Recent Reviews

Cafe Cubano

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:11:54 -0500

I was enticed by what I thought was an $8.50 grilled chicken plate with beans, rice, salad and yucca, so I headed into this tiny Cuban cafe. Very friendly people. Food was pretty good! Of course, a bit simpler offerings than other Latino places in the area, in keeping probably both with the size and Cuba's recent history of scarcity. But good nonetheless. The only rude shock was when I went to pay and what I thought was an $8.50 meal turned into a $12.50 meal -- apparently there was some 3pm cutoff that I was unaware of. Still, worth checking out if you are missing Cuban food or just curious.

Reservoir

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:04:06 -0500

Popular casual hangout with quite fancy food, good drinks and microbrews. Also a great breakfast spot on weekends. I usually go for American-style pancakes served with some sort of compote, a dish that usually seems to be on the menu, which changes subtly and regularly. The orange grapefruit jucie is also quite extraordinary.

Los Clasicos

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:02:05 -0400

NIce homey Mexican restaurant. I understand that they offer breakfast everyday including egg dishes, and chilaquiles. They started me off with chips and two colors of salsa. Not amazing but not bad. Then I ordered watermelon aqua fresca. I've had better but again not bad. My waiter seemed insistent that the Sopa Azteca was their finest dish so I tried it. I think in actuality his reason for wanting me to order it may have been that it is the easiest and/or cheapest dish for them to produce as it basically seemed like a repeat of the chips and salsa, this time hot and in one bowl. It was basically just a bowl of thick tomato soup with pieces of tortilla, as well as a little bit of avocado, some sour cream and a bit of cheese. It was good, but nothing wildly exciting. I will definitely be checking this place out again and finding out what other menu items are like, the breakfasts in particular.

Restaurant Noodle Factory

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:11:16 -0400

This place was brand new when I first visited -- felt like I was making a great discovery. I expect it will be given top reviews in the Mirror soon enough and be thrown to the hordes and ruined by popularity. A tiny little restaurant that specializes in noodles -- in soups with pork for the most part, although I had a vegetarian fried noodle plate that was subtle and wonderful. They also work wonders with hand-tossed dumplings -- fresh? You can watch the staff at work right before your eyes. Holy smoke! These were probably the best dumplings I have ever had. Really something. I had the vegetarian ones. The delightful sauce and freshness of the dumplings was a thing of beauty. Friendly staff too. Amazing. Not too expensive either!

Bella Pizza

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:05:29 -0400

Interesting and goood pizza is one of Montreal’s few weak points. Bella seems determined to change that state of affairs, one delicious slice at a time. A wide variety of midly unusual and quite decadent slices are on offer, and every time I've visited I've managed to score a fairly fresh slice which is a good sign. Only complaint is that the slices aren't labelled -- I thought I was ordering spinach and cheddar but it turned out to have a thick layer of chicken underneath. One slice I have yet to try but which always looks appealing is I believe ricotta and pesto (or is it some kind of zataar?). Prices are good. Quantities are plentiful. Even though the slices don't look big geographically, they ae so piled high with deliciousness that one slice is practically a meal in itself. Yum.

Pistou Dejeuner

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:00:10 -0400

On de la Roche just off of Mont-Royal, Pistou Dejeuner is a great breakfast spot. I tried the pear and chocolate crepe and the potatoes. Both were killer. Coffee flowed freely. Extraordinarily beautiful waitress. Great service. Comfortable furniture. Life is good!

Café Les Entretiens

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:57:05 -0400

Les Entretiens is a pleasant cafe near Byblos on Laurier. I'm not sure how long it's been around but it feels like an older place with a lot of character – high ceilings, a bit of a backyard patio, nice furnishings of the hardwood variety. The food is good - both times I've visited I tried the crepes with asparagus, mushrooms and cheese and been delighted both times. The coffee is good too!

Cabañas

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:25:46 -0400

Salvadorian. Cheese and loroco pupusa was ok. Cebada was ok. Not the best Salvadorian food I've had but not bad. Should try it again....

La Carreta

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:21:46 -0400

Good Salvadorian restaurant. A nice room with friendly service. I had a good cheese and loroco pupusa, it was served with a mildly and pleasantly spicy coleslaw and tasty sauce. Also tried the avocado enchilada. Not bad at all although I think it would have been better if I'd eaten it first as it probably started out nice and crunchy, but I had a bit of a pupusa emergency that I needed to attend to -- watch yourself getting coleslaw out of the jar or you could end up with a plateful of coleslaw juice like me. To drink I had the cebada -- still not entirely sure what this is despite having ordered it in every Salvadorian restaurant I've been to in Montreal, but it is refreshing and may involve almond milk.... Overall a good spot.

