New Montreal Restaurant Thread

[EagerBeaver]

Reviews from my recent trip:

Magnan's (Point St. Charles) - This restaurant specializes in Roast Beef, served in thick 6, 9 and I believe 11 ounce slices. The Roast Beef is cooked in a kind of peppery sauce. It was good and reminded me of something called Steamship Round that our Chef would make on special occasions when I was in college.

Reubens (St. Catherine) - I had a late lunch here with Stripper Lover. I got the barbecued chicken sandwich, which was good but much too much for me to eat. It is served on a long sourdough baguette, with BBQ sauce and fried onions. SL had the smoked meat platter. He let me try some of the smoked meat and it was very good.

Snowdon's Deli (Snowdon) - This is a Jewish style deli in the Snowdon section of Montreal that serves smoked meat sandwiches. My sandwich was okay but nothing special. I think Reubens' smoked meat is better.

Cities de Asie - Ate dinner here with Orallover, Dee and regnaD. The food was good, consisting of various dishes that we tried including sushi, Thai soups, Pad Thai, Mongolian Beef, and Thai fried rice, as well as some Chinese dishes. Reasonable prices and you can try a lot of different things.

Mikasa - I had a late dinner here with Orallover, consisting of sushi. I have eaten here many times before and it is one of my favorite sushi restaurants. I think they messed up OL's order, slightly.

Pino's - I had a somewhat disappointing $19.95 brunch here with Stripper Lover. It sounded good on the menu but it was not as good when the food came. Basically a small portion of fresh fruit in a half of a not so tasty cantaloupe, poached eggs served over smoked salmon and toast with a hollandaise sauce (I forgot the name of this dish), then a waffle with whipped cream and fresh fruit, served with maple syrup. If I had to do it over again I would have ordered lunch.

Delta Montreal - I ordered a pepperoni pizza which was disgusting. I ate one slice. Should have sent it back with a note to fire the chef. However just like I have never rejected an escort, I have never rejected a meal, even when warranted as it was on this occasion.

 

[chef]

...........

Pino's - I had a somewhat disappointing $19.95 brunch here with Stripper Lover. It sounded good on the menu but it was not as good when the food came. Basically a small portion of fresh fruit in a half of a not so tasty cantaloupe, poached eggs served over smoked salmon and toast with a hollandaise sauce (I forgot the name of this dish), then a waffle with whipped cream and fresh fruit, served with maple syrup. If I had to do it over again I would have ordered lunch............

They must have changed the chef. I had the almost-identical thing there (different dessert) a couple of times, and thought it was not bad. I really enjoyed the small portion of creme anglaise that was served with the fruit. It included a glass of mimosa (orange juice and sparkling wine); I have always thought that mimosa was a waste of orange juice and wine (I prefer them separately).

Addendum (qualifier): while not bad, the eggs "benedict" were most definitely NOT in the same class as those at Garcon, where they were superb. BUT, you pay the price for quality: $15 for starter and the eggs (no mimosa, no dessert)...VERY definitely worth it !

 

[MontrealAsian]

As an asian guy myself, I know quite a bit about the hot spots for asian food.

For sushi:

I highly recommend Kaizen
(4055 RUE SAINTE-CATHERINE OUEST, WESTMOUNT - (514) 937-3884)

That is usually the only sushi restaurant I ever go to nowadays. I've been to many places in many different cities but by far I would have to recommend this play. It is unfortunate the head chef of the restaurant is gone and went to open his own play, but the sous chefs he taught are just as good.

The service there is great. Very friendly staff and many hot looking ladies working there. Especially the hostesses... ouch. If I wasn't hungry when I stepped into the restaurant, just looking at these hot hostesses make me wanna swallow them up.

Now back to the food... my recommendations....

Tri-affellar Oysters. This is by far one of my favourite dishes of all time! The oysters are sometimes just a bit small, but the flavour and sauce that it is baked with is definately out of this world. It is so beaituflly creamy and flavourful that you'd think you just took a bite out of heaven. This is withouth a doubt 10/10. $11 a plate, 3 pieces.

Golden Ying Yang Calamari. This is really amazing fried calamari as well. This is not the regular Italian calamari you have. These are cut into smaller pieces and breaded with very nice batter. Golden and crispy yet inside is just too tender and juicy. Dip it with the spicy mayo it comes with, and you've got a party in your mouth! $14 a plate? 8/10 Decent appertizer portion.

