Cali Foray

Over the last few weeks I have been away traveling and tasting. Only a few more weeks before I return to class and full time work gives way for a part time work schedule and books, i.e. less money for yummy adventures. Boo. So Ill get into some of the highlights. My culinary goals for this trip involved American and Mexican food. Although I can defiantly make American food on my own, Mexican is something I usually reserve for trips out west. This trip did not disappoint. I was able to enjoy two tasty Mexican meals, one more traditional and the other tacos (fast Mexican but oh so tasty).

The initial plan was to return to the restaurant we went to last time I was in Northern California; however, they were closed for that awkward period between lunch and dinner so we had to look elsewhere. After some frunger (frustration + hunger) and reflecting my Nana remembered a restaurant she tried a little while back. At the restaurant I had two cheese and onion enchiladas, one beef taco, one chicken taco, beans, and rice. The chicken taco was an addition that my stomach cried for but ultimately could have been left out. It was the weakest item on the plate, grossly under seasoned and slightly tough. I should have traded it for another enchilada, these were heaven! Cheesy with the right ratio of onion to cheese, a perfect compliment to the beans and rice. I could have eaten them forever. The beef taco was however forgettable, more seasoned than the chicken but nothing to write home about. To accompany this meal I ordered a strawberry daiquiri. Old favourite but new experience as it came with whipped cream. Ill specify next time but I never considered that someone would want whipped cream on a drink, especially if said drink is supposed to accompany a savoury meal! Save the whipped cream, it was a surprisingly strong drink, tasted of tequila with strawberry, how they all should taste.

Jimboys Tacos

Yes, Jimboys Tacos, a little taco joint near the house came in handy when late night hunger hit. We had eaten an amazingly tasty and healthy meal with the family (grilled orange chicken and salad) but the lack of starch, i.e. rice, potato, noodle, etc… left my stomach still craving more. In comes Jimboy to the rescue. I approached with caution since, well its named Jimboy and there was not a soul in the place. Avoiding the temptation to order a whole meal I went for exactly what I was craving, tacos, chicken tacos to be exact. How to describe them….well they came with parmesan on the outside of the taco shell, odd but not too offensive. But those shells, so soft but just the right thickness to carry the filling. The chicken was seasoned and shredded, a stark contrast to the other chicken taco. Toppings, very simple diced tomato, lettuce, and cheese. It was heaven in a tortilla, sprinkled with parmesan. Still perplexed by the parmesan.

Ill have to endorse the chicken taco and maybe try another taco next time I’m out there. The website says the beef taco is famous, but the burger…..ill leave that to Buns!

http://www.jimboys.com/index.html

Pétoncle Paradise

Over the last week I have been less than inspired. However a slow weekend gave me some time to reflect and along with that came inspiration. So in honour of this inspiration I decided to tackle a new dish, well new for me: scallops. A few weeks ago I had a fresh sea scallop from one of the fish mongers in Jean Talon. They were fresh and straight from New Brunswick! Words cannot describe my feelings of joy while consuming my 8$ taste portion, yes EIGHT WHOLE DOLLARS, but oh so worth it! Hélas, I had to tackle this delightful delicacy and lucky for me their petit cousins were half the price and more abundant at my local grocers.

With scallops in the fridge, I called my mother for advice. It’s the way to go in all my food dilemmas. She admitted that she had been unsuccessful in her previous attempts with scallops, so I headed to my next favourite resource, Youtube. Ah Youtube, the home of any and everything! I was lucky, after entering, How to Cook Scallops, I discovered this easy guide:



20 minutes later, some reflection, and I was ready to cook. Voilà, the final product:

I pan seared the scallops, as directed in the video, and accompanied them with garlic mashed potatoes and a nice green salad. The gravy on the potatoes is simply the pan drippings from the scallops. It was light in flavour but added just the right amount of umph! Were they tasty you ask….oh they were heavenly! And with two servings being less than 5 bucks I’m in for many many more scallops!