Fuchsia Epicerie Fleur

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:05:11 -0400

Charming little flower-themed restaurant, bakery/cake and shop. They have a daily set small meal for $10 including a main course, a drink and a desert. Also on offer coffees, flower teas, various baked goods involving flowers of some sort, and an array of products including jams, sugars, and more.

On the day I stopped by the meal was a pasta salad with lentils and mushrooms. Pretty tasty! Green lentils with cooked mushrooms, red cabbage, diced carrot penne pasta and more. It was served with rose lemonade and a lavender brownie. Everything was delicious and the service was very good and very friendly. I found the floral flavors quite understated - maybe that's a good thing, as many people find them hard to take. I don't mind them quite strong myself.

Will definitely be making this a regular stop.

Universel Restaurant Café

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:57:41 -0400

This new St-Denis spot is well designed and has good atmosphere, though it does feel like a little like something bland you'd find in the Toronto airport if you know what I mean. WIFI apparently not available so that's a strong minus for me. Coffee was ok. Chocolate banana crepe featured not chocolate but what struck me as some sort of chocolate sauce you might put on ice cream, or Quik. Not appealing. Wasn't terrible but I won't be running back. Heard poor reviews from friends as well. Main selling point here is location, assuming you're in the neighborhood, which I am. Also open for lunch, dinner and drinks I believe.

Bofinger Downtown

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:45:15 -0400

After a mediocre experience at the Bofinger on Sherbrooke I was dazzled by the meal I had at Bofinger Downtown. The differences were noticeable and specific -- the fries were crisp and plentiful, the chicken was piled high on my sandwich, and they weren't stingy with the sauce, giving me a little spare container on the side, even. I had a fear that this generosity and quality may have been connected to the fact that the place had clearly just opened and I was the only customer at the time when I went in. But let's hope not. Yummm... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it and might head back right now....

La Chaleteca

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:39:12 -0400

This used to be Dona Maria, which I think has moved somewhere east on Jean Talon. There's now a new place in the same space called La Chaleteca -- food is equally good or better, though they seemed to have dropped the maranon. But really good guacamole salad, grilled chicken dinner, excellent cebada. They new owners have made an effort to jazz things up a little with some fancy leathery placements and other decor changes. This was the previous Dona Maria review.... Excellent Salvadorian restaurant. Their bean and cheese pupusa was arguably the best pupusa I have had in town. The macuya passion fruit drink was great. The grilled chicken breast plate was excellent. Lots of appealing dishes on the menu - I'd like to go back and try more pupusas, all of the drinks -- including ones made with mara�on - which I have learned is the fruit connect to the cashew nut, lemon, and others. Probably a good place to go with a group as their are lots of appetizers that would probably be good to share. They also offer breakfasts that look good.

Bofinger

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:42:02 -0400

Had read wildly mixed reviews on Bofinger... Couldn't resist trying it as I have been pining for the BBQ chicken sandwiches from Memphis Blues in Vancouver for some time now. Bofinger was not bad at all, and the prices were very good. But I wasn't particularly impressed. The BBQ chicken sandwich featured next to no chicken and not much of their supposedly great sauce. Instead, the restaurant places an emphasis on lots of toppings, which in my opinion are not necessary - it's about the bun the chicken and the sauce - maybe some coleslaw but they need to keep it simple, ultimately, and focus on the basics. The beans were great. Coleslaw was not memorable. Fries were fine. My mother had pulled chicken. I was not impressed but she enjoyed it. My father tried the ribs and enjoyed them. Bofinger is a fine establishment and worth checking out for yourself. I will probably find myself dining in their downtown location when it opens but I would not likely travel out to NDG again especially for their BBQ.

Au Festin De Babette

Sun, 04 May 2008 11:26:32 -0400

A magical wonderland of decadence. Lots of gourmet gift foods available as well as incredible chocolates, ginger brownies and other delights. The real attraction for me one Saturday was the soft ice cream in the old-fashioned style (that's how I'm guessing one translates creme glace molle a l'ancienne).... They take a hard ice cream and blend up in some kind of ice cream machine with ingredients of your choice - I went for the orange powder which was so great with a gauffre cone. Lots of other options available and all sound equally delicious. This may be even better than Bilboquet - whose ice creams they do offer I might add. Even at $5 this cone was worth every penny - I think about going back way too frequently for my own good. Yummm!

La Petit Marche

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:25:55 -0400

Worst breakfast ever are the first words that spring to mind when trying to put pen to paper to the ghastly experience I just had at La Petit Marche. On weekends this French/Italian restaurants offers a fixed price brunch that's around $12 or 13 dollars before tax. Many eggy options are on offer as well as a selection of crepes. All include a variety of things on the plate including mushrooms, sausage, bacom, ham, potatoes, toast, orange juice, coffee and fresh fruit. The crepes also include two eggs to order.