Treehouse Salad. This is a very nice salad as well. Very flavourful and pretty on the eyes as well. It is pretty much a nice mix of shredded/julianned carrots and seaweed and I believe radish? It is mixed in a nice asian sesame oil based dressing. The aroma is very nice, and the flavours are quite refreshing and clean as well. 8/10 $8 a cup/bowl? Decent portion.

New Style Sashimi. There's various types of New Style Sashimi you can order. You can have it made using Salmon, White Fish, or Cajun Tuna. I personally like it done with white fish, I tend ot ask for Hamachi (yellow tail tuna). The fish is thinly sliced and placed on a beautiful dish. It is garnished with a water crest, some other greens, and also a bit of fried sweet potato I believe it is. The sauce the fish is doused with is very flavourful and light. It has a small spicy kick to it, but goes really well with the fish. Take a slice of the fish, wrap it around the water crest and the fried sweet potato, drag it around the sauce, pop into your mouth for a mouth orgasm. The Cajun Tuna is just as good as well for those that prefer tuna, and a bit more of a spicy kick. 10/10. $18 a plate. Decent portion.

Kobe Beef Matador. This is similar to a Maki (Sushi Roll) except it differs in the point that it does not use seaweed to wrap it around, but inside a sheet of white rice paper. Inside the roll, there is no rice used either. It is a mix of grounded kobe beef, and tempura with some greens and avacado inside. This is a very good if you like getting the most bang for your buck! $15 for 4 pieces. Good portion and quite filling.



The rest of the sushi here is quite good as well. I personally prefer to eat the Nigiri Sushi (Ball or rice with fish on top. comes in 2 pieces). Stuff I like are; Uni (Sea Urchin) $7.50, Mirugai (King Clam) $7.75, Tobiko (Flying Fish Roe) $6, and a few other things but i'm not really going to list all of them.

As for the hot courses and plates here... Try the Salmon Tataki. It is grilled lightly on the outside, but the inside is still raw and gives it a very soft and tender texture. The sauce it comes with is a Miso Soy based sauce. Goes really well with the Salmon. Comes with some grilled vegetables as well. $19 a plate. Main Course but doesn't come with rice. Rice is extra $2-3 I think.


Theres a lot more I would love to write about their food, but just go try it for yourself and see how you like it. If you don't like the stuff you had and have any complaints, come back and just bitch at me. But i'm sure you'll enjoy every last bite of it. A full meal for me any my GF without alcohol but a bottle of Evian and Perrier comes up to about $130 + 20% tips.

Caution: Eating at Kaizen may cause you to loosen your belt during the meal. Being unable to stand up at the end of the meal may be a side effect.

Enjoy!!!


Here's their menu if anyone wants to see all their stuff and prices.

http://www.kaizensushibar.com/TreehouseMenu.html

 

[chef]

Kaizen

MontrealAsian:
From reading your post I get the impression that the food tends to be on the spicy side. Correct ?

 

[MontrealAsian]

No, not at all Chef. The food has hints of spicyness, but I would really say no where near spicy. It's not thai food or indian food. I've read a lot of ur posts, you seem to know a lot about food. Try the place out, and i'll guarantee you'll love the place.

I tend to ask for extra hot sauce to add into my spicy mayo and also my teriyaki stuff. But the food is really no where near hot. The closest thing to it being spicy is maybe the Cajun Tuna, but again, that's not SPICY, that just has more cajun marinating and gives it some heat.

 

[MontrealAsian]

Nah, the head chef, Tri, he left. So no Tri, no treehouse.

 

[EagerBeaver]

I have been told that Kaizen Treehouse went way downhill after the Chef left there, and now it is an overpriced restaurant that simply is not worth it. That's what my sources have told me.

 

[MontrealAsian]

Yeah, it definately sucks that the Head Chef and a few other great chefs left there. But I think there are still a few that have learnt a lot from the other chefs that are still there. And I know one of the old timer chefs are actually still there. A real Japanese Chef!!! Hehe.. its rare you find those nowadays in a Japanese restaurant... actual Japanese ppl working in there!

I personally think the food is still awesome, but as for the prices, yeah, their pretty expensive, but they've been like that from day 1 already... so they can't really lower their prices. That would then lower their standard/quality/expections of people as well.

My 2 cent.

 

[chef]

........ A real Japanese Chef!!! Hehe.. its rare you find those nowadays in a Japanese restaurant... actual Japanese ppl working in there!.............

Why do you say that? There are Japanese chefs at Toyo, Katsura, and Mikasa. I went to Zenya once, but can't remember if the chef was Japanese too. I went to a pretty good sushi place in Dorval once, in a strip mall. I can't remember the name.

BTW do you guys like edamame? I like to start off my meal with it, but in some restaurants the sushi gets to you before the edamame does.

