Perles et Paddock

I've had my eye (well, eyes) on Perles et Paddock for a while now. Ever since I wondered what the f*ck had become of that old garage on Des Seigneurs in Griffintown. Well, they did a hell of a job. A HELL of a job. And so, this is where Jer Bear and I went for brunch on a lovely Saturday morning (let's face it, I can't afford their actual dinner menu :o ).

Perles et Paddock, as previously mentioned, is located in an ultra renovated old garage that was quite the eye soar on des Seigneurs in Griffintown. They made it into a legit wonderful looking restaurant. Like, a WOW restaurant. Like, a WOW WOW WOW one. You get the point, iz nice. Compared to what you see from the outside, the inside looks much grander: a big mirror at the back makes it look like a much bigger space than it already is and it seems like the never ending restaurant. Plants everywhere, two big garage doors that open up onto the street, and a huge skylight make it seem like we're still outdoors. The bar was quite spectacular, all dressed in marble, with uber comfy seats (along with a step for short people like me!), and quite an array of bottles under very favorable lighting.

I loves me a good brunch and I was excited about this one, fo shiz! Jer bear had the guédilles aux crevettes de Matane (the best of the small shrimp...). The shrimpies were not in the usual hot dog bread; they were in a home made brioche. They had been mixed into this mayo-ish sauce that was supes taste. Just enough that we still tasted the deliciousness of the shrimp! They were like butta in ma mouth. You know what I'm gonna say though: not enough shrimp!!! NEVER enough shrimp. But I am also the person that, at 6 years old, was eating an actual PILE of shrimp in Maine on family vacays. I go cray for shrimp. Kinda like Bubba from Forrest Gump, you know. I found the brioche was too hard `n' dry for me. Jer bear found it alright. He's too easy to please, pffff. The coleslaw was on the effin ball. One of the best coleslaws I've had, like, ever.

I had the surf and turf! Cod cake, hollandaise mousse, salad, and a big ass slab of bacon. I loves me a good big ASS slab of bacon. The salad was cut on the mandolin and was just dressed enough. You know, I'm talking skirt... not pants. The fish cake was a bit dry, and not even the hollandaise on top was saving it. It did taste good though, with just the right amount of dill and the yolk from the egg atop it, melting onto it. Mmmmm. The bacon was, you know, bacon: fatty and smoky awesomeness.

Service was a bit on the slow side. We had a nice welcome and quick water service at first, but then we waited what seemed like 8 hours for our food (I tend to exaggerate) and did not get more water until the end of our meal. They also didn't ask us if we liked it. I will also mention that they seemed to be overstaffed. Take care of yo peeps, especially when you are overstaffed! On the other hand, I must say that the dude at the bar, in front of us, was really quite nice and did flash his million dollar smile more than once :)

And now, the scores!

Food: 8
Service: 6

Ya, I'm going back for more brunch!

Machiavelli

I've been to Machiavelli before: once, about 8 years ago for dinner, and the second time, about 8 months ago for brunch. I absolutely loved it both times. Like, THIS is love. And good for me (and them), I live a 5 minute walk from the restaurant. I went with ma boo, Bridge, who is an ultra regular at Machiavelli. As I was talking to the chef-owner (that, just by the by, has owned this resto for the past 4 years and is freaking TWENTY NINE), she suggested I come for dinner so I can eat to my heart's content and take pics and what have you. That sounds like a pretty damn good deal if you asked me. Go ahead, ask me. YA, iz a GREAT deal.

Machiavelli is this cute little restaurant that has a nice terrace right at the back. Like, supes cute. Lots of flowers and herbs and outdoor lights. On top of it, the ambiance is just lovely. Basically, you feel like you're in a friend's backyard, but with people serving you freaking awesome food. Disclosure: this picture does NOT do it justice.

I asked them to surprise me and told them that the only thing I didn't want to eat was pasta or anything ubs heavz (you get it). Bridge knew exactly what she wanted. Heeeere we gooooo! (Let the feast begin)

The mother f*ckin' giant oyster. This thing was so huge, it had it's own area code. Ya, I went there. Nostalgic for old 'Yo mama's so fat' jokes. Hehehe. Anyhoot. They cut up the meat and mixed in some onions, peppers, cucumbers, and horse radish. There were endive leaves on the side that we were supposed to use as a vessel... but we realized this only after pigging out with the spoon. Wonderful flavours ensued. I would like eight more please.

