New Montreal Restaurant Thread
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Rumi Grill, 4403 St. Laurent, Montreal QC
This resto was bestowed with Jeremy and Vinita's cherished red star award in its category ("Middle Eastern"), see below
http://www.cim.mcgill.ca/~jer/visit/rest.html
When I walked into the place, I was initially encouraged as I saw some Muslim women wearing traditional headdress and figured this must be a real authentic eatery. However, the kitchen is not serving anything unusual.......average middlle eastern grill. We were very disappointed by the meal and did not enjoy the meal. Had the "mixed grill" which was kebabed chicken and lamb, merguez sausage, and another sausage or meat consisting of ground lamb and ground beef served sausage style. Nothing special, did not really taste grilled at all, but rather stewed as it was cooked in a sauce of tomatoes and onions. The side dish of rice was overcooked, like it had been left on a frying pan 20 minutes too long. They also screwed up my order as I requested serrano and tahini dipping sauces, but they served me garlic mayo instead of the serrano and I hate mayo as a dipping sauce for meat. They also put things on the menu that they don't have. like escort agencies that say girls are "on" that evening but when you call you find out they have not checked in, and later find out that they are actually having their period and unavailable. If it is not available it should not be on the menu, and doing anything else is a deceptive unfair trade practice.
This is the first time I have really strongly disagreed with a Jeremy and Vinita recommended restaurant.
This resto was bestowed with Jeremy and Vinita's cherished red star award in its category ("Middle Eastern"), see below
http://www.cim.mcgill.ca/~jer/visit/rest.html
When I walked into the place, I was initially encouraged as I saw some Muslim women wearing traditional headdress and figured this must be a real authentic eatery. However, the kitchen is not serving anything unusual.......average middlle eastern grill. We were very disappointed by the meal and did not enjoy the meal. Had the "mixed grill" which was kebabed chicken and lamb, merguez sausage, and another sausage or meat consisting of ground lamb and ground beef served sausage style. Nothing special, did not really taste grilled at all, but rather stewed as it was cooked in a sauce of tomatoes and onions. The side dish of rice was overcooked, like it had been left on a frying pan 20 minutes too long. They also screwed up my order as I requested serrano and tahini dipping sauces, but they served me garlic mayo instead of the serrano and I hate mayo as a dipping sauce for meat. They also put things on the menu that they don't have. like escort agencies that say girls are "on" that evening but when you call you find out they have not checked in, and later find out that they are actually having their period and unavailable. If it is not available it should not be on the menu, and doing anything else is a deceptive unfair trade practice.
This is the first time I have really strongly disagreed with a Jeremy and Vinita recommended restaurant.
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I have used Jeremey and Vinita's website many times for recommendations and this is the first time I have strongly disagreed with them on a restaurant. They can generally be trusted, but their review and praise of Rumi Grill is way off. See my post above.
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Their site need more info. You can't figure out when they had their meal. last night or 10 years ago. When In town I rely on chowhound, trip advisor and restomontreal. Of course sometimes you have to read between the line and like merb you recognise the chills reviews.
AllOverHer,
It clearly states at the end of the sheet on their website that the information was updated April 20, 2011. So their last meal was exactly 5 days ago. However, I agree with you that they should date each of their reviews. That would make the most sense.
I also recommend yelp.ca which has dated reviews:
http://www.yelp.ca/search?find_desc=&ns=1&find_loc=montreal,+qc
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Restaurant Cuisine Cantonaise 84 Rue de la Gauchetière Ouest Montréal, QC H2Z 1C1
I was hungry Saturday night for some good Chinese food, and since my first choice in Chinatown (Beijing) had a line waiting for tables and I was in no mood to wait, I went to plan B, which was Restaurant Cuisine Cantonaise - two doors down from Beijing. I was impressed by the reviews on Yelp, only 3 of them but they sounded good:
http://www.yelp.ca/biz/restaurant-cuisine-cantonaise-montreal
Unlike Beijing which was teeming with customers, Restaurant Cuisine Cantonaise was half full, although that meant I would be served quickly if nothing else.
