Bofinger (Montreal)

I am 2/3 at Bofinger, so I thought those odds were good enough to warrant a repeat visit. See my previous post on the 1/3 day.

Today was moderately tasty, although a bit pricey. $11.50 purchased:

• 2 tasty although small-ish & fatty pork ribs. Texas bbq sauce recommended. Probably only a couple of ounces of actual edible meat on there
• 1 awesome piece of garlicky Texas toast
• large heaping of vinegary cole slaw
• small fountain pop

L'Amere a Boire (Montreal)

This joint brews their own beer and it's much more delightful than their competition, Les 3 Brasseurs. After work, pints were a very reasonable $5.

The beer was starting to make me hungry, so a veggie burger was in order. I was moderately frightened when it came out with an odd looking butter/cheese item on top, but I went for it and was pleasantly surprised. Some sprouts, tomatoes and a grilled ciabatta bun were also there!

What was not included was fries. A bit troubling for an $8 burger!

Basha (Montreal)

This is the most delightful middle eastern mini chain ever! Too bad it's a Montreal thing...

The Eaton centre location is always busy and I have never gone wrong with the tabouli, falafel sandwich, veggie sandwich (basically grilled cauliflower + falafel fixings), roasted garlic potatoes or rice/lentil mix with onions. Price isn't bad either with a "trio" for under about $8.

The other location that I have been to is near Place Ville Marie on St. Catherines. This place is huge and it's a bit nicer since it's not food court-esque! I was very impressed by the selection here with about 10 salads available and about another 20-30 items. I was somewhat overwhelmed, so I went with a veggie plate. It turned out to be a jumbo plate of about 15 different items with a piece of pita bread. Really too much food for one person to possibly eat! All for about $9.00!

Mr. Ma (Montreal)

This is nominally upscale szechuan in downtown Montreal with prices to suit, but the menu was a bit all over the place.

I went with the salmon tempura meal with a spring roll to start, fried rice and a side of chinese type veggies. Delicious all around! About $20 per main course.

Other enjoyed their satay meals.

Mysore (Montreal)

After a failed Pacu Pacu Peruvian mission up St. Laurent, Mysore jumped out like a haven of tastiness. This rather large restaurant was packed at 9 on Saturday night, so it seemed like a winner.

We went with the veggie combo DD for 2 ($39).

The meal started well with delightfully crispy and flavorful papandums with carrot chutney. Also nice, was a 1.5 L bottle of water on each table that we seemingly did not have to pay extra for. The appearance of the bottle of course caused Ian some future bill stress, but when the waiter cracked it open & started pouring without asking us, he felt a bit better.

Then came 2 tasty samosas with yogurt mint sauce and 6 mini onion bhaji cakes with tangy red mango sauce. Better than usual.



Main course was rice with veggies, yellow lentils (a trade for spinach & potatoes), dry cauliflower curry and saucy mixed veg curry. Came with naan.

Dessert was coconut square & gulab jaman.

All dishes were great and did not suffer from the usual Indian food affliction of greasiness.

Service was a little on the slow side, but food came out pretty fast. Decor was a notch up from typical Indian Toronto buffet type places.

Lola Rosas Round 2 (Montreal)

Nachos are moderately tasty with lots of black beans, salsa and avocado. Could use more cheese & less sogginess.


Brownies still tasty!

3 Amigos (Montreal)

While in Montreal, we headed over to 3 Amigos one day for lunch. We had heard good things and had previously considered going when we ended up at an Indian place on the St Denis strip. Anyway, after a full morning of touristing we headed in around 2. The place wasn't that crowded which wasn't terribly surprising given the time.

The chips and salsa were a great opener since the chips were warm. Ideal after walking around on a blustery day. Unfortunately that was the highlight.

For the main course, Janice had a the veggie and beef taco platter. A quote from her, "The beef was greasy and the veggie had no flavour and was gross.". I had the chicken "burrito". I think everyone knows I love burritos but this was no burrito I've ever had. It was chicken in a tortilla covered in cheese. All of the usual burrito stuffing items were missing. That said it was a sizable amount of chicken and it had been marinated/cooked to have a good flavour. The sides were ok but they certainly did not make up for my disappointing burrito.

All this for $22.91 all in. The verdict, we probably won't be back for quite a while.

Head to Head Market Showdown. Jean Talon vs St. Lawrence

The best of the Toronto & Montreal markets compared....

Location

Let's face it, as down-towners, St. Lawrence is rather convenient for us on all but the laziest or coldest of days. Door to door in less than 30 minutes.

Marche Jean Talon is not quite so handy. It is in Montreal where I occasionally live. But even from my place in Montreal it's still a solid hour to get there and is not exactly downtown.

