New Montreal Restaurant Thread
- Thread starter EagerBeaver
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smuler,
That one was $15.99. It had two large balls of goat cheese, which were pecan crusted, baked, and then served warm over the salad. The salad also had sliced pears, mixed greens and was served with a berry vinaigrette dressing. Based on my experience with downtown entree salads, it was a very good value of food. When you get the chance take a look at the entree salad prices at Reubens. The Deli Cobb salad is $18.49, the salmon salad is $21.99 and the seared tuna salad is $21.99. Salads are not being given away at the downtown restaurants. I think Reubens, although a tourist trap, is the only other restaurant downtown that is serving high quality entree salads. Most of the ethnic restaurants do not serve entree salads and certainly most of the local cuisine restos usually feature side salads but not entree salads. Reubens knows they rule this market so they attempt to crack your wallet. Now iburger has come along and offered a value challenge to Reubens.
I wanted to try the green papaya salad with giant shrimp but it was not on the menu that day, probably because they ran out of papaya or shrimp.
That one was $15.99. It had two large balls of goat cheese, which were pecan crusted, baked, and then served warm over the salad. The salad also had sliced pears, mixed greens and was served with a berry vinaigrette dressing. Based on my experience with downtown entree salads, it was a very good value of food. When you get the chance take a look at the entree salad prices at Reubens. The Deli Cobb salad is $18.49, the salmon salad is $21.99 and the seared tuna salad is $21.99. Salads are not being given away at the downtown restaurants. I think Reubens, although a tourist trap, is the only other restaurant downtown that is serving high quality entree salads. Most of the ethnic restaurants do not serve entree salads and certainly most of the local cuisine restos usually feature side salads but not entree salads. Reubens knows they rule this market so they attempt to crack your wallet. Now iburger has come along and offered a value challenge to Reubens.
I wanted to try the green papaya salad with giant shrimp but it was not on the menu that day, probably because they ran out of papaya or shrimp.
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iburger menu
I should have posted the iburger menu in my original review. Here it is - it will appear interactive in the computer screen on your table top at the restaurant:
http://iburger.net/menu.html
By the ways when I sat at the bar and ordered desserts one night one of the waitresses was coming off her shift and she sat at the bar and was eating the tartar duo- it is a duo of salmon and beef tartars served in separate mounds. Looked like a nice portion of food.
Also note the Chef's choice meal for $15.99, served Monday to Friday and including dessert and coffee. Looks like a value depending on what the Chef's choice is.
I should have posted the iburger menu in my original review. Here it is - it will appear interactive in the computer screen on your table top at the restaurant:
http://iburger.net/menu.html
By the ways when I sat at the bar and ordered desserts one night one of the waitresses was coming off her shift and she sat at the bar and was eating the tartar duo- it is a duo of salmon and beef tartars served in separate mounds. Looked like a nice portion of food.
Also note the Chef's choice meal for $15.99, served Monday to Friday and including dessert and coffee. Looks like a value depending on what the Chef's choice is.
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No bun. There is a restaurant in Connecticut called Plan B burger that serves a burger entree salad, you get your burger with the salad but no bun. It is that simple. And they have terrific burgers ground in house at Plan B. I don't know if iburger grinds their own beef in house. The only place in Montreal which I know for a fact grinds their meat in house is Mechant Boeuf in Old Montreal. But their burgers are so massive that even if you order it without the bun, it is kind of a waste, because it is a 12 ounce burger. Reasonably, you should only have about 5 ounces per serving of burger on a Paleo Diet.
Does anyone here use TripAdvisor restaurant ratings to decide where to eat?
I am not really a foodie (well maybe) LOL. But knowing that the restaurant you're going to is ranked 3000 out of 3500 is not comforting. Of course, if the place is a chain or a pub, well those ratings really don't mean much.
Good example is Kazu. It is mentioned in this thread (page 70 Jun 2010). It was rated highly on TripAdvisor - ratings slowly going down because of the long line ups and small space. An appetizer, main, desert, drink could come to 35$+ each. Which is isn't cheap given that you're only going to be eating for 45 minutes (plus the 30+ minute wait). Yes, I've been to Kazu and it is one of my favourite Montreal restaurants - nothing really like it anywhere else (that I've been).