I was tempted by the pear and chocolate crepes and ordered them without the two eggs - forgot to mention that I did not want the meats. After taking my order, my waitress abandoned me completely, taking a break and eventually ending her shift. From that point on I was without a waitress.

I did receive the orange juice and some water. The coffee was offered but never delivered. The breakfast when it finally arrived -- took a long long time I might add, was cold and totally unappealing. Considering the crepes were what was on offer, they were clearly an afterthought to the meal.

My assumption is that this place loads you up with a bunch of crappy extras they have in abundance in the kithcen and then they pay no attention to the supposed centrepiece of your meal. It feels like a factory in there.

Three tiny cold little crepes were stuffed with not much of anything and accompanied by the tiniest little thimble of maple syrup. The whole thing was miserable. After struggling to even get a bill (can't believe I paid 14 dollars for that experience), I left feeling ill. Will never return.

If you like eggs and meat maybe you could have a good meal here. It was not up to my standards and the service was godawful. Nice patio out front and it looked like there was a patio in the back as well. I was stuck inside on an unstable floor that shook constnatly as waitresses tromped around. Oh yeah -- this is weird - some waitress came and grabbed my basket of jams and peanut butters just before my breakfast came so I was forced to scavenge around the room in search of a replacement.

Boustan

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:27:52 -0400

Boustan looks like any other Montreal falafel joint but don't be fooled. The food is great. I tried the chicken shawarma sandwich and it was a thing of beauty - chicken, cole slaw, garlic mayo, maybe some pickled pink turnip etc and thrown on the grill so the pita was nice and crunchy. The potatoes that come with the trio are also delicious, served with more of the tasty garlic mayo. Delicious!

Tapioca Thé

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:36:56 -0400

It doesn't look like much outside or inside but make no mistake this is some of, if not the best Chinese and specifically Szechuan food in Montreal... and at reasonable prices.

We tried the noodles with vegetable - subtle but excellent. We tried the nappy with hot and sour sauce - nappy in this case referring to Napa cabbage - extraordinary. The sauce was, as the name suggests, not unlike the flavor of a hot and sour soup and was truly delicious. Finally we had the Imperial Chicken (aka Kung Pao). Just the right amount of numbing Szechuan peppercorns and a generous helping of fiery red chillies insured that this was no mere wallflower of a dish, add to that lots of delicious peanuts, red peppers and onions and of course chicken in an addictively delicious sauce and you have quite a dish.

If you've felt disappointed by Niu Kee lately you should check out Tapioca Thé. Many of the same dishes are on the menu as well as a variety of others. Culinary explorers may be curious to try the swamp eel!

It’s also worth mentioning that this is a bubble tea joint and there are a plethora of options in that regard including slushes, hot and cold teas and more. They make an ungodly racket in the blender but the by the smell and look of them they are really good. We were too full after the incredible meal that we couldn’t possibly touch one but maybe next time. Also check out the excellent Chinese snack and candy shop in the basement of the building or you may want to find out what the store upstairs is all about - the sign seems to indicate Elf and Dress....? I digress... Tapioca Thé is truly amazing Chinese food and our three dishes with an order of rice only came to around $20 dollars after taxes ....

El-Mundo Café Bistro

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 10:57:10 -0400

Small but appealing wifi-enabled cafe at the corner of St Hubert and Jean Talon.

Beijing

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:29:50 -0500

Looked bright and pleasant so my friend and I checked it out. I had a very weird and unpleasant vegetarian roll - looked like a big greasy unhealthy fish stick filled just barely with a few frozen peas and carrot pieces. Yuch.

Then I had the hot and spicy vegetarian hot pot with satay sauce. The only thing true about that description is that it was served in a hot pot. No hot and spicy and no sign of any kind of sauce. Greasy icky tofu, mix vegetables and no flavor whatsoever. Very disappointing. And expensive at $18 including tax and tip for a meal that I didn't even care to finish. Oh yeah - and I got a rock in my meal - bigger than any pebble I've ever seen pop up in a bag of rice or lentils - and this was in the hotpot so where the heck did that come from? you've got to ask yourself. It about the size of a small tooth - that was a possibility which was even more terrifying to think of....

My friend had the Beijing noodle soup. Was relatively flavorless and somewhat disappointing.

Overall a very disappointing meal. Beijing has so many appealing sounding items on the menu that I would be tempted to try this restaurant again, but if these dishes were representative then it's probably not worth a return trip.