Factory Foray

I am fully on a noodle kick! Thanks to a co-worker I have discovered a place that makes fantastic noodles. I am unsure if I will ever be able to eat pre-packaged again now that I have tasted homemade chow mein! The Noodle Factory is the name of this utopia! It is located in Quartier Chinoise, aka China Town, and can be easily spotted by the line of people waiting to get in! In two trips I have had the opportunity to taste both types of noodles (chow mein and shanghai style) and their vegetarian wontons. We could see them rolling the pasta and filling the wontons from out table! I’m not even sure where to start without falling into repetitive praise. Everything was above expectations and the prices are just right. You can spend 10$ (entrée + main) and leave full and happy. The service is rushed but not off putting and tea is on the house if you ask. Ah…. I can’t think of much else to say so I will move onto the pictures:

Veggie dumplings.


Chicken and Shanghai Style Noodles


Satisfaction

Fusion Foray

As it seems I had not much to write about the handmade delights of the Noodle Factory, it is quite the opposite for LuMaMa. For months we have been speculating on LuMaMa, an Asian fusion restaurant with elusive opening hours. Finally a few days before Laura was to move away, LuMaMa was open for business and we were looking to eat.

We sit down expecting to get a main, maybe an entrée but lo and behold, there is an all you can eat sushi menu. Now these menus typically include much more than sushi; tempura, teriyaki, soups, fried rice, etc… are offered in taste size portions. LuMaMa was no different. So agreeing that the buffet would be the most economical option, we went for the buffet and ordered tea. Oh but the tea! Our waitress arrives with a generic bag of green tea, and the smallest pot of water you have ever seen. Now under normal circumstances this would be expected HOWEVER, we are in the heart of the unofficial western wing of Chinatown, i.e. the area around Concordia university. This restaurant is flanked on either side by other Asian restaurants and there are two to three opposite. Generic bags of tea are just unacceptable, they should have known better. The looks on our faces told the story; she took the tea back and filled our water glasses.

Let’s get to the food:

Sushi:
So we ordered Sashimi and Maki. Quite a few orders of lobster sashimi were made, as well as salmon sashimi. Both were grave disappointment.

The lobster sashimi was more of a lobster and shrimp salad placed on the plate. The portion grew based upon how many you ordered. It was hard to tell how they measured it. Was it tasty? Yes, but defiantly did not qualify as sashimi. The salmon sashimi, my favourite of all sashimi, was just not tasty. They chose to keep the grey edge of the salmon on the pieces served adding a not so clear taste to the otherwise decent salmon. We had a beef sashimi and that was nice.

The Maki were just poorly rolled. It was a fight to get them to stay together, some fell apart on arrival. This was the biggest disappointment.

It was not all bad though; the scallops were quite tasty as were the shrimp and vegetable tempura. Fried chicken, yes I said it, fried chicken, and it was some of the best I’ve had in Montreal! The fried tofu was also lovely. The tamagoyaki (omelette) had a nice, light, sweet sauce. To sum this up, the best portions of the meal were the non-sushi portions and these portions were just OK. We could easily go to Kanda and get every item, plus great sushi for about the same price. Exception to the fried chicken, however, fried chicken should not be the sole reason you return to an Asian fusion restaurant.

SPICE Foray

Last weekend was a wonderful weekend as I took a brief trip to NYC for a friend’s b-day. As we all know festivities must involve good food. For the purpose of conciseness I will focus on the best of my food experiences, SPICE. Spice is a Thai restaurant and suggestion of Zagat and some local friends. I was game since Thai is an area of Asian food that I’ve yet to truly experience. Although there are numerous locations around Montreal, we chose the one closest to our friend’s place, i.e. Upper East Side. As we walked through the door I had no real expectations. The place was dim, very dim. The decor was your usual NYC fair, modern, a bold colour, and sleek accessories. Nothing seemed too special. All that changed once we opened the menu and saw..........reasonable prices!

Starters:
We were hungry, well a bit beyond hungry since it took us longer to get to this point than we had planned. So the late diner and later partying meant we needed to eat a good meal. Let’s get to the appetizers. Four of the five ordered appetizers and all of them were more than ample. I went for the dumplings. After a recent foray than ended in food failure, I was longing for a non-pork dumpling. Yes!!, call answered; for 4$ I enjoyed the Nabon Steamed Dumplings: chicken shrimp dumplings with black bean-vinaigrette sauce

The sauce was sweet but not overpowering. I was in heaven and really did not want to share! The dumpling itself was not too salty and was actually quite filling (I had six, and exchanged two for a taste of the Curry Puff, Calamari (5$), and Spring Rolls). The calamari was the best after the dumplings. They were nicely fried and went brilliantly with the sweet chilli sauce. Although they were said to be spicy, it was just a slight spice.

