London Round Up

So I was back in the UK for Christmas, and despite a bout of the sniffles meaning I had to cancel some plans, I did make it to a couple of places on my to do list, which is loooong, considering I've only been away for 9 months.

Bad Egg
Bel and I had lunch at Bad Egg.  It was still in soft opening which is always exciting, like restaurant roulette, but everything was brilliant.  In particular this burger (£11), beef, NDUJA CHEESE FONDUE, egg yolk, pickles, onion and mustard.  It was magnificent.

We also had a side of kimchi, which packed a solid punch and the pulled pork hash (£8.50) but the burger was the one.  Loved it.  Now they're open proper they have an amazing looking breakfast menu which I'd love to try.  Go, eat eggs or don't eat eggs, but go.

Toasted
This is one of those places that was long on my must visit list, but I never actually made it there ahead of moving to Canada.  Post move, when I made friends with Sar and learned that she used to live opposite and was something of a regualar we vowed to visit together at Xmas and that we did.  I was still poorly so not tasting 100% which is a horrible, horrible thing.  I still loved the place though and will definitely revisit one day for dinner.  I loved the artichokes with dukkah and curds (£8)

Followed by the pollock with dashi, fennel and ginger (£15) which was incredible.  We also drank some fizz in a bid to ward off the cold, didn't work, I continued to be ill for another 3 days, but testament to Toasted that I bloody loved it anyway.

So pretty and delicate.  The service is charming, the room is wonderfully rustic and the company was excellent.  Lucky EDers who get to have this as a local.  Amazing place.

The Ivy Market Grill
So the Ivy, that fancy pants celeb magnet in Covent Garden, have opened an all day brasserie on the ex Pizza Hut site on the south side of the piazza.  I was disappointed when I realised this was the location but in actual fact I thought the food was pretty decent considering.  I had the veggie breakfast (£11.50), at about 4 in the afternoon, it was the halloumi that swang it.

There were actual beans in the mini pan I assure you, not just juice.  Granted the idea of a hot poached egg and hollandaise on top of a halved, cold avocado is not one I'd entertained, nor shall I in future, but it's friend was on a mini bubble and squeak, which was delicious.

The service was a tad forgetful, we ordered a snack of arancini and bread to share pre meal as we'd not eaten yet, but they didn't materialise.  We asked after them, the arancini came, the bread never surfaced at all and by then we'd received everything else so it seemed silly to ask again.  The arancini were very good, truffle-y.  It was a strange time to dine perhaps, but the staff went through phases of constantly asking if we were ok, and others of aloofness.  Early days perhaps?  Glad I've been, probs won't go back, think there are nicer options available for the same type of stuff.  Strong branding though, and a nice Royale cocktail with rose and hibiscus.  Also, the Kid was ill all night, gah.

And that's all I managed, except for a fine meal at Chicken Shop NW5, where it's always lovely.  Back for more in June, London!

Bad Egg
1 Ropemaker Street
Moorgate
EC2Y
9/10



Toasted
38 Lordship Lane
East Dulwich
SE22
9/10



The Ivy Market Grill
1 Henrietta St
Covent Garden
WC2E
7/10

Sumac

When Art came to stay we nipped over to St Henri and had lunch at Sumac.  Think ‘middle Eastern’ cuisine along the lines of Yalla Yalla or Comptoir Libanais in London.  Until Sumac opened there was really nothing like this available in Montreal.  Cutting to the chase, everything was awesome and I already can’t wait to go back.

The menu is on a big board, you order at the counter before finding a table, which feels a tad too casual but it’s really busy come lunchtimes so I see why they do it.  Will be heading back for dinner soon to check out if things are any different in the evening.

We shared the falafel ($12) and the beef kefta ($14) plates which come with your choice of 2 salads from the pretty extensive salad menu, the best pita I've ever had, hummus and pickles.  The main dishes (falafs, keftas, chicken shawarma and a veggie aubergine option) can also be ordered as a pita or 'family style' (I'm not sure what this means exactly).  We also shared sumac fries, having been advised that the hummus fries are huge and would push us over the edge.  Prices are very reasonable and portions are large.  This is North America after all!

Just looking at these pictures and thinking about how good the food was is making me want to get back down there today, and look at this, they even have a website, something of a rarity in Montreal.  Good work Sumac.

