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London 2015 – Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen

13 Apr

As a final treat in London prior to our departure back towards Montreal, we made a reservation at one of Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, Fifteen. Located in central London, Fifteen’s claim to fame is their “non-profit” status. All profits from the restaurant go to the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation. On top of that, the restaurant has an apprentice programme which provides challenged youth with training and mentorship in the food industry. A very cool and worthwhile project within a high-end restaurant.

Located on a weird, almost dead-end street that is very easy to miss, Fifteen is a beautiful space. The main floor has a nice bar and lounge space which was quite busy when we arrived for our reservation. Visually, I really loved the space – great use of the old brick walls subtly accented by dark wood counters, leather seats and metal tables. The low lighting, when mixed with the music and chatter from the bar/lounge area, created a cool speakeasy type vibe.

We were seated in the basement area right in front of the open kitchen – which was cool in order to observe the work being done over the course of the evening. The primary downside however was that the ambience that was present upstairs was less so by the kitchen – I was more aware of the wait staff and kitchen staff buzzing around us retrieving plates.

First we ordered a basket of their home-made sourdough with butter. I absolutely love sourdough bread so I couldn’t resist trying it. Nice crunch on the crust but still moist and fluffy on the inside. Had that classic sourdough taste as well. This was a great start of the meal for me.

On to the starters now, I went with the crispy pig’s cheek with slow cooked egg, goldrush apple and kimchi. I was rather intrigued by the combination of ingredients as listed on the menu and how they would mix together. The answer is perfectly. The crunch and fattiness of the pig’s cheek, the spiciness of the kimchi, the richness and creaminess of the egg and finally the sweetness of the apple all worked beautifully as a mixture of texture.

Our other starter was the house-cured salmon with parsley root, dill and pickled mustard seed. A very elegant dish compared to the strong notes of the previous starter. The star is clearly the salmon and all the other ingredients here act to enhance its inherent flavours. The dill was most notable although part of that to me is how well dill seems to pair with salmon – it seems to make that spice pop more so than others. Very nice dish.

My main of choice on this evening was the gnocchi with butternut squash, spinach and goat’s curd. Texture-wise, the gnocchi was very interesting – quite a bit more crunch on the exterior than I’ve typically gotten with gnocchi but thankfully they still kept their pillowy texture inside. The combination of the squash with the goat’s curd made for a rather creamy sauce to pair with it. The spinach was good but frankly didn’t feel all that necessary in the construction of the plate.

Our second main was the Hereford short rib with jerusalem artichoke and pickled walnut dressing. The short rib was heavenly – rich and fatty and fall-apart texture. The pureed artichokes were a nice contrast to the meat and the walnut dressing added some spiciness of the equation. Very enjoyable overall.

Looking at the dessert options next, we couldn’t say no to some of the options laid before us. First up was the hazelnut ice cream sandwich. Great smooth texture to the ice cream as well as a strong hazelnut flavour. Ideally I would have preferred true cookies to create a full sandwich you could grab but regardless, I did enjoy the crunch from the cookie “bites” here.

Our other dessert was organic chocolate mousse with blood orange and creme fraiche. A beautiful looking dessert and a delicious one at that. Great contrast between the tartness of the chocolate mousse, the acidity of the orange and the creaminess of the creme fraiche. A nice mixture of textures and flavours.

Fifteen was a wonderful experience to finish off our time in London. It’s great to see Jamie Oliver set up a restaurant in this non-profit fashion and still ensure that it has the look and feel of a high-end restaurant. The quality you would look for in a Jamie Oliver restaurant was still there and it’s great to know that my enjoyment of a great meal may help someone get future employment in the industry. A truly worthwhile cause to support.

Cheers!

Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen
15 Westland Pl
London, UK
(020) 3375 1515

Jamie Oliver's Fifteen on Urbanspoon

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London 2015 – London House

31 Mar

Last month, I went on a quick vacation to the UK trying to cram as much as I physically could in 6 days abroad. Outside of visiting the usual sights, of course, I couldn’t help but try to experience some nice British cuisine while there. Personally, when I think of British chefs, I think Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal. Blumenthal was completely out of range for this trip – both in location and cost – but frankly my dining partner (my sister) wanted nothing to do with the menu. However, we did find a way to enjoy cuisine from the other two during the trip. First up was our Gordon Ramsay’s experience – out in Battersea (Southwest London essentially) at London House.

