La Petite École

Last week, I was invited to try La Petite École in Ste-Julie. That's correct, Ste-freaking-Julie. Argh. I looked on Google maps and it would've taken me 1 hour and a half by bus. WHAAAAT? No. it's a good thing I was going with Clo, who actually owns a car. And so, we chose last Wednesday. Yep, we chose the day when Montreal was awaiting 15 cm of snow. Bravo Marie. Bravo.

The place itself is located in an old OLD school, with a lot of it having been kept as it was in the old days. You know, those old days? Ya, those. It was very cozy! The only thing missing was a nice fire! The waiter told us that they get a lot of local products made by local businesses: Boucherie Auclair for meat, Pâtisserie B & G for desserts, etc. Now, THAT is cool and right up my alley! We should always encourage our local businesses before goin' international!

We decided on two entrées and two mains. Obviously, sharing was going to be involved!

The kangaroo tartar. Who sees kangaroo on menus anymore? No one, that's who. It has a stronger and more present flavor than, let's say, beef, and it was ubs pleasant in a tartar form. The meat was supes tender and with those cranberries and almonds in there, WOW!! Perfect combo. There was also a nice little salad made out of my enemy (you know, mesclun). In its defense (yes, I speak for lettuce now), it was ubs fresh and unwilted (I'm making it a word) and it was great with a bit of kangaroo in there. 'Yes I'd like some roo in ma lettuce please'.

The escargots. I loves me some good escargots! They were literally swimming in a cream sauce with some basil and sun dried tomatoes. YUM-MY! There was also a piece of puff pastry in the middle of the plate that absorbed all that goodness! Just imagine: a little dip of bread (and the waiter warned us we were going to ask for more!) in the cream sauce AND in the balsamic reduction, with an escargot on top! DAMN! I was in heaven. In snail heaven, that is. I must note that Clo wasn't too cray cray about dem snails; she found that it was too creamy. I gotta say that my lactose intolerance flared up in the hours following that meal but, when it's worth it, it's worth it damn it!

The veal spareribs. Ah, meat! I'm basically full-on vegetarian now, eating lots of chick peas, lentils, tofu and veggies. All that healthy crap. Hahaha! It can get boring. This is why I always get totes excited to eat a good piece o' meat :) Mmmmmmm meat! You know what I like more than meat? Supes tender meat. Oh yeah! The meat legit fell off the bone only by looking at it. There was also a purée of carrot and parsnip that was supes tasty and seasoned just right. The sauce was made out of Griffon Rousse so it was obviously a good one! 'You don't like beer', you'll say. No I do NOT. But beer dson't taste like beer when it's in sauce form. And this one was very good and paired very well with the meat! This was a big ass portion (technical term), that Clo nor I could finish. The chef mentioned that he tried doing the small Montreal-like portions and peeps did not appreciate. I guess the south shore-rers like their big portions. I mean, they must work on farms and need more energy, yes? Haha!

Steak, aged 40 days, with shallot butter and a red wine sauce. Clo was hesitant at the thought of eating (and me ordering) this dish because she had tasted aged meat before and did not like it. I obviously had asked for my steak to be rare because, let's face it, when it comes to steak, it is the ONLY way to eat it. I've legit unfriended people for ordering a well cooked steak. Shame on you! Shame on aaaaall of you!. OK, imma calm down. The meat was nothing like Clo remembered it: not tough at all and quite juicy. It was perfectly rare and the shallot butter completed the flavors. The parsnip puree was very tasty but I would've liked it to be smoother. The veggies were well charred. I just LOVE that taste! It's the best way to eat veggies, fo serious.

Le dessert. Crème brûlée trio: chocolate, vanilla, and Cointreau. To be honest, we were quite full by then, but we HAD to taste what they had to offer! Our fave was the Cointreau one, with its notes of citrus. It didn't seem as heavy. The vanilla and chocolate were good, don't get me wrong, but the Cointreau one was right smackedi smack on da ball! They made this in house while they get the other yummy looking dessert from a local Pâtisserie.

Service was greatness throughout the evening. The waiter explained everything that was on the ardoise and our water glasses were refilled. He explained to us the story of the actual building and how the restaurant came to be. At some point, between our entrée and main, we both felt like it was taking a tad too long and that someone could maybe perhaps clear our table, but that was the only "bad" part of the evening.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 9

I would looove to say I'd go back, but damn iz so far!!! My south shore friends should DEF go though!!! Go. NOW!

T & T Tacos and Tortas

I was invited, a couple weeks back, for a 'blogger event' at T & T Tacos and Tortas on Rachel in Le Plateau. I think they've been opened for about a year and I guess they wanted some good publicity from us bloggers. I just have to say that I'm always in for that. Hint hint.

I went with of my favorite people, my little cousin, who it so happens is only about 7 months younger than I am. Oh and she's taller. Little cousin my arse!

I've been to big openings and smaller openings but never a blogger event. Basically, we got there and I wondered if I had misread the date. There were maybe 2 other tables and that was it. Usually I have to force my way in... kinda :) Turned out great in the end: more time to talk to my cuz and my fellow blogger Val (from Juliette et Choco)! Plus, hello, more attention from the super cute waitress!

Gen had been there a couple times since her office is about 3 steps away and knew what she liked. I, on the other hand, know I love tacos but didn't know what to pick on the menu. Actually, I must admit that in the end, we totally forgot about the tortas! Bad blogger, BAD! 