Sumac

3618 Notre Dame O.

St Henri

H4C 1P5
9/10

November Round Up

Rounding up November, already.  This year, especially since my move to Canada has gone soooooo quickly.  It's quite scary.  Does mean it's almost Christmas though, so I'll be back in the UK for a bit, woo.  Here's what I've eaten this month in Montreal. 

Joe Beef
Goatsy came to stay and we went to Joe Beef.  I don't need to say anything more about Joe Beef, it's amazing, it's difficult to get a table, I've said it's brilliant enough.  Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, they smashed dessert, just look at this thing, mille-crepe lemon meringue.  No further words required.

Gibeau Orange Julep
Somewhat of a local institution is Gibeau Orange Julep, think fast food served in a big orange.  Literally.  It's cheap and cheerful, the julep in the name refers to a drink which is not entirely a pleasant thing, orange juice combined with milk and a hell of a lot of sugar which typically accompanies some kind of burger, hotdog or poutine.  I got this little tray of delights, 2 hotdogs with all the toppings and I was tasting raw onion for the rest of the day.   Can't say I'll rush back but it's a novelty destination really, situated on an industrial estate, apparently bikers hang in the car park during the summer, so if that's your thing, you know what to do.

Appetite For Books
This is a wonderful book store in Westmount, they have an incredible selection of cookbooks and they offer evening cooking demos, Sarah and I went along to a class to celebrate the recent launch of Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty More.  We saw made (and then ate) some sample dishes whilst drinking wine.  The onion cake, yes, onion cake, is just incredible.  I'll definitely be making this myself.  Buy the book, go to the store (if you live in Montreal), the classes are just a really fun night out even if you have little interest in cooking.  I now won't have any problems coming up with veggie dishes to cook thanks to Yotam.

Laurea
Grace, Margaret and I hit Laurea one Saturday night for dinner.  This is a new opening on one of my favourite streets in Montreal, Laurier.  I wasn't sure what to expect from the food, hadn't read too much about it.  It felt very New York in the cocktail bar downstairs, we sipped martinis while some dude played the piano.  Then we moved upstairs for dinner, and I ate this wonderful dish of cod with prawn dumplings in a dashi broth ($22).  Really delicious.  I'll be back for sure, cocktails were good and the food more than lined our stomachs for the night out ahead.  We went down the road to Bar Kabinet but actually ended up coming back and hanging out in the adjoining Bar Lorbeer until it closed at 3am.  Loved both places and the food really impressed.

Balsam Inn
Another newish opening here in Montreal that I made it to this month, Balsam Inn is located very centrally right next door to Dominion Square Tavern.  The decor is really cool, quite clinical and minimal but they have some amazing bits, nice light fittings which are a little different to the generic trendy vibe you see so much of these days.  Long story short, the food wasn't all great, the appetisers were a lot better than the mains, fried chicken was not my cup of tea at all, smothered in a sickly sweet sauce.  But there is a lot of promise, the cheese and flatbread was excellent, the bacon meatloaf was just odd.  Will probably head back after Christmas to try more of the menu, this was just a quick hungover stop off.

Grumman '78
Had a shocker of a meal here with Art.  I had really high hopes due to their appearance in a Munchies Chef's Night Out in Montreal earlier this year. I think it's the most disappointed I've been in a meal in this city so far, especially sad because Art was visiting, and I was attempting to show her the best that's available here.  They had run out of both the wine we chose and the main course I ordered, we weren't offered the dessert trolley (didn't want any of them, but would have been nice to have a look) and it was cold in there as we were sitting close to the door and it was a snowy day.  The food was pretty rank to be honest, bahn-mi tacos and fried chicken with johnny cakes.  Just no.

Notkins
Another disappointment sadly, the newly opened oyster bar run by Daniel Notkin, the guy behind Montreal's oysterfest which I very much enjoyed earlier in the year.  Nice venue for drinks but the food was decidedly average, the highlight being the chowder pictured below.  We skipped oysters but in hindsight you probably can't go wrong ordering them here.  The lobster burger was the biggest letdown, we asked the waiter to recommend what to eat and nothing he suggested stood out.  Shame. 

