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Maison Publique (Brunch Edition)

21 Oct

There has been much anticipation for Jamie Oliver’s 1st foray into the Montreal food scene with Maison Publique, the English pub style joint run by Derek Dammann, his local partner, former sous-chef and formerly of DNA restaurant in Old Montreal. While I had hoped to first experience their dinner service earlier during their opening week, the timing didn’t work out. However, I was able to visit for Brunch on their first open Sunday. I was very exciting to see what exactly Derek and co. had in store.

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The restaurant is located in the heart of plateau Mont Royal in a relatively residential area. The bar dominates the decor and with good reason as it is absolutely beautiful. You also get a nice open view of the kitchen from both inside the restaurant (just outside of the frame to the left) and from the window outside the restaurant. The steady stream of alternative music added to a relaxed friendly and slightly hip vibe.

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No menus are handed to you here – everything is posted on a board for all to see. Our waitress kindly informed us of this fact and mentioned the few items she had gotten to try… They’d only had one service previous to our visit, so quite understandable. The menu is a nice mix of classic brunch items with some twists, some typical English breakfast items and more eclectic fare. To start off, I ordered the apple strudel. Nice and flaky with a delicious apple filling, it was a good start to the meal.

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Next up, I ordered the breakfast sandwich. A sausage patty covered with melted cheese, topped with a egg and maple syrup, all between the housemade English muffin. You are left with a very tasty and satisfying sandwich. The English muffin in particular was quite nice.

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My sister, on the other hand. ordered the pancakes with pear butter and smoked bacon. Very nice and fluffy pancakes, all perfectly cooked. The pear butter was a nice and subtle touch to the dish and the bacon had a great smokiness as you would expect.

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All in all, a very successful brunch and this was their first weekend. I only except things to get better and better. In general, good brunch places are hard to find so to see a new option enter the scene – especially in my neck of woods – is a wonderful thing. Everyone looking for a great brunch will be in for a great treat if they visit Maison Publique. I hope to have a review of their dinner options shortly – this experience has only made me more eager to come back for more.

Cheers!

Maison Publique
4720 Marquette (corner Gilford)
514 507 0555

Maison Publique on Urbanspoon

 

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Beauty’s Luncheonette

21 Oct

Certain restaurants in Montreal are what one would call institutions. As a local Montrealer, these are places that you should get to at some point because to miss them is to miss out on experiences that are part of what makes Montreal special when it comes to food. Schwartz’s, Moishes (eventually in my case), Laurier BBQ before the Ramsey fiasco, St-Viateur and/or Fairmount bagels (depending on where you side on that debate but that’s a story for another day), etc…. In the end, you may leave slightly underwhelmed because your experience couldn’t possibly match up to the hype but regardless, they are places that you must experience for yourself.

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Beauty’s is such a place. A staple of Montreal since 1942, they have been owned by the same family the whole time and have been serving up breakfast in Mile End ever since. Any day of the week you pass by, you will see a line-up outside. On this beautiful thanksgiving weekend, before heading to watch the Alouettes sadly get beat at Molson Stadium, I finally got my chance to visit Beauty’s with some friends for a little late breakfast.

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Beauty’s is known for their special – cream cheese, smoked salmon and onion on a bagel. However, I am not much of a fan of smoked salmon so I chose to go with the Beauty’s basic – two eggs, home fries, one meat with a bagel. A simple dish but one that must be spot on if you are worth your salt as a breakfast place. Very good overall. The home fries in particular were quite delicious.

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To that, we originally ordered some latkes and I took a Classico Beauty’s smoothie. However, they had run out of latkes by the way we got our order in. So just the smoothie would have to do. Strawberry, banana and orange juice – simple but classic. A nice thick consistency and very delicious. The perfect complement to a nice breakfast.

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Is it a earth shattering breakfast? Not exactly. But it is a Montreal landmark that serves a very good breakfast. The place looks exactly like what you think it would – a diner that has been going since 1942. It has a wonderful old fashion feel that I absolutely love – right down to the owner greeting you at the door and joking with you as you wait for your table. You may want something more unique or different for breakfast but that’s not Beauty’s and that’s fine. They simply do a damn fine breakfast as they have been doing since 1942. For that reason alone, you need to check it out. I waited way too long. You don’t have to make that same mistake.