But I obviously didn't forget about my drink! We could order one and then pay for the rest: good deal! I had me a mojito. But it wasn't just any mojito, it was the BEST mojito I've had... EVER. Ever, people! You know, minty but not too minty, sweet but not too sweet, perfect but oh-so-perfect? Ya, that was it. Good God I'd want one of those right about now!

We wanted to get an order of every taco on the menu (there are 6 kinds and 4 tacos per order) but the waitress strongly suggested that we calm the f*ck down. SO, what we did was narrow it down to 4 and got 2 of each instead of crazy 4. But first, there was the tortilla sopa!

This was a tad watery but it was the only bad thing about it. The flavors were great, the avocado was oh-so-good and creamy and there were little islands of sour cream that just popped in your mouth! Coriander was also present and as always, appreciated. I just LOVE coriander. I remember, when I was in my 'Découverte des aliments' class at ITHQ, we had to make something and present it in front of the class and then the students would eat it. I made coriander pesto. Because I love it that much. The tortilla itself was ok but could have tasted more.

Beef with grilled cactus taco was a tad disappointing. Basically it was thin sliced marinated beef with some onions, and grilled cactus. The cactus was special, cause seriously, when does one eat cactus, but the meat was dry. So dry that we needed to add some lime juice but to our very dismay, the lime wasn't juicy! *Sniff* There were some great salsas on the table that helped out: salsa verde, and two salsas rojas including one hot one that y'all KNOW I was licking off by the end of dinner.

The other tacos on this plate were the chorizo ones. You can add cheese for 1$ but when it's free you don't even need to think about it--just add the damn cheese! Unfortunately, they weren't much better than the beef tacos (enter sad face). The meat was also a tad dry--although not as dry as the beef. The coriander saved the dish-ish but again, we needed to put lots-o-salsa on it for it to taste good. Hey, at least the tortillas were good: crunchy but not too much, and flavorful!

Tacos el pastor should be renamed 'tacos al Maria'. Mmmkay, I see how that makes no sense but they are my fave. Just having pineapple on a taco makes my mouth water. This one was very nice: the juiciness of the pineapple and the tang of the onions made it heavenly. The pork was nicely cooked and well, you know, the coriander :) This was our fave by far. The last pair of tacos were the carnitas: pork belly, onions and coriander. The meat itself was a bit tough and chewy and lacked in spices. I love pork belly but this was a bit of a let down.

Churros!!!! The tacos may not have been up to par but the churros were riiiiiight up there! A set with chocolate and the other with dulce de leche, they were cinnamony, crunchy, yummy goodness. I was suddenly back in Spain.

Again, food may not have been extraordinary that evening but the service surely was! First off, there was the hotness of the waitress, of course. But apart from that, we always had water, we got our drinks in no time and she explained the menu to us and what we should order.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5 (those churros and drinks saved the day)
Service: 9.5

I think I'm gonna be bold here and say that I'd go back. I feel like this place has a lot to offer and that maybe, just maybe, it was a bad night.


 

Steak frite St-Paul

After spending around 3 hours at the hospital for a 30 minute appointment, Isa and I were starving. Like, STARVING. Then Isa turns to me all dramatically and shiz and says 'I WANT  a steak'. Don't mess with a girl that wants her steak! Turns out, I felt like a steak as well :)

We decided to go to Steak frites St-Paul in the Village because a: it was bring your own wine, b: it was affordable steak and c: it was close to my friend's where I had left my bike that I wanted to pick up. This place is in a prime spot, right on Ste-Catherine in the middle of the Village.

No testament to the hugeness of the place!

This place is HUGE, with I'd say, roughly, at least 150 seats. At LEAST. And we were pretty much the first ones there, at 5PM (What? We hadn't eaten lunch and waiting forever makes a girl hungry!) so we got to choose our spot, which is always great. As per usual, Isa took the banquette. She loves them banquettes :) 

We got water as soon as we sat down and we knew what were going to have! STEEEEEAAAKKK (in case you hadn't clued in). We also got some nice [hot] bread which is always appreciated. 

Alright, so the steak came with salad as an appetizer. Meh. The salad consisted of big ass boston leaves, many onions (even for me) and this creamy vinaigrette. I did NOT waste my time on this. One should not have to cut their lettuce. Sheesh people!

It is now time to talk about long-awaited steak. Well, first off, the beans were obviously frozen and then thawed so that did not appeal to me that much. Isa ate them because she is a strong believer in always having veggies on your plate, which is a good thing, obviously! The fries were all-you-can-eat so this girl would pass by and ask you if you wanted more fries. I am proud to say I only refilled once. They were crunchy and tasty. The steak was moist (oh how I hate the way that word sounds but hey... you gotta use it sometimes!) and cooked to our liking. The waiter suggested he bring us 3 smaller sized sauces (instead of one big one) so we could try them all. Hells yes. My fave was the dijon one. It went really well with the fries. But again, they were obviously frozen a couple hours before.

What's fun is that for the desert, you have the option to have it tapas style, i.e cheaper and smaller. Of course Isa liked the fact that she could have more than one desert! She had the crème brûlée and the profiterol. They were OK but not great. The crust on the crème brûlée lacked...crustiness (ew :p) and the profiterol was just alright.

The service throughout the meal was OK. Should have been splendid since there were just a couple other groups by the time we left.

And now, the scores!

Service: 7,5

Food: 7,5

If you want a good not-very-expensive steak, dso it, go to Steak Frites St-Paul!