New Montreal Restaurant Thread

[EagerBeaver]

Rumples raises the interesting issue of food poisoning and buffet restaurants are, unless they are really busy and moving the food very quickly, the most likely resto where you will be sickened. Be especially careful with chicken dishes and whole roasted chicken. I know someone who bought a whole BBQ chicken at a local supermarket which resulted in an entire family getting campylobacter food poisoning because the chicken was undercooked. Symptoms in that included simultaneous diarrhea and vomiting and rapid dehydration.

Personally I have gotten food poisoining once and it came from a supermarket prepared antipasto salad of meats, cheeses and vegetables. Symptoms were as noted above.

The only other food product that occasionally caused me problems is a very acidic tomato sauce which gives me acid reflux. Pepto Bismol usually nips the bud on this but Tums X-Strength will also do the job

 

[EagerBeaver]

Kojax had nothing to do with food poisoning/indigestion but rather breath issues from garlic tzaziki sauce/raw onions so that is really off topic. I would say it was one of the saddest days in Montreal culinary history when the Kojax at Complex Desjardins closed a few years ago. They were serving the best souvlaki sandwich in Montreal. Though it was a bit small, it was certainly the tastiest. I ate at that Kojax many times and had many souvlakis there and never once had a bad meal there or got sick from their food. The only sadder day in Montreal than when the Kojax closed at Complex Dejardins was when the Expos left Montreal and became the Nationals.

Back on the topic of buffets: Bud Fox, be wary of any buffets that are not crowded and the food is not moving quickly. Even with those buffets, I would be a bit wary of any chicken dishes and certainly the ones that are serving large pieces or whole chickens that are potentially undercooked. If you get campylobacter it will be an experience you will not soon forget, and you may spend the entire trip in a hospital room. If you are going to roll the dice, which we all do when we eat chicken prepared by others at restaurants, then roll it at least with a somewhat reputable and battle-tested operation. If the chicken meat looks red or undercooked or you see any blood, DO NOT EAT IT. LEAVE!

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Thanks fellas for the tips on Indian restaurants, Maharajah sounds pretty good. The others are a bit too far.

Btw I noticed that there are many ethnic restaurants near metro station Guy-Concordia, on St Catherine street.

The best of the lot in this area, which is known as Chinatown 2, is Le Roi du Wonton on St. Marc, between de Maissoneuve and Sherbrooke.

And as far as Maharajah, I'll only give a second warning. The food is stale, flavorless and greasy. I've eaten in many dozens of restaurants in Montreal, all over the city, from downtown, to the Plateau, to Mile End, to Chinatowns 1 and 2, to Little Italy, and more. Maharajah is hands down the worst restaurant I've eaten in in Montreal.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Yes EB, that's exactly what I'm looking for, the Americanized Chinese buffet, complete with the king crab legs and overweight customers, haha. I was a bit embarrased to come right out and say it. Will give Ruby Rouge a try sometime.

I probably should have said "Americanized" rather than "traditional", but obviously you knew what I was talking about. The truth is, in Montreal I have never tried the buffet style restaurants you are alluding to, only the dim sum restaurants (namely, Ruby Rouge and Le Maison Kam Fung), which are also buffet style restaurants in the sense that they are serving many different kinds of dim sum in carts that come to you, with Ruby Rouge having the added feature of a stand alone buffet with a small selection of various dishes and some desserts.

So I do not know whether, in Montreal, they would have the "Americanized" style of Chinese restaurant buffet with the requisite crab legs, egg rolls, fried dumplings, pork fried rice, lo mein noodles, wonton soup, barbecued pork ribs, etc. and very overweight people consuming the same. Your post made me laugh because we have such a restaurant not far from the office I work at and I eat there very occasionally, and the last time I went there every customer in the restaurant was at least 30 pounds overweight, and a few were quite obese. These buffet restaurants, which are generally average in the quality of food they are serving, seem to attract those more interested in quantity than in variety or in quality. When I eat at a buffet restaurant it's usually because I like the variety of the food served. At the restaurant I alluded to, I often see customers that have eaten 10 plates of food. These are people who likely have serious undiagnosed eating disorders, but that is an issue for another thread.

