Archive | December, 2018

Licence IV

10 Dec

Being a Francophone town means that we are inundated with French cuisine here in Montreal. In particular, there are a lot of restaurants cribbing off the classic French bistro style – burger, moule-frites, steak-frite, tartar, etc… It is a classic favourite but one that can be stale in the hands of an average restaurant. Funny enough, in the Sud-Ouest, there really wasn’t a bistro spot in the neighbourhood. Well, that changed last year with the arrival of a couple including Licence IV on Notre-Dame. As my wife works nearby, we went a few weeks ago with some of her colleagues to see if they could do this classic style right.

Licence IV definitely put a good foot forward in terms of looks. The space is beautiful – a modern but classically inspired bistro look. we have the long bar, the banquets, the ornate tin ceiling, the heavy touches of glass and brass all over and tons of ample lighting. There is also lots of use of vegetation to create an indoor terrasse feel. I found the video projections over the bar a little strange and the wait staff allowed the videos to lapse at one point so we can the computer desktop being projected over the bar instead of the videos we were supposed to see. The look is there – just needs a touch more refinement in terms of execution from the staff.

The list of cocktails is interesting as is the wine list. I started with their Marseillaise – Rye, Italian Amaro with orange bitters served hot. I enjoyed it – close to my favourite Negroni but with a extra hint of orange. I also enjoyed how the use of warm water created a more soothing and warming beverage. Perfect for the cold weather we are now experiencing. Related to the cocktails, the wait staff was weirdly insistent about cocktails or even champagne prior to the meal even though everyone else had said no the first time they mentioned it. I get the profit that comes with drinks but as a staff you need to understand the line between suggesting and being way too pushy about it.

Our appetizers came next and were enjoyed nicely. First was the charcuterie plat – a mixture of duck rillettes, ham, rosette de Lyon sausage, figs, candied fruits, raclette cheese and bread to melt the cheese over. A nice variety of items and all enjoyable. I liked the touch of being able to melt the raclette cheese at the table.

The other appetizer I tried was the panko breaded fried calamari served with homemade tartar sauce. A nice crunch to the calamari and I loved the freshness of the sauce. The calamari were nice and tender as well. Solid starter.

As a main, I went with the duck burger – topped with marinated slaw, melted cheese, honey mustard sauce and lardon – served with fries. Sadly, this was a disappointment. The patty was very thin compared to the rest of the burger and frankly didn’t really evoke much in terms of the natural fatty flavour of duck. It is too bad because I liked the bun and the matchstick fries. However, if the heart of the dish isn’t good enough, you can dress it up all you want – it doesn’t matter.

The other main I got to try was better – the Moules-Frites à la Marinière. Excellent dish – the mussels were plentiful, very tender and had great flavour from the classic broth. Add the excellent matchsticks fries and you had a classic bistro dish very well executed.

Licence IV was a solid Bistro experience. A few things to nitpick and hope to see improve but overall, they get the look and feel of the French Bistro down pat. If you looking for some French classics in the Sud-Ouest, Licence IV is worth a look.

Cheers!

Licence IV
1524 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest
514 938 8084

Licence IV Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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1909 Taverne Moderne

9 Dec

In Montreal, hockey and the Habs are king. As such, the team continues to find new ways to expand their reach. One of these is through food as the team has opened up a massive sports bar in the Bell Center to cater to the downtown core – 1909 Taverne Moderne. Clearly modelled after Real Sports in Toronto, 1909 is a sports bar restaurant on steroids. It is a huge multi-level restaurant which offers standing room, bar seating and mezzanine banquets all focused around a gigantic screen showing sports – obviously the Canadiens if it was a game night but in this case, college basketball and hockey.

The space is impressive to look at. It is also very loud – the combination of the high ceiling, the mezzanine structure and the loud music playing at the same time means that this isn’t the place for a quiet meal. Clearly you come here because you want a party, you want to watch sports in a group setting or you are coming to the Bell Center for a game or show and want something close by. Looking at the menu in comparison to a typical sports bar, the bar menu is varied with lots of local microbrewery options. The food menu itself also steps away from the usual bar fare with some more up-scale items.