I ordered 3 appetizers, the hunan dumplings with peanut sauce, the steamed shrimp dumplings (Har Gow), and the seafood rolls.
The hunan dumplings with peanut sauce were fine, but they are putting sugar in the sauce because I could taste sugar granules. I do not think it needs to be that sweet if you are using peanut butter in the sauce which already has sugar in it. This restaurant apparently believes sweeter is better.
The Har Gow was also fine, and I dunked the dumplings in the red chili sauce that is available at every table, which is not really a sriracha sauce but rather a dryer tasting red chili sauce.
The seafood rolls were OK, but not what I was expecting. I was expecting something like spring rolls with seafood and veggies rather than veggie stuffing. What I got looked like 2 large fried spring rolls, but they were stuffed with seafood in a sweet mayonnaise sauce of some kind and served hot. I think this particular dish is a concession to French Canadian taste buds which seem to like mayonnaise in everything. I personally have never seen seafood rolls cooked this way in Chinese restaurants in the USA, and I seriously doubt that this is an authentic recipe from China.
The kettle of tea I got was tasteless.
Overall this is an average restaurant far below the quality of Beijing which is 2 doors away.
I was hungry Saturday night for some good Chinese food, and since my first choice in Chinatown (Beijing) had a line waiting for tables and I was in no mood to wait, I went to plan B, which was Restaurant Cuisine Cantonaise - two doors down from Beijing. I was impressed by the reviews on Yelp, only 3 of them but they sounded good:
http://www.yelp.ca/biz/restaurant-cuisine-cantonaise-montreal
Unlike Beijing which was teeming with customers, Restaurant Cuisine Cantonaise was half full, although that meant I would be served quickly if nothing else.
I ordered 3 appetizers, the hunan dumplings with peanut sauce, the steamed shrimp dumplings (Har Gow), and the seafood rolls.
The hunan dumplings with peanut sauce were fine, but they are putting sugar in the sauce because I could taste sugar granules. I do not think it needs to be that sweet if you are using peanut butter in the sauce which already has sugar in it. This restaurant apparently believes sweeter is better.
The Har Gow was also fine, and I dunked the dumplings in the red chili sauce that is available at every table, which is not really a sriracha sauce but rather a dryer tasting red chili sauce.
The seafood rolls were OK, but not what I was expecting. I was expecting something like spring rolls with seafood and veggies rather than veggie stuffing. What I got looked like 2 large fried spring rolls, but they were stuffed with seafood in a sweet mayonnaise sauce of some kind and served hot. I think this particular dish is a concession to French Canadian taste buds which seem to like mayonnaise in everything. I personally have never seen seafood rolls cooked this way in Chinese restaurants in the USA, and I seriously doubt that this is an authentic recipe from China.
The kettle of tea I got was tasteless.
Overall this is an average restaurant far below the quality of Beijing which is 2 doors away.
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Was at Chez L'Épicier not too long ago and ordered the Chef's Tasting Menu hoping to not have to think about what to order and be pleasantly surprised by each dish... let me tell you, DON'T bother with that horribly amateur attempt at a gourmet meal.
Great presentation as always but the food tasted like cardboard served with really poor attempts at fusion inspired sauces.
AVOID the Tasting Menu at Chez L'Épicier!
Great presentation as always but the food tasted like cardboard served with really poor attempts at fusion inspired sauces.
AVOID the Tasting Menu at Chez L'Épicier!
Mini Reviews From My Trip
CIBO AND VINO (on Stanley, near the Sheraton): I have always been curious about this place, never tried it until now. It's got a menu similar to La Medusa, the next block over on Drummond. Ironically, both La Medusa and Cibo and Vino have been host to escort agency parties in years past (I went to the one at La Medusa, missed the one at Cibo and Vino).