I know there is a Chinese buffet resto on de la Gauchieter east of St. Urbain. I waked in there one time, looked at the food in the buffet, was unimpressed, and walked out, fearing an experence like what Rumples described with Maharajah. Personally I prefer dim sum, but I understand that many American tourists would like to eat at a good Americanized Chinese buffet because you can eat a lot of food at an economical price at most buffet restaurants like this, which have become very popular for this very reason. I doubt you will find one that is any good in Chinatown, whether you might find one elsewhere in the downtown core or outside the downtown core is another question, and one the locals need to provide some info on.

 

[Tommy G]

Best montreal buffet,

I always thought casa corfu was the best on the island, Its the classic buffet but with more choices. I dont think there are any great chinese buffets on the island (especially in china town). The new spots are all you can eat a la carte like gourmet hot and spicy. Damn good but not your traditional sizzlers type spot. Another all you can eat spot that is fantastic is Le Milsa downtown. They do it brazillian style with brazillian dancers and slice all kinds of meat off of a long sword. Deliciouse!!

 

[protagoras]

Another all you can eat spot that is fantastic is Le Milsa downtown. They do it brazillian style with brazillian dancers and slice all kinds of meat off of a long sword. Deliciouse!!

They have three locations in Québec: one in Laval, one in Downtown Montreal and one in the South Shore. I don't know this last one. I can vouch for the two others.

To my knowledge there are no brazucas (Brazilians living in another country) in the staff in Laval. Several brazucas are working in Downtown Milsa; when I went there the last time (last Saturday of February)there was a very cute morena with long wavy hairs. I had fun because I was there with a Brazilian woman (an ex girl friend) who was visiting me from Brasilia. We chatted with some members of the staff who were brazucas.

For 30$ you can eat all the meat you want. Almost like in Brazil. The only difference is that nothing beats Brazilian or Argentinian beef! Trust me, nothing compares to a piece of meat from the pampas.
.
My favorite spot in São Paulo is Ladrillo
http://www.ladrillo.com.br/

Concerning Chinese buffets, I should say that I avoid them since I was sick last September. I went to a buffet on Laurentide Blvd near Bellerose (I think) and the food was horrible. I was so sick that I promised myself I'd never go back to a Chinese buffet. I prefer to cook them myself or to order à la carte.

 

[Techman]

There's an excellent Asian buffet in Boucherville just off the 20 when you come out of the tunnel, named Buffet Jade. Food quality is very good for a buffet - at least at lunchtime - and they have a good variety. Very busy place so the food doesn't ahve a chance to sit there for any length of time.

Protogorus, I hate to disagree but.... the best beef is Wagyu, also known as Kobe beef, from Japan. Puts anything else to shame and it would cost over 100 bucks a pound for the real thing. Beware of beef sold by restaurants who claim it is genuine but is really raised outside of Japan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef
http://www.chefseattle.com/articles/kobe-beef/

What distinguishes kobe beef is the meat's extensive marbling, tenderness and taste. While American beef is rated on the USDA scale of Select, Choice and Prime, kobe beef is not rated on the USDA scale because it would require it's own category. As such, kobe beef is rated by the Japan Meat Grading Association from a scale of A1 to A5, with A5 being the highest grade of meat. To get an idea of the richness, kobe beef fat will actually begin dissolving at 77F degrees, which means the meat will literally melt in your mouth. This is why most preparation styles call for a quick sear, usually in the form of sukiyaki or shabu-shabu. In fact, if prepared as steak, kobe beef cannot be cooked more than medium rare, as it would otherwise liquefy.
As if that wasn't enough reason to order up a plate, kobe beef has far less saturated fats than typical American Angus, while having high levels of oleic acid - the good fatty acid found in olive and canola oils that reduce bad cholesterol. In addition, strict guidelines dictate that kobe labeled beef also be free of hormones and antibiotics.

 

[protagoras]

Techman,

You're probably right but I didn't have the chance yet to taste that Japanese beef (even if I lived there a year in 1989).