I’ll admit that I hate Gordon Ramsay the TV personality – too blowhard and bombastic for me. None of his shows ever kept my interest. However I totally respect his cooking acumen and was curious to see what one of his higher end spots would provide. One of his more recent opening in London, London House is described as a “relaxed, cosy restaurant and bar offering Modern European cooking”. The space is definitely going for a more relaxed vibe – using leather banquettes, leather sofas, dim lighting and even a fireplace near the entrance. However, the cozy vibe was lacking due to the relatively empty space due to lack of patrons. Now I understand what we did go on a Thursday night but I still expected more of an ambience. As such, the room felt a little cold with staff moving around with little to do. Service was top notch throughout the night although given our waiter had only 2 tables to take care of while we were there, I would have been exceptionally surprised to experience the contrary.

Food-wise, the modern European statement fit the menu. Not your standard British fare to be sure. Many interesting combinations to try out. We went with two starters to get the night going. The first one was a wild mushroom ragout on toast with quail egg and tarragon mayonnaise. I really enjoyed this dish – the earthy mushroom mixed with the creamy rich quail egg worked really well with the tarragon as well. Wonderful execution across the entire plate and a beautiful presentation.

Our second starter was shaved cauliflower salad with asiago cheese beignets. I never thought I would enjoy a salad of shaved cauliflower but here we are. Very fresh and I liked how the sharpness of the asiago cheese worked well with the vegetables here. Very nice once again.

The themes of strong execution and presentation continued through to the mains. First up, we had the braised lentils with caramelized leeks and pumpkin. A subtle dish but one with great flavour. The caramelized leeks were to die for and I loved the roasted pumpkin. Personally I want more of a protein for a main but my sister really took to this one.

On my end, I went with the pork belly with apple puree, pancetta compote and sage. Great combination of fattiness, sweetness and saltiness. The crispy skin on the pork belly was simply beautiful – such an amazing crunch without feeling like you just bit into a rock. My only real lament here was that I simply wanted more belly on the plate. Everything else was wonderful.

Desserts were solid as well. I went for the spiced pecan steamed pudding with mulled pear puree. I really enjoyed the soft chewy pudding. The nutty flavour mixed well with the more fruity pear puree. The other dessert was the chocolate tart with Jerusalem artichoke ice cream. While very skeptical of artichoke ice cream, I was quite impressed by it – it actually worked here! The tart was dark chocolate at its finest – tart in flavour but beautifully smooth in texture.

London House was a great experience in culinary technique – pretty much exactly what I had expected from a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. The food was enjoyable from end to end. My only disappointment was the overall vibe of the setting which, I’m guessing, had more to do with the night we went than everything else. For a chef who appears to pride himself on execution, it’s nice to know that Gordon can still set up a restaurant in that image. A spot worthy for my quick trip.

Cheers!

London House
9 Battersea Sq
Greater London, UK
(020) 7592 8545

London House on Urbanspoon

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Lawrence

10 Mar

A brief vacation abroad has gotten me behind on my postings so pardon the tardiness. For the event of Valentine’s Day, one seeks a restaurant where you can have a relaxed and intimate atmosphere and where you can almost guarantee a certain level of quality… especially if the restaurant is not one already known to your significant other. Sadly many restaurants succumb to the “special” St-Valentine’s day menu to accommodate the larger number of patrons they may expect. Personally that doesn’t fly for me so I wanted a place that had their usual menu and that wouldn’t be trying to push us out the door to get more people. In the end, I decided to take my girlfriend (such a strange word to write after all this time… haha) to my Mile End favourite, Lawrence. While I had never been for dinner as of yet, my brunch place of choice had been on my list for a while dinner-wise. I was pretty confident that this would be a good choice, so off we went for a hopefully lovely Saturday night.





From an atmosphere point of view, Lawrence hit it perfectly for dinner. The low lighting, the sparse yet comfy surroundings, the good but not intrusive music and most importantly, the impeccable service from end-to-end. Good attention from the entire service team and without any sense of pushing us out. Wonderful job by co-owner Sefi Amir and her team – perfect on a night such as Valentine’s day.

First up, we were treating to some of Lawrence’s wonderfully fresh bread (available at their butcher shop down the street) to go with some starting drinks. On this evening, I chose to go with the Bourdon Apple Cider. Loved the touch of rosemary to go with the combination of bourbon and apple.





For starters, I went with the salted duck breast with lentils, radishes and parmesan because I can’t say no to duck when it’s on the menu. A consistent theme with Lawrence when you scan the menu is how the combinations in the dishes seem slightly strange when you read them aloud. Thankfully however, the combinations work beautifully. In this case, the salty and fatty duck breast mixed so well with the freshness of the radishes, the sharpness of the parmesan and the lentils. Such a wonderful dish. The first bite pretty much confirmed that I had made the right choice for the night.



My girlfriend went with the octopus with chickpeas and coriander. Outside of the wonderfully tender octopus, the interesting part of this dish was the overall creaminess with the sauce which somehow didn’t overshadow the coriander and the chickpeas. Just another wonderfully fresh dish from the kitchen.



