Milos

When a restaurant has a lunch special, you go. When a fancy restaurant has a lunch special, y'all have no choice, you freaking go! Actually, Jer bear, Lea and I were totes excited to eat at this Korean resto not far from Milos, but it was closed! Grrr. I hate it when that happens. We started walking towards St-Viateur and noticed Milos. Jer said 'hey, they have a lunch special. And so, Greek food it was!

The place itself is a bit, what's the word I'm looking for, fancy. Yep, it's totes fancy. Someone takes your jacket at the door, waiters wear long white aprons, the lunch table d'hôte is, yikes, 25$. Plus tip, plus taxes. OK, I guess I should've known; it's Milos after all! The place itself seems very grandiose once you get in. I felt a bit out of place (read: a lot). We were all wearing sweatshirts and I was thanking my lucky stars (yes, sometimes I do that) that I had decided against wearing my jogging pants!

They brought us some warm bread to start off with some very good olive oil. I loves dippin' my bread in olive oil.

My entrée was the salmon tartar. So good. So fresh! Perfect cut. Hallelujah! I've had a couple tartars that were cut way too big recently and it is just NOT the same. There was a tiny bit of spice in there; just enough to give it a nice kick. LOVED it. I love me some good kicks, you know? The sesame flat bread was an excellent vessel for the tartar eating. Mmmmmm. I might even go as far as saying that this one might just be one of the best I've had. Eva. Ya. I'm dsoin it.

The main. Now, this was my bad. MA. BAD. My friends laughed at my choice and I think they will, until I dsie. Who eats chicken in a restaurant? Well, in my defense, I hadn't eaten chicken in a whiiiile and I felt like eating just that! In hindsight, I should've chosen either the freaking lamb or the fish, but nooooo, I chose the damn chicken. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but it was still chicken. It was really moist and well charred. The grilled tomato, although a good idea (ish), was meh and left me really wondering why it was on my plate. The fries were a big disappointment: too soft and, well, old. The pita was good and fluffy, although it was a bit too charred. Basically, Jer bear compared this to when I ordered chicken pho: just not the good choice.

The dessert: baklava ice cream. This was very good. Little chuncks of baklava in there with a slight hint of cherry. Yum!

 

Service was right on the whole time. It was actually wow. Water: refilled. Crumbs on table: cleaned up with a ramasse-miettes (a little piece of metal that high end restaurants use to clean the crumbs off of the tables). Dishes: always in a timely manner. I actually wrote in my notes that the service was 'quick-ass'. Yep, that quick.

 

And now, the scores!

 

Service: 9

Food: 7 damn you chicken!

 

I think I'll go back, perhaps for dinner. Try a whole other level of fanciness :)  

Pandan Snack Bar



I had tried Crèmerie Pandan this summer and fell in love with their Thai rolled ice cream. Like, legit fell in love. Like, I looked at it longingly while I ate it at an incredible speed. But enough about my love story with ice cream. Madhuri, the owner AND daughter of one of my friends, Nantha (who does wonderful cooking things in Montreal) invited me to try her new menu that comprises of Malaysian treats. Malaysian you say? Treats you say? Oh, I am IN!

She added a little counter in the tiny TINY restaurant, which makes for a way better eating spot than the curb, haha! Last summer, I had gone to try that loverly ice cream and they didn't have a counter nor a bench outside so I sat on a curb, looking homeless. Ah, the good ol' days! Now, it's pimped with a nice counter with seats that are not high enough for me, hahaha. Damn it! I hate being short in these situations!! I ate half on, half off. At least I was able to put my food on an actual surface.

She put up a very small menu on a big board. Hey, I prefer smaller menus any day of the week! Those menus with 86 choices are the bane of my existence!

