Viet Express

I was walking along Wellington Street in Verdun the other day, you know, shoppin'. And by shoppin', y'all KNOW I mean looking for restaurants. I don't necessarily want/need to go to the most popular/talked about restaurants. Actually, most of the times, I just want to do they opposite! Hey, I became the number TWO blogger by going to random restaurants and not by going to the newest places or the ones with celebrity chefs. That's just the way I dso shiz.

Viet Express is one of the new babies on Wellington, a very bustling and ever-developing street in Verdun (ps: Verdun rocks). It's almost like Notre-Dame West where there's a new restaurant every freaking week (ya, that's a fact). Anyhoot, I found this tiny place and, being half-Asian and all, I was automatically drawn to it. Tiny: 4 seats and very narrow. They have a tiny altar for Buddha and his friends on the ground, that is actually embedded in the counter. Wow, Buddha be special. They sell other things like Pocky (yes!) and Pringles (what?).

I knew exactly what I was having: something I had many times before at marché Hung Phat (oh how I love thee): grilled chicken with vermicelli + veggies with some nuoc mâm (a fermented fish based sauce). YES. For me this is some kind of heaven. I gotta say it was not nearly as good here. Don't get me wrong, it was aight, but the meat, although nicely grilled and tender, lacked in flavor and seemed a couple hours too old. The vermicelli, a tad on the overcooked side. The veggies were nice and crunchy and slightly marinated which was AWESOME in ma mouth. The green onions, like the chicken, seemed a bit on the old side. I loved all the different textures though. I just love putting everything together and mixin' it up. THAT is what I like. And then, drizzling that lovely sauce on top. YES!

Service was good. I had it as take out because of 2 reasons: a: I was in a hurry and b: I think I would've taken up the whole sitting space with my gym stuff. Took about 10 minutes to get my food. I just kept on looking at the girl preparing it, with her long black hair dangling over my food. Ugh. Trust me when I say I looked for hair while I was eating.

And now, le score!

Food: 6.5

Lots of places to try. Yep.

Junior

A new restaurant opened a couple months ago near my restaurant (yes, it's mine...all miiiiine!) and the owner kept on coming for sushi and telling us about this place so we were bound to go at some point. Tonight, I went with my partner in crime, Val, thinking hey, we're gonna have a good Filipino dinner (and there are just a handful of Filipino restaurants in MTL...) in a cute little place.  Mmmmya, we were wrong.

The place itself, we weren't wrong about: it's very cute, with vibrant colours, tiny, about 40 seats, complete with a very good vibe and ambiance. It's kind of like being in your living room with some strangers. 

I got there and 5 minutes later, we ordered and 2 minutes after that, I got my wine glass. So far, so good. 

And then...

Lumpia: pork and veggie rolls. Nothing exceptional at all. Even the sauce needed adjustments so we added Suka Pinakurat sauce which is a hot and sweet chili sauce and then it was just too vinegary. Pffff. This was a fail. A fail that cost us 7$.

This fish literally tasted like, hum, what's the word I'm looking for? Nothing. The onions and peppers were good but could not save the dish.

Seriously, I don't even feel like talking about this dish. Vermicelli that was overcooked with tiny (and when I say tiny, I mean tiny) shrimp and some veggies. When I say I could not detect  any flavor in there, I'm right. No, you KNOW I'm right. We had to drench it in relatively hot sauce for it to taste like anythin'.

Adobo chicken with lemongrass. I could detect a bit of taste but not nearly as much as I wanted. If I hadn't known there was lemongrass in there, I could not have tasted it. At least the chicken was moist and the broth not too salty.

We also ordered some rice, do NOT ask me why. It was very blend and way too pasty.

Service was alright. I think I was more preoccupied with the lacking aspects in the food to even notice most of the service. I mean, we got some water, they asked if we wanted a second drink, they gave us food. It did take a while to get the bill. And when you want to really leave, you want your bill quickly god damn it!

And now, the scores!

Food: 4
Service: 7

I'm gonna say something very wise right about now: I will not go back.

 

Saigon VIP

My bro, his gf and his friend came to see me at work so when they said they were going to go out and eat at a resto, I was like whhhhaaaaat I'll go with you! We hit the nearest vietnamese place, Saigon VIP.

I love going to asian restaurants because a: its bound to be good and b: its very fast service! And they did not disapoint. Plus, I had about 40 minutes max for my break from work so it had to be chop chop chop!

The place itself is meh: yellow walls, CH flags, tv, nothing appealing there. Maybe around 40 seats and 2 waitresses. BUT very efficient: we ordered and 6 or 7 minutes later, we had our food.

I had the grilled chicken, vegetarian spring roll and vermicelli. It reminded me of Marché Hung Phat! And lord knooooows I love that place! The chicken was moist and tasty, the spring roll, even if so simple, was great as well. The vermicelli, I found, was overcooked. You just have to mix everything together, put some hot sauce in there and BAM! Goodness! And I like to rip up the mint leaves and spread them all over! Oh and it makes for marvellous left overs!

Service was great: we got water as soon as we sat down, and as mentioned before, our food was there in less than 10 minutes. The wait staff was very present which is always appreciated!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8

Service: 8.5

If you have a short amount of time to eat, go there! If you want to eat a good, simple yet savoury meal, go there :)