My wife wasn’t too hungry so as a meal, she went with the Teriyaki baby back ribs appetizer. The ribs were pretty good – served amongst like spare ribs, they were fall off the bone tender and pretty flavourful with the sweet Teriyaki glaze.

The positives stop there though. I went with the Chili Con Carne with a side order of fries. First up, they both arrived at the table lukewarm. This brings up the issue of the service. Our waiter was nice but he wasn’t very quick or attentive in general. It took a while for him to come take our order and the food was slow to come as well. It is a very busy space but then more staff should be present or at least they should re-think how they function because our guy was running around like crazy but never really on top of things. It is not acceptable for food to be served not hot. We had a concert to go to so I didn’t make a deal of it but could have been very easily.

The chili itself was bland – it lacked any strong flavour notes. No heat, no sweetness, no nothing. It was filling because we was meat and beans but frankly anyone with their slow cooker could have matched it.

The side of fries was equally uninspiring – the cut was fine but they had no inherent flavour and when you add that they were lukewarm, really not a winner especially for 6$. I got to try some nachos one of our friends ordered and it was a similar story – very average fare. Lots of chips but not a whole lot of cheese or topping for something that costs 13$.

In the end, frankly I can see the interest to go to watch a game in a cool setting but frankly the food (and the subsequent cost of the meal) really doesn’t make this a worthwhile dining experience outside of that. Much like the Habs this year, there is potential but the finished product is no where close yet.

Cheers!

1909 Taverne Moderne
1280 Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal
514 416 9809

1909 Taverne Moderne Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Lloydie’s

9 Dec

When the weather starts to get cold around here, most of us start to think about warming climate and getting away from the snow. I, on the other hand, think more about cuisine from those warmer climate. My regular weekly errands bring me up to Mile End and right by a relatively new spot in the neighbourhood – Lloydie’s. Lloydie’s has been around as a producer of Caribbean food in Montreal since 1987 but has only recently opened up a couple of fast food-like restaurants to serve their cuisine. I took the opportunity a few times to try them out and see if they could evoke some warm feelings in the midst of the cold creeping up on us.

The menu is short and concise. They have jerk chicken, jerk pork and oxtail served in a few different ways (plate, sandwich or poutine) and with a variety of sides as well. It is fast food so you order at the counter, take it and go. In both cases when I visited the service was quick and very efficient. I tried their ginger beer on my first visit. Super strong ginger flavour – this isn’t one of those “sorta” ginger drink where you taste it a bit. It is all ginger, all the time. I enjoyed it as a nice palate cleanser during the meal but it will definitely be an acquired taste for many.

First up, I went with the jerk pork poutine. A nice generous portion of fries topped with a gravy, cheese curds and some jerk pork. The fries had a nice cut to them and just a little crunch on the outside. The gravy was light but flavourful and the cheese curds were the right kind of squeak – as one would want in a poutine. The key distinguishing feature here is the pork. The pork was very tender and had tons of flavour – not too spicy but with just enough kick to tell you it’s there. Very enjoyable.

I also decided to order a side of plantains that first time. The plantains are fried up and tossed with a spicy seasoning mix. I loved the flavour of the plantains but personally thought they were a little too thick sizewise. As a result, they lacked the more crunch I love with my favorite fried plantains.

The following visit I went for a plate of oxtail. The plate is served with a side of plantains and either rice or fries – as you wish. The fries are tossed in the same seasoning as the plantains which adds a nice taste to them. The oxtail was wonderful – fall off the bone tender and very flavourful. The stewing liquid/gravy is rich and very deep in flavour. It has a certain sweetness to it – almost chocolatey in nature.

Super flavourful meats, nice depth of flavours and solid portions – Lloydie’s definitely goes a good job of bringing Caribbean food in a fast food approach. If you want to be the cold, definitely head over to them for a hit of Caribbean heat.

Cheers!

Lloydies
66 Rue Saint Viateur Ouest

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