Gibeau Orange Julep
7700 Boulevard Decarie
H4P
5/10



Laurea
381 Laurier Ouest
Outremont
H2V
8.5/10



Balsam Inn
1237 Rue Metcalfe
Golden Square Mile
H3B
8/10


Grumman 78
630 Rue De Courcelle 
Sud Ouest
H4C
4/10

 

Notkins Oyster Bar
1101 Rue De Bleury
Chinatown
H2Z
5/10

Boo in New York - Ippudo

Best ramen in New York?  Friends I was staying with reliably told me it can be found at Ippudo.  We went for Sunday lunch at the Midtown outpost.  They've just opened in London, to mixed reviews, but I loved the meal we had in New York. 

So, their thing is that each table is announced and cheered by the staff upon entry, bit weird, but to be honest, not even that noticeable.  I expected it to be very in your face, but I actually think it's quite nice.  Maybe because I was in holiday mode, rather than nipping round the corner from work to have a quick ramen lunch, but people need to lighten up if they find this intrusive.   We scored a much sought after booth as we were a big group and only had to wait about 20 minutes, which we spent in a nearby vintage clothing shop.  It flew by. 

We started with an obligatory Sapporo ($6), mine didn't go down all that well tbh, it was too early and I was 2nd day hanging.  Molly and I ordered exactly the same, starting with agedashi tofu ($10)

This is served in a dashi broth topped with aubergine, radish, spring onion and wasabi.  Probably the best agedashi tofu I've ever had, the lightest batter encasing it, it was quite difficult to eat actually because the tofu was so soft it was impossible to grip with chopsticks.

Next up we went for the Tori tatsuta-age ($9), the fried chicken with daikon ponzu sauce.  This was incredible.  London has some amazing karaage chicken (Bone Daddies), Montreal too (Saka Ba), but this is the nicest I've ever had.  I could have eaten all of this in a heartbeat, but I had to stop to save some room for the ramen.  It pained me to leave any.

SMILEY FACE!!!  The main event being this, the karaka men ramen ($15).  Tonkotsu pork broth, noodles topped with chashu pork, minced pork, spicy sauce, sesame mushrooms and onions.  Optional extra seasoned egg ($2) was added, obvs.  Now, this was not a Clarence Court egg, so clearly inferior but everything else about this bowl hit the spot.  I'm keen to try the London branch when I'm back in December, to judge for myself if the same formula works in another city. 

Apparently these guys invented steamed buns, who knew.  The starter dishes were really standout and the ramen ticks all the boxes too. 

Ippudo, NY
65 4th Avenue
New York
10003
9/10

Boo in New York - Momofuku Ssäm Bar

The only must visit place for me during my recent New York trip was a Momofuku restaurant.  I didn't even mind which one.  David Chang's restaurants have always been on my wishlist, I'm a regular reader of his Lucky Peach magazine and as luck would have it, I was staying at my friend Suz's place in the East Village, a stone's throw from the Ssäm Bar.  We ended up lucking out and not even requiring a reservation for a group of 6, walking in at around 10pm on Halloween looking to fuel up before heading to Brooklyn for the night.

 

Starting with drinks, I tried the juniper#3, gin apricot, campari and lemon.  Served unexpectedly in a tumbler, it was short and really tart, great start.  Ellen's choice of a celery sour won, so great.  The scotch based Penicillin also went down well.  Cocktails here are excellent.  

We each opted for some buns ($10 for 2), Nibs and I shared the steamed variety with pork belly, hoisin and cucumber.  Really, really amazing.  I just love these things.  The pork was so succulent and tender, I resisted the urge to order more.  The girls also enjoyed the buffalo pork buns with blue cheese and hot sauce, and some of the veggie ones filled with mushrooms.

Molly's choice of country hams ($12) was brilliant, smoked ham with bread and red eye gravy from the small dishes section of the menu.  Other dishes falling into either raw, fall, fish or meat sections.  Non meaty options at the table included the scallop ceviche ($15) with lotus root, the kimchi mason jar ($5) and a fresh chilled market bean salad ($10) with XO and radish that had an almighty kick to it.  All excellent dishes.

For main I couldn't resist the beef offal stew with turnip and kale ($23).  The broth was fragrant and rich, the meat included tendon, oxtail and tripe.  Also pictured below is the fried moo kimchi with yuzu mayo ($8).  Everything we ate was incredible, there wasn't a single miss.  We shared some kind of pie for dessert which I have to admit wasn't particularly memorable, but it's me, not them.  Desserts = meh when you're in New York for Halloween and you have parties to go to.