I had the all-dressed Popiah wrap. Basically, it is THIS: pandan (plant used to heighten flavours in many dishes) infused wrap, lettuce, house sauce, house sambal, braised jimaca+carrot, blanched green beans, bean sprouts, fried shallots, toasted peanut dust and omelette strips. Since I had the all-dressed one, I also had some grilled prawns, Chinese sausage and crispy fried tofu. I think that's it, hahaha! It was full, but well wrapped. It was also accompanied by marinated veggies: cucumber, cabbage and garlic shoots! I loves me a good garlic shoot! These were quite intense tho. Whoa!!! Madhuri said that next time she'll most likely cook them before to take a bit of that, what's the word?, garlic-ness out. The wrap was not heavy, as a lot can be with all that bread. The good thing about THIS wrap was that it was ubs thin and ubs UN-heavy. Or light as one would say. It's actually called a skin. THAT's how thin it is! It's made out of wheat flour and made into somewhat of a crepe, if you will. You can read all about it HERE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popiah When everything is homemade, it makes a hell of a difference. A HELL of a difference! On top of it, she was using recipes from her mom AND grand-mother. It felt so personal, which was lovely! As soon as I had my first bite, I was hooked. Like, you know, on a drug. A drug called Popiah! That was a bad joke and I am very, VERY sorry. An explosion of flavours hit my taste buds. The ONLY not 100% good thing (does that even make sense?) was the sausage. I found it a tad on the hard side. But that'll be all!

The Pok Pok! OR pandan ice cream, milk bread bun, peanuts and condensed milk. That little homemade (yes, I told you that EVERYTHING was homemade) bread was great! Albeit a tiny bit on the hard side, it was a great alternative to the usual cookie. The ice cream was ubs fresh and supes tasty! The peanuts added a nice little crunch that countered the ice cream and, hello, condensed milk. I was pretty much drooling as she was pouring it all over the dessert. Rrrrrrraaaaa. This was quite the winner.

Service was great. Duh. It was one-on-one as no one else was in there. We talked about how she came to open the resto, about her recipes and about her family. Water was in a pitcher on the counter, so that was perf. She made the food in front of me whilst telling me what she was doing, so that was amazeballs.

And now, the scores!!!

Food: 9
Service: 10

Can't wait to go back! Either for a great wrap OR for that out-of-this-world rolled ice cream!

 

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!

Alegria

The first night Boo and I were in Samanà, Dominican Republic, we walked down from our bed and breakfast to Punta Popy, a picturesque beach. Can I go back now please? Mmmmthanks! There's a line up of restos right on the other side of the beach, overlooking it, and it is just SO UGLY to look at. Or, you know, the opposite. We were looking for a drink at first so we headed to Alegria. And then we beached it up and came back for dinner!

The place is the cutest thang ever: all white with some red and light blue, and palm tree leaves as a roof. A very waterproof roof. We were actually sitting in the common area of our bed and breakfast while it was pouring and we were in awe. Imagine two girls looking up at the roof, with our mouths wide open. We sat at a counter facing the water. Argh, that view SUCKED. Or, you know, was the best thing ever.

We both had what we could only describe as "the blue drink". Actually, it was called "Aquarium". It was quite intense! And it was such a huge drink. Oh, I ain't complaining :p It was fuuuull of alcohol too. Again, not complaining! Blue Curacaô, rhum, tequila, Martini and sugar. Having a drink in front of the beach and the palm trees is pretty much THE dream. That sh*t never gets old.

We were tipsy and ready to hit the beach! So we walked about 20 steps hahaha!!! Had a little swim, played with a stray dog, and went back to Alegria for dinner!

We shared dishes, of course. I had the parsley and garlic shrimp (duh!). The shrimp were cooked just perf and were so freaking tasty!!! Mmmm... gaaaarlic shrimp :) :) If you want to make me happy, gimme some garlic shrimp. Enter Homer Simpson drooling sound. The fries were OK, really not the best. I obviously did not order this for the fries.

Boo had the octopus in a creole sauce with some veggies. The veggies were perfectly cooked: not too soft nor too hard, but quite salty. There was plenty of octopus in there. It was perf and ubs taste! Those creole spices went really well in there. For a dish that cost a bit less than the equivalent of 20 $CAD, it was oh so worth it. It was on the salty side of things though. Like a lot. Like so much that we wondered why we had salt on the table. We also wondered if they simply had taken the water from the sea and cooked with it. Seriously. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but whhhaaayyyy too salty!