I prefer TripAdvisor, because reviews don't seem overly skewed, and it is well established. Chowhound isn't bad, but more into new and trendy places. Now Yelp, I just don't trust it. Too many over the top reviews, or full of budget conscious reviews. Plus Yelp was accused of favouring/shilling businesses that advertise while highlighting negative reviews for non-advertisering businesses.
I am not really a foodie (well maybe) LOL. But knowing that the restaurant you're going to is ranked 3000 out of 3500 is not comforting. Of course, if the place is a chain or a pub, well those ratings really don't mean much.
Good example is Kazu. It is mentioned in this thread (page 70 Jun 2010). It was rated highly on TripAdvisor - ratings slowly going down because of the long line ups and small space. An appetizer, main, desert, drink could come to 35$+ each. Which is isn't cheap given that you're only going to be eating for 45 minutes (plus the 30+ minute wait). Yes, I've been to Kazu and it is one of my favourite Montreal restaurants - nothing really like it anywhere else (that I've been).
I prefer TripAdvisor, because reviews don't seem overly skewed, and it is well established. Chowhound isn't bad, but more into new and trendy places. Now Yelp, I just don't trust it. Too many over the top reviews, or full of budget conscious reviews. Plus Yelp was accused of favouring/shilling businesses that advertise while highlighting negative reviews for non-advertisering businesses.
Almost exclusively,wherever I travel
The key is to gauge the reviewer
Best Regards
Smuler
Perfect example :
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...ublime_Vaudreuil-Vaudreuil_Dorion_Quebec.html
Best Regards
Smuler
Good to know that there are some real foodies here, LOL.
Although Sublime is off the island. Close to Hilltop though.
PS: last time I went to Hillitop, seemed like I was half way to Cornwall.
Hey guys,
Regarding YELP and TripAdvisor, be careful, because many of those reviews are written by paid shills, as exposed in this article:
http://bgr.com/2013/09/25/fake-yelp-reviews/
Those boards are not like MERB, they do not have Moderators to catch and ban or punish shills. It would also be impossible to do such moderation because there are so many posts.
That being said I have used YELP and found some gems in New York City but you have to be committed to reading a ton of reviews so you can cull out the chaff.
TripAdvisor I am more leery of because most of the non-shill reviews are written by tourists and they tend to focus on tourist trap restaurants and not the hidden gems you are looking to find in Aruba for example.
Regarding YELP and TripAdvisor, be careful, because many of those reviews are written by paid shills, as exposed in this article:
http://bgr.com/2013/09/25/fake-yelp-reviews/
Those boards are not like MERB, they do not have Moderators to catch and ban or punish shills. It would also be impossible to do such moderation because there are so many posts.
That being said I have used YELP and found some gems in New York City but you have to be committed to reading a ton of reviews so you can cull out the chaff.
TripAdvisor I am more leery of because most of the non-shill reviews are written by tourists and they tend to focus on tourist trap restaurants and not the hidden gems you are looking to find in Aruba for example.
Aspen,
Thanks for that tip, the Yelp reviews on Park restaurant seem stellar:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/restaurant-park-westmount
It seems like a taxi ride out of my usual downtown stomping grounds. Mikasa is my usual go-to place downtown, and I am hoping that they will be re-opened on my next trip. They are also expensive although not quite at the level of Park restaurant.
Thanks for that tip, the Yelp reviews on Park restaurant seem stellar:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/restaurant-park-westmount
It seems like a taxi ride out of my usual downtown stomping grounds. Mikasa is my usual go-to place downtown, and I am hoping that they will be re-opened on my next trip. They are also expensive although not quite at the level of Park restaurant.
I use TripAdvisor quite a bit. While there may be shills, the volume is such that the shills will be drowned out by the legitimate reviewers.