 

[MontrealAsian]

Well, i'm sure there are Japanese ppl that work in the restaurants. But out of the 6 sushi chefs or so, I think you would usually only catch 1 that is Japanese. That is from my personal experience as a sushi chef myself previously at Kaizen yearsss ago. But a lot of sushi places i've been to, they have asian chefs, but they aren't usually Japanese. They are usually, Chinese or Vietnamese. And don't even get me started on Sushi Shop... heheh...

 

[chef]

.............. And don't even get me started on Sushi Shop... heheh...

You don't like the "fine treats" at Sushi Shop ?? I'm gong to stick my neck out here and risk you laughing at me: I prefer the Tobiko at Sushi Shop to the one at Katsura. The one at Katsura is too salty. I once surprised the sushi chef at Toyo when I asked him if he had changed his Tobiko supplier...he had. He was amazed I could tell the difference - it was saltier than usual.

 

[chef]

Otto at the W Hotel in Montreal

I stayed at the W Hotel last night (points + $60), and the deal included a free appetizer and a martini at the hotel's Italian restaurant, Otto. Ordinarily I would not eat at a hotel restaurant, but did not want to throw away the free stuff, so I ate there. The menu was a confusion of cuisines.

It started off badly: I am not a martini drinker, so asked if I could have a glass of wine instead; I was told almost rudely no, so I had the martini. It was the hotel's signature martini...don't ask me what was in it; it was a concoction I did not care for.

The amuse-bouche was a slice of seared bonito tataki with a mini herb salad. I tried the fish first, no sauce. No taste - perhaps my tastebuds were too anesthetized by the hard liquor in that damn martini. The sauce was okay on its own, as was the salad. Nice Italian dish.

At this same Italian resto I had an appetizer (they run the gamut from salads to beef carpaccio, etc about $12 - $17) consisting of tempura (shrimp, mushroom, etc), with a light greeni sauce and ponzu dipping sauce. The batter was light, but the insides had no taste. The light green sauce was characterless, but the ponzu saved the day by giving a nice taste to the tempura.

The main course was described as "grilled hamachi" (Italian for yellow tail). The waitress warned me that it would be rare through the middle, just the way I like it. Alas, it was cooked through, but tasted fairly good; there was a healthy portion of fish. It was accompanied by a lobster and cherry tomato couscous that was barely lukewarm, but tasty. Also on the plate were some snow peas and sweet peas. I took a forkful of them, and was transported to a place of earthly delights (I have a weakness for sweet peas). The peas were super-fresh and cooked just right. I then ate each pea separately, slowly savouring the crunch and the taste. The snow peas were also remarkable.

I asked them to take away the wretched martini and give me a glass of white wine with the main course; they did not have any Sauvignon Blanc, but suggested an Italian Anselmi ($11/glass; $15.95 the bottle at the LCBO), that they said was close, but to me it seemd more like a Chardonnay. In any case the velvety smoothness of the wine seemed to restore sanity to my tastebuds.

I skipped dessert as I was rather full. Without tip the bill was $62. I left perplexed, unsure about whether I enjoyed the meal; they were so close, and yet...

I could not help but think that for another $20 I could have been seduced by something wonderful in a multi-course presentation (with extras thrown in at the whim of the chef) at Europea....and that would have included a pre-dessert and a dessert.

 

[chef]

Addendum to Otto at the W

I forgot to mention the music at Otto:

It started with some Brazilian Jazz, which I really enjoyed (my preferred music, I think, for dining). I was astounded at what came next - gangsta music. It was unusual to hear the word "nigger" piped over the PA system. The staff there really needs to be educated that you do not play that kind of music in the flagship restaurant of an upscale hotel. At the best of times I hate that music with a passion. Next came some new age, which was not too bad, then back to Brazilian Jazz.

 

[alden]

in a neighborhood

i recently discovered this really great restaurant on the plateau call anubis the food is so fined and succulent and preparedwith best ingredients plus it's affordable i give it a+

 

[chef]

i recently discovered this really great restaurant on the plateau call anubis the food is so fined and succulent and preparedwith best ingredients plus it's affordable i give it a+

Link to a review in the Mirror (they were not as enthusiastic as you are) :

http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2004/080504/resto.html

 

[chef]

Chez L'Epicier

A few weeks ago on the MERB chat I was asked whether I had tried "Chez L'Epicier" in Montreal. When I said 'no', I was asked why as I seemed to have tried every restaurant everywhere - a major exaggeration. In any case, I tried Chez L'Epicier las Saturday.

