Little Pink Fish 2008

Another lunch date with Jer Bear came along and we were to go try Otto Yakitori in downtown Montreal buuuuut they were closed for an event. DAMN IT. We then had a couple options: do a repeat and go  back to Maison du Nord, go to Ganadara once more (you can never go there enough) OR try a new place in this second Chinatown. Maison du Nord was a no. Ganadara, we actually checked and it was way too busy as usual, so it was going to be Little Pink Fish 2008. I love how Asian restos always be like 'we need to put a number in there'.

The restaurant is on two stories, with lots of decorations of only one thing: Chairman Mao. Cups on the walls and paintings of different colors are everywhere you look. Can you say 'obsession' much? Asian Christmas music is playing and, wait, what? Yep... Christmas music. CHRISTMAS. MUSIC. Ugh. Thank goodness there was only one Christmas tune. I would have lost my shit.

In good Marie and Jer fashion, we ordered too much food. That's what happens when everything looks too good and when your Asian connection wants you to try 'everything'.

Beef shank with hot chili sauce. This was niiiiiice. The beef was very tender and literally melted in ma mouth, the peanuts added a nice crunch, , the coriander does NOT need any introduction, the garlic either (hello!). Schezuan peppers made our lips turn from cold-ish to ON FIRE. Wow! It was weird because the inside of my mouth was just fine and dandy, but my lips had turned red and were all tingly.  

(With all this good food, I forgot to take a pic of this dish :/ ) Fried green beans with ground pork. I had this before at Hongmère in Verdun and had loved it. I gots to say though, it's VERY fried. As in, fried FRIED. As in wooooow that's fried. And I'm done. Obviously, as we ALL know, all fried things are awesome so this was no exception. They were very flavourful and the dish had just the right proportion of meat vs veggies.

Chinese fish in a hot broth. The fish was catfish and it was uber deliciousful. Yes guys, another new word, invented by moi! The fish had absorbed the beautiful flavours of the spicy broth, and it was so buttery and melt-in-your-mouth good. The bean sprouts were fresh and crispy and it was garlic city. Hello. Hello garlic, old friend. Lots of pepper corns gave some more spiciness to this soup. Yummy!!

Service was OK. He answered all our questions but did not check on us at any point during the meal. We got water quickly but even with all the spice, we did not get a refill fast enough.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8
Service: 7

I don't think I'll go back, you know, on account of the Christmas music.

Candide

I obviously forgot to take a pic. This is the presbytery they are in.

Candide is one of the new restos in Griffintown. You know, where there's a new restaurant every freaking week? On top of it, the maître d' is my brothers' cousin (it's complicated)! Oh, on top of that, Candide is located pretty much right smack in front of my restaurant. Hello!

Since it was going to be a nice, pricey meal(a pricey meal for me is over 30$!!), I wanted to share it with aaaalll my friends! No, not all 300 of them (hehehe), a select few. So there we went, E, Jer, Em, Cam, Bridgert and I, off to one of the hottest new restaurants in town (http://www.ledevoir.com/plaisirs/restaurants/457605/candide-au-presbytere)!

I was obviously the first one to get there (I'm ALWAYS the first one... it's like a rule written in a book somewhere or sumthin', I swear to Heysus!) and Valérie welcomed me with a huge smile and took my jacket and my scarf...and my mittens... and my tuque. Needless to say it was a cold, snowy kind of day!

Candide, with its downright homey feel and low lighting, makes you feel very comfortable and at home as soon as you walk in. Wooden tables with marble ends and green leather padded seats kind of gives out a cottage-y feel. I loved it. Some nice jazz oldies were playing¸ and that totally completed the ambiance for me. The place itself is quite hard to find (I had to send my fellow dining guests a map), with it not being on an actual street and all. In their defense, there IS a sign tied to a tree on Notre-Dame....

Candide offers a 4 course meal for 43$, with two entrées, your choice of main and your choice of dessert. QUITE the deal if I may say so myself! I would have loved it if the waiter would've suggested a wine pairing for every course (I believe they do that now...) but we settled on buying some bottles for the table. It's cuisine is kind of wood-sy, let's walk in the forest, eat something we don't usually eat kind of cuisine. I despise always seeing the same thing on menus (beets and goat cheese is so passé!) so this was a breath of fresh air. A plus is that they change it every season (and a bit in between). They put stuff on the menu we had never even heard of! That's eight points right there. Why eight? Cause it's MY blog :)

Let's talk food, shall we?

First entrée: wild arugula, buttermilk and sweet potato. The arugula was oh-so-fresh and crunchy; nothing like the arugula I buy at Super C and curse at when it goes bad 2 days later. The buttermilk sauce was lovely and a tad bitter and thick and so delightful that when I saw bread approach the table (I'm imagining floating bread here...), I dipped it as quickly as I could. The potatoes were nicely cooked but the skin was a bit thick and annoying to chew.

