New Montreal Restaurant Thread

[eastender]

My Experiences

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.

EB,

Having driven the interstates in all the states east of the Mississippi and flown into various airports my comments reflected experiences in restaurants that service exits, airports and hotels/motels.

The only chain in the south that always serves eggs to order would be Waffle House. Never kept a formal count but too often I would see breakfast menus
with a simple heading "Scrambled Eggs" with a list beneath choices - bacon, ham, sausages, etc. Would ask and the response would be only scrambled.

Granted local diners may be different from the interstate, airport or hotels/motels restaurants.

BTW in Canada sausages are the link variety. In the USA they often give you a choice of link or sliced sausage.

 

[voyageur11]

v11,

Those numbers sound awfully high. Is that for Canada or is that worldwide?

United State the number are from 1999

 

[EagerBeaver]

v11,

Probably most of those deaths are children killed from virulent strains of e coli. Younger children do not have the immune system development necessary to kill off these infections. For you and I what would be a bad case of cramps, gas and diarrhea for a few days, is a killer for a 5 year old child.

However, as noted earlier by johnmbot, consider how many undercooked burgers are eaten in USA every year and it's a small number. In this country more people are eating undercooked burgers so it will happen on rare occasions. I would not let a young child eat an undercooked burger, though when I was that age I did.

 

[voyageur11]

Even if myself i like my meat rare i cant blame the canadian govt for their rules If i want a good hamburger i will eat it at home using buffalo meat

 

[master_bates]

Gourmet Grec

I recently went into their kitchen, it is disgusting!!

Avoid at all costs

The nice looking restaurant with the beautiful terasse is on prince arthur

 

[EagerBeaver]

master-bates,

I ate at another place on Prince Arthur called "Casa Grecque" and reviewed it back in May 2006. This can't be the same place you are talking about, is it?

 

[EagerBeaver]

Arahova

Eastender took me for a lunch at the original Arahovas several years ago. I had a souvlaki sandwich that was quite a bit on the small side but very tasty.

 

[ykkdotca]

m. kloesfof, arahovas is hte mcdonalds' of greke

 

[Techman]

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.

I don't disagree with you. I also think it is a stupid law and that restaurants should be permitted to do business the way they choose. Like I said, I love eating raw hamburger. I've been doing it since I was a kid and have never been sick. The only time I ever got sick from a burger was from Burger King and I will never go there again. It wasn't because the burger was undercooked, it was just bad I guess.

If you go to any grocery store in Montreal to buy ground beef there are signs telling people to ensure that their hamburgers are well cooked. A few years ago there were a large number of cases of people getting sick because of contaminated hamburgers served at backyard BBQs. After that, the gov't went overboard as usual. Typical over reaction.

But what do you expect? We can't even have hotdog carts on the streets because they are so paranoid here.

Techman

 

[chef]

i know the canadian food industry is fine, which is why the medium rare issue baffles me. should lawmakers be paranoid about 1 potential death for every 1,000,000 medium rare burger served?

A while ago I happened to talk to a pastry chef about using cooked egg yolks in pastry cream (I do it all the time, and it is very safe if handled properly - refrigerated). He told me that he never makes pastry cream that way; his method does not involve yolks. Why? If there ever was a problem his business would never recover after the bad publicity - the customer could be careless with the pastry and get poisoned. So, what we are seeing with burgers is individual owners reacting strongly in the same way to the government's guidelines, albeit under different circumstances.

Rhetorical question: How would you like to be that potential death ? Acceptable collateral damage ?

 

[Techman]

Here's a good example of the possible consequences of bad food. And in this case it was not the restaurants fault.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi-Chi's

 

[EagerBeaver]

Chi Chi's

Here's a good example of the possible consequences of bad food. And in this case it was not the restaurants fault.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi-Chi's

Techman,

Chi-Chi's filed for bankruptcy about a month before the hepatitis outbreak, and they were already in trouble as a viable business.

As a matter of interest, there used to be a popular Chi-Chi's located just off I-95 in Darien, CT back in the 1980s. I ate at that Chi- Chi's many times, and in those days, it was considered by many to be the best Mexican restaurant in Fairfield County. Their chimichangas, in particular, were their signature specialty.

It would compare somewhat with your Three Amigos in Montreal, but I think Chi-Chi's (or at least that one in Darien) was a lot better.

As a matter of interest, Bennigan's recently filed for bankruptcy and a number of "bar and grill" resto chains in the USA are in big trouble right now. These medium price ranged restaurants are always hit hardest during bad economic times. Bennigan's, much like Chi-Chi's, over-expanded in an already saturated and ultra competitive market.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Mexican

Carlos and Pepe on Peel and Casa de Mateo in Old Montreal. I like them both equally, and Three Amigos actually has the best drinks although not the best food of the 3.

 

[chef]

Le Milsa

Has anyone tried "Le Milsa", the Brazilian resto on Bishop where they come to your table with skewers of meat? I tried similar restos in Dallas and San Diego, and quite enjoyed them. Not for solitary dining, though.

 

[Techman]

My favorite Mexican resto used to be Mexicali Rosa's but I think it closed years ago. For many years it was the only competition for Carlos & Pepe's which is decent but I find it overpriced and very cramped inside. Haven't tried Three Amigos yet but friends have told me that it's great value for the price.

EB, I know that Chi-Chi's was going bankrupt but the Hep A breakout sealed their fate and made sure that the name was no longer viable for anyone who might have wanted to buy the remaining restaurants.

But I still miss the place at times. I used to love their golden margarita's and thoughts of that resto bring back fond memories of an ex-gf.

 

[Techman]

Has anyone tried "Le Milsa", the Brazilian resto on Bishop where they come to your table with skewers of meat? I tried similar restos in Dallas and San Diego, and quite enjoyed them. Not for solitary dining, though.

My brother has been there and said that it was quite an experience but was for people with large appetites only. And only meat lovers need apply!
He suggests going there on a very empty stomach and to get ready for a feast. And it's best to go as a group to really enjoy yourself, not the place to bring a date for an intimate dinner.

He really enjoyed himself.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Mexican choices downtown

Techman,

I agree that Carlos and Pepe is cramped inside and also a tad overpriced, but let's face it, they are in the heart of the downtown. What I like most about Carlos and Pepe is their salsa which is very original and very good. This is in contrast with Three Amigos which makes a very generic salsa.

I must say though, I went to Three Amigos with a friend and I ordered a banana pina colada and it was the best pina colada I ever had, 28 ounces made with fresh fruit and I was already full when I got through drinking it. Their margaritas are also fantastic. The food is not bad but IMHO not as good as C&P.

Casa de Mateo may be the best value of the 3, plus they have live entertainment in the form of 3 middle aged Mexican men strumming mandolins and serenading the diners. It was kind of a loud ambience for me, but others may consider it festive.

 

[master_bates]

Marathon is the best place to have a souvlaki

I do go to arahova on st.viateur from time to time on a weekend

after the clubs. 1 of the few decent places open on a late night

on my way home from d.t. Friday and saturday stays open till 5

master-bates,

I ate at another place on Prince Arthur called "Casa Grecque" and reviewed it back in May 2006. This can't be the same place you are talking about, is it?

No, 2 different places

 

[AllOverHer]

so, where does someone find good mexican food downtown mtl?

I might be off on the name but recommend often is a place called hacienda on van horne street in outremont. Aparently the cooking is from the yucutan area in mexico. But it's not your typicall calos and pepes style cuisine.

Anyone tried yet?

 

[MarathonMan]

You should try the restaurant 'parthenon' on van horn...great souvlaki!