A late call got us a reservation at 8:30pm, to a crowded restaurant. It is multi-level; we got a quiet table for two in the basement. It was pleasant.

An item on the menu caught our eye at the same time: the 6-course tasting menu at $75 each. The waitress suggested the accompanying wines at $45 each. We initially balked at the cost, but decided to go for it.

"Amuse-bouche": eggplant "confit" in a flavourful broth, served in a tiny mason jar (2"H x 1"D). It was nice and spicey; but not overdone with typical Indian and Thai spices; it was just spicey enough to whet the appetite.

Ist course: a white pea soup, served with an Italian (Chardonnay-like) white. The soup was pleasant, with a nice pea taste. Served in a barge-like bowl with a too-large (for my mouth) spoon.

2nd course: salmon with a cauliflower puree (same wine as before). Served in another of those tiny mason jars, with one mouthful of salad by the side on the plate. The taste and texture of the salmon were sublime. The wine paired well.

3rd course: foie gras, served as a hot mousse, with a red wine "mirror" on top. Really enjoyed it, but would have liked a slice of silky seared foie gras as an embellishment. The wine was incredible - it was a fruity red that was almost like port. I would love to get my hands on a bottle (it was a special import, I think). It went well with the foie gras.

4th course: duck (a favourite), served with a Granny Smith apple puree, a few wild mushrooms (chanterelles, I think), fava beans, a potato, and a delicious veggie the waitress could not identify. The Zinfandel served with it tasted very tannic before I had the duck, but the combination went together so well that it was nice.

The came the desserts.....alas, the desserts !!!

Pre-dessert: Chocolate "financier" with a nice sorbet. "Financier" usually means a rich savoury sauce containing luxury ingredients like truffles, cockscombs, sweetbreads, etc. There was nothing rich about the dry sliver of cake served. I make much better chocolate cakes all the time.

Dessert: chocolate "club sandwich", pistachio macaroon, coffee ice cream, and one other thing I forgot. The club sandwich was layers of white cake, chocolate cake, and a chocolate praline cream (it was crunchy); it was boring. The macaroon was forgettable. The tiny scoop of ice cream saved the day. The wine was a Moscato.

The service was great.

Overall a good, not great, experience; the desserts need work, Worth the $75? No - I would go for the 9-course tasting menu for $70 at Europea instead.

 

[HonestAbe]

Anyone know of any fine dining establishments in Montreal that are kid friendly?

 

[chef]

Anyone know of any fine dining establishments in Montreal that are kid friendly?

I don't think that any restaurant would turn down the business, but personally, even though I really like kids, I think it is unfair to the other diners (who are paying a lot of money) to take kids into a fine dining establishment, unless of course the kids are exceptionally well-behaved and are not noisy. Then of course I have no problem with that.

 

[eastender]

Kid Friendly

Anyone know of any fine dining establishments in Montreal that are kid friendly?

Do not know the age of the youngsters or how many so the comments are generalizations.

In Quebec City the good restaurants are used to kids because of the skiing and youth hockey tournaments.

In Montreal your solid fine restaurants are kid friendly.The pretentious,trend of the month are not.

You have taken your kids to restaurants in your area so you have a sense for the type of cuisine and restaurant they will enjoy or will like learning about.
Apply this to Montreal.

 

[ck_nj]

Reasonably-priced French cuisine in Old Montreal?

I may be staying in Old Montreal on my next trip, and I was looking for a good French restaurant or bistro that will not break the bank. One where the entrées are under $30.

Here is a list I compiled, that are supposed to be good, and reasonably priced. If anyone can recommend one of these places, or another place, let me know.

I did a search, and only found Bonaparte mentioned, and I think that was for the breakfast at the Inn part.

Thanks.
Clark

L'Arrivage
http://www.restomontreal.ca/restaurants/index.php?sectionfiltered=viewresto&resto_id=1108
http://www.pacmusee.qc.ca/pages/services/restaurant.aspx?lang=EN-CA

Les Filles du Roy
http://www.restomontreal.ca/restaurants/index.php?sectionfiltered=viewresto&resto_id=1265
http://www.pierreducalvet.ca/english/fillesduroy1.htm
http://www.pierreducalvet.ca/francais/fr-table hote - filles du roy.pdf

Le Fripon
http://www.restomontreal.ca/restaurants/index.php?sectionfiltered=viewresto&resto_id=1489
http://www.lefripon.com/

Le Bourlingueur
http://www.restomontreal.ca/restaurants/index.php?sectionfiltered=viewresto&resto_id=1725

Bonaparte
http://www.bonaparte.ca/en/index.html