Main dish wise, Lawrence is strong on meats which I love… the fact that I greatly enjoy their butcher shop and understand the quality of meats they use made me very excited to see how they use their own products in the restaurant. My choice of the pork sirloin with sauerkraut, sage and leeks certainly lived up to my expectations. A beautiful piece of fatty pork, the acidic sauerkraut and the cooked down leeks all held together by a small sauce… just a great meaty dish. I loved this plate so much…. which makes the fact that my girlfriend’s choice was even better just blow my mind.



Pig’s offal (in this case – heart, tongue and liver) with clams and salt lemon and white beans. Just ridiculous in all the right ways. Beautiful pieces of offal cooked perfectly, the fresh clams, the rich broth, the hardiness of the beans… this dish was a perfect balance of all the elements one seeks in a dish. This is a dish who people who say they will never like offal and those who love it. If you can’t love this dish, you have a serious problem.



We still had some room for dessert so we went for a piece of marshmallow, chocolate and spice cake. The one relative negative of the night – I enjoyed all the components individually but something didn’t mesh properly together. Personally I think the texture of the marshmallow was the weak link for me.



So a slight negative to finish the evening but it didn’t matter frankly. Lawrence was the experience I had hoped for and the one I hoped my girlfriend would get to experience for her first time. It was great evening through and through. Props to Chef Cohen and the rest of the staff for the great meal. I was already a fan with brunch and their butcher shop. Dinner just confirmed how amazing Lawrence is and how I will continue to support the wonderful work they do. You should as well!

Cheers!

Lawrence
5201 Saint-Laurent
514 503 1070

Lawrence on Urbanspoon

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Suite 701

19 Jan

For my second Happening Gourmand meal of the year, I found myself at Suite 701 in the Place d’Armes Hotel – a place I have gone by numerous times over the past few years without trying it and a spot that I will be revisiting shortly for my best friend’s wedding. Regardless, one of my friends was sufficiently intrigued by the table d’hôte that he organized a lovely Saturday night meal – and I am certainly not one to say no to that!

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Suite 701 is probably best described as a lounge with a full dinner menu – the decor and ambience is certainly more lounge in nature. High ceilings with ornate mouldings, huge windows with large drap-like curtains, beautiful wooden tables and chairs with a few leather banquettes, a glorious long bar, low lighting using mostly chandeliers outside of the purple accent lights, the otherwise all white color palette… Suite 701 is definitely a looker. The live DJ – playing for the most part great old R&B/ soul music – was definitely too loud though. When it is hard to hear the conversation at the other end of 5 person table, you are probably a little too close to bar/supper club territory than you should be as a lounge.

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Menu-wise, Suite 701 describes itself as modern brasserie which, when I see that, strikes me as a catch all term for a menu that is quite varied. That seems to fit the bill here – the menu was definitely interesting but an strange mix of dishes. First up, the table ordered two platters of their homemade charcuterie with mustard, grilled chorizo, deviled eggs and chipotle dill pickle. A nice mixture of blood sausage, porchetta, salami and prosciutto. You can never go wrong with good charcuterie.

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Next, I got to try the organic salmon tartar with celery leaves, granny smith apples, grapefruit and mild wasabi cream. Presentation was nice as was the execution. I hate grapefruit so while I understand the desire to add some citrus to the tartar, I wish it had been something different. The fish was nice and fresh with every other element working well for the dish. I particularly enjoyed the subtle heat from the wasabi cream.

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The other starter I got to try was the roasted eggplant, tomato confit and marinated zucchini pissaladière. None of us had any idea what a pissaladiere was… but we figured why not? The rest of the dish description seemed worth a try. Ended up looking like a spring roll – which isn’t what a pissaladiere is according to my web searches but regardless – and tasted pretty good. The pastry was nice and flaky and the eggplant/zucchini combo had great flavour.

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Moving on to mains. I could not resist the duck so I went with the duck magret with pomegranate gastrique, charred farro risotto and braised kale. The duck was perfect – rich and fatty, cooked rare as it needs to be. The risotto however was a bit off to my liking. The use of farro, unknown to me prior to this, instead of rice was interesting but created a much firmer texture to the risotto than I was expected – I will mark this down to wrong expectations on my end.

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The other main I tried was the pan-seared black bass with Jerusalem artichoke purée, black olive sauce and braised endives. The black bass was beautifully flaky and slightly salty. The artichoke puree and endives paired nicely to the fish. I skipped the sauce as olives really aren’t my thing.

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Dessert-wise, there were two options – a mocha cake with blood orange compote and a white chocolate mousse with raspberries. I hate mocha so I didn’t try it but it seemed to be a hit at the table. My choice was the mousse which was well executed texturally – wonderfully smooth – but good lord was it sweet… too sweet to be honest which is saying a lot coming for a guy who absolutely loves his desserts. The tartness of the raspberries were not enough to offset the sweetness here. It almost needed a cookie or dark chocolate bites to offset the extra sweetness.