There was also the Trois petits bernardins (like the mason jars!): three dips with homemade pita chips. Tzatziki with orange essence, salsa of mango, tomato and cumin, and a spread of roasted veggies. My fave was the tzatziki, because it was so smooth and the orange actually fit really well with the garlicky softness. Ya, it's a thang. The middle one was a fresh salsa that Bridge found way too cuminy. I gotta say, I'm fond of the cumz but this WAS on the bit-too-much side of things. A tad too intense. On the other hand, I did love the combo of tomato and mango! The third was the spread of roasted veggies; Bridge's fave. The roasted goodness really came out, especially in what seemed to be eggplant and zucchini. Quote from Bridge: 'I want to eat this forever'. Well said Bridge. Well said!

The escargots. Bridge really wanted them escargots! And now I know why! The ONLY bad thing about this dish was that there were only six. Come oooon, I need at least 14. Sounds like a good number. Sounds like the RIGHT number. I digress. They were perf perf perf. Just cheesy enough and garlicky enough and hot AF, which is what is needed with the escargots. Of course, we dipped the remaining pita in the butter. Duh.

Le foie gras. mama likes her a good foie gras. Mmmm. They marinated it in Brandy for one day with a bit of salt and poached it at just the right temp. It had just a pinch of fleur de sel to make the flavours pop and it was accompanied by somewhat of an apple jammy. A jammy. Just by looking at it, it was spreading itself on le bread. The apple dippy was the perfect pairing. It wasn't too sweet nor too strong tasting, so that the foie gras was still the star of the dish. But when is it not, am I right?

A little palate cleanser is always what the mouth needs between courses. And also because we're fancy damn it. It was raspberry, blueberry and Brandy. It was quite refreshing and my palate called and said it was totes cleansed.

Boo's gnocchi looked DElicious. Stuffed with mozzarella, with a buttery sage sauge. Oh ma gawd. Bridge took one look and said 'oh Imma goonna take this home fosho'. Ya, with her tiny little stomach, poor thing was already ubs full. Even I was gettin' there. OK, think of a cloud. A very fluffy cloud. And now, put it in yo mouth. They were just perfectly round and cheesy. Also, usually, I'm not the biggest fan of sage because I think it's quite a strong herb that is not used very well, but this was so good! It married very well with le cheese. Sage and cheese=winning combo! Let's just say she had the best lunch at work the next day.

Pork El Pastor. I think I'd like anything El Pastor. That sweet mix of pineapple and pork, coriander and onion. That just does it for me. Gimme that every day and I'd be the happiest of girls! The pork was so tender and was breaking up so easily! That is what I love... in life: meat that falls off the bone. It was accompanied by a tasty pineapple salsa that went supes well with the marinated meat. The coriander, as we know, goes with everything. Meat? Yes. Fish? Yes. Seafood? Yes. Veggies? Yes. Dessert? Sure, why not? I had a little taste of the potato and it was just perf on top of perf. Just cooked enough (ugh, I hate over OR undercooked potatoes--it's a fine line!). With a squeeze of lime, it brought this dish to a whole other level.

(Note: my picture was SO bad that I don't feel right posting it here :o )
Le dessert. What? I HAD to have dessert! Pistachio crème brûlée and brownies with blueberry coulis. Decadent? Oh, just a bit. You know, when you've decided to pig out... The crème brûlée was perfectly hard on the outside and soft on the inside. I think I have as much pleasure as Amélie Poulain when I break through the top layer of the crème brûlée! The taste of pistachio wasn't ubs strong, just present enough. The brownie was so soft and moist, I just couldn't, you know, not eat it. And with the blueberry coulis, hello. Oh, hello.