I went with a date and ordered two appetizers - the Hot Goat Cheese Salad and Smoked Salmon. I was disappointed in both. The Hot Goat Cheese Salad had two smallish pieces of baked goat cheese, one slice of grilled zucchini, one slice of grilled eggplant and a whole bunch of salad. One thing I hate at restaurants is salads without substance, and this was a salad without much substance. The smoked salmon was served in a paltry portion and was not of high quality.
My companion seemed to fare better, ordering a penne pasta dish served with a sauce of cream, goat cheese and pesto. It was a mild tasting sauce that had a subtle pesto flavor.
Overall I found Cibo and Vino to be average and not as good in comparison to its more expensive counterpart on Drummond, La Medusa.
SAIGON VIP, 1850 St. Catherine Ouest: I received a tip on this place from a MERBite and decided to give it a shot. This is a very nice, clean, reasonably priced restaurant serving authentic Vietnamese food. They appear to specialize in Pho, but not wanting such a big meal, I ordered two appetizers, the dumplings with peanut sauce and the fresh rice noodle skin shrimp spring rolls. Both were very good. Every table has complimentary sriracha, soy, chili and fish sauces. This place is a definite repeat.
SAKURA, 2170 rue de la Montagne between Sherbrooke and de Maissoneuve: This is a very good Japanese restaurant which has been in business for a long time, and I have eaten here many times although not in the last few years. It's still good. I ordered the Sakura Harumaki, which is a cold rice noodle skin spring roll featuring lobster, various vegetables and a miso-yuzu dipping sauce that was quite good, although small in portion. I also ordered the Futomaki and Smoked Salmon sushi, which were good. This restaurant is quite expensive, but you get what you pay for at least in quality of the food, if not quantity. Service is also prompt and excellent.
REUBENS, 1116 St. Catherine Street: I have eaten here dozens of times, and my favorite thing on the menu is the salads and in particular the Deli Cobb Salad. I arrived too early for lunch, so ordered breakfast - Montreal bagel with smoked salmon. The bagel was fresh and the smoked salmon of high quality, but at $15.99 this dish is a bit overpriced when it's only served with the obligatory tomato, onions and capers and a mound of romaine salad. Chez Cora on Drummond is serving the same thing, for a few bucks less, and they're serving it with a plentiful mound of fresh fruit. I scolded myself for not going to Chez Cora to order the same thing, once I realized that Reubens was not serving lunch.
BURGERBAR??????? By the ways, did a lot of walking around despite the awful weather and saw a new high end burger joint has opened on Crescent Street called "BurgerBar." It's just north of Winnies on the same side of the street. The menu looks intriguing and the prices look surprisingly reasonable considering the high-rent Crescent Street location. Anyone give it a try yet?
CIBO AND VINO (on Stanley, near the Sheraton): I have always been curious about this place, never tried it until now. It's got a menu similar to La Medusa, the next block over on Drummond. Ironically, both La Medusa and Cibo and Vino have been host to escort agency parties in years past (I went to the one at La Medusa, missed the one at Cibo and Vino).
I went with a date and ordered two appetizers - the Hot Goat Cheese Salad and Smoked Salmon. I was disappointed in both. The Hot Goat Cheese Salad had two smallish pieces of baked goat cheese, one slice of grilled zucchini, one slice of grilled eggplant and a whole bunch of salad. One thing I hate at restaurants is salads without substance, and this was a salad without much substance. The smoked salmon was served in a paltry portion and was not of high quality.
My companion seemed to fare better, ordering a penne pasta dish served with a sauce of cream, goat cheese and pesto. It was a mild tasting sauce that had a subtle pesto flavor.
Overall I found Cibo and Vino to be average and not as good in comparison to its more expensive counterpart on Drummond, La Medusa.