Mains:



After finishing my appetizer and helping Courtney along with hers, we moved on to our main. I chose Pad Thai (9$). As common as this dish is, I’ve never actually tried it. I do think I chose the right time to try the dish because I ate until I could no longer stand it!! The portion was mammoth so getting to that point was easy. I had a never ending plate! I was enamoured with the slightly sweet sauce, the noodles, the chicken, and the way the peanuts took a back seat and worked alongside the other ingredients. I ate myself into a food coma....



And then went on partied my way out of it!!! .

PS: As a group of 5 they added an 18% gratuitiy to our check, kinda sneaky in my opinion as that usually applies to groups of six or more. Also they were quite hesitant to give us our change and assumed it was additional tip!

Clash of the burgers: Buns v Picks

Nothing provokes satisfaction quite like a nice, thick, juicy burger. Although it is one of the most common items found on North American menus, a standby, its not often that you come across an exceptional burger. A phenomenon of the last few years is the Burger Bar. It’s an updated burger with more adult toppings. No more American cheese and pickles, its all now about Kobe and Provolone. Exotic salsas, slaws, and sauces now top our burgers. Exceptional flavour and taste, but now a good burger cost me upwards of 15 dollars! What happened to simplicity? Well simplicity is making a comeback in the form of Buns. Buns is a simple operation. They only have four items on the menu; hamburger, double hamburger, potatoes, soft drink /water. The most expensive item is 6 bucks. Cheese is optional and free, and you have the choice of seven basic toppings; tomato, lettuce, pickle, onion, catsup, mustard, and mayo.

It was only a few weeks ago that I passed by a similar looking establishment, just around the corner from my favourite Buns. Picks is the name, and picks is defiantly the game. It has an expanded menu, thus you have the option of a hamburger, double hamburger, steak burger, pogo (corndog), and wrap. This expanded menu continues to the toppings (you pay by the topping, hence the name picks) and the sauces for the fries. The picks can make your meal more complicated and more expensive if you go for the sauces. The median price per topping is 25 cents.

I have to admit that the variety of Picks concerned me a little but I felt it was my duty to give it a try. Buns gave me so little options yet so much love. In order to make this fair I chose the normal burger from Picks, as comparing a steak burger to one made of ground chuck is nearly impossible.

My usual order at Buns is as follows:
- Cheeseburger
- Catsup
- Mustard
- Lettuce
- Mayo
- Onion
I do not order the potatoes since they are soft and pretty flavourless.

For this experiment I ordered from Picks:
- hamburger
- lettuce, onion, relish (free toppings)
- Provolone cheese
- Catsup and mustard were put on at home
- Fries

Where to start with the comparison, hmmmm well as it stands they are both tasty burgers. The quality of the ingredients used in Picks sometimes supersedes those found in Buns. For example, Buns uses a standard bun while Picks uses home baked buns. The choices in Picks however, over-complicate the meal. You have to budget in order to get out of there without spending too much. Additionally, I’m somewhat opposed to paying for catsup and mustard, esp. 50 cents extra. Furthermore, the dip containers are far too small. They don’t give you enough to dip your whole bag of fries. Speaking of fries, the fries at picks are far superior to those of Buns. They are perfectly seasoned and salted. They have a nice crunchy texture. Eating this burger I kept reminiscing on the taste of Buns and came to realize, that even if Picks has better ingredients, it was not better than Buns. Buns has soul, something intangible that makes you swoon the first time you bite into one of their burgers. Picks doesn’t. Yes it satisfies you, yes it is tasty, but it doesn’t make you want to sing their praises to all of your friends, family and neighbours. When I first tried Buns, I became an unpaid spokeswoman. I couldn’t stop recommending it. With Picks, I have mentioned it, but usually in tandem with Buns. Still I feel that Picks is worth a try, and if I am looking for a full experience of burger and fries, I will defiantly keep them in mind.