Service was right ON throughout the evening. I gots to be honest here and say that most times, when I am invited to a restaurant, MY service is rockin' and not so much for the other patrons. In this case, everyone looked happy. Our waitress totes accepted the fact that we were speaking in Frenglish (no explanation needed), and she, herself, started speaking the same language :) We got water quickly, we got an ice bucket for le wine and she asked us if it was to our liking many times. She also didn't judge us when we got slightly drunk after drinking 1 bottle and a half of wine hahaha. We got to meet Natassia, the chef/owner after our entrées and when we left, and I half drunkenly thanked her SO MUCH for the AWESOME dinner, I don't even think she said thanks... she just said that these two other cooks (next to her) worked as hard and I should thank THEM. And then, I fell in love with her. Natassia, if you read this and you're single, please write to me. (ps: she DOES have a bf, I FB stalked her...pps: YA, I'm like that)

Just FYI, Machiavelli serves up an AWESOME brunch on Sundays!!! I've been and damn it ever was it ever mouth watering! LETS GO!!

And now, les scores!

Food: 9
Service: 9.5

You and I both know Imma be back. And I'm telling everyone I know to go. E-ve-ry-one.

Su

One of the few Turkish restos in Montreal, Su is gaining in popularity in Verdun. And they've BEEN gaining in popularity for a while! This is why, the other day, when ma gurls Mar and Al suggested we go there, I jumped on that sh*t.

The resto itself is bigger than I thought: it looks quite small from the outside! Once you enter, the décor, I found, was somewhat weird: the bar section has these very bright neon lights (I remember calling it hypnotic blue), a part of the restaurant looks more traditional, with lovely lookin' plates on the walls, and another part, looks modern. Quweird. It looked like quite the popular place, which actually surprised me; I had never seen anyone walk in or out of it!

Can you tell I looooved the plates?

The way it works is that they bring you some bread, things to put ON bread and a little salad and you choose your main. Quite satisfying for 16,50$/person!

I had a Turkish tea (black tea) because, well, I don't think I've ever had one before! I loved how it came in a glass! It was quite the warm-me-up!

SO, on the board: honey and kaymak, olives, tomato and ricotta salad, nuts and dried fruits, nut spread, homemade jams, warm bread. The honey and kaymak was perf and hit the spot. Many spots. For some reason, this sounds sexual... I swear it's not! Kaymak is, for a lack of a better explanation, Turkish crème fraîche. Ya, I think that's it. Just the mix of honey and kaymak was damn good, but dipping the chick pea bread in it? Hello. Oh, HELLO! Soft, thick, perf. The apricot jam, although not usually on my to-eat list, was damn fresh. Do we have apricot trees in Verdun? Sure seemed like it. The ricotta was soooooo good!!!! Just salty enough and melt-in-ma-mouth yum! So simple, yet, so good! The jams, although y'all know I ain't usually a fan, were right on and, again, so fresh! I actually ate some... drum roll please... without bread! There was also the tahini and hazelnut spread. Did someone say 'hazelnut'? Yes, yes I believe someone did! Hazelnut's rich and velvety loveliness just took over my mouth! OK, I'm becoming poetic here. Aaaaaand digressing. The nuts and dried fruits: it was more like oh look, there's something else here. Everything else seemed more important.

For my main, I picked the baked eggs and sudjuk (Turkish homemade spicy lamb sausage). I loves me a good sausage. Wait... that sounds like I loooove me a good sausage! Ya, I ain't afraid to say it! But enough about the penis (let's be honest...)! The sausage was great, albeit a tad dry. Reminded me of the Hungarian sausage I buy for my friend Lena when I go see her in the states: spicy and on the dry side. The egg was good, but even if I do prefer a runny egg to a hard one, this was just too runny. Don't get me wrong, it was lovely to dip my bread in, but when it's a runny white, it's too much for this girl.

Service was awesome, throughout the meal: seated right away, great waitress, explanations, answers, asks if we are pleased, water. As you may have noticed, I just felt like putting words together in a random order. Hahahaha. Don't judge, it's 5am right now.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5
Service: 8.5

I might go back, you never know! Obviously, I still have 2500 brunch places to hit before I go back to the same one :)

 

 

Le Well

Le Well is this cute-ass new resto on Wellington in Verdun and it was on THE list! I'm always in for a good brunch. ALWAYS. Especially during the week, when there are barely no brunch options in the city. Hey, mama needs to know she can have brunch any day of the week! So I headed there with ma girl Isa, last week.