Cheers!

Beauty’s Luncheonette
93 Mont-Royal West
514 849 8883

Beauty's on Urbanspoon

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Douro

8 Oct

There are restaurants that, for some reason, become family favorites. Be it for a specific food item, the wine list, the decor or even the service, these are places that you will go back to time and time again because you enjoy it and are in the mood to go back. They become staple of the rotation when the family seeks a nice place to enjoy a nice weekend meal. For my family, Douro is one such place. Given we recently went back for a nice Saturday evening meal, I figure now would be a good opportunity to talk about it.

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For the uninitiated, Douro is a Portuguese restaurant located of the fringes of Little Italy here in Montreal. They serve tapas style dishes or you can stick to the classic appetizer/ main course format if you’d like. Each time I’ve gone, I have stuck to the tapas menu. Amongst the tapas options on this evening, we went for chorizo sausage, grilled squid, grilled calamari, garlic shrimp and cod cakes. Every item is cooked very nicely without overdoing the ingredients – simply allowing the natural favors of each items shine through with some slight enhancements. The grilled squid is of particular note here.

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The next serving brought forth some delicious mussels as well as 2nd helpings of squid and cod cakes. The mussels were rather small but they were still delicious as was the garlic and white wine broth.

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To top off the evening, a deliciously fresh pastry. Nice flaky crust and a buttery smooth filling.

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Add to this delicious food a nice bottle of Portuguese white wine and you have yourself a very nice meal to enjoy. The service is outstanding and personable. I have some minor quips about the decor of the restaurant (although I seem to be the only one who feels that way) but they do not distract for the great food you will enjoy. If you are looking for a nice enjoyable Portuguese meal, I highly recommend giving Douro a shot. Maybe your family will enjoy it as much as mine.

Cheers!

Douro
6518 Boul. St-Laurent
514 273 6969

Douro on Urbanspoon

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Blackstrap BBQ

7 Oct

I am a big fan of BBQ. Pretty much everyone who knows me will agree with that. Southern style BBQ is not something we are known for here in Montreal but that is starting to evolve. We have recently been spoiled with the additions of Dinette Triple Crown and Diablos BBQ to the local scene. There is now a new contender for the crown which, given they won the Quebec BBQ competition this past summer, may be a mute point.

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Blackstrap BBQ just opened this past week in Verdun amongst much fanfare in the local food scene. Started up by the former owners of Grifintown Cafe, they are focused on Memphis style BBQ and based on all the pictures and quick reviews I was seeing online, I knew I couldn’t wait long before going to try it out and my god was it worth it….

I went for a fairly ridiculous amount of food mostly because there was so much I wanted to try and couldn’t decide. First off, I went for a pulled pork sandwich, some brisket and the most tempted side they had, fried Mac ‘n cheese balls. Yeah…. you read that right. Fried Mac ‘n cheese balls. There was nothing on this plate that wasn’t amazing. The pulled pork and brisket had great natural smoky flavor and that was before you added your choice of sweet or spicy BBQ sauce. The fried balls were outstanding. Soft and melty interior with a great crispy exterior. I could a bunch of those as a meal.

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I would have been satisfied with that alone but the special item written on the wall got my attention : burnt ends poutine. Oh baby…. that poutine. Words do not properly describe how great this was. The burnt ends on their own were perfect but you add to that a very good poutine especially the gravy which clearly wasn’t an afterthought and you have a amazing dish which made the experience that much better.

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Verdun may be a little out of the way for some of you but I cannot recommend you check this place out more. As soon as I left, I waited to come back the next day. A sign of the quality and the word of mouth for this restaurant: they ran out of all their meats about an hour after we arrived…. almost 2 hours before their closing time. This was a great experience and one you shouldn’t miss out on.

Cheers!