Coffee Foray

Myriade is a charming gem in downtown, at a stone's throw from my studio. Usually a downtown location, next to Concordia means convenient and just good enough. Is Myriade convenient? Yes! Is Myriade just good enough? No-way! I think this place is the location of the best cafe mocha that I have had in my life and it met Henna's approval for espresso (Considering her two espresso allonge habit a day for the fall term, it is high praise indeed). I'm admittedly fairly easy going when it comes to filtered coffee, but I have a weakness for how they prepare each one individually. The prices are reasonable for all of the care that goes into making each cup of delicious coffee. (I also appreciate that they find filtered coffee and their aficionados worthy of attention, unlike a certain coffee shop in Mile End that I will not name.)
Tea can also be had by the pot. Although I am growing extremely fond of black tea (I evenn have some brewing as I type), I have had several green tea blends and also oolong.

There is a limited, but workable selection of baked goods that are supplied by local bakers. I sometimes get one to accompany my coffee, but in reality, I'm there for the coffee, not the pastries.

picture: almond croissant and macchiato.

Myriade: 1432 Mackay St. (between St. Catherine and de Maisonneuve)

Deception and Sweets

Ah if only every meal we ate surpassed our wildest dreams, hélas, that’s not the case. So with the raving reviews and glorious finds we must also speak about the less inspiring moments and mediocre meals. Voilà, I present carrot cake. I am a lover of cake. When given the choice of desert I always choose cake, there is just something about it that makes you feel as though u have truly enjoyed yourself. It’s just satisfying to sink your fork into a moist piece of cake, mmmmm. I digress. Shall I set the scene: It is Sunday, the one Sunday when the museums are free citywide. I and another Foreign Foodie have escaped the crowds and found a nice comfortable table in a nearby boulangerie, Premiere Moisson.
Both of us have lived in France, and consequently have strong feeling attached to bakeries. With all its French influence, Montréal cannot rival the bakeries of France. It’s just never going to happen. With that said there are some pastries and breads that keep me coming back, not because of French nostalgia but rather a new love for freshly baked North American breads. I’ve tried to recreate my baguette de tradition, and I’ve been sorely disappointed each time. Today I wanted something nice and simple, after drooling over a multitude of worthy candidates, I settled on the carrot cake. It looked like a nice moist choice, plus with 4 bucks being the median price, it seemed to be the best value for my bucks. Cake must be accompanied with tea so I chose a tea from the box and headed for the table. With the anticipation building as we waited, chose, and paid for our pastries, I was ready for a sweet treat, not the case. The cake, although aesthetically pleasing, was tough, sticky, and sickly sweet. The cake itself was deceivingly dry and very sweet. The icing was far too sweet for its own good. I made it to the half way point and stopped for fear of sugar shock. The tea from prior experience was lacklustre; I went into the situation knowing this, so I set my expectations accordingly. In regards to the cake, I was so very disappointed. Such promise morphed into regret. Looking back on the whole experience, I do feel that there were some warning signs.
Montréal establishments have a knack for making things look better than they actually are. Just as local clothing stores use sleek furniture to sell chincy, cheap club attire, restaurants present “quality” dishes on plastic plates. This was the case with Premiere Moisson. Cakes and sandwiches ranging from 4-10$ are served on plastic plates, carried on lunch trays, and eaten with plastic forks. Something is not right; it is as if they have not followed through. From the door they project an image of posh French sweets but fail to follow through on taste, i.e. flavour and presentation. I think in the future, I’ll stick to the breads.

