Menu of the Day- November 18

The week is ending but here is my lunch.

Quinoa cooked in a chicken leg and beef rib stock. Ground pork hash. Fresh avocado slices. Herbed cream cheese.

For dessert, greek yogurt and a melon/orange/cardamom jam.

Meat hash recipe

This is a common building block as it can become spaghetti sauce or a casserole. You can use ground meat of any type: chicken, beef, pork, turkey.

1/2 lb of ground meat
1/2 a large red onion, diced
1/2 a bulb of garlic, thinly sliced
500 ml of crushed tomatoes, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking oil

1. Sweat the onion and garlic in oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes
2. Add meat and cook on high for 5 more minutes until meat is browned. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add tomatoes and lower heat to simmer for at least 15 minutes. Gently stir.

Fou d'Ici or Fous Desserts?

Fous Desserts is a great cake/chocolate/tea/croissant store near Laurier metro. It sells my favorite croissant on the continent. It carries awesome & decadent cakes and desserts. In the summer I drop by every Saturday to get my fix.

I don't know why I never told you about it before, maybe to keep the secret to myself. They were a participant in our croissant Dishcrawl back in October 2010. They were also chosen by La Presse as the best croissant in Montreal.

The best dessert I had is called "l'ecureuil" or "the squirrel". It's a tart with salty caramel filling and covered with nuts. You cannot eat more than one slice at a time but it's out of this world.

Another favorite is the King Kong and Belle Helene viennoiseries. The first is a mix of banana and dark chocolate while the second is poached pear and dark chocolate.

Fou d'Ici is a new gourmet grocery store in the Louis Boheme condominium complex at Place des Arts metro. They have basic staples as well as fresh producce, dairy section, cheese section and a butcher. The prices aren't outrageously expensive when you compare them to the nearby Provigo or Metro supermarkets.

I explored the bakery & pastry department first of course and was delighted to see they carry desserts from Rhubarbe, a really great cake maker (they are located near Fous Desserts and also a Dishcrawl spot). I tried a basic croissant and found it better than average with a crust that is buttery like at Fous Desserts.

I was also happy they have Chef Daren Bergeron from Decca77 participating as the kitchen chef as I enjoy many of his food already.

They carry other Montreal businesses items such as the corn chips from Maya (best tortilla chips).

Answer to the question: both Fous Desserts and Fou d'Ici deserve your attention and stomach space.

@foudici
@FousDesserts
@rhubarbe_mtl

Restaurant Review: Deville Dinerbar

This place recently opened near work so I decided to go explore it with coworkers for lunch. Service was efficient and quick and we were able to leave within 1 hour.

This 50s styled diner looks fancy and the staff is dressed accordingly. The bar seats are uncomfortable so don't linger too long on them. The menu is presented in a tall leather bound booklet and the pages are in thick card stock. Prices may seem steep for a diner but it's supposed to be luxurious and the portions are big.

First we had the "Disco Fries" at 10$ which is simply a fancy poutine with matchstick fries, veal demi-glace and a cheese mix. This was very good except at the end when it was too salty due to the demi-glace sitting at the bottom of the dish.

A coworker took the bacon wrapped meat loaf which looked huge but he was satisfied with it. 

I had the Chicken Schnitzel and Spaetzle at 19$ and it was a lot of food. I ended up eating 1/3 in the restaurant due to the Disco Fries. The chicken has a layer of ham and cheese underneath the crust and was generously doused with lemon and capers.

Another coworker had the Deville burger at $16 and it was a double burger with all the fixings.

This new addition to the downtown core is different than what currently exists and although it's not an exceptional discovery it's good enough for people to try it.

http://www.devilledinerbar.com/

Restaurant Review: Zenya

Don't let the downtown location fool you, Zenya is not a tourist trap but a capable Sushi joint provided you know what to order. The restaurant is very large and has the decor fit for the downtown scene.

I've been here 6 times in the last two years and the food has been consistent: what was bad/good the first time stayed bad/good on subsequent visits. Do not order the cooked dishes!

I've been spoiled with the traditional dishes at Furusato so when I tried ZenYa's versions, they were horrible in comparison. The miso soup and miso cod are pretty standard but stick with the sushi bar.