Blackstrap BBQ
4436 Wellington
514 507 6772

Blackstrap BBQ on Urbanspoon

 

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Pastaga (Brunch Edition)

17 Sep

Another beautiful Sunday in Montreal can only mean another Brunch opportunity. This past weekend, my brunch partner and I….and yes… I have a brunch buddy. In lieu of a relationship, brunch is best enjoyed amongst friends, so we have made this a regular occurrence. Great way to maintain friendships you care about. Food for thought (and pun completely intended). Anyway… Pastaga is a restaurant that I have wanted to visit for some time now. Eventually I will go for dinner but for the time being, having been biking by it every weekend for the past 3 months on my way to Jean Talon Market, I decided that brunch was a quicker option for the time being.

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Pastaga does brunch on Sunday exclusively. On this beautiful day, we arrived before any rush and sat down right away. Right off the bat, the place has a great look and feel. Very simple and fresh decor. The large window in the front of the restaurant provides a large amount of natural light which lights up the space. Simple wood tables, couch chairs and a nice bar in the back. The killer element is the glass wall in the back which exposes the beautiful kitchen for all to see. I could have sat there for hours.

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Started off with a strawberry smoothie and the complimentary sugared doughnuts with housemate caramel. Smoothie was light but had a great taste. The doughnuts were very good as well. They didn’t have the warm fluffy texture of something that has been made fresh to order but were delicious regardless. Nice crunch to them and not too dense. The caramel was the star however. Perfectly rich and smooth.

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As a main course, I had Pastaga’s version of a hash. Grilled potatoes and peppers with bacon, egg and toast. Simple in principle but exquisite in execution. All the elements came together wonderfully for a great dish. The bacon in particular was just perfect. More a large slab of pork than what most would consider bacon but no complaints here. Simply a great dish.

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My friend had the Benedictine plate. Pastaga’s play of this dish included a fowl drumstick. Once again, every element of the plate was perfectly executed. The biscuit was good, the poached egg was perfect, the drumstick was great and the hollandaise sauce was exceptionally light with the same taste one would expect from most hollandaise sauces. Another great dish.

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Finally, to finish off the meal, we split the petit fours which consisted of 4 mini brownies with a candied grape in the middle of each. A perfect sweet ending to a very good meal.

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Pastaga was a great brunch experience that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a nice place to try out. This meal further reinforced my need to come have dinner here as well. Anytime you are in the Little Italy/ Jean Talon Market area, you would be hard pressed to find a better brunch option to enjoy on a nice relaxing Sunday.

Cheers!

Pastaga
6389 Saint-Laurent (corner Beaubien)
438 381-6389

Pastaga on Urbanspoon

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Diablos BBQ

2 Sep

A couple of Sundays ago and in the mood for a nice spot to enjoy the weather, I was tasked to pick a restaurant in the latin Quarter for me and some friends. Given that everyone likes BBQ, I decided that we’d try out Diablos BBQ, a new-ish place located on St-Denis between Ontario and De Maisonneuve. Now, this was the same weekend where I tried out Dinette Triple Crown, so Diablos had much to live up to.

We arrived around 1:30 and were surprised to find that we were the only ones there! A little strange but the gay pride parade had just ended so maybe the lack of people was a function of that but either way, for the entire time we were there, no other patrons showed up. The restaurant is relatively small inside with the look and feel of a southern style BBQ place. However, they have an awesome terrasse outback which was one of the same reasons we went that day.

 

 

To start, I had the pulled pork sliders because, as I mentioned previously, the quality of a BBQ place’s pulled pork says a lot about the restaurant to me. The sliders were okay. The pulled pork was good texturally however it lacked sauce somewhat and was a little on the cold side temperature wise. The cornbread was well done but given its nature dry and dense nature, the lack of sauce with the pork was all the more glaring.

 

As a main, I went with the abattoir burger which is an 1lb patty formed with equal portions of beef, veal and pork. The burger is served with the option of a number of sides. I chose to go with the coleslaw because I really didn’t feel like eating fries at that moment which incidentally were quite good having picked a few from my friends. Anyway, the patty was perfectly cooked and quite good. Again, while the burger has some BBQ sauce in it as a condiment, I definitely think it needed more. The bun was quite good as well. The coleslaw was solid – nothing really standout but nothing bad either.