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Suite 701 was a nice evening overall with a few minor issues that didn’t make it an amazing one food wise. I definitely see coming back for a cocktail hour with a bite or two – which ironically is what will happen at that wedding I mentioned earlier – but I don’t have a strong desire to return for a full dinner. For a lounge, that is what one would expect so on that account, Suite 701 probably hits its objective. Worth considerable to start an evening in Old Montreal at the very least.

Cheers!

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Suite 701
701 Cote de la Place d’Armes
514 904 1201

Suite 701 on Urbanspoon

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Tapas 24

9 Nov

My trip to Spain last year was a wonderful experience through and through. Among the many things I enjoyed was all the wonderful food – especially the tapas “scene”. To be able to enjoy true Spanish tapas in Barcelona night after night was a thing to behold and made me realize that much of the “tapas” we have in Montreal isn’t quite up to snuff. Fast forward a year and we hear about Chef Carles Abellan and that his Tapas 24 concept is coming to Montreal. I didn’t get a chance to visit any of his restaurants while in Spain so the notion of trying his cuisine at home is quite appealing. The restaurant opened earlier this summer and finally, for the occasion of my grandfather’s birthday, I found a good reason to head over.

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Being a new restaurant in Old Montreal, Tapas 24 certainly tries to make a visual impression and succeeds in doing so. With the front of the restaurant being entirely windowed, the major use of natural coloured wood on the walls and at the first floor bar, when added to the ample lighting, makes the whole restaurant pop from the outside. The second floor mezzanine allows for the high ceiling to be utilized and gives the room a big presence. Part of the kitchen is visible from the bar downstairs as is the prep kitchen/ grade manger on the second floor although that part isn’t as nice to have visible as the kitchen. The music was present but unremarkable. The noise level was relatively loud but nothing abnormal for an Old Montreal restaurant on a busy Friday. Conversation could still be had but I wouldn’t said this is where you would have an hugely in-depth talk with a meal. The service was pretty good for us throughout the night unlike some of what you can read elsewhere so I guess this can be hit or miss. In our case, we had absolutely no complaints.

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Foodwise, we had originally planned to go for the MTL a Table menu but decided instead to simply order from the regular menu and share everything in order to enjoy a greater variety of dishes. These are the perks of being a larger group in this instance. First up, a few staple Spanish tapas. There was the Coca con Tomato – simply put tomato and olive oil on fresh warm bread. Simple but oh so good… especially since the bread comes from my favourite bakery Hof Kelsten. We then had the Iberian chorizo – freshly sliced and a perfect compliment to the bread dish. A spicy kick on top of the usual fattiness. The last of the staple trio was the patatas bravas – potatoes (in this case, french fries) with an aioli and the spicy tomato “brava” sauce. The fries themselves were nice and crispy but the key was the combination between the heat of the brava sauce and the creaminess of the aioli. These were so good that we had 3 separate orders over the course of the evening!

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The next set of dish were a little more unique. First up, la bomb de Barceloneta – a potato and meat croquette topped with the same aioli and brava sauce as before. Pretty good overall. Each individual croquette was rather big – lots of potato and meat stuffed inside. Great crunch on the outside without losing any moisture inside.

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Next up were the Gambas Al Ajillo – garlic shrimps with hot peppers. A solid dish but one that, compared to the rest, lacked any real punch or spark. Enough so that I even forgot to take a picture, so there you go.

We also have the strangely named Bikini Comerc 24 which essentially are mini grilled sandwiches of tramezzini, Iberian ham, mozzarella di buffalo and truffles. Extremely delicious – the combination of iberian ham and cheese is always a winner… and that is even before we add the truffles. The only complaints are these were how small they were. When a dish would need to be ordered more than once to purely satisfied hunger, you probably a sizing issue.

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The Atun con tomate y ponzu – or tuna with ponzu sauce – was a hit at our table. The tuna was beautiful – nice sized pieces well seasoned also. The ponzu added a nice hint of citrus to mix with the sweetness of the tomato. A light but well executed dish.

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Next were the alias de pollo con salsa “alegre” – boneless chicken wings with alegre sauce. Here, my camera failed me due to poor lighting but take my word for it, they are worth ordering next time you visit. The chicken was wonderfully moist and tender – simply fell apart using a fork. Great dish.

The final main tapas was actually a main that we added – the rabo de toro – oxtail stew with potato puree. The oxtail was amazing. The meat and fat was so cooked down that the two bones in the plate appeared to have never had any meat on them once we pulled the meat off them. Beautifully meaty and fatty goodness.