Service was awesome throughout the meal. Actually, pretty much everywhere we went to eat in Samanà had damn good service. They were attentive, they asked us if we liked it, they refilled our water. Kidding. We did NOT drink the water. Actually, I must have swallowed some whilst brushing my teeth, because I got the, well, let's just say I was ubs sick for a good week after returning to Montreal.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7 ALL that salt!
Service: 8.5

I'd like to say I'll go back but it IS kind of far!!!

Isshin Ramen

I hadn't seen my bestie Tes and her main man Marky in over a year and, damn it, I missed them. We did what we did best: ramen! Isshin ramen is on many of Toronto's best ramen lists. Hello. AND hello. The ramen quest continues...in Toronto!!! Hey, a ramen quest is a ramen quest!

We went there during prime lunch time, last Saturday, at around 1PM. It was FUUULL. Fortunately for us, the turn over is very high. I loves me a good turnover. That sounds weird, but I'm sticking to it. That's actually what I put on my Tinder account to get all the ladies: 'I likes me a good turnover'. And I get them ALL. I'm totes kidding, unfortunately. Or fortunately?

 

Moving on. The place is cute, with small tables, very close to one another. An open kitchen at the front made for a nice welcome: all those smells and kitchen hustle and bustle. Just what I like! A big painting of a dragon on the long wall completed the décor of the place.

We were there for the ramen, but we wanted a little somethin' somehtin' extra, too! We started with Takoyaki. Or deep fried octopus balls. Hehe, octopus balls. Balls. I shall stop being 12. It was supes hot. The way every hot dish is supposed to be. Not cold, not luke warm, hot. Hot god damn it! Can you tell I have a thing with my dishes' temperature? I dso. I HATE it when the actual plate is cold and I LOATHE it when something that is supposed to be a certain temp, is not that temp. Aaaaaanyway, moving on! Those were little balls of heaven. Heaven in a ball. Mmmm! They were meaty and moist and all that good shtuff (the h ain't a mistake, people).

Pork gyoza. I loves me a good gyoza. Or dumpling if you prefer. They were marvelously crispy and juicy. OK, juicy enough. No one likes a dumpling burn. Dipped in a nice little sauce that screamed umami, they were even bets (better... no I will not stop abbreviating words)!

And now, la pièce de résistance: el ramen! They have a bunch of different types of ramen and they ALL look so awesome! It looked soooo good!!! I had the miso ramen. As soon as it hit the table, I felt my mouth watering. The broth was on the thicker side, which is what I love in my ramen. I had ordered extras like a marinated egg and nori: the nori is, well, nori (always good), and the egg was right on par. I gots to try making my own marinated eggs. Yaassss!!! The noodles were a bit meh. I mean, they were not not good, but I found them way too large and there were too many in my bowl. They serve up different types of noodles (which, by the way, are made specifically for Isshin Ramen by a Japanese noodle manufacturer, and delivered every other day) in different ramen. I just felt like my noodles, since they were larger, were heavier and I got full way quicker than I should've. The meat was supes taste and just fatty enough. I just wish there would've been more of it. I want more of everything, god damn it! Oh, except noodles. Less noodles please.

Service was quick and efficient. You know what I'm gonna say: Asian restos have the quickest and the most efficient service. ALL. The. Damn. Time. They checked up on us and they refilled our water. No fuss no muss.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 8.5

I really enjoyed this ramexperience (change approved!), but there are SO many ramen restos in Toronto!! I think it's safe to say I'll go to another one before I go back to this 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 Diplomate

I was looking for a new restaurant to write about and, let's face it, I really needed one: I like to have a couple reviews on the back burner, and that's how I feel safe. I've had nothin' on that burner for the past week and I was starting to go a bit cray. And so, ma gurl Clo and I decided on Le Diplomate, since it had gotten good reviews from her husband, who isn't a stranger to good food and good times. He IS the head mixologist at the Fairmount Queen E after all!

