Panthère Verte

La Panthère Verte is a vegan, environmentally friendly-responsible restaurant. I think they had one on the Plateau about 5 years ago and now, they have 6 locations AND a food truck. I'm just imagining the cells growing when a baby is developing in the womb: multiplying and multiplying. OK, this is a weird and somewhat creepy comparison. I shall stop this at once. All this to say that ma gym boy, Leo, invited me to the one on Mackay, right next to Concordia, where he is the new manager. I'm really liking one of his first decisions as new manager: invite me to eat awesome food.

You know how much I like getting invited, right? Of course you do. Hint: I love getting invited. tell all your restaurateur friends. And I THANK YOU. But enough about me. The place itself is very inviting. It seriously feels like you are entering a jungle when you step in: plants everywhere, wood, and more plants! And, by the way, I looked and I didn't find any panthers, which I think is a good thing. OK, that was a bad joke. Hey, if my friend in Egypt can see a jaguar in the front seat of a car, there's always a possibility I can see a panther in a restaurant. Am I right? Anyhoot, there are communal tables at the back and some at the front, including this cute booth right in the window. Yes, you feel like you're in it because you have to climb into it and you have to sit with your legs crossed. I liked the style. Oh, and the music. The music was right on! Actually one of the best I've heard in a restaurant recently. Jolene by Dolly Parton, Lana del Rey, CCR. It faintly reminded me of my friend Lena's awesome mixes in the early 2000s when we were young 20 somethings in the city. Yes, I'm old.

On top of having very cool music, la Panthère Verte is uber environmentally friendly. If I knew a word that meant more than 'uber', I'd put it here. They have a green policy! I shall explain. You bring your container, you get discounts. You don't have one, you pay a small fee for the compostable container. You can also pay a deposit of 1$ for a mason jar and when you bring it back, you get 1$ in your pocket. What I found wow is that La Panthère Verte does not have a garbage. QQQUUUUWHAT? Yep. They either have recycling or compost. You empty yo plate where it needs to go and then you leave it on the shelf. It looked like it was quite well managed: we all know that this kind of procedure is difficult to maintain and that this could easily become very messy. And finally, food is organic and local as much as possible. Basically, this restaurant is quite the model citizen.

Leo wanted me to gain 18 pounds on that day so he brought me almost everything on the menu. I tend to exaggerate, but not THAT much.

The EVERYTHING: Black bean noodles (VERY interesting!), lentil salad, mesclun (but it was uber fresh, so it was acceptable), white bean salad, coleslaw, sweet potatoes, falafel ballzzz and a falafel sandwich. I told you: he wanted me to gain 18 pounds. Well, I think the dessert was responsible for most of those, but this comes later. Lets begin.

I had the ginger and apple cider drink which was oh-so-fresh and had just the tang I wanted. I'm also a sucker for bubbles. Buuuuubbles! Talk about a refreshing drink!

The black bean noodles, although original, were not my cup-o-tea: they tasted a bit flat and lacked flavor. Wait, that's the same thing. You get it. The lentil salad had this mustard vinaigrette and I absolutely loved the mix! It was a bit on the hot (n' spicy) side, which I love. Y'all know I loves me some heat! The white bean salad had dill in it. If you're starting to know me, you KNOW I ain't a fan. Like, ever. WELL, this was actually nice. Yep, I'm saying it: I liked the dill (don't tell anyone!). It actually made the salad taste fresh and went really well with the beans. The mesclun. Well, it's freaking mesclun! In my book (and you guys know I have the BEST book), mesclun is bad after having it for more than one day. Yes, I'm a tough mesclun consumer. And damn proud of it. Anyhoot, there was a lovely vinaigrette on top of it: very herbal and full-o-flavour! This made the salad, of course. Mesclun never makes the mesclun. OK, I'm getting ridiculous now. The coleslaw was... meh. OK, it was alright, but it was nothing special. The sweet potatoes looked promising but they kind of felt short of delivering. They could've had more flava. They were perfectly cooked though, which was a relief, haha. Nobody likes an undercooked sweet potato.

The falafel. Ah, the falafel. Panthère Verte actually has an award winning falafel. Ya, it's happening. First, it was Marie-Claude Lortie that said that they were the best she had tasted and that she would go back time and time again. If you know who MCL is, you know she is difficult as all hell. All. Hell. And then they were voted best falafel in Montreal many years in a row in the Best of MTL in the magazine Cult MTL. And I'm sure they have some stashed 'Winner of the best falafel' trophies, somewhere. So herbal and full of loveliness. It was perfectly fried, not crumbly and nicely moist. I'm also ready to make it MY fave falafel. Change APPROVED! There was also the falafel sandwich and although it was the same awesomeballs falafel in there, the pita was a bit on the thick side for me. Just a ps, you have the option of having everything in that sandwich, on a plate, without bread. Perfect for peeps watching their carbs :)

The sauces!!! They have many. I just love a good dip, you know? My fave (and Leo's too!) is the Yogi: vegan yogourt with lots of herbs. It was so damn fresh! I also liked the Hippie: maple syrup (nothing can go wrong here), ginger and sesame. As I said, I likes me a good dippin'.

The dessert. Was I still hungry? Hellsss no. Did I NEED dessert? Absolutely not. Did I want it? Well ya. I needed to try it, you know, for the review. Tiramisu. Or Viramisu, because it's vegan. Hehe. This was a huge mother freaking piece. The coffee taste was quite faint, which is good for this non-lover of coffee. The frosting was good and thick but not too overwhelming. It was very moist (ugh, stupid word) and I think a part of it was because of the layer of chestnut cream in the middle.

