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New Montreal Restaurant Thread

eastender

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Techman said:
For one thing, there is a risk of becoming seriously ill if the meat has been mishandled. If a customer was to become sick due to eating an undercooked hamburger, a restaurant could have some serious problems.
I have seen people get very sick eating poorly prepared and cooked burgers and it isn't something to scoff at. Not that I follow my own advice as I routinely eat raw hamburger meat with salt and pepper when preparing burgers at home.

As far as mburger's claims go, considering that one of the owners is also one of the owners of Moishe's, I think their claim of serving the best burger in town could be worth investigating.

Personally I like Dilallo's and their Buckburger. They've been in business since 1929 so they must be doing something right. Don't expect to get one medium rare though as I don't think it would be possible to even cook it that way. It's not your average hamburger.

Techman

Every Dilallo's burger has to be accompanied with an Orange Julep.

Don't know if board members have tried some of the local favourites - Dic Ann(local cult thing, cooked well done ++) on Pie IX, irregular hours, west side a bit before Amos, Lafleur is favoured by some.

If you ever go to Sherbrooke try Louis.
 

Doc Holliday

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Techman said:
For one thing, there is a risk of becoming seriously ill if the meat has been mishandled. If a customer was to become sick due to eating an undercooked hamburger, a restaurant could have some serious problems.
I have seen people get very sick eating poorly prepared and cooked burgers and it isn't something to scoff at.

I totally agree & i'm surprised not everyone knows about this. You'll never catch me eating a burger that's not well done. Not because i prefer it this way, but mostly because of all the serious health risks involved. Restaurants also fear of getting sued (and possibly closed down) if they serve an improperly cooked burger to a client if he/she falls ill. Now, because of some of the things i've read in this thread, i'll be weary of any seemingly gay waiter who serves me whenever i'm in the mood for a good burger!
 
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chef

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I played the role of the tormented and frustrated tourist in true Drama King fashion, and it worked. If you act like a Drama King in a polite way with gay waiters, I found that it always works because almost all of them are really into the theater.
Surely you must mean Drama Queen ! :p
 

gtadick

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Burgers

Was in MTL last week.

Had a late flite, stayed downtown and needed a quick meal before my first appt.
Walked over to Schwartz Deli for a quick bite late afternoon ie 5pm.

I had been there last trip and tried their burger which was as usual in Canada overcooked so I was going to go with something else. I told my waitress of the burger overcooking thing and she tells me to try the Kobe sliders.

The Kobe sliders were not as charred as the regular burger and very tasty and good. Not medium but not burnt like the burgers.

Actually even at home-US- when ordering sliders they are less burnt.
 

bond_james_bond

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I don't get Schwartz's and why it's so highly rated, especially amongst locals.

I thought other places had better smoked meat sandwiches.
 

Guillaume

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Le Latini

I had a superb dinner at Le Latini on Friday night.
Not cheap but certainly some of the best fish in MTL. Mostly imported fresh from Europe.
Impressive pasta, especially the lemon linguini.
Le Latini is on Rene Levesque across from Complexe Desjardins.
 

EagerBeaver

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Techman said:
If a customer was to become sick due to eating an undercooked hamburger, a restaurant could have some serious problems.
I have seen people get very sick eating poorly prepared and cooked burgers and it isn't something to scoff at.

Techman,

I don't disagree with what you have said, but it should be noted that in the USA, which is infinitely more litigious than Canada and where the restaurants have a lot more to lose from a products liability lawsuit, you can go almost anywhere and get a medium rare burger with no hassle, whereas in Canada you must seek and find a resto that grinds their own meat in house (which restos apparently get a pass under Canadian law if they are doing that). Or you must find the rare place (like Winnies) where the staff can be coerced into cooking your burger at least reasonably close to your order - which is why I posted about Winnies. As you know I live in the USA but have spent a great deal of time in Canada, and there is a decided difference on how a medium rare burger order is typically handled in the two countries if you are at a resto that does not grind their meat in house.

For what it's worth, I have been eating rare/medium rare burgers my whole life, from the time of family cookouts on a Weber charcoal grill in my grandma's backyard when I was 5 years old. I never got sick once eating thousands of undercooked burgers. On the other hand, I have gotten sick/food poisoning from eating prepared supermarket salads (like antipasto, potato salad, tunafish etc.) As long as you are eating at a well established resto, the chances of getting e coli or other food poisoning, while possible, is slim. Children are more at risk from the types of food poisoning appearing in undercooked burgers; in adults, if you do get food poisoning from an undercooked burger the likely result will be abdominal pain and diarrhea for a few days.