 
I think this place is amazing.  As well as incredible food and cocktail menus, they also offer BYOB, group bookings with set menus, weekend brunch and drinks only at their bar, Booker and Dax.  If I lived in New York (one day yeah?) I'd be here all the time.  Loved it.  Just don't expect the politest service ever, they have a constant stream of diners and need to turn tables quickly so have little patience for indecisiveness or lingering guests. 

'Emojis, assemble'.  Best Halloween ever.

Momofuku Ssäm Bar
207 2nd Avenue
East Village
New York
10003
9/10

October Round Up

Rounding up the month of October, some good brunches were the highlight.  A couple of close to work revisits that are worth a mention, had a great thai chicken meatball soup at Le Local, always a solid lunch choice and L'Orignal refurbished, rewrote the menu and relaunched.  Had a nice suckling pig dish there one night for dinner.  Here's the rest....

Restaurant Manitoba
I dined here early in the summer but didn't take pics, I was impressed with both what I ate that night and with the excellent personable charm of co-owner Elizabeth Cardin (we drank some gin shots together).  I've been meaning to revisit for brunch, which they recently started serving, but bizarrely they're not open on Saturdays.  This past Sunday Erika and I met there, it was really busy, there was a guy playing the cello and we propped ourselves up at the bar for a few hours.  Some people might find the vibe a little pretentious but I find it charming.  There's been a lot of attention to detail in the set up of the place and I really hope they do well.  It's only a 15 minute walk from my flat so I'll definitely be back again and again.  As for the food, it's really inventive.  A chalkboard on the wall lists the daily changing dishes, we both went for the squash spaghetti with poached egg and mushrooms.  I've honestly never had a dish like it.  Prices are reasonable (I paid around £15 for this and a few cups of herbal tea) and drinks are amazing.  If you're in Montreal, go.  I don't understand why more people don't rave about it already.

Dinette Triple Crown
This place has been on my list since before my first trip to Montreal.  Think fried chicken, mac & cheese, pulled pork etc.  They have a tiny little place in Mile End opposite a park, so in non snowy months you can grab a picnic basket and eat across the street.  They also deliver and, although I'm just outside the delivery zone, one hungover Sunday night they made an exception and came the extra distance to delivery to my place, wooo!  So we knew we had to have the mac & cheese, then we each picked a meat and threes, which is your pick of fried chicken, beef brisket or pulled pork with 3 sides.  We shared everything first up was brisket with mash and gravy, creamy slaw and greens.  So so so good.

The second option was 3 pieces of fried chicken with cornbread, sweet potatoes and hushpuppies.  Had to google the latter, they're like deep fried balls of corn batter served with a garlic dip.  It's obviously all hideously bad for you so a once in a while treat rather than a weekly takeout option but I was really impressed with the food.  Best mac & cheese I've had here so far, we got the small, the large must be massive.  We paid around $50 for this, but there was a lot of food.  We also opted for the pear and ginger pudding which was completely unnecessary but really lovely.  This will definitely be happening again on a cold winter night in the not too distant future.

Bar Bounya
I came here for lunch earlier in the year but didn't blog it because it was just a couple of hours before I flew back to London in July, so I was in a rush and didn't take pics.  Went back last weekend with Erika and Sar for Saturday brunch.   For $12 you get a main dish and a selection of treats including a tomato and ricotta salad (ricotta mixed with feta - so good), bread, jams, nuts, olives and honey with kaymak, a soft butter like spread.  This is such a bargain, can't wait to go back.  It's served sharing style on a board.

The main I opted for was shakshuka, served in the dish it's cooked in, it always suffers from the heat of the dish overcooking the eggs and this is exactly what happened.  2 hard cooked poached eggs is not a good thing.  The sauce of tomato, spinach and onions was nice enough, I ate that with more of the bread, but overcooked eggs is one of my worst things, unforgivable.  I do like the place though and you can't argue with a $12 breakfast, I'd pay that again for the cheese alone.