Here's an example of the reviews on TripAdvisor posted by some unwitting customers. You really really don't want to miss this. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...Le_Chablis_Saint_Jacques-Montreal_Quebec.html
Be careful Beav, taking a cab to this restaurant would be almost as foreign as cabbing to PJ's for you. Lol.
I am not adverse to taking a cab to Park Restaurant, but if Mikasa is open I would probably go there. If you look at the yelp review I linked to one of the reviewers posted photos of 3 of his sushi courses at Park restaurant and they look quite impressive. But I must say I don't know what the 1st photo is of other than it appears to be largely roe-based.
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/rest...pvE2Z9B7ouoYY_mW1qzT1Q#ChV5X_nUqqGiLY3Fp_AfxQ
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/rest...pvE2Z9B7ouoYY_mW1qzT1Q#ChV5X_nUqqGiLY3Fp_AfxQ
ROFLMAO. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Beav, feeling particularly adventurous, travel all the way to far off Lasalle for a Devilish party a few years back?
Eggspectation
By the ways it's been reviewed before but I ventured to the Eggspectation on rue de la Montagne for breakfast on my recent trip. I generally like to order various omelletes prepared as scrambled eggs with the ingredients, that way the eggs are moist as opposed to dry and cardboardy. L'Avenue had no problem doing this with one of their very complicated goat cheese-veggie omelettes, yet Eggspectaion could not get my order right with a far more basic omelette. On the omelette menu, Eggspectation has something called Western Sunrise which sounds on the menu like it is a western omelette prepared as scrambled eggs. So when the waiter took my order I stressed to him I wanted the dish prepared as scrambled eggs. He was a French guy and I thought he understood me but apparently he didn't, because what arrived at my table was a western omelette. I did not send it back because I was very hungry and based on how busy the restaurant had gotten and the wait time to get the food, I would not be eating anything for another 30 minutes if I sent it back, and who knows if they would finally get it right. But at L'AVenue I had a much more complicated omelette prepared as scrambled eggs and they did a great job with it, so L'Avenue remains the premiere breakfast destination.
Unfortunately, at L'Avenue the customers are willing to wait in long lines out the door in freezing cold to buy an omelette, and this is not something I am willing to do. My testicles will never be allowed to freeze for eggs. For good sushi maybe, but not for eggs, never. So I will see L'Avenue again next May or so.
By the ways it's been reviewed before but I ventured to the Eggspectation on rue de la Montagne for breakfast on my recent trip. I generally like to order various omelletes prepared as scrambled eggs with the ingredients, that way the eggs are moist as opposed to dry and cardboardy. L'Avenue had no problem doing this with one of their very complicated goat cheese-veggie omelettes, yet Eggspectaion could not get my order right with a far more basic omelette. On the omelette menu, Eggspectation has something called Western Sunrise which sounds on the menu like it is a western omelette prepared as scrambled eggs. So when the waiter took my order I stressed to him I wanted the dish prepared as scrambled eggs. He was a French guy and I thought he understood me but apparently he didn't, because what arrived at my table was a western omelette. I did not send it back because I was very hungry and based on how busy the restaurant had gotten and the wait time to get the food, I would not be eating anything for another 30 minutes if I sent it back, and who knows if they would finally get it right. But at L'AVenue I had a much more complicated omelette prepared as scrambled eggs and they did a great job with it, so L'Avenue remains the premiere breakfast destination.
Unfortunately, at L'Avenue the customers are willing to wait in long lines out the door in freezing cold to buy an omelette, and this is not something I am willing to do. My testicles will never be allowed to freeze for eggs. For good sushi maybe, but not for eggs, never. So I will see L'Avenue again next May or so.
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Not only is L'Avenue not the best breakfast place in Montreal, it's not even the best place in the neighborhood. Au Pain Perdu, just three blocks down the street, is light years better. http://www.pistoudejeuner.ca/Accueil.html
Aspen- I believe you are right that they are Mochi rice cakes. I did not recognize them as such the first time I looked at that pic.
You go for the food or the eye candy? The eye candy, while not bad ANYWHERE in the Plateau, is better at L'Avenue. Au Pain Perdu is a bit more expensive than L'Avenue.
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