Service was done by Leo, so it was perfect. He explained everything to me in detail and gave me a drink asap! He even sat with me to tell me more about what I was eating (OK, he was on his lunch break :p).

And now, the scores!

Food: 9
Service: 10

Leo keeps on telling me that I must try more food on the menu, so, you know what, I might be back sooner than later :)

Vivalia

I was invited to one of the openings of Vivalia. I was sick as a dsawg with gastro (ugh, memories) but I brought my gurl Al to help me with the eating (or lack there of) and judging.

Vivalia is a cute little restaurant in Old Montreal. And I do mean little: if I stretched out my arms far enough, they would be as large as the restaurant itself. TOTES not exaggerating. Believe me you. It was crowded in there and at some point I felt like I was prisoner of the wall, but apart from that moment, it was nice. I felt a bit like I was hanging out in a garden. I like gardens. I like em' a lot.

The ambiance was  happenin', with some jazzy, loungy music playing and people gathering around high tables. The concept of Vivalia is that they serve up 100% organic food (gooooodies!!) in a kind of buffet style, so that you can choose what you want from what's in front of you.

As soon as we arrived, someone took our jackets. I liked it already. We were told to choose whatever we wanted to drink: bubbly, white or red wine OR between a couple different flavours of kombucha. Yay! I had tasted kombucha before and loved it and y'all know I'm a sucker for fizzy beverages. Plus, the fermentation was bound to make my stomach a bit happier.

Sometimes, when I get invited to these things and I get there right on time (as everyone should, pfff), I wait and I wait AND I wait for food. I am not a very patient person. This time, we got our drinks, we walked over to a free table against the wall and a couple minutes later, a dude came out with food. Yes. Food! And by that, I mean, 'yes, food that I will barely taste because I'm uber sick'.

I actually got to discuss with the manager and the people responsible for thinking up ways of making Vivalia better and more known. They are already thinking of franchises, which is awesome, albeit a bit early and I got to discuss with them how to do this and where to do it, which was awesome (hey, I AM important!!!).

Sushi! Since I've stopped working at Sushi Taxi, I haven't had sushi, like, at all. T'is sad. So I was pretty happy when sushi started arriving. They had a couple different kinds including a california roll, a salmon roll and a vegepaté roll! Let's face it, I'm kind of a sushi expert and these did not feel or tasted like real sushi. But A for effort! The rice was undercooked and the pieces were falling apart. BUT the taste was still there. The california roll was apparently the favorite but I preferred the vegepaté! I mean, when do you get végépaté in a sushi? Never! It was quite lovely! I've had végépaté, I've made végépaté, I've bought different kinds... one could even say I'm somewhat of an expert. Yes, it was a tad whhheird to have it in sushi, but quite original! It was moist, yeast-y and home made goodness. Just the way good VP should be.

Celery and apple salad. I gotta hand it to them, they had cute little vessels. I mean, how cuuuute is that??? But celery and apple? Meh. I'm sorry. I'm a firm believer in 'if I can make it at home, I won't eat it in a restaurant'. And could have definitely made this at home. It was good, but there was too much vinaigrette and it was missing seasoning.

Quinoa salad. Same concept here. Some veggies and some quinoa. Again, it kind of lacked flavor. AND a wow factor.

Falafel! I loves me some falafel! Awesome mix of flavors and very herbal! Which, by the by, I love! The mayo was vegan! Hey, you can make mayo without eggs, I give you 28$! Why? Who the hell knows, but I feel like it. It was very nice and my stomach actually appreciated this.

This was a favourite. Al and I wanted more of this. Like, a LOT more. Basically, this was goat cheese and.... yep... goat cheese :) It was quite strong for goat cheese but it was good and soft and goaty? Hahaha, you know what I mean! It had much pepper in there which made it taste awesome! There was a little cracker under but, really, who gives a sh*t about the tiny cracker when the goat cheese is so good?

Saaaaandwicheeeees!!! With home-made bread, no less!!! The salmon one was uber tasty with some cream cheese and some greens! The home-made bread made it even better. Yes, it was quite simple, but it was simple made awesome, you know? The chicken sandwich was as good. The chicken was moist and the tomato fit right in there. Surprisingly, the tomato did not make the bread soggy. I will have to email them to see how this phenomenon did not occur.

The wannabe tajine. Ha, my friend Val exploded with a 'whaaaaaat?' when she saw that I posted this as a 'tajine'. Hey, she's married to a Moroccan. I was a bit bummed to see more quinoa here, instead of the usual couscous. Apart from the fact that it wasn't a real tajine, per se, that little tiny dish tasted really good: the chickpeas were  nice and spiced up and actually felt like I was eating a somewhat-real tajine. Well, except for the quinoa. I would have preferred some couscous, of course.

Sooooo, there were a couple other dishes buuuuut I totes forgot to take pics. I was sick, ok? I wasn't really there :/

Service was great throughout the evening! There were a couple of uber friendly people passing around food and emptying our tables and what not! They were also moving around with bottles, which, let's face it, is very important when it comes to openings! Hahaha!!!

And now, the scores!!!

Food: 7.5
Service: 9

I'll be going back fo shizzle! Especially now, that I can actually eat and taste the good stuff!