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.