 

Overall, Diablos BBQ was a solid meal but somewhat disappointing. I truly believe my experience at Dinette the day before really set me up for this kind of experience. The actual BBQ itself was well done. It was just the little extra touches that were missing for me on this day. If you are a fan of BBQ, I would still encourage you to check them out if you’re in the area.

Cheers!

Diablos BBQ

1693A St-Denis

(514) 283-4666

Diablos on Urbanspoon

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Dinette Triple Crown

23 Aug

On my regular Saturday bike ride to and from Jean Talon Market, I occasionally use the opportunity to stop and try some desired location located on my route through Mile End and Little Italy. Last week, I was in the mood for some BBQ so I headed off to a pretty new addition to the scene in Little Italy, Dinette Triple Crown.

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I had first heard of this location through Natasha Pickowicz‘s blog. As a fan of BBQ, I was instantly intrigued and boy… was I not disappointed. The restaurant is in a small space at the corner of St-Zotique and Clark across from Martel park. There is a small counter area to sit inside but the place is really set up to pick up and enjoy elsewhere. In fact, they offer an option to provide a picnic basket filled with your order to bring across the street to enjoy outside. Had I not been alone, the option would have been a perfect one but inside was just as enjoyable. The restaurant has a cool look with amazing music playing throughout. Any place that plays jazz, crooner and soul music the whole time is a winner in my books!

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The menu options run the gamut of classic southern style food: brisket, fried chicken, pulled pork, biscuits, sweet potato, greens, etc… I went for a large wide swatch of their options for my lunch: Pulled pork sandwich, one piece of fried chicken, a buttermilk biscuit, sweet potatoes and a lemonade. There wasn’t a single bad option on this plate. The sweet potatoes were perfectly cooked with a nice crisp exterior without the interior becoming complete mush. The biscuit was a perfect combination of rich, soft, flaky goodness. It was the kind of thing where you can just tell that lots of butter and buttermilk was used in its making but you don’t care in the least. The fried chicken was simply perfect – the skin was crispy, seasoned perfectly and not overbearing. The chicken was probably the moistest I’ve ever experienced with fried chicken. That classic feeling of needing to drink loads of water to offset the dryness of fried chicken was nowhere to be found. The chicken definitely deserved to be enjoyed in a larger quantity but that had to wait because I needed to try the pulled pork.

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When I want to judge a BBQ place, the pulled pork or the ribs are, to me, the to go options. The pulled pork here is just amazing. Perfectly done with the right level of tenderness & amazing flavor and that is without sauce because at Dinette, the pulled pork sandwich comes un-sauced. On the table, you have numerous options of sauces from which to choose from. You have a more classic Memphis BBQ sauce, a South Carolina mustard sauce and a vinegar based East Carolina sauce. Dinette Triple Crown also experiment with other sauce options from time to time. When I was there, the chef came over to provide me with a sample of his current concoction, a peach jalapeño sauce. Let me repeat that because I believe it deserves to be repeated: peach jalapeño sauce. Now, I really don’t enjoy jalapeño spice but I definitely needed to try this one. I tried both it and the Memphis BBQ sauce. The BBQ sauce was spot-on and hit the notes you expect from a top notch BBQ place. The Peach jalapeño sauce was just out of bounds. Spicy to start with a nice sweetness midway to cool the pallet before the heat kicks up again at the finish, this sauce was ridiculous. Just ridiculous. Not sure how much I use it given my lack of hot sauce enjoyment but for those who do, Dinette does sell the sauces they make periodically so check it out with that’s your style.

All in all, Dinette Triple Crown is the best southern BBQ experience I’ve ever had. Period. Anyone who loves BBQ needs to stop over and give this place a shot. I will definitely be heading back very soon to try the rest of the menu.

Cheers!

Dinette Triple Crown
6704 Clark (corner St-Zotique)
514 272 2617

Dinette Triple Crown on Urbanspoon

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Comptoir 21

22 Aug

Following my experience last week at Brit and Chips (see previous blog entry), I decided to continue along the fish and chips path by visiting Comptoir 21 in Mile End. I stopped by on a early Friday evening to see what I have been missing.