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Now, after all of the food, we may think that we were too full for dessert… and you would be wrong. There is always room for dessert, especially these ones. We went with three to share amongst the group. First, we had the molten chocolate fritters – bunuelos del tio nelo. Hot dark chocolate in a fried ball with some powdered sugar… what is there not to like!? They may be too tart for some as it is dark chocolate but delicious nevertheless.

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The second option was fresh ricotta and honey – Mel y Mato – a huge contrast when compared to the previous dish. Personally I loved the combination – a fresh and light alternative to standard dessert options. The sweetness of the honey worked very well with the creaminess of the ricotta. May not be everyone’s jam from a texture point of view but it worked for me.

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Lastly, we have in my opinion the best of the group – chocolate, pan, acetic y sal or simply put chocolate, bread, olive oil and fleur de sel. Milk chocolate mousse with a hint of olive oil, a touch of salt and a crunchy crouton. Simple but so wonderful in execution. Loved every bit of this one.

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All in all, with all the food and a few good bottles of wine, we left full and very satisfied of our experience at Tapas 24. The one stickler would be price point as this definitely wasn’t a cheap evening. This was a pretty penny for tapas. Be prepared to pay more than you probably expect. I saw a lot of negative reviews for this restaurant early on… other than the overpriced issue, I experienced none of what others have apparently faced here. In my eyes, Tapas 24 is definitely a worthwhile visit. It may not be Barcelona but I’ll take it. I suppose that your mileage may vary however.

Cheers!

Tapas 24
420 Notre-Dame Ouest
514 849 4424

Tapas 24 on Urbanspoon

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Dirty Dogs

21 Aug

Every week (well almost anyway…), I head up the Main to Hof Kelsten for my dose of fresh rye or sourdough bread. Thinking about grabbing something different for lunch on one particular occasion, I was reminded that Dirty Dogs was only a minute away on foot serving up gourmet hot dogs. I had first heard of Dirty Dogs in the spring via some friends but never found the moment to go. My first chance had been during the Mont-Royal street fair earlier this summer but their free hot dog special that day created a lineup that snaked off Mont-Royal and down Saint-Laurent street so that didn’t happen. Seeming like the perfect lunch option in this instance, away I went with my loaf of bread in hand.

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Dirty Dogs is a small diner space with maybe 8 seats inside but thankfully there is a takeout window in the case where seating inside isn’t possible. The interior is a rustic diner look – dark wood bar counter, wood panels on the walls. It is a sparse space but functional. At least the music is a good mix as you wait for your order!

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The menu consists of 10 special dogs each with their own unique toppings and sausages. Each hot dog can also be modified for the vegetarians among us which is a cool touch from a hot dog place. To pair with the dogs, there are a number of sides and drinks to enjoy. Given that this was a solo mission on my first visit, I actually went back a second time to enjoy other items off the menu – good time I have a build-in excuse with my bakery of choice…

The side I tried was their mac n’ cheese – made to order nicely enough and topped with crispy bacon and green onions. Creamy enough but something didn’t click with me… perhaps the cheese wasn’t strong enough. Not sure to be honest. The bacon added some nice crunch although personally I would have preferred softer to get the fattiness into the macaroni. Might as well go full glutton.

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I went all in with my first visit so I ordered the “Maurice Richard” – Bourbon vanilla sausage with pan seared foie gras, bacon, 3 year old aged cheddar, caramlized onions and maple syrup. A pricy dog but one that packs a heck of a punch. The sweetness of the vanilla bourbon sausage is subtle but still noticeable which is a good thing given the sweet kick from the onions and the maple syrup. Add to that mix a general amount of foie gras and plenty of bacon and you have quite a hot dog on your hands! Only negative to me was the bun – i actually like the choice of bun used but they are barely served warm… I would preferred them more steamed or even grilled!

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For the second visit, I went a little more traditional in my choices. I ordered the “Denis Coderre” – Fine herb pork sausage, coleslaw, onions, yellow mustard and bagel seeds – with a side of regular fries and spicy mayo. Fine issue with the bun again. The hot dog itself is solid – you pick up the fine herb taste in the sausage, the coleslaw/onion/mustard combo is classic and continues to be so. The bagel seeds is an interesting addition that works well. The classic fries are exactly the kind of fries I like with my hot dogs – very reminiscent of your classic Belle Province/ Lafleur. The house spicy mayo had a nice kick to it as well. A solid second visit.

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All in all, Dirty Dogs is a solid bet from what I tried. I like the more unique approach to the dogs and the varied choices you have. The macaroni didn’t do it for me but I enjoyed the rest. The price on the higher end dogs may turn off some people used to more standard pataterie prices… same goes for waiting time since these dogs take longer than your regular steamey. Overall a worthwhile visit if you are in need of a bite near the plateau.

Cheers!