Woodfired Foray

One of the many things I’ve learned about eating in Montréal is the benefit of a recommendation. I’ve struck out on my own trying places that looked promising and more times than not, I’ve been severely disappointed. I’ve seemed to have cracked the code on good Asian, Indian, and Middle Eastern restaurants, however, one of my favourite cuisines remained an enigma. I had yet to come across a good Italian restaurant. Due to the price of cheese and testing out un-recommended Italian waters I had very little worthwhile experience with Italian food in Montréal. Guido and Angelina’s was slightly pricey and decent but nothing pulling me to return, and most pizza places were either grungy and expensive or lacking cheese and cheap, very unappealing. So when my co-worker recommended an amazing, affordable Italian restaurant I had to call my fellow Foreign Foodie and go test it out.
So the main selling point for Del Compari is its wood fire oven, the second plus are its owners, it is run by an Italian family, lastly, but most importantly, the pizza is well-priced and the portions are more than fair. As soon as the wood fire oven was mentioned I had images of Margarita Pizzas running through my head. Margarita pizza is my test of a good pizza place. It is simple, cheese, tomato, and basil, but in my opinion in truly showcases the cheese, the dough, the sauce, what pizza is truly about.
Upon arrival we were greeted by a large wood-burning stove and a man rolling out pizzas. The restaurant revolves around him and the stove. We were lucky enough to be seated with a great view of the whole process and were able to see our food being prepared as well as everyone else’s’! Calzones filled with meats and cheeses; pizzas hand rolled and generously garnished escargot in a gorgeous buttery sauce, etc...
The menu was varied, numerous choices of vegetarian pizzas as well as meatatarian pizzas. My beloved Margarita Pizza was one of the first choices on the menu and although I was tempted to stray and chose one of the20 or so odd other choices I was true to my vision and stuck with Margarita. As hungry as we were, we decided to get an appetizer. Laura had never had escargot so seeing the 6 dollar price; we decided to go for it! Our waitress was great and dissuaded us from the accompanying cheesy garlic bread. It would have been too much. I was more than pleased with the escargot. They came in the usual dish with a lovely garlic sauce and the added plus of cheese baked on top. Cheese does make almost anything better! The small rolls were lacklustre on their own but fulfilled their purpose as sponges for the garlic sauce the escargots left behind. Our hopes high, we headed into the pizza. It was the best pizza I’ve had in Montréal. The European touch was evident in the taste of the crust and the sauce. I was experiencing food bliss on a perfect spring evening in Montréal. Laura’s pizza came fully loaded with ham hiding below the sausage peeking out from beneath the cheese, amongst the peppers. Neither of us finished our pizzas. Our waitress packaged them up with a knowing smile.

Introducing Laura

I moved to Montreal in August 2008 in hopes of finding small cafes to drink coffee at and delicious bread. I was not let down, but I had a mix of pleasant surprises ad disappoitments foodwise. I really was thrilled by the new selection of food available to me and deeply let down by the loss of familiar foods,comforts, also sticker shock ($6.00 for Ben and Jerry's, seriously?!). Before I met Kay, I was wandering the streets of Montreal aimlessly looking for brunch, drinking gallons of green tea at home was confused by some Montrealer food conventions and spent way too much time in the Plateau, looking for food.
Now, I still aimlessly wonder the streets of Montreal, but I have a regular food buddy and with other friends we sometimes call ourselves Team Buffet, when we hit "all you can eat" sushi places. Kay has introduced me to various delicious black teas and between her, Dev and Maureen, my loose green teas have been feeling neglected.

I alternate between cooking new/tweaking old recipes, and dining out, so you'll see some of my kitchen creations as well as food forays. Philosophically, I enjoy fine dining and fastfood, fairly equally. Our appetites are scary, our palates somewhat on point, we are Foreign Foodies.

Kay's Introduction

So this idea was birthed whist sharing an apple shisha one evening with a couple of friends. I was taking pictures of the place, the shisha, and the snacks we ordered when my friend Sam turns to be and says,” you’re always taking pictures of everything, especially food. U should just make a blog.” I thought about it for a moment, and then realized he had a point. I have hundreds of pictures taken from my travels and many of them involve food. Different places I’ve eaten, different foods I found interesting, unique décor, packaging that made me laugh, just really anything that struck my fancy. Oh did I mention how much I love to cook! So I enlisted the help of Laura, someone who also loves food just as much as I and created a joint blog. Currently we are experiencing all there is to offer in Montreal, but in just a few short weeks she will be heading back to the states. Whilst it will be sad too loose my restaurant buddy and friend, this should prove to be great as for the diversity of the blog (not to mention a new NYC connection for me!). With the back stock of photos and the continuous stream of new experiences to come this summer, I think this will provide us with a cornucopia of inspiring subjects!
Bonne appétit!

*Pictured: Laura