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Comptoir 21 is a nice small diner-like space that can sit probably about 20 people. They also have a takeout counter should you choose to enjoy their food at home. Compared to Brit and Chips, their options are more straight forward but no less delicious.

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To start, I had their clam chowder. A nice hearty portion with loads of seafood and potatoes, the chowder avoided the classic sin of being too rich due to overuse of cream. Despite the warm weather outside, this chowder was a perfect starter to my meal.

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Next up was the reason I came in: the fish and chips. At Comptoir 21, there are no options regarding the fish or the batter used. You’ve got one choice and it is a damn good one. The fish is nice and flaky while retaining its moistness despite the frying. The batter is thin but very crisp and sticks nicely to the fish. The options you do have is regarding whether you want fries, poutine or salad as well as your choice of sauce. I kept it traditional because to me, how you pull off simple fries and a base tartar sauce tells me how good of a fish and chips place you can be. The fries were nice and thick with a good crunch. Personally, I felt they needed a bit of seasoning before serving but it is minor complaints given how good they were. The Tartar sauce, on the other hand, was spot-on. Perfect rich and creamy compliment to the crispy fish. Very well done.

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Comptoir 21 was a wonderful discovery in a area of town that I need to explore more thoroughly given my discoveries there so far (BU, The Sparrow, Lawrence). If someone were to ask me which I would pick between Comptoir 21 & Brit and Chips, I’m not sure I can really pick one over the other right now. Both are amazing options to go try and discover. If you’re looking for a place for a quick bite in Mile End, give Comptoir 21 a moment of your time. It certainly won’t end up being your last time.

Cheers!

Comptoir 21
21 Saint-Viateur Ouest
514 507 3474

Comptoir 21 on Urbanspoon

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Brit and Chips

13 Aug

I may be the last person to try out Brit & Chips in this city but hey I finally got to it over the weekend, so let me bore you with my experience, okay?

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For the uninitiated, Brit and Chips is exactly what it sounds like – a fish and chips shop. They originally opened up in Old Montreal and have relatively recently opened up a second location in the Cote des Neiges district. They offer a variety of different fish and batter combinations along with other British fare such as scotch eggs, sausage rolls and meat pies. For my first experience, I decided to try one of their more eclectic options – hake in orange crush panure.

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Outside of the batter, which was quite amazing might I add, the rest of the dish is very traditional and very well done. The fish is nice and flaky and the batter is thin but very crispy. Add to that some nice fries and a dynamite tartar sauce and you have the makings of a great dish. To add to the experience, they have a variety of different British beers you can enjoy at the same time.

Unlike most locations of this variety, Brit and Chips also does dessert which I must highlight. They have a deep-fry “anything” option which is essentially “pick your chocolate bar from the options we have and we’ll fry it for you”. It comes with or without soft serve ice cream depending in your preference. They had Reese’s cups so I couldn’t pass this up.

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It was exactly as decadent as you can imagine it would be. A perfect end to a very good meal.

With the caveat of having not tried Comptoir 21 yet (in the works….eventually), Brit and Chips is by far the best option in the city for Fish and Chips. If you haven’t gone yet, you must certainly do so when you are in the neighborhood.

Cheers!

Brit and Chips
433 McGill or 5536A Cote des Neiges

Brit & Chips on Urbanspoon

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Chez Boris

12 Aug

Quick hitter here. Woke up on Saturday morning with a strong desire to try something different on my way to the market so I decided to finally go try a place that has been on my radar all summer: Chez Boris.

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Chez Boris is in the Mile End district on Park Avenue between Laurier and Fairmount and their speciality is doughnuts. For 75 cents each, you can get amazing fresh made-to-order doughnuts coated in a variety of different options. For my first visit (and it certainly won’t be the last…), I got 2 sugar, one cinnamon and one raspberry. Each was perfectly cooked with a nice crisp exterior and a light fluffy interior which is all that you can ask for in a perfect doughnut.

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So you’re interested in something outside of the usual donut shop for a quick hit of sweet, give Chez Boris a shot. You won’t be disappointed. Also, any place that uses a SNES as a card holder deserves your attention 😉

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Cheers!

Chez Boris
5151 Parc Avenue
514 900 1965

Chez Boris on Urbanspoon

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