Public transit options about equal to both markets.

Edge St. Lawrence

Layout/Size

St. Lawrence is probably physically bigger, but Jean-Talon felt a lot more spaced out and not so overwhelmingly busy. I liked the mix of indoor & outdoor at Jean-Talon vs the two buildings at St. Lawrence.

Edge: Jean Talon

Fish & Seafood

Definite edge to St. Lawrence. Not a heck of a lot of seafood at Jean-Talon.

St Lawrence

St. Lawrence

Fresh fish on the way to St Lawrence

Edge: St. Lawrence

Meat

St. Lawrence - lots of regular steaks, ribs & poultry.

Jean-Talon - smoked meat and charcuterie in general seemed superior.

Jean Talon

St Lawrence
St Lawrence

Edge: Equal

Quebecois Specialty Food

Toronto really doesn't have a distinct food genre, instead we seem to have stolen good stuff from other cultures. The only moderately good thing in Toronto is the peameal bacon sandwich.

Jean Talon - good stuff like crepes, smoked meat, meat pies, sugar pies, maple syrup etc available.

Jean Talon

St Lawrence

Edge: Jean Talon

Produce

Perhaps about the same variety & pricing, but Jean-Talon had lots of nice looking displays and vendors seemed to spend more time on presentation.

Jean Talon

Edge: Jean-Talon

Flowers

Are there flowers at St. Lawrence? Only a meager amount as part of a produce store.

Jean Talon

St. Lawrence

Edge: Jean-Talon

Dry Goods

St Lawrence has a super cool store downstairs with lots of bulk & specialty dry goods downstairs. Add in a rice & bean store and it's an easy choice.

Edge: St Lawrence
Criminal Element

St Lawrence has cops for helping people cross the street, Jean-Talon had cruisers driving through presumably looking for criminals.

Jean Talon

Edge: St Lawrence.

Pasta

Whole stores dedicated to the making of fresh pasta at Jean-Talon. At St. Lawrence, merely a small table.

Jean Talon

St Lawrence

Edge: Jean-Talon

Cheese

Surprisingly, St Lawrence appears to be superior with a couple huge cheese shops. Nothing too major at Jean Talon.

St. Lawrence

Edge: St. Lawrence

Bakery

Future Bakery vs sugar pies. Who can really make a call between these two.

St Lawrence

Edge: neutral

Housewares

One extremely cramped store at St. Lawrence and a few other little guys. Jean-Talon has a few places, just as well equipped but a lot nicer & spaced out.

Jean Talon

St Lawrence

Beer

St. Lawrence has the LCBO down the street, Jean-Talon has specialty wine shops & local beer by the bottle.

Edge: Jean-Talon

Final Count - 2 up Jean Talon, but really they are about equal.

Chez Cora

Ian and I have partaken in the T., but this was the first time going authentic to the home of Cora.

Ian wanted to stick with the familiar and got what I got last time, the cinnamon brioche roll with an egg, bacon and fruit salad on top. With a bit of syrup, the tastiness level was high.

My breakfast came with a scrambled egg, about 6 strips of bacon, two blueberry pancakes and some fruit. Overall very delightful.

Perhaps not a good deal for 2 meals + an OJ for $27.46 including tax and tip.

Guido & Angelina (Montreal)

Last night, I went out for dinner with R&S in downtown Montreal to Guido & Angelina's.

The price was right, but the food not spectacular. Calamari was a touch rubbery but definitely plentiful for the price.

My main course of mushroom risotto was delicious and too much for one person to eat. Lasagna and cannelloni were ok, but not great.

So overall a decent place and a good place for a party or a big crowd.

Les 3 Brasseurs (Montreal)

Montreal pub at it's best or perhaps busiest, this place is nearly impossible to get in on Fridays after work, or even late evening.

Ian and I enjoyed a moderately priced pint each with some free peanuts for me. Total cost was $12.

The blonde & amber are probably the tastiest among the brew made on site, but of course grouchy Ian thought his tastest like pipe cleaners? Like what the heck is that flavor and how would he even know that???? Has he been munching on pipe cleaner lately??

Lola Rosas (Montreal)

Time in Montreal is possibly winding down a bit, but on the plus side this means more Toronto postings for our faithful blog readers!

My coworker & I went to Lola Rosas in the heart of the McGill student ghetto. It is vegetarian that leans toward Mexican, although there were a few others cultures represented. The garage that houses Lola's was well renovated and the tables were especially cute & antique-like! Check out the notes in the drawers for some wisdom from past customers.

My black bean burrito was alright, nothing special, but the included side salad had a delightful peanut/orange flavored dressing. My coworker enjoyed her hemp burger with salad, chickpea salad & side of beets. Both dishes about $10. Big eaters will leave hungry. Next time I will try the nachos- they looked awesome with big hunks of avocado thrown on top!