SAIGON VIP, 1850 St. Catherine Ouest: I received a tip on this place from a MERBite and decided to give it a shot. This is a very nice, clean, reasonably priced restaurant serving authentic Vietnamese food. They appear to specialize in Pho, but not wanting such a big meal, I ordered two appetizers, the dumplings with peanut sauce and the fresh rice noodle skin shrimp spring rolls. Both were very good. Every table has complimentary sriracha, soy, chili and fish sauces. This place is a definite repeat.
SAKURA, 2170 rue de la Montagne between Sherbrooke and de Maissoneuve: This is a very good Japanese restaurant which has been in business for a long time, and I have eaten here many times although not in the last few years. It's still good. I ordered the Sakura Harumaki, which is a cold rice noodle skin spring roll featuring lobster, various vegetables and a miso-yuzu dipping sauce that was quite good, although small in portion. I also ordered the Futomaki and Smoked Salmon sushi, which were good. This restaurant is quite expensive, but you get what you pay for at least in quality of the food, if not quantity. Service is also prompt and excellent.
REUBENS, 1116 St. Catherine Street: I have eaten here dozens of times, and my favorite thing on the menu is the salads and in particular the Deli Cobb Salad. I arrived too early for lunch, so ordered breakfast - Montreal bagel with smoked salmon. The bagel was fresh and the smoked salmon of high quality, but at $15.99 this dish is a bit overpriced when it's only served with the obligatory tomato, onions and capers and a mound of romaine salad. Chez Cora on Drummond is serving the same thing, for a few bucks less, and they're serving it with a plentiful mound of fresh fruit. I scolded myself for not going to Chez Cora to order the same thing, once I realized that Reubens was not serving lunch.
BURGERBAR??????? By the ways, did a lot of walking around despite the awful weather and saw a new high end burger joint has opened on Crescent Street called "BurgerBar." It's just north of Winnies on the same side of the street. The menu looks intriguing and the prices look surprisingly reasonable considering the high-rent Crescent Street location. Anyone give it a try yet?
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La Baguette d'Ivoire, 1242 Mackay Rue Montreal
I had the chance to sample one new restaurant and a few old standbys on my recent trip, and the new experience was the highlight of my trip. La Baguette d'Ivoire's review on chompchomp.ca intrigued me:
"By far the best Asian food we've enjoyed in Montreal; although a bit pricy at about $25/head, the quality is worth the cost. The restaurant offers a mix of Cantonese, Thai and Vietnamese dishes and the chef appears to have considerable experience in each of these genres. The Thai soups were excellent as was the chili beef, black pepper prawns and orange duck in hot pot, and mango chicken in bird's nest. The basil beef, the most memorable of the dishes, was marinated to perfection and retained a wonderful tenderness."
http://chompchomp.ca/
I would tend to agree with the review of Jeremy and Vinita. It's certainly as good as any Asian I have had in Montreal. I tried 4 dishes with my dining companion, and all ranged from good to excellent:
Shrimp Spring Rolls (very good - not generic by any means and very tasty)
Pork Dumplings With Spicy Peanut Sauce (good, but not spicy enough for my taste)
Basil Beef (excellent - best Basil Beef I have ever had and J&V are spot on with their review)
Chicken With Spicy Black Bean Sauce (excellent - just the right combination of spiciness and flavor)
This restaurant is located on the west side of Mackay between Rene Levesque and St. Catherine. It's a very short walk from Le Centre Sheraton, where I was staying.
I had the chance to sample one new restaurant and a few old standbys on my recent trip, and the new experience was the highlight of my trip. La Baguette d'Ivoire's review on chompchomp.ca intrigued me:
"By far the best Asian food we've enjoyed in Montreal; although a bit pricy at about $25/head, the quality is worth the cost. The restaurant offers a mix of Cantonese, Thai and Vietnamese dishes and the chef appears to have considerable experience in each of these genres. The Thai soups were excellent as was the chili beef, black pepper prawns and orange duck in hot pot, and mango chicken in bird's nest. The basil beef, the most memorable of the dishes, was marinated to perfection and retained a wonderful tenderness."