Second entrée: squash, rye and parasol mushroom (again, I'm imagining floating parasols--what is wrong with me?). Now this was definitely like eating in the woods... OR eating THE woods? Hehehe. The rye was a bit too hard for my liking and for my stupid stupid brittle teeth. The mushrooms were soft and although you would argue that they did just taste like a mushroom (ok, people that hardly know mushrooms would say this), they had a special taste, just like enoki or oyster mushrooms do. It was basically like I'd just picked them out of a clearing (you know, like a deer would!). The squash was cooked to perfection and became almost buttery. Mmmm, I want some now. NOW! Ok, imma gonna calm down.

Main: pheasant with Blue Jay beans and red cabbage. It kind of felt like a deconstructed cassoulet. For the record, the plating didn't do it for me: everything in a tiny corner of a huge plate, the cabbage on top of the meat. I actually thought for a moment that they were going to come back and put a bowl or something in that empty space on my plate.

Although the pheasant was nice and juicy, it lacked in taste. One would even go as far as saying that the pheasant wasn't too pleasant. Hahaha. I can totally picture Dr. Evil telling that joke. You know, with the little finger? Aaaand I'm officially off track. The level of doneness was absolutely perfect and the lovely juices were there, it just, in my opinion, didn't taste like much. Perhaps it lacked salt, who knows. The cabbage was cooked to vegetable perfection: not too crunchy, not too soft, just right. Boucle d'or, sors de ce corps! On top of it, it tasted somewhat smoky, which is a flavor I absolutely love. The beans were very tasty and added a certain texture to the dish. And by the way, it looks like Blue Jay beans are pretty darn hard to come by. Either that or the internet lied to me. I really do hate it when it does that.

Second main: clams, leeks and celeriac.The clams, although few and far between, were salty and briny and all that kind of salt water goodness. The celeriac, was surprisingly cooked whole (I usually see it in mashed form or cut julienne style). That and the leeks together was a great mix of flavours. One I would like to get again soon. Or, you know, right about NOW.

Dessert: Angelica cake, honey and scotch lovage. Such a nice, peaceful description, no? Angels and love! Hihihi! The cake was oh-so-moist and the honey added the sweetness that I needed after such a meal. The scotch lovage seemed fried but I think it was crisped using another method. I gotta say though, and please don't get me wrong because I used to l-o-v-e it, but the whole dish tasted like pot. As in marijuana. Seriously, I was burping pot for at least a couple hours after and it was weirdly lovely. But apart from being illegal, this dessert was sweet, fluffy, and again, kind of like I was in the woods! I swear, I'm sure if I had turned around at that moment, I would have seen Little Red Riding Hood! SEE what pot desserts do to me? Sheesh!

Second dessert: Pikauba, kale and sorb. Pikauba is a semi-soft cheese straight from Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean aged 3 or 4 months. It's so creamy, it almost melted in my mouth. I swear! And the sorb, which resembles huckleberry, was awesome and such a great pairing with the cheese. The kale was a great addition on their part and went perfectly with the whole dish.

Service was wonderful: our waiter explained every little detail and knew all the wines by heart (there were many) and talked about the menu in great length. Our water glasses were always full and the wine service was done the ITHQ way. You know; you make the person that is ordering the wine taste first and then if she/he says it's ok, you serve everyone else and you top of his/her glass last. The waiter was very upbeat and made it seem like we were the only ones in there (by a certain point, the restaurant had somewhat filled up). You could see he was passionate about what he was doing. So was the maitre d' Val. Their hearts belonged in that restaurant, as corny as that sounds.

Here are some opinions from my friends that came along...Some were actually scared at first because the portions were so small but after the meal, you could see they were mostly full. One of them was not at all pleased when she tasted both desserts one right after the other and thought it was 'disgusting'. I did the same thing and it was just fine. I loved the attention to details: how to place a fruit in a dish or a perhaps a leaf. Presentation was very 'soignée'.

Here is an elaborate opinion from my fellow student at ITHQ (which obviously means her opinion matters most, hahaha!): 'I think that it is not a restaurant for everyone. The lack of flexibility in the menu, the price, the ingredients; it felt like a tiny food adventure, and you have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone i think to really enjoy it. Though nothing blew me away, I  think all the food was well presented, well executed and thoughtful. It might be because I'm a spoiled child who goes to too many restaurants (if that is even a possible thing) but I enjoy not knowing about everything on the menu, I enjoy being surprised by new tastes and new textures and having to think about what I'm eating. As it opened just a couple of months ago, I would say it was a "wait a few months then come back" cause it wasn't bad, but it wasn't really good either.  I think it will become better with time.' Yep, I believe Cam pretty much summed it up.

So with no further ado (cause we know there's been enough ado here), here are the scores.

Food: 7.5
Service: 9.5

Although a tad pricey (damn you, wine!), it is a redo for sure. You know, perhaps with my birthday money or next Christmas :)

Burgundy Lion

This pub, being a 10 minute walk from my place was on my must eat list, but after 1 year and a half of living in close proximity, I still hadn't gone. Damn it! So, a couple weekends ago, it was time. I mean, when I go out to drink in my neighborhood, it's either there or at La Drinkerie but this is brunch we're talking about. Brunch people! English brunch :)

This place runs like there's no tomorrow; a must go in Griffintown with two stories, a terrasse on Notre-Dame, an interior courtyard and lots of cleavage. LOTS and lots of it. Ok, some times too much, even for gay ol' me! But that's neither here nor there. Let's talk boobs. Shiz, I mean brunch!

