it was fermented. Whatever, it's like kimchi: so freaking good. I didn't just make a random comparison, btw; kimchi is also fermented :) The veggies also took in all the loveliness of the broth, which was a-MAH-zing! Jer really wanted me to eat peppercorns, which, lets face it, I've eaten no more than 4 times in my whole life (and my life is pretty damn long). It was like a pop of flavor in my mouth! Soooo good!

You order at the counter and they bring it to the table. There was a mistake with Jer's order so he got his plate a bit after mine but the dude said sorry about 3 times. All is forgiven.

And now, les scores!

Food: 9.5
Service: 8

I heard someone say 'I think this is the best Thai food I've ever eaten', and I believe them. I, for one, will go back 28 times.

Trou de Beigne

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

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

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

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

And now, le score!

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

Café International

I was invited once more to go to Café International! This time, it was to try their breakfast. They are new in the breakfast area (you know, THAT area!) and wanted my opinion. So, I brought my Bridgert, who, by the by, has been to two failed invitations because of bad food. She's one lucky girl, because this was [not] third time's a charm.

You can read all about Café International's decor and shizzle here: http://www.eatingoutmontreal.com/2016/06/cafe-international.html. There was 'jazzy' music; you know, the kind that plays in malls. Where only old people go to. That are about to dsie. But seriously. I would prefer some fancy Italian singer in my ears than that! 

I feel like it's my duty (and Bridgert would certainly agree) to mention the 800 errors on their breakfast menu. A couple mistakes is a-ok but more than a handful is just pushing it! Many accents were forgotten, syntax was all wrong and even some letters were omitted (its gruyère, not guyère---written like that every time).  It was pale blue with little drawings here and there of a sun OR a piece of bacon OR an egg. Come on. COME. ON. 

I hate bashing restaurants, especially the ones that invite me to eat fo FREE. I appreciate it, I really diddely dso! But I's got a job to do people, and that is to give my honest opinion about restaurants. And when the menu has shtuff like '2 eggs and bacon or sausage' or 'pain doré' or a fruit bowl or a damn bagel with damn smoked salmon on it, I get a little mad inside. Or a LOT mad, like the hulk. For a moment, I just wanted to leave, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. 

To make matters worse, I was told that the chef was to cook for us and surprise surprise, he wasn't even there when I arrived and did not for a good 30 minutes. Fun. He was awesome last time I went and he's a really super duper nice guy (you get it!) but gosh darn it boy, show up on time when someone is coming to see you!

The waitress suggested we have three dishes from the menu to share and I just felt like telling her we did not know what to pick because it all looked way too simple/bad/been there done that. I'm not even being mean, I'm being realistic here, people! 

Le croque madame. The only difference between this and the croque monsieur was that there was an egg.The egg was absolutely perfect and as y'all know, I'm egg-difficult. AND it was perfectly seasoned. 8 points! The ham was nice and on the thicker side of dem cold cuts, the tomato gave it some moisture, although the piece of bread on the bottom got a bit soggy. The bread was nicely grilled but there was something missing, like some pepper perhaps. Oh, and speaking as a butta-lovin' girl, there was a tad too much of it in this dish. I do know that butter makes everything better (I can't tell you how many times my 350 pound chef-teacher at ITHQ said this), but this was on the 'too much' side.

As a friend mentioned on Facebook when I posted this picture, 'why would you actually pay to eat that?'. Well, I didn't pay for it and I wouldn't have! I don't know if you can see it but there's a whole layer of butta kind of floating near the omelet. Ya. That's a whole layer of butter. It's like the omelet is Canada and butter is a whole province. You see what I'm getting at here? I'm going to have to tell my old prof, chef Jean-Jaques Morand, that he was wrong about butter. You CAN put too much. Apart from that nonsense, the omelet was alright but nothing spectacular: the seasoning was done right,  but the cheese wasn't completely melted. The homemade sausage was full of fennel which was quite tasty but it was unfortunately dry! Ugh.

The potatoes were the best part of the dish: crunchy, hot, soft on the inside and very well seasoned. Seasoning is very important, kids! The fruits were hanging around there and apart from the pear that was nicely cut, they were pretty much thrown onto the plate.

Pain doré. Let's face it, this is NOT pain doré. It wasn't thick enough, it didn't have a nice crust, and it just wasn't pain doré. Actually it tasted more like an uncooked pancake. I can honestly say that the best thing about this dish was the fact that there was a bit of lemon in the batter and that was very refreshing and awesomeballs. This pain doré was a big disappointment.