http://chompchomp.ca/
I would tend to agree with the review of Jeremy and Vinita. It's certainly as good as any Asian I have had in Montreal. I tried 4 dishes with my dining companion, and all ranged from good to excellent:
Shrimp Spring Rolls (very good - not generic by any means and very tasty)
Pork Dumplings With Spicy Peanut Sauce (good, but not spicy enough for my taste)
Basil Beef (excellent - best Basil Beef I have ever had and J&V are spot on with their review)
Chicken With Spicy Black Bean Sauce (excellent - just the right combination of spiciness and flavor)
This restaurant is located on the west side of Mackay between Rene Levesque and St. Catherine. It's a very short walk from Le Centre Sheraton, where I was staying.
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http://braiseethoublon.com/
2159 blvd Curé-Labelle, Laval, Quebec H7T 1R3 | Tel: 450-687-7627
Je suis allée faire un tour là dernièrement et j'ai cru remarqué que certaines demoiselles qui travaillent là étaient employées au Bar les Déesses auparavant...
La nourriture est entre bonne et bonne !
Amateur de patates douces et de chili vous allez être gâtés !
l'ambiance est le fun !
Les mercredis c'est soirées Blues et les dimanches comédies !
Parfait pour un mois de novembre ennuyeux
j'ai bien aimé...
A y retourner
2159 blvd Curé-Labelle, Laval, Quebec H7T 1R3 | Tel: 450-687-7627
Je suis allée faire un tour là dernièrement et j'ai cru remarqué que certaines demoiselles qui travaillent là étaient employées au Bar les Déesses auparavant...
La nourriture est entre bonne et bonne !
Amateur de patates douces et de chili vous allez être gâtés !
l'ambiance est le fun !
Les mercredis c'est soirées Blues et les dimanches comédies !
Parfait pour un mois de novembre ennuyeux
j'ai bien aimé...
A y retourner
http://braiseethoublon.com/
2159 blvd Curé-Labelle, Laval, Quebec H7T 1R3 | Tel: 450-687-7627
Amateur de patates douceset de chili vous allez être gâtés !
Les mercredis c'est soirées Blues :thumb:
Enfin quelque chose qui semble sortir des sentiers battus, à Laval! J'aime le nom du restaurant...enfin un nom qui lui ressemble Baise et Houblon! Voilà les deux choses importantes dans la vie d'un homme..un vrai! L'appel des patates douces pourrait me faire visiter très tôt cet endroit.
Merci Yzabelle pour le tuyau!
While we are in Laval, I would like to mention a restaurant that is okay. Not the best in the world but it is very acceptable. It's a Portuguese restaurant located in Old St Rose.
http://www.restomontreal.ca/3676/Brazas-Portugal
I enjoy eating grilled chiken there.
I agree. I have been there once and the chicken was very tasty. They have good desserts too.
Siocnarf,
The smell of grilled chicken (frango na churrasco) drives me crazy. I went to the University of Montreal this afternoon and I parked my car on Gatineau and Maréchal. There's a small Portuguese restaurant down there, Malvi, and the smell of charcoal grilled chicken was embalming all the surroundings.
At this restaurant, Malvi, my favorite are sanduiche de figado (liver sandwich) and sanduiche de chorizo (spicy saussage sandwich).
The smell of grilled chicken (frango na churrasco) drives me crazy. I went to the University of Montreal this afternoon and I parked my car on Gatineau and Maréchal. There's a small Portuguese restaurant down there, Malvi, and the smell of charcoal grilled chicken was embalming all the surroundings.
At this restaurant, Malvi, my favorite are sanduiche de figado (liver sandwich) and sanduiche de chorizo (spicy saussage sandwich).
Thanks for the info protagoras. I’ve never been to other portugese restaurants, but I would like to.
Can someone tell me if the Biftech on Cote de Liesse is still open? I went by one day at 1:00pm and the parking lot was deserted.
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