Dessert was a highlight - a warm brownie with chocolate sauce and ice cream for the very moderate price of $3.50.

Mikasa (Montreal)

From the looks of the website, this is a Montreal area mini-chain. We ventured out to the downtown peel location.

This seems to be quite a popular place and it was starting to get busy about 5:30 on Wednesday night. By the time we left, it was starting to fill up.

The meal started well with some yasai tempura (veggie). Light and crispy topping with great vegiges including mushroom, squash, eggplant and zuchini. Others seemed to enjoy seaweed salad with grilled octopus.

Main course was a fantastic custom veggie sushi platter including mini avocado, squash tempura rolls and a rather expensive fruit sushi ($13 I think for 4 pieces). The other sushi was a bit more reasonable at $4 to $6 I think.

Others liked salmon sushi & grilled seafood platter. I would definately go back, but not too often due to price!

Photo credit to Stephen S.

Trattoria Trestevere (Montreal)

This place appears to be among the more traditional/less trendy places on Crescent.

Dinner started well with some tomato-cheese crostini on the house. The co-workers arugula salads & tomato-bococcini salads were all delightful and fairly large servings.

The main courses were fun to order. Many of the pastas were names I did not recognize, so I was asking the waiter for translation. He gave up on that and started designing pastas around my choice of sauce, rose. The first few selections were meaty, but I chose the last one with fungi.

My veggie coworker went with my pasta, one guy had another custom pasta - penne arribiatta with spicy sausage. The carnivorous food guru had a massive veal chop with potato & veg.

The pastas and veal were all fantastic. Large bowls with great sauce. The rose was interesting - it was more like Alfredo with their tomato sauce ladled on top. Price was pretty decent too...about $18 or so I think for the pastas.

Bellagio (Montreal)

This place appears to be one of the more popular upscale downtown Montreal places. It's up a bit closer to what I think people call the "Plaza".

Dinner started off well with some complimentary bruschetta and rolls with olive oil & vinegar.

I skipped the appetizer, but others liked their soup and Cesar salads.

For main course, I had some pasta with sun dried tomato and spinach. It was delicious and not horrendously expensive at about $16 or so. Ian would probably call it a bit salty, but I enjoyed it!

Veal eaters in the group seemed to enjoy.

Pizza Il Focolaio (Montreal)

Another phillips square place. The pizza menu is extensive and all are baked in what appears to be an authentic wood burning pizza oven. If there is a crowd, go for a jug of the local brew.

First time around, I had a veggie with mushrooms, zucchini etc. It was only so so. Last week, I went with broccoli rabe, tomato and mozza and whole wheat crust. The tastiness level was high and the $12.50 pizza was probably enough for two somewhat light eaters.

Le Grand Comptoir (Montreal)

I went with the co-workers on Wednesday night to this French Bistro in Phillips Square downtown.

The menu was a small, but there was a good selection of various takes on steak frites, duck, fish, pork and a pasta. Also typical french appetizers like escargot & smoked salmon salad etc.

With every entree, a deelightful soup of the day was included (leek potato). For my meal, I has the flank steak. It came with tasty frites and a side of salad. For $16, the whole lot was a great deal and I will definitely be back for a cheap, but really good dinner!

Bofinger (Montreal)

This joint is pretty tasty (ribs are ok), pulled pork sandwich #1 good. I went for sandwich #2 this week and basically bit into something really hard and bone like. It did indeed appear to be bone. I spit it out and made a break for it.

I have no idea how that would end up in a pulled pork sandwich. I am now somewhat sad, this place was getting into the regular rotation + it's good value because I sandwich and side for $9 is enough for 2-3 meals!

Tamales (Montreal)

On Sunday night, I went to what appears to be the second most trendy area in Montreal, Price Arthur off of Saint Laurent. Crescent Street seems to be #1.

For a decent $19 or so, I had a beer and veggie burritos. The burritos had black beans, mushrooms and onions with a tasty chipotle sauce and cheese on top. There was some guacamole & tomato salsa on top of some lettuce on the side. My only complaint was the rice - was very so so and not very Mexican-y.

The patios in this area are very delightful and fantastic for a nice summer night.

Here is the website.

Cafe Paris (Montreal)

Crepes were on the menu today after work. I walked over to Crescent and spotted the moderately busy Cafe Paris. After an ordering fiasco and 20 minute delay, I finally got a pretty tasty nutella strawberry crepe for about $9.

I tried not to think about the chef scratching his head and then touching the crepes or the guy taking money who then went and cut up my stawberries. Hopefully no illness results!