The place is quite small, very bright, adorned with lots of greenery. Ceramic counter and wooden tables and chairs. And then, there was the music. Music from the most awesomest show, Broad City. Do you know Broad City? No? Well you should get on that. You're welcome.

The menu looked great, but a couple things jumped out at us. We were hungry. Very hungry. Starving, really.

Grilled cheese with braised beef, Dijon mustard, pickles, swiss cheese. I gotta say, I loves me a good GC. Ya, I'm SO cool, I can abbreviate everythin' now. Before getting this, we asked if it was going to be enough for our very empty stomachs and the waitress laughed a bit. OK, a lot. And she had reason to. When it arrived in front of us, we too laughed. How huge is this??? The meat was ubs tender and juicy, and the bread, perfectly grilled. The egg on top was just runny enough to envelop the whole thang when broken with a fork. Mmmmm... runny egg. The bread was just toasted enough without hurting my teeth (yes, I's gots bad, sensitive teeth), and the mustard gave it a nice tang. Isa wasn't super fond of the mustard being in there but I liked it. The pickles, well, let's face it, they are good in everything. The potatoes were a hit and miss: some were hot, some were not. Some were crispy, some, not so crispy. Basically, what was lacking here was a hot plate. When will people learn? Hey, if my step-dad can heat the plates before serving food, restaurants can. Thank you for listening.

El Pablo: fried chicken, avocado, lettuce, tomato, coriander, and egg on top. The chicken was a tad on the dry side, which is never what you want in chicken. Well, it's never what you want in any meat, really. The romaine was a bit meh, and the tomato sort of made everything a bit soggy. Who likes soggy? Not me, that's fosh (short for fosho, of course!). The coriander was good, as always (I'm sure you know by now that I'm NOT one of those people that find the herb soapy. Pfff, come on!!!) and the egg was perf.

Service was on and off. We got water very quickly and as ALL of you know by now, water is more important than the actual food. But not really. The only girl on the floor looked like she was struggling a bit, and it took a quwhile (yes, it's a word) to get our dishes. As in we actually had to get up to ask her when we would be able to order and then a while before we actually were able to eat. Eating is fundamental, ya see. I'm kidding, but NOT. She was really nice though.

And now, the scores!

Service: 7.5
Food: 7.5

I'm fosho going back. Did I mention it's one of the only brunch spots around ma place during the week? Mmmmyes.

Le Butterblume

This place is totes known for being one of the new hot spots in Montreal. Just check it, it's on ALL the cool websites. Wow, I sound like I'm 15. Moving forward: I went there on a very chilly, very rainy Sunday for brunch with Laura.

This resto is riiiight at the cusp of the cool, up and coming, uber hip, Mile-End-Outremont neighbourhoods. There's a bunch of restos around it, but a bit further down and up. All this to say that it seems like the peeps going there would have to go about doing a little detour. That's how much they like it. That means a lot.

Le Butterblume is quite spacious. Actually, from a restaurant management graduate's point of view (ya, that's me), it's TOO spacious. Hahaha! As soon as you enter, you notice a huge unoccupied space. Well, OK, it has a couple chairs for le waiting, and a table with hipster things to buy. You know, like recipe books and the house aprons. They ARE nice (and expensive), but hang em' on the wall, don't take up 8000 units (#iloveyoujad). There are about 10 seats at the bar, some on the opposite wall, and tables in the middle. It's half wooden floor, half cement, which I really liked: it made for a somewhat cozy/industrial feel. Yes, the combination is possible. The lighting was cool too: big lamps were hanging at the front and smaller ones at the back. I'm realizing more and more that I'm a lamp girl. Yes, a lamp girl. The kitchen was open concept and everyone was wearing an apron: waiters and cooks alike. I liked that. Of course, in good hipster fashion, they were all wearing tuques and cool headwear. Hehehe. I really don't have nothin' against hipsters... I just find that half of them try too hard to be oh-so-cool. You could just be ME and be that cool. Wow, I'm super totes really kidding (but am I????).

 

Butterblume's menu is all over the place, but at least, they don't have 200 choices. Kimchi, buns, fried cauliflower, oatmeal, other thangs.