We headed to le Diplomate, a year and a half old restaurant in nowhere, Montréal. I kid, I kid. But not really. Seriously, it's in front of the Home Depot On Beaubien. AWESOME view. Hahaha! I mean, it is close to St-Laurent and little Italy and all, but for ME, it was waaaaayyy out of my way. This tells you how much I wanted to go! The door is almost camouflaged, and I walked right passed it. Clo stopped and was like dude hello. I gotta say it does not look very inviting from outside. It looks more like, what's the word I'm looking for? A prison. Yep, it looks like a full on prison.

When you enter the resto, it's a different feeling :) A long counter overlooks the kitchen, and only a couple tables surround it. We obviously wanted first dibs on what felt like the chef's table, so sought after in other restaurants . You get to see how the chef works and how everything happens!!! I LOVE that! We sat down and I immediately mentioned the music: 90's music from ma time. That made me very happy.

We started with some wine. Everyone should start a meal with some wine; this should be a universal rule. Almost without looking at the wine list (which is quite extensive, by the way), Clo said "we'll take a glass of orange wine". I was like WTF is orange wine. Turns out it's a thang, man! To sum it up VERY shortly, orange wine is a white wine with tannins. Read up about it here: http://winefolly.com/review/orange-wine/ It was sweet, it was sour. It was almost citrusy. A very nice and new discovery! It's rather hard to get: apparently some SAQ get about a case a week and an orange wine obsessed person just buys the whole thing ASAP. Some restaurants have it but they are quite rare. Orange wine is gaining in popularity, people. Sell it. Sell it good!

Our first bouchée was celeriac with green curry, coconut milk, and peanuts. This was such a great introduction to Le Diplomate!!! We had our first bite and were instantly wowed! That green curry made such an impact on our taste buds! It wasn't over curried, if that's a thing, and it legit tasted refreshing. It was like eating a nice curried noodle, but without the carbs! Such a great mix of flavours. The peanut offered a crunch to counterbalance the celeriac. Everything in this dish was on the damn ball.

Our second bouchée was eggplant, sesame, green onion, and gai choi. This was a hit and miss. Firstly, the colour wasn't ubs (uber, get with it) appetizing: somewhat grey. Grey food is not the best thing for the eyes, ya know? The eggplant was a bit mushy (technical word, of course) and unevenly salted. The rest was great and it was my first time eating gai choi, which, before rereading the menu, I thought was fennel. #dumbass It added the crunch that was much needed with that too-soft eggplant. Needless to say we didn't go cray for this.

We continued with the regular menu next. Brussels sprouts, tamarin and quinoa. This was another wow experience. Have you ever tasted quinoa foam? No? Well, we did! And it was magical. It legit tasted of quinoa and they added some acid and some honey to balance it. The brussel sprouts were perfectly charred. It was such a cute little dish and an awesome one at that. I'd go back every day only to have that bad boy.

Scallop with kohlrabi, daikon and peach. The scallop was raw, which, let's face it, is the best way to eat it. There were also camelina seeds, which are also called gold-of-pleasure. HAHAHA!!! These little balls of heaven taste akin to hazelnut. Mmmmm!!! Scallop and camelina: match made in nutty heaven! I didn't taste the dikon much and the kohlrabi was, on the other hand, a bit too present. Maybe it's because there wasn't enough scallop in there. ALWAYS put more scallop. ALWAYS. Or, you know, in a perfect world. I thought the kohlrabi tasted way too much like the celeriac, even though I am aware they are two different vegetables. The peach also wasn't sweet enough, so the point of putting it in there was sort of lost. All in all, not a big winner.

We had only ordered four dishes and had to order another one because we were still totes hungry. We had the salsify with cucumber, mint and black beans. I think I've eaten salsify once in my life so I had no basis for comparison. This was really good. It was good IN MA MOUTH. I loved the salsify: texture and taste were right on. The mint added a bit of sweetness and the black beans added a bit of a salty side to it all. The cucumber was perfectly cut in a perfect brunoise. It was perf. Did I mention the perfect cut? Mmmmya. All these ingredients went really well together. Who would've thought?