Dirty Dogs
25 Mont-Royal Est
514 508 3647

Dirty Dogs on Urbanspoon

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Ludger

28 Jun

Always on the lookout for somewhere different to celebrate the start of the weekend, I met some friends at their office in Westmount a few Fridays ago and walked down the hill to Ludger. I have had my eye on visiting this new trendy St-Henri spot on Notre-Dame Ouest for a while and this beautiful evening seemed like the right time to check them out.

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Ludger labels itself as a buvette with a gourmet accent aka we are a bar but also have high-end food. Located on a corner on Notre-Dame, they have taken over an old storefront with the old recessed entranced and all-window facade and spruce it up with a massive rural on the side and a beautiful wooden terrasse as well. I can’t speak for the inside because we never set foot in there – no tables available there so we sat outside. The noise emanating from the windows told of a noisy environment – not totally unexpected given it was Friday night. The terrasse itself was nice and quiet with build-in wooden banquets instead of chairs. It’s also on the cross street, not Notre Dame itself so there was no cars driving by us which was nice.

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Ludger has a nice cocktail menu, a decent selection of wine and a food menu that I would characterize as eclectic. No real obvious “type” here but very intriguing. Before we grabbed a bottle of wine, I tried their special of the night, bourbon lemonade – my summer drink of choice. I was exposed to this beverage at Icehouse a couple of years ago, I have been hooked and have converted many friends and family. At this point, summer without it just seems wrong! Sadly, in this case, I was left disappointed. This version was overcome with sweetness to the point where the natural acidity of the lemon and the smokiness of bourbon were left wanting. The ideal bourbon lemonade blends all of these aspects smoothly. This one did not.

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Food-wise, we stuck to the appetizer options as we were not all that particularly hungry. First up, fried veal sweetbreads with kimchi and peanuts. Very creative dish and one I never would have thought about prior to this. The fried sweetbreads were crispy enough on the outside without losing the fatty goodness inside. The kimchi with its inherent spiciness added some nice heat to the dish and the peanuts brought some texture. Add some micro greens, shitake mushrooms with a piece of crispy chicken skin and you have a excellent dish. If you have an aversion to sweetbreads, this dish won’t convince you otherwise but I love them so it worked for me.

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Next up, we had their polenta fries. Another creative approach from the kitchen here – they got enough of a crunch on the fries without losing the texture of the polenta. Paired with a nice mayo as well (correction: I have been informed this was parmesan cream, not mayo). My only issue here was the amount of fries we got for the cost of the dish. I frankly would have been preferred sweet potato fries or just regular fries if we would have gotten us more to enjoy. Good but not enough to truly enjoy.

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After that, we went for the meat plate – a combination of rosette de Lyon, prosciutto, duck breast and others with some olives and bread. Overall a solid dish – I’m always a big fan of this kind of plate… well other than the olives which I despise but we’ll skip on that discussion for now. Again, a little small given the price but still delicious.

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Our last dish of the evening was grilled squid with chick peas. A deliciously meaty piece of squid, grilled wonderfully with a nice creamy yogourt sauce paired with it and the chick peas. Following the theme of the meal, delicious but again, somewhat small for the price. (Correction: This was actually octopus, not squid – thank you to my readers who caught this mistake)

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Ludger was a pleasant experience although one that I would characterize as overpriced for what it is. Loved the overall vibe, the setting and the creativity of the food menu. The rest of cocktail menu gets me interested as well. Not sure I will get bang for my buck food wise to make this a good dinner option however this is definitely a worthwhile drink spot with perhaps a dish or 2 and will be the site of future happy hours to come on my end. Now I probably just need to visit the interior as some point….

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Cheers!

Ludger
4001 Notre Dame Ouest
438 383 3229

Ludger on Urbanspoon

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Grumman 78

12 Apr

Hard to believe but I have already reached my 10 year high school reunion. Time clearly flies when you are having fun…. or at least let’s hope that’s it anyway. As we approach the actual reunion, some of us decided it was worthwhile to have a reunion dinner downtown to catch up, eat, drink, laugh…. and then likely cry and drink some more. As the “foodie” of the group, I was tasked with finding a fun place with good food to host a large group on a Friday… not the easiest challenge but one I figured I could handled. Based on what was required, I figured now was a good opportunity to try out the restaurant of one of my favourite food trucks here in Montreal, Grumman 78.

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Located in what appears to be an old converted garage and in what used to be (and still is) their prep kitchen for the truck itself, Grumman 78 has a nice relaxed vibe eminating from its locale. Funky artwork, old arcade machines, white brick walls, large wooden tables, old Christmas lights and good music – this is definitely not a formal restaurant. Given the open nature of the space and the fact it was Friday, a little noisy for conversation but it’s the kind of room that I could see being enjoyment on a different night and time.