I started with a drink: the one item on the menu that you should ALWAYS start with. #alcoholic, am I right? This was a big winner. You know what it tasted like? Like packaged lemon pudding, back in the day. Way...WAY back. Whatever, I'm old. Anyhoot, it was fresh, it was perfect.

I continued with a cauliflower cake/bread. This was a big hit in my book. I'm talking, of course, of the "Big book of Marie., blogger extraordinaire". It was really moist (I will PAY someone to find a word that means exactly the same thing) and packed with that cauliflower yumminess. It was a bit on the oily side but who gives a sh*t when it's that good? No one. No one does. The cherry on top was taking a bite with a bit of the Italian parsley, dipped in the sweet chili sauce. YES! Oh, and a pinch of espelette pepper (seriously, this looks like a bad translation but iz what I got) gave just the right amount of spiciness!

Milk bun, pork flank, red cabbage, kimchi mayo and green onion. You had me at pork flank. No, wait, you had me at kimchi. Hold on...OK this could go on for quite a while. The bad news first; the kimchi mayo was a bit disappointing. It wasn't kimchied enough. Ya, it's a thing. Ok, that's it for the bad :) The bread was like a perfect little cloud, the pork was juicy and the cabbage had a very soft texture (without being too soft, as in it's old). Argh, I LOATHE hard ass cabbage that's difficult to eat. Insert puking emoticon. Insert puking sound. It was hot, it was of a good sandwich size and I really enjoyed this. Thoroughly. Yes, I'm serious about this sandwich.

Dessert. OK, I will be completely honest and say that I was effin full after all that food. But it looked good, and it was cheap! AND, I mean, come on, I gots to review the desserts! Chai sponge cake with cherry glaçage (haha sounds fancy!). It looked a bit dry, but, surprise surprise, it was the opposite! It was very chai-y and very cherry-y. A nice...surprise!

Service was quick and efficient. We had a pitcher of water so we could refill our glasses, which, let's face it, is usually the way to go! Apart from fancy restaurants. If I pay the big money, you BEST serve me water. I have to mention that when we went to pay at the cash, the girl was not friendly. OK, she wasn't friendly at all. First of all, it took her a while to figure out which seats we were at (down there! at the wall! near the exit!), and she gave us some attitude to boot. Meh.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 8

Apart from the hipster-y-ness of it all, I really enjoyed the food, so, yes, I'll probs be goin' back!

Luca

This is my second time on Grand Cayman. I came here last March to visit my old roomie, Rachie, who is from here (one of the 12 people that are actually FROM here), her husband Carl and their little one, Nini! One of the things I remembered the most fondly was Boozy Brunch. OK, 'remembered' is a big word. Basically, they give you mimosas until you drop. And I did drop. When we got home, I passed out on their beach for 2 hours and got a huge sunburn. It was like, 'what is that, a tomato? NO, it's Marie'. Ya. Anyhoot, I really wanted to do that again so we settled on Luca's!

Luca is located right on Seven Mile Beach, in a building that comprises of long and short term luxury condo rentals. We had a table indoors because it was oh-so-hawt, but the view from outside was just jaw dropping. Well, pretty much everywhere you go in Cayman has jaw dropping views. I wanna live here. I wanna live here so bad. But enough about my moving day. The restaurant is quite big inside and has a big terrasse as well. It's a bit on the dark side indoors, with lots of dark wood and dark ceilings. It's a good thing I was wearing my hot AND sexy (ya, that's right) dress because the hot girls started pouring in right after we were seated. I say 'it's a good thing' like I was gonna hit that or something. I wish. I. Wish. 

You get in and before even entering the restaurant, the dessert table is there to tease the hell outta you, and when you get in, dang, there is, wait for it, a plethora of platters filled with seafood (hello!!!) and breakfast fixings and fish and meat. Oh my! Basically, everything that is good on earth (except mr unaffordable lobster). I am MADE for all-you-can-eat buffets: I totally prep my stomach for it. You know, like the people that enter pie eating competitions? Like that. The stomach is a muscle, people! The trick is I eat a bit less the day before and in the morning, I'll eat maybe an egg and a fruit. That's it! You get there and you eat slowly so that your stomach doesn't fill up so quickly. Follow me. Trust in Marie.