This is my go-to place for the best amaebi (raw sweet shrimp) in town. They always have fresh Pacific salmon which is a plus. The maki rolls, the unagi (eel) and ikura (salmon roe) Are also ok like everywhere else.

They don't have the selection of Isakaya but the quality is superior.

Restaurant Review: Ta Chido

This new Mexican "snack bar" has been open for only 10 when I dropped by for dinner. The seating area is tiny like Kazu but the kitchen in the back is large. There is a large funky painting running on one side of the room.


I ordered a Milanesa Torta (breaded beef) and Tinga de Pollo Quesadilla (chicken, chipotle, onion) with Algua Fresca (watermelon) and Frijoles (black beans). It was a lot but I wanted to try everything.

The quesadilla uses a handmade tortilla which explains its thickness. The chicken preparation had little flavor. A little more salt or spice would be welcomed. The provided pickled jalapeño and hot sauce helped a bit.

The cooked beans was flavorless. It was prepared in a broth but it could have been water too.

The beef sandwich had flavor! It was my favorite item. I'm not crazy with the bread though.

Ta Chido
5611 avenue du Parc
http://tachido.squarespace.com/

Menu of the week - October 3 2011

Maple Leaf "natural selections" (no preservatives) chicken with Gadoua's Tendre Ble bread and Liberte cream cheese.

Lunch will have President Choice lasagna, Romados chicken and roasted peppers.

Ugh the organic farmed roasted peppers gave me food poisoning. Gonna pass on small farmers for a bit now.

Restaurant review: Azuma

Someone strongly recommended this Japanese restaurant on Chowhound, saying they go there weekly. It mentioned they serve traditional dishes as well as sushi so I had to try.

I started with agedashi tofu which was pretty standard except the sauce was too salty to slurp. The Chicken Kara-age however was not as pretty. Instead of marinated chicken chunks which were then deep fried, I received bland chicken nuggets with a coating that was soggy and not crispy.

If they put so much care into the decor to make the place look homey, please spend some extra dollars to give us something better than the freezer section of Provigo!

The next item was a fried maki roll with salmon, tuna, avocado, spicy mayo, and tobiko. I was happy to see this because when I lived in Northern California I enjoyed the fried California roll from the restaurant Satsuma. This version however was not as special. The fried roll was not piping hot and the coating had time to get soggy. the flavors inside was so muddled you couldn't care less what was inside. The sweet sauce that accompanied didn't help.

The unagi was chewy. The tamago was not fresh (you can buy premade tamago at the market). Only the fresh salmon was up there with the other restaurants I go to.

Overall I was disappointed with this place although it did serve traditional Japanese dishes, a rare thing in our city.

Menu of the week - September 26 2011

I am still bringing sandwich ingredients to assemble at work for breakfast. I gotta get my "regularity" food now that I am over the hill.

We have Gadoua's Multigo bread (1$ offcoupon) with Lactantia butter and duBreton no-preservatives roast pork slices.

Provigo has their twice-a-year chicken breast mega-sale this week (boneless and skinless for 2.99$ a pound) so I boiled 4 breasts' worth of chicken pieces in butter and spices. I buy a soup+salad combo from the cafe downstairs to make a lunch with it.

I need to make a sauce for this "butter chicken"

Store review: Cerise sur le Gateau

This new pastry store on Fairmount is the latest addition to a wave of new businesses around Fairmount Bagels.

Last fall we saw the opening of Lawrence then Boulangerie Guillaume. This year we saw the arrival of my favorite ice cream spot Kem CoBa.

With my personal discovery of Barros Luco and their wonderful sandwiches I am ready to move into the neighborhood!

Cerise sur le Gateau is a small and simple bakery offering croissants, pastries and cakes. I tasted the croissant which was better than average but I am not a fan of the sweet egg wash. Other good offerings include the lemon tart and the eclair (au chocolat or au caramel).

My favorite item however is the madeleines. They are of the small and compact kind rather than the larger and airy type found at 3M Patisserie. There is a light lemon flavor and they received the seal of approval from two French coworkers.

Drop by to sample their pastries and cakes, it's worth it.

Web site: www.cerisesurlegateau.ca

From my desk

It's no fun to type this in the crude iPhone keyboard