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As we were a large group, we were beholden to a fixed menu but one that had been proposed to me in advance and which I had the option of making changes to. Given that it was a combination of many of their staple dishes, I had no issues with what they offered us. At this moment, I want to take a second to discuss the service of the evening. Our meal got off to a bit of rocky start due to no-shows on our end which delayed the start of the meal by a good hour and caused some issues as our number dropped from what we had confirmed for the fixed menu. While it got sorted out, it was a little surprising to see how we weren’t offered drinks more quickly as we waited for those who ended up not coming or that we weren’t checked on again until we eventually decided to assume those no-shows were actually not coming. That followed a bit of a pattern throughout the night of decidedly slow service despite our waiter being very friendly. An entire order of drinks never came and the wait times between the different dishes was surprisingly long. Now, I noticed that there were at least 2 other large (i.e 10+) groups in the restaurant at the same time which may explain some of the issues but regardless it was a disappointment. And now on to what should be the main focus – the food!

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The first appetizer was a Mackerel crudo. A combination of brined Mackerel, citrus fruits, pomegranate and avocado, this was a very light and fresh starter. Great combination between the salty Mackerel, the sweet acidic fruits and the creamy avocado. Tons of flavours without being overbearing.

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The other appetizer was a beet salad with apples, creme fraiche, croutons and herbs. Another interesting combination of items and flavours. The redness of the beets created quite a visually striking dish. The richness of the creme fraiche and acidity of the apples helped to freshen up the beets which are not a favourite of mine under normal circumstances.

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The next course was what made Grumman 78 in the first place: their soft shell tacos. In this instance, we were treated to two types: Bahn-Mi and Pimenton-Feta. The Bahn-Mi ones were comprised of pulled pork, hoisin sauce, pickled daikon and carrots. The Pimenton-Feta ones were Pimenton braised red beans, radish salad and feta. As we were a large group, there were served family style to allow you to build your own – although we had an issue in terms of quantity of tortillas. We eventually got extras but they were a little slow to come. Regardless, the tacos themselves were delicious – both were flavourful and texture rich. I had already had the Bahn-Mi before- it was the original taco I tried of theirs from their food truck. Nice combination of sweet and fatty. The Pimenton-Feta was a new one for me – not a huge fan of the beans themselves but the mix with the feta and the radish made it work rather nicely.

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The next service was the final main: Fried Chicken and Johnny Cakes (cornmeal pancakes) with coleslaw and Ranch dressing. I loved these – the fried chicken was crispy but still moist inside, the coleslaw was light and fresh, the ranch dressing added some creaminess and the pancakes were a perfect vehicle for the whole thing. I just wished that there had been more!

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For dessert, we got individual key lime pies. Now, I am a huge key lime pie fan so imitators need not present themselves to me at a restaurant. This one was quite good – a crunchy graham crust at the bottom and nice key lime filling. The key things for me are always the texture of the filling itself and the key lime flavour being strong but not overbearing. Grumman’s version hits these notes perfectly. A solid end to the meal.

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All in all, my time at Grumman 78 left me conflicted – the food was awesome as I had expected given my experiences with the food truck however the service issues on this evening left a slightly sour note for my dinner mates and I. I am generally more forgiving on these things but I suspect some of my friends won’t be based on our discussions at the bar afterwards. The food here is too good not to check out but perhaps I would recommend not bringing a large group firstly – a table of 2 or 4 should not run into the issues we did. At least visit the food truck when it comes out this summer. I certainly plan to.

Cheers!

Grumman 78
630 de Courcelle
514 290 5125

Grumman '78 on Urbanspoon

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Le BarBÙ

9 Mar

Anyone who regularly reads this blog (and once again thank you for doing so!) may notice that when it comes to Quebec restaurants, I really tend to stick to Montreal proper. This is mostly due to my living downtown and the abundant options all around me that don’t involve me crossing a bridge. Now, as someone who grew up off-island, I am very familiar and used to the idea of crossing our “beloved” bridges to get to places – restaurants for the most part don’t happen to be one of those “worthwhile’ reasons anymore.

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Recently I had an event on the South Shore which brought me to a restaurant in Boucherville which I had never heard of before – Le BarBÙ. The restaurant is located in a strip mall just off the highway in Boucherville. It doesn’t make much of a first impression that way but that changes once inside. A nice modern decor punctuated with faux stone walls and art prints, it also has an exposed wine cellar and a nice bar area with a unique apparatus where the bottles hang from the ceiling. The restaurant clearly aims for the 5-7 crowd as well as dining. So the setting is nice but for me, the food is the most important. For this particular dinner I was apart of, it was a table d’hôte composed of regular items for the menu so my choices were limited somewhat.