I knew what I was getting, duh. This is what happens when I get really excited about a place. I wanted the whole English breakfast experience. I wanted the whole shabang. I wanted...blood sausage!

But first, a morning drink shall we? Oh, we shall! Recently my brunch drink is a good Bloody Caesar instead of a mimosa. I believe the spices and all that jazz is better for one's hangover. So I had two :)

Alright, so, y'all know my number one rule: always get the biggest breakfast. Oh and I did. Let's begin. The beans were a little piece (or tiny pieces...) of heaven IN my mouth. Heaven in my mouth I say. And I know my beans. They were amazing: just salty enough, well cooked but not mushy, great tasting overall. The eggs were good and again, well seasoned, but a tad cold. The tomato was the disappointment of the plate. It tasted as if they took an old tomato and cooked it with lots of spices. Which is probably exactly what they must do. Meh. Didn't taste fresh at all. The potatoes were yummy and crispy with a nice moist interior. Ps, you guys know I HATE the 'm' word so it's a big deal if I describe something by it. The ham was nice and maple-y but sadly, a tad on the dry side. The pièce de résistance, the boudin noir, was amazing. A-mazing. It was onion-y (hello is it me you're looking for?) and well seasoned and lovely and had a great texture. So basically, perfect. Oh, and the bacon was so thick and fatty that I felt like I gained 300 calories only by tasting it. But that too was oh-so-good! Mmmmmmm....faaaaaaat!

Service was great. Quick and efficient as any good service in any good pub should be! We had our water glasses refilled and were asked if we were satisfied with our food. Plus, I got a boob or two near my face...I was a happy camper. ;) The only thing that was kinda meh is that it took a while to get my second drink. It's ok, I forgive you.

And now, the scores!!!

Food: 7.5

Service: 8

Well, let's do the math: 1 huge breakfast and 2 caesars cost me 35$ including tip. Yes, yes I'll be going back.

 

Ma tante quiche

Ma Tante Quiche is now one of my fave breakfast spots! Whenever someone's in town, where do we go? Ma Tante Quiche. I go kayaking with a friend, where do we go after? Ma Tante Quiche. They know me now. I mean, I go there to buy a quiche or two but I mostly go for their 'everything homemade' breakfast! YUM!

This lovely establishment is run by a couple of lesbians in their 50's (ish) and employs people that are so damn nice, like my friend E would say, you'd want to drop kick them in the face. But not really. They sell a bunch of great homemade stuff. And it's ALWAYS good.

That day, I went with my best girl, we'll call her Sylvia, for a nice hungover breakfast. I think it's a given that half the people eating breakfast anywhere are hungover. Right? RIGHT? Anyhoot, the ambiance is nice and chill and the music went with that setting. Quite enjoyable indeed!

Since I'm mostly a creature of habit when it comes to breakfast: I always have the biggest breakfast offered on the menu. In this case, I had the 'Assiette Ma Tante Quiche' which is basically braised ham (in local beer--Brasseurs de MTL!), beans, cretons (hello!), baby potatoes with mushrooms in mushroom stock, homemade sausage, smoked bacon, an egg (or two), and some fruits.

Ok, so, fruits. So, I love fruit, blablabla, but they basically are an afterthought when I eat my 'déjeuner de la construction'. But hey this fruit 'cup' deserves an A: fresh raspberries, blackberries and blueberries? What what? Three of the most expensive fruits we can find in our supermarkets? Well hello foodcost! :p Nah, I'm sure they make up for it elsewhere; these are two smart ladies!

Aight, let's get down to it! The egg. OK, so eggs usually are just... eggs. But this was a GOOD egg. You know what I mean? I believe it may have been cooked in a bit of maple syrup which obviously makes it taste whhhhay better than other eggs! The ham that is cooked in beer for many-a-hours basically just melts in your mouth. It just MELTS in your MOUTH! The flavours explode and you are in ham heaven. And yes, there is such a thing! The bacon is smoked so obviously all the yummy bacony flavours come out and again, bacon heaven! The potatoes are just lovely! What a great idea to cook them with mushroom and add mushroom stock! Not too salty, just great! The sausage is also home made but it was a tad tough to eat and the beans, even if they were perfect the time before, seemed a bit fermented which was not so great. The cretons just melt in your god damn mouth. I'm a HUGE fan of cretons and these are well worth the trip!

Service was good. OK, not as good as many other restaurants but here, they seem so chill that YOU are chill, ya know? We got water quickly, food not THAT quickly and she didn't check if we liked it which, in my book, they should do.

And now, the scores!!!

Food: 8
Service: 7

I LOVE this place and anyone and everyone that lives remotely close should visit it at least once!!!

ps: and the price is right too! I believe it costs around 12$ for this plate!