As soon as my ass hit the chair, we were asked if we were going to go all the way (with the mimosas, not with the waitress). The answer to this question is yes. Always yes! Don't even think about it and just nod in the right direction for bottomless mimosas!

My first plate was...seafood! Just FYI, most of my plates were seafood. Why? Hello!!! I want to have my money's worth, I eat the expensive stuff. Sheesh! I put some crab legs in there, shrimp, mahi mahi ceviche, lobster salad, and a devilled egg, because I likes me a good devilled egg. I don't even know what to say about the crab: it's crab... it's the second to best piece of seafood you can eat. With butta. Oh, the butta! I had crab on every subsequent plate. The shrimp were good, you know, your normal shrimp. They had like 4 sauces to go along with the yummy shrimp. The lobster salad, although very flavourful, was a tad on the squishy side. Meh. Hey, at least I had like 3000 more things to choose from! The mahi mahi ceviche was damn good. DAMN good. Which is why I had it at least twice more. The flavours were right on and they weren't overpowering either. Very citrusy, which is what I like, Nay, love. The egg made me laugh because who makes devilled eggs this way? My friend Little Boo, that's who! I had to send her a picture. For all you non-makers of devilled eggs, you usually cut it the other way, so that the egg is longer and more stable on the plate. It was good but not the best.

Oysters!!!! As some of you know, I used to hate oysters. Ugh, just the thought of having something slimy go down my throat was enough to make me gag. It's a good thing those days are over and I am able to fully appreciate those bad boys. I've eaten some from the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean... and my next words were going to be 'but never from the Caribbean' (she says with a big smile) but my friend has assured me that they probs got em' from the States. Damn YOU Donald Trump! OK, he has nothing to do with this, but...any chance I get...#FUdonaldtrump Point is, they were oh-so-good and juicy and just briny enough. Mmmm, just add a bit of tabasco and lemon, and you've got yoself a partay!

The salmon tataki had some cumin on it and was rather sweet, but not too sweet. It was really good. This, coming from a girl who used to be an expert at tataki (yes, I am many things). The tuna with sesame was good but not as good as the one we used to prepare at Sushi Taxi.

The meat! They had a table with a rather good looking man, serving up manly meat. I'm not straight, I swear it! Anyhoot, I had the rack of lamb and the ribs. The beef Wellington wasn't ready yet. As soon as I got back to the table, Carl asked me why I had taken the really REALLY fatty ribs. My only answer was that it is automatic for me to have the ribs. I see ribs, I want to eat ribs. But they were on the fatty side and not uber tasty (my life is over!). The lamb saved the day: juicy, tender, perfectly cooked and full of flavour. I was pacing myself so I had only taken one piece but man, I could've gone for at least another 4 (or 8). I saw someone bring the beef Wellington (not pictured) to the table and I may (or may not) have tripped, trying to get there faster. I gots to say, it was very good. BUT the dough around it was a tad on the undercooked side. 

The duck carpaccio. It was really really good. With a bit of sweet mango on top, this hit the spot. You know, THE spot. Nothin' else to say but YUM!

Not pictured is the beef carpaccio, with some wasabi butta, man! That butter made the dish, and then some!

The winners for me were the craaaaaaab (mmmm, put some clarified butta on that sh*t) and the mahi mahi ceviche. Mahi mahi is not a fish with much flavour, so koodos for making it so damn tasty!

Let's not forget dessert. As you can attest, I did not go overboard (taps herself on the shoulder). I had a tiny lemon tart (how tiny can one be?), which had just the right amount of lemon without being too tart, the sweet brownie with crunchy chocolate on top, the cheese cake with soft berry mousse that was just melt-in-your-mouth awesome and the meringue pop on a stick that was just so cute! Well, it was good too: crunchy and sweet as a meringue should be!

Service was 150% on par the whole way. We got seated in a second, got water and drinks in a minute. Our mimosas were filled every couple minutes which made for a very happy (and drunk) Marie. We could hear them opening prosecco bottles left and right. That is the sound of heaven, right there. They took our plates away as soon as they were empty. Now THAT's service, my friends!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 9.5

I really want to say that I'll be back but, let's face it, I don't live here. Sadly. And with roughly 115$CAD (including tip) a pop, I can only do one boozy brunch per visit. Last time was at Agua, this time at Luca's, next, we're heading to the Ritz baby!