To finish off, obviously, we had to order dessert! They had three choices. We had the carrot semifreddo with spiced cake, chocolate and églantier. OK, apparently, 'églantier., in English is 'dog rose', but that's just weird. Anyway, moving passed it. The eglantine gave a punch of flavor and the semifreddo was just thick and carotty enough! Yum! The actual cake was unfortunately a bit on the dry side and the chocolate would have been much better on top than on the bottom. This way, it would have enveloped everything. Since it was right at the bottom, it was harder to get to while eating the dessert, and in the end, harder to... lick off the plate :)

Service was awesome when we first got in and as soon as it filled up, it became a bit slower. No wonder... they were only two! The woman was really sweet and smiley and the chef seemed really calm even when the resto filled up. He just did his thang. I give him props for bringing out dishes in such a timely fashion. We were asked if we liked our food and were offered dessert at the end of our meal. They answered all questions we had about our dishes.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8
Service: 7.5

It's so out of my way that I don't see myself going back right now. Perhaps in the summer time when I won't wait FORTY minutes for the bus. Ew.

La Binerie Mont-Royal

Jer Bear absolutely wanted to go to La Binerie, since, like, the dawn of time. This was me all summer: 'dude, let's wait until it's colder'. Finally, as soon as the temperature hit 0 C, Jer wrote to me and said 'let's go!'. And so, to the binerie we went!

You get inside and man is it ever small. There are people seated at the counter on the right and people at the very small two-person tables on the left. We got the only free spot. This place could not be more traditional, with its rigodon music, and everything old, I swear it was almost like we were dining in les Filles de Caleb. OK, I said 'almost'. But it was seriously like we were going back in time.

I started with a nice pea soup. Yep, I was planning on farting all day. Oh, by the the way, I need to say 'I'm sorry' to my coworkers. Sooooo sorry. It was hooooot! It had the perfect texture and it had just enough salt to not be tasteless. Trop réconfortant! I got Jer to finish it for one reason only: the farts.

Meatball stew. Ragoût de boulettes. There aren't that many things more Québécois than this, I tells you. Mashed potatoes, veggies  and ragout de boulettes (with lots and lots and LOTS of gravy). The meat was perfectly moist (cringe-damn that word!) and the sauce, although a tad too thick (seriously, I think it was nearing the solid state) had a bit of cinnamon in it which was ubs nice. The potatoes were silky and buttery: just god damn perfect, really. The veggies were kind of an afterthought for me: why would you eat these if you can pig out on meat and gravy? Let's face it, not the most appetizing plate but damn it was it good (and filling).

My main Asian boy said 'jveux juste des fèves au lard'. The man looked at him like, dude, come on. And he then he offered him a piece of tourtière and his eyes lit up. By the way they make some mean beans. With a name like 'La Binerie', they have to, right? And that tourtière. DAMN! I think we both could've handled another piece of that heavenly meat pie. The spices were just right, the crust was perfect, and the meat was spot on. Basically all words that mean the same thing. Hahaha.

Pouding chomeur. This is a very important part of Québec's culinary history. Very. You find this in all the sugar shacks. Lemme just tell you that if it's not on the menu, it is not a real cabane à sucre. This was, hands down, the best pouding chomeur I've had. Eva. It was ubs sweet, just the way it should be! After all, it's not called pouding minceur, it's called pouding chomeur. get it? Ya, that was stoopid. Right after, the waiter brought us... cream! OK, it was 10% and not 35% (thank the little baby jesus). He said something like 'some people like it on their pudding'. I gave him AND Jer the evil eye and poured it all over. I likes me some cream on everything, yo!

Service was alright. Big smiles, very old school. Very. VERY. He didn't check up on us during the meal and our water was not refilled. But we did get our menu and food in a timely manner. AND, I mean, the cuteness on this old man was overwhelming.

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 7

With the amount of farting that came out of this meal, I cannot guarantee I'll go back soon, but I will. Go back.