You can see that a number of American tourists have posted to relate the same experience as me, and the reason why is that it is not a hassle to get a medium rare burger in the USA. And I think the main reason why is most Americans like their burgers that way, and if the American restos started hassling them and telling them "we have to cook the fucking shit out of your burger", they would start losing those customers. The Canadians, on the other hand, have been raised to believe that this is how burgers should be cooked, and apparently it is not as much of a customer service issue in a Canadian restaurant - unless you make it one. Which is what I have learned from experience I must do, in order to get my burger cooked properly to my order. So the "burger culture" between the two countries is really quite different.
 
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eastender

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Differences

EagerBeaver said:
So the "burger culture" between the two countries is really quite different.

EB,

You raise an interesting point. I would say that the "restaurant culture" between the two countries is very different.

Breakfast - inevitably in the USA when you order eggs for breakfast they assume scrambled and you get the reconstituted scrambled eggs. Order eggs sunny side up or over and you may not get eggs.

Also in the USA pork chops and steak are part of the breakfast menu. Rarely so in Canada.

Dinner/Lunch/Supper - barbecue in the USA means the meat is cooked in sauces. In Canada it tends to mean grilled without the sauces. Steamed hot dogs are virtually unheard of in the USA and ketchup is the condiment of choice.
 

voyageur11

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eastender said:
EB,

You raise an interesting point. I would say that the "restaurant culture" between the two countries is very different.

Breakfast - inevitably in the USA when you order eggs for breakfast they assume scrambled and you get the reconstituted scrambled eggs. Order eggs sunny side up or over and you may not get eggs.

Also in the USA pork chops and steak are part of the breakfast menu. Rarely so in Canada.

Dinner/Lunch/Supper - barbecue in the USA means the meat is cooked in sauces. In Canada it tends to mean grilled without the sauces. Steamed hot dogs are virtually unheard of in the USA and ketchup is the condiment of choice.
You forgot grits and biscuit and gravy
 

EagerBeaver

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Eastender,

In addition to what you mentioned mayonaisse is not a typical condiment of choice on French fries in the USA (where it is eaten with ketchup almost exclusively), whereas in Montreal mayonaisse is a commonly used condiment with french fries and with other fried foods.

I agree that the restaurant culture is different between USA and Canada, with some exceptions like Reubens and Nickels which to a large extent are tourist-oriented downtown restaurants whose business plan is designed with the American tourist in mind.

I have noted previously in this thread that local restaurants like Chez Cora and Martin's popular "Cafe Eggstase" offer crepes on their menus, but no pancakes. Pancakes are an incredibly popular American breakfast dish; in Montreal you need to go to tourist type restaurants like Reubens or Eggspectation to get a really nice and well done stack of pancakes.

I should note that Martin personally introduced me to his Chef and promised me he would specially make pancakes for me if I came again to his resto and requested them. But they are not on the menu there.
 
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EagerBeaver

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Eggs

Eastender,

I would not agree with the comment you made on eggs in USA restaurants. "Egg beaters" are on the menu in some places, but virtually all the breakfast diners here use real eggs, will ask you how you want them cooked and won't assume anything.

Biscuits and gravy and grits are standard breakfast fare only in the southern USA. Not sure where you ate.
 
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voyageur11

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johnmbot said:
true, and this point is well known. does that mean canadian restos tend to store their ground beef in the danger zone, 40f-140f?this brings up the food handling issue again. in the usa nobody hesitates to make a rare or medium rare burger. it's more of a self-monitoring system [haccp] as opposed to a law. however, i have never ordered a medium rare burger in developing & 3rd world nations - and never will - because their source meat is far more volatile.

i would think a country such as canada is advanced enough to have a more sophisticated approach to its produce infrastructure from farm to consumer [which includes the restaurant industry]. ok, that's the retired chef in me talking.

side note - i wonder if 'medium and above' is a canadian law due to the potential added cost to the health care system in treating food borne illnesses...
And how many millions pounds of beef was recall so far this year in the U.S. We have so much to learn
 

EagerBeaver

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Food Regulation in the USA

v11,

The FDA and the USDA regulate very aggressively and food recalls are probably more common in the USA than in any other western country. Some years ago there was a story on "60 Minutes" about illegal poultry processing practices being used by a supermarket chain (the name of which escapes me) which basically put them out of business. I don't recall for sure but I believe that a recall preceded the 60 Minutes story.
 

voyageur11

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And we are doing the same. I was answering to the post by johnmbot who thinks that canada is so far behind the U.S.
 

EagerBeaver

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Daringly,

What you said about hash browns is true - in the USA generally they are fried with onions and spices not only in Vegas, but in other venues as well. If you went to any diner in Connecticut or NY you can expect them cooked the same way.

However, my recollection is I got them cooked exactly the same way at Nickels on St. Catherine Street in Montreal.
 
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