Ruff Haus

Ruff Haus is the new dog café in Verdun (so new that they don't have a real sign yet...). I happen to be good friends with the owner of the first one in Montreal, Le Doggy Café, so it was great to be able to compare them. I loves me a good resto comparison. I strive on it. I live for it. I'm totally exaggerating. Big time.

Ruff Haus is located in the old Jo Blo, which had a very eclectic décor. Well, you know what? Ruff Haus kept the EXACT same décor. Jo Blo was somewhat of a steak house with very dark walls (some might call them black), big couches, two life size horses with stuff written on them like the name of the old restaurant, and frames on the walls of pin up girls and what have you. The only dogs on the wall were at the front and they were, well, ugly. I'm sorry, I don't like ALL dogs and they were those small dogs that just do nothing, you know! Anyhoot, needless to say that this wasn't my most liked decorated place.

They have a liquor license, by the way, which they probably also kept from Jo blo, hehehe. I'm kidding, you can't do that! Oh and I must mention that it was written on their facebook page AND on google that they were opening at 10am but they ended up changing it to noon. Lucky me, I passed by after gym, saw it was still closed at 10h30am and called closer to noon when someone picked up. When I got there, at least 4 or 5 people were waiting up front. Not cool. 

Comparison to be made: at Le Doggy Café, dogs can roam around freely, they can make new doggy buddies and frolic around like it's 1999. In this resto, dogs have to be kept on a leash, which makes things a tad less exciting. I thought this was about laws and licenses and what not but my friend told me it's a choice! What fun is it for a dog to be amongst other dogs if they can't play together? What was nice though is that as soon as you sit down, they bring a little bowl of water for the doggies. We were there for a while and they never asked once if the dogs should go outside to pee. Actually, we saw them pick up the pee of a couple dogs. It happens, I know. It would happen less if they would mention the outdoor peeing.

Their menu is all over the place. I'm talking like Italian meets Korean, or Chinese meets Caribbean. Ya, ALL over the place! Example: they have an item on the menu that comprises of fried chicken and waffles AND mac n' cheese. What? They have bagels, they have crepes, they have the popular avocado-on-toast and then they have lentil soup, hummus, corn dogs and sides of marinade, extra veggies, extra fruits, and smoked meat? I just don't get it. I had an even weirder dish...

Polenta with a poached egg, ham, cheese and red pepper coulis. Weird sounding, right? Right. There were some crunchy parsnips on top which were sweet but a tad over fried. Parsnips are SO in right now. The egg was perfect. I loves me a perfectly seasoned egg! The coulis was a bit grainy although it strangely went well with the rest of the dish. The polenta was a PLENTY. Dsamn! I swear, this is how it went down: 1st guy: 'How much polenta should we put on the plate?' 2nd guy: 'THIS much.' 1st guy: 'A tower of polenta it is then!' Ya, a tower. I swear it was 6 inches high. And by 'I swear', I mean 'around' 6 inches. The polenta was cheesy and crunchy on the edges but there was just too much of it! On the other hand, there wasn't nearly enough ham. There were only tiny little pieces of it. Meh.

Service was good. They checked on us, they brought us AND the dogs water and they were patient enough to wait for us to order because we were waiting for a friend.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7

Service: 8

Obviously, I'm biased (and damn it, I tried not to be!) but I'll go back to Le Doggy Café before I return to Ruff Haus.

 

Taqueria Arturo

Did I ever mention how much I love resto invites? Well, I dso. I doodelidoo. Taqueria Arturo, a little newbie on Prince Arthur's cobblestones, decided they needed some brunch experts. Hello, my name is Marie-Christine, and I am a brunch expert. What is also exciting when I get invited is choosing who to bring. I owe you 10 bucks? I bring you. You made me dinner? I bring you. You took my shift at work when I really needed it? I bring you. I haven't seen you in over a year? I bring Cat. Cat is my oldest friend in the world: when I got to Toronto in grade 4, she's the one that was nice to me on my first day in school and we've been friends ever since. Almost 28 years later.... (F*CK we're old)

Taqueria Arturo has gotten good reviews so far. This is how I see things: if they have good reviews, I'm excited to go and try the food/service and if they have bad reviews, I'm excited to go and try the food/service. The only difference is that one will get a good review and one will get a bad one. I'm never truly disappointed when I eat at a bad/awful resto because it just means that my readers (yes, I have many readers and they are MINE!) will get to know about it.