 

[EagerBeaver]

I have had Kobe Beef Burgers here in the USA and I must say they are delicious. There are a few places in downtown Montreal that are selling Kobe Beef Burgers. One is M Brgr on Drummond which I reviewed previously in this thread. It's very expensive, a la carte type place catering to tourists and high end burger connisseur wannabes:

http://www.mbrgr.com/english.html

Another place is on Peel or Stanley north of St. Catherine - I forget the name of the place. They opened about 3-4 years ago and was originally brought to my attention by Special K. I always wanted to try the place and never did. I know they have Kobe Beef on their menu.

 

[Techman]

EB, I wouldn't trust any Montreal restaurant to have real imported Kobe beef on the menu. Chances are that it's US born and raised Kobe style beef. Before paying the insane price for Kobe, I'd have to see proof that it really does come from Japan. And if it does, a restaurant will be happy to show the proof or to say that it's American raised. It's still amazing beef, just not the real thing. I did have the real thing many years ago, before the whole Kobe beef craze started and no one knew what it was, and I remember it as being totally different from any beef I had ever had before or since. Literally melt in your mouth tender. Tried Fugu that night, too and that's something that I don't know if I'd try again if given the chance, not that I ever expect to have the opportunity again.

Protogoras, I've heard great things about Argentinian beef but never had the chance to try it. Same thing with La Milsa, I've heard it's a great place for a group of people to have dinner but I haven't had the pleasure yet. It's definitely up there on my list of things to do, though. Might be fun to get a few of us together and have a foodie GT there!

 

[protagoras]

Yeah, it would be nice to organize a pre-GT diner there before the next GT.

 

[smuler]

Protogoras, I've heard great things about Argentinian beef but never had the chance to try it.

I have been to Argentina ( Buenos Aires ) 3 times in the last couple of years. I prefer my beef medium rare ( jugoso ), and I've been to a lot of parillas , Fancy,expensive ones like Cabana Las Lilas, and traditional local ones acccompanied by portenos...

Honestly- I do not think much of them

But, that's just my opinion , which is certainly not the normal reaction when you ask anyone about Argentinian beef

Their local Malbec is good though


Best Regards


Smuler

 

[EagerBeaver]

It`s my understanding that in Montreal if a burger place is grinding their meat in house, they will cook it to medium rare on request, and this was my experience at Old Montreal`s Mechant Bouef, which I previously reviewed in this thread:

Menu:

http://www.experienceoldmontreal.com/img/090310085525-MB-menuregulier-EN.pdf

Here is my review:

https://merb.cc/vbulletin//showthre...taurant-Thread/page46&highlight=mechant+boeuf

Unfortunately I don`t know if they serve kobe beef.

By the ways, I wonder if the Mods can change the thumbs down sign on this thread to thumbs up?

 

[Mod 11]

By the ways, I wonder if the Mods can change the thumbs down sign on this thread to thumbs up?

Done. A leftover from one of the upgrades.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Thanks Mod 11!

 

[Possum Trot]

The room service menu at Hotel Place d'Armes has a Kobe beef burger on it. They insist on cooking it medium well, perhaps for some of the reasons metioned above by johnmbot. I have had it on occasion after a 7 to 9 session. Service is excellent and it is usually delivered in 15 minutes which is time enough to put the room back in order.

 

[katsrin]

Any good breakfast places / diners in the McGill University area that someone would like to suggest?

 

[Doc Holliday]

A&W (Complexe Desjardins)

I was hungry yesterday so i decided to head off to the Complexe Desjardins food court to treat myself. I looked around the various joints, and the famous A & W logo caught my eye. I hadn't had a good burger in weeks, so this was going to be it:

2 Mama Burgers
1 large fries
1 large A & W rootbeer

The whole meal cost me just over $10. What a bargain & the burgers were great!! So was the rootbeer!!

Up next: I'll give the Uncle Burger a try. More to come....

 

[HG Hunter]

Any good breakfast places / diners in the McGill University area that someone would like to suggest?

McGill takes in quite a large territory.
You might want to be more specific.

 

[Doc Holliday]

so that's how the other half eats, eh?

I always eat at home....i love cooking. However, when i'm on the road, i don't have time & money to waste in restaurants, so i eat on the go. Going to another burger place today. My review will follow later.