Juliette et Chocolat
I was invited to the Laval store opening of Juliette et Chocolat.  I'd not yet tried any of their cafes in the city, there are several located throughout Centre Ville and the Plateau, and now they're in Laval too. You can read about their story here.  The menu is obviously chocolate based, think hot chocolate, chocolate fountain, fruit covered chocolate, bars, truffles, mousse, biscuits, even chocolate lipstick.  They have a great range of Halloween based treats, chocolate skull anyone?  People visit for desserts apparently in the evenings, I rather like the idea of popping in after dinner somewhere.  I ate so much chocolate on the night that I felt quite queasy when I left.  Speaks volumes of the quality of the sweet treats on offer here, because I don't have much of a sweet tooth at all. 

Bolo Bolo 
I was also invited to a new restaurant opening on St Laurent in the Plateau.  The deal here is meatballs and cocktails.  The opening night was packed so it was pretty hard to get your hands on a decent drink, but there were plenty of meatballs on offer.  They even have a meatball topped bloody mary.  Best thing sampled on the night was the buffalo meatball, there are all kinds on the menu, it's a great location, more of a bar than a restaurant vibe but that could have been due to the launch party. 

La Societe
Before visiting La Societe, I'd read some negative reviews.  I was skeptical but wanted to check it out anyway and I wish I'd skipped it to be honest.  Many online reports told stories of shoddy service, ours was absolutely fine but the food was pretty poor.  It's the worst meal I've had in Montreal, actually a 4am poutine and 'burger club' at Fameux Viande Fumee probably holds that accolade.  Shudder.  Anyway, back to Societe, Lobster bisque ($13) was overly creamy and pretty tasteless, advertised as coming with truffle oil but there was none.  The New York strip steak ($29) I ordered was undercooked and tasteless and the peppercorn sauce was just awful.  Fries and aioli were good and the cheeseboard was passable.  We had a gin based cocktail which looked radioactive before moving onto white wine.  All the effort here seems to have been put into decorating the room, the floor and ceiling are both impressive, but the food really underwhelming.  I won't be revisiting. 

Restaurant Manitoba
271 Rue St Zotique Oeust
Parc Ex
H2V
9/10



Dinette Triple Crown
6704 Rue Clark
Rosemount
H2S
8/10



Barbounya
243 Laurier Ouest
Outemont
H2T
7/10



Juliette et Chocolat
Centropolis
Laval
H7T

I dined as a guest of Juliette et Chocolat



Bolo Bolo
3540 St Laurent
Plateau
H2X

I dined as a guest of Bolo Bolo



La Societe
1415 Rue de la Montagne
Golden Square Mile
H3G
4/10

Le Bremner

Crown Salts restaurants are a big deal in Montreal.  TV chef Chuck Hughes is co-owner and he was at Le Bremner last week when Sar and I visited for dinner.  It's been on my list for ages but it's one of those restaurants that you need to be reasonably organised to visit, as in you can't book for next week but you can probably book a month in advance.  Previously I'd tried a number of times at short notice and it was full.  I was hoping this was a good sign, it's generally not difficult in Montreal to get a reservation, Joe Beef being the exception. 

I really liked the meal.   We started with the burrata with tomatoes and white anchovies ($23).  Disappointing lack of bread again, bread sticks are NOT the same.  No oil, no dip, I just don't get it.  Anyway, the cheese was good, the seeded crackers that came with it were great, so we especially didn't need the bread sticks.  You can see them in the glass in the BG above, their one redeeming feature being that they were heavily salted.  Otherwise, meh, 

Excuse the washed out pics, I've had to brighten them, the place is candlelit to the extreme and my photos are virtually unviewable.  This is the tuna and tahini starter ($19).  Wasn't sure what to expect from it, we were curious about the combo.  It's nice, the contrasting textures were great, little crispy shards of what I believe were fried shallots, and micro leaves.  So far, so good, but nothing wowed.  

We were urged by diners on either side of us to order certain dishes.  Thank you lady to my right who recommended the lobster BLT ($32).  It was one of the stand out dishes of the night.  A slice of brioche topped with seriously crispy bacon, crunchy lettuce and a generous amount of lobster.   Lovely.  Sorry chaps to the left who suggested we get the quail, we ignored you, it did look good though, next time.

Dark and out of focus this one, excellent work.  It was my favourite dish on the night so it's a shame the photo does it no justice at all.  Lamb neck cavatelli ($26), perfectly al dente pasta with chunks