Maybe it's because the cobblestone part of Prince-Arthur looks like ASS in the winter time, but looking at the restaurant from outside, it could've looked better. From the side, you only see a sign that says 'Taqueria' and then when you're in front, you see their bandito sign with the name on it. Not the BEST marketing! But anyhoot. You get in and it's a two parter: there are about 16 seats on the first floor and then you go up some steps and there's another room. Lots of wood, some colour here and there and high ceilings. And then, there's the music: quite pleasant at first but then it seemed like they were playing around with the base and that got a tad UNpleasant.

When we arrived, I mentioned my name, my blog, and the fact that I was invited and... nada! His face was priceless. And then MY face was priceless, as in, oh shiiiiit, am I in the right place? Hahaha! At the end of our brunch, the chef actually came out and HE knew who I was so at least that was that, but still. Communication, people!

The mimosa. Hibiscus mimosa! I LOVE mimosas! Last year, when I went to the Cayman Islands, we went to an all-you-can-eat/bottomless mimosa brunch and OH.MY.GOD. HOLY shit. I just remember taking a really long nap on the beach after and waking up 3 hours later, hungover as all hell. The mimosa could have been a bit colder and it could have had more bubbles. Anyone who knows me knows I loves me some bubbles. Hence why I was literally addicted to Coca-Cola when I was younger. And then I discovered Perrier, a much healthier alternative :) If I hadn't known it was hibiscus, I could've named a bunch of other fruits it tasted like. It tasted exotic-ish but that's about it. Still, I had two. Duh.

Le plat! I had the Benedicto: buttermilk biscuit, poached eggs, pork belly, chipotle hollandaise and home fries. The biscuit, made in house (YES!), was so buttery and flaky and just damn perfect. I hadn't had a buttermilk biscuit in a while and dsamn! This one, I would have every freaking day. The potatoes were spicy, seasoned just right, and had the exact right amount of cooking: they weren't too hard and they weren't mushy. I hate too hard. I HATE mushy! The eggs were PERFECT. And as ya'll know, I'm egg-difficult. Or eggficult. Mmmmyes. Just runny enough to infiltrate the biscuit. OH YA! The chipotle hollandaise was literally out of this world (OK, not 'literally'. Unless....Alright, I'm diverging here): it was spicy but not overly so and peppery and fit 100% in the dish. I had never tasted hollandaise like this before! I want more. Now. The pork belly. Ah, le belly of le pork. Imma gonna make somethin' clear right now: pork is ALWAYS good. Well, except when it's dry and sh*t but let me make something else clear: pork is ALWAYS good. It was juicy, it was fatty but not too much, it was oh-so-tasty.

When I ordered chorizo, I thought I was going to get the sausage. Instead, I got ground chorizo. It was still good, but a tad disappointing. It was seasoned in all the right ways but too dry for its own good. BTW, when you type 'too dry' in google, you mostly get two words: 'toad' and 'intercourse'. Just thought I'd share this.

Service was good and not that good. It was uneven. Yes, that's would be the perfect word! As mentioned, he didn't know who the f I was. I obviously don't mean 'you should KNOW me', but more like 'I was invited so you should know I'm-a-comin' '. We sat down, we got water (points!), and since Cat and I hadn't seen each other in 8 years (I like to exaggerate), we took some time to order le food. But once ordered, it did take QUITE the time for the food to get to us. You know... there's waiting, and then, there's waiting. It was just long enough for Cat and I to look at each other and say yo I'm hungry! Anyway. Obviously, the food wasn't a problem! The guy wasn't super smily nor super pleasant and forgot more than once to bring more water. Nearing the end of our meal, he was getting friendlier and smilier tho. The service was on the slow side and the waiter never checked if we were enjoying the food. Actually, he asked us if we had liked it, when we were done.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8
Service: 6

I really liked the food and I might go back for a good benedicto but I'll try other places first.