I had to make it up to Bridgert so I ordered what I had ordered last time: tiramisu. Ah, tiramisu: the dessert from Italian heaven. And you KNOW that heaven is filled with wonderful food. MmmmmmItalian heaven! It certainly did not disappoint! That soft cream that tasted just enough like coffee. Just love.

Service was alright. Could have been better. The waitress frowned when I said no thanks to coffee but I'd want a hot chocolate please. I just don't like coffee. I've tried. I am not a fan. It took her a while to bring us the menus and may I just mention that at that point there was only one other person in this huge restaurant. We had to ask for water and I must point out that at some point her boyfriend came in with their 4 year old and although he was totes adorable, it just didn't feel right for her to have her family at work with her.

And now, the scores!

Food: 6 (tiramisu saves the day!)
Service: 5.5

I have to be honest here and say that unless they drastically change their breakfast menu, I shant go back.

Fortune

I went to Fortune for the first time last year for a 'work meeting' with Val and Shar. We discovered their margaritas and then we discovered more of their margaritas. OK, let's just say tipsiness was reached... before work :) Hey, it's the best way to start a shift. OK, perhaps not. But it sure made it fun.

Quickly, because I've already described the place in my previous post: it is really small and you should definitely sit at the bar to have a good view of the tequila. You know, at some point in high school, my nickname was 'no more tequila for Marie'. I shant explain for I think it's pretty clear! My super duper friend Jad wanted me to try their shrimp n' grits and who am I to refuse good food? Come on, I'm a restaurant blogger, it's my job to try what y'all like. Fo serious! 

Hello! AND hello again! I'm probably the biggest shrimp fan I know. I'm like Bubba in Forrest Gump: I like shrimp cocktail, shrimp curry, coconut shrimp, shrimp in a stew, shrimp in a salad, pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, shrimp everything. And when I took my first bite of this dish, my eyes actually lit up. Holy f*ck! Those shrimp were cooked to damn perfection. Shrimp are a bit like calamari; cook em' a second too long and they become plastic. And that ain't no fun. They pretty much melted right in ma mouth. Melting shrimp, that's what I love. FYI, grits are coarsely ground corn kernels boiled with water or milk. Ps, that was for you AND for me, cause I don't think I had ever had grits before in my long life. It kind of resembles the texture of polenta. These grits had cheddar in them and the dish was accompanied by roasted jalapeno, tomatillo sauce and chicharron. By the by, this was only 7 bucks. Aight, so the chicharron brought a lot of taste to the dish but some of that nice pork rind was a tad too hard for my teeth (read: rock hard). So that kinda sucked for me; it was like putting small pellets in my mouth. Jad LOVED them tho. The jalapeno was just awesome in there and brought in some nice heat. The tomatillo sauce, i would have liked to have more. But you can't have everything, can ya? Coriander obviously fit right in there. For me, coriander would even fit in with ice cream. Cereal. Cake. I. Just. Love. It.

Back to dem grits. Those grits were like magic, man. You lookin' for magic grits (as Vinny described them in one of my all time fave movies, My Cousin Vinny)? They reside at Fortune. They were soft, they were pillowy (is that a thing? it is now!), they were cheesy and lovely and smooth. I want to say they were the best grits I've ever had but I really believe that I've had grits just this one time. But oh God were they ever good. You got it, right? GOOOOOD!

The pork guédille. Carrots, radish and cucumber. And a little cabbage on top. This looked great! You're sensing the tone, aren't you? Mmmmya, for me, it didn't turn out as good as it looked. The cucumber was awesome and marinated. I just love that briny taste. The bread was crunchy and very guédille like. Hahaha, suuuure! The pork, in my opinion, was a bit on the dry side so that was kind of a turn off for me. The thing that ruined it tho was that it wasn't radish per se, it was dikon in there. I usually like dikon in dishes but here, it had an overpowering taste that just didn't fit in. Obviously, the lime and coriander made shizzle better, but just couldn't save the day.

Service was good, with a no muss, no fuss kinda way of doing things. We got there when there was no one (it quickly filled up), so we got to order and get or dishes within 15 minutes. There was one girl in the kitchen and one girl serving. That's what we call 'knowing how to manage a restaurant'. I didn't find our waitress particularly great, and it seemed to be hard for her to crack a smile. But she did ask us if we were happy with our choices and so that gives her a good 5 points!

And now, the scores!

Food: an overall of 8. But we gave 11 gazillion for the grits plate

Service: 8

I went back, didn't I? I would totes go a third time for dem shrimp n' grits!