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First up, a combination of soup and salad. The soup was a rice and vegetable soup and the salad was a standard chef’s salad. Both were solid but unspectacular – the soup had the right consistency and was not stingy on the rice or vegetables. The chef’s salad was exactly what you have expected from a chef’s salad – a good mix of lettuce and fresh vegetables which thankfully was not completely covered in a thick ranch dressing. On their regular menu, there were definitely more interesting options for starters but my hands were tied sadly.

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I got to try two different mains – the first was an Angus beef skirt steak with shallot sauce, vegetables and house fries. A pretty classic French bistro dish and well executed throughout. The steak was cooked properly with a nice sear on the outside and the shallot based sauce added some nice flavour. The house fries were thankfully cooked well – crispy on the outside but still soft enough on the inside. The cut of the fries was also perfect for me – not quite matchstick but not the thick wedges either. Overall a solid dish.

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The second main I got to try was butternut squash ravioli with goat cheese and a Portneuf sauce. Compared to the previous main dish, this was a much more creative endeavour. Loved the combination of the squash with the richness of the goat cheese. The Porfneuf sauce added nice creaminess to the mix – this was definitely not a light pasta dish. Very well done overall.

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Finally, for dessert, we got a piece of chocolate cake. A chocolate mousse on top of a chocolate cookie layer topped with a chocolate ganache. If you don’t like chocolate, this probably isn’t for you but for the rest of us, this works rather well.

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Le BarBÙ turned out to be a pleasantly solid surprise for me. I had no expectations going in but the food was solid, the wine list was interesting and the cocktails were well done. South Shore dining is not a regular thing for me but le BarBÙ definitely becomes a place to revisit. I’m still not prepared to cross a bridge to the South Shore too often for a meal but this is a good start to get me thinking about it.

Cheers!

BarBÙ
10 Boul. de Mortagne
Boucherville, Qc
450 655 6770

BarBU restaurant on Urbanspoon

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Wings n’ Things

2 Mar

Every year, Super Bowl weekend is, for me, a get together with friends and/or family to watch the big game. On the occasion, we usually pig out to the usual classic “game day” trappings – chips, beers, ribs, fried chicken, etc…. Sure it’s not very healthy but hey, something just seems wrong about eating salad and vegetables during the Super Bowl. You just offset with a couple extra days at the gym. It’s not so hard. Anyway, for this particular year, I was a guest at some friends who had dinner covered. However, that did not mean I wouldn’t bring anything over especially since I was heading over around lunch time to enjoy some Habs hockey beforehand. In keeping with the spirit of the day, I figured this was as good a time as any to finally try out the reincarnation of Wings n’ Things to grab, what else, some chicken wings!

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Now, I have no memories of the old Wings n’ Things as I am too young to have had the chance to try them or even remember it. However, enough people whose opinions I trust talked up its return in late 2012 that I figured it was worth a visit. Located on Royalmount just off Decarie in an industrial neighbourhood, the first challenge was actually locating the place! They actually share a space with Otago Cafe which threw me off as a newcomer as I drove back and forth along Royalmount unable to find the address! This would be a pickup so I really have no comments on the service there other than to say that I received my order quickly without much of a wait.

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Wings n’ Things offers a wide variety of wings – regular, boneless, breaded or grilled – with a number of different sauces. For this particular visit, I stuck with regular wings with honey garlic, Jack Daniels BBQ and parmesan garlic sauces. The Jack Daniels BBQ ones were probably the most disappointing mostly because I really didn’t get any hint of the Jack Daniels. As BBQ wings, they would be quite good but my original expectations let me down here. The honey garlic sauce was exactly what I expected – a solid mix of sweetness and some bite. My clear favorite though was the parmesan garlic – those ones surprised me with the nice mix of the cheese and the garlic without being overpowering. All 3 varieties were coated well – no lack of sauce here. I also very much enjoyed the wings themselves – they had enough meat on the bone without being so big that they wouldn’t be cooked correctly inside. As a chicken wing place, Wings n’ Things needed to make sure their wings were on point and thankful they were.

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Wings n’ Things has a host of other things on the menu but given this was also conveniently Poutine Week, I went with their special at the time which is not there normally but probably should be – a curly fries poutine with cheese curds, red onions, boneless wing meat and their medium buffalo sauce. Absolutely delicious across the board which also allowed me to try their buffalo sauce. I am not a big heat guy and this sauce was right on the edge for me – if they had put their hotter version of the sauce, I would have had serious trouble finishing it. As it was, I very much enjoyed it and would probably get wings in that sauce in the future.

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All in all, for my money, these were the best wings I have had here in Montreal. They are a little out of the way but believe me, if you are in the mood for good wings, this is the place you must go.

Cheers!

Wings n’ Things
5663 Royalmount
514 733 0765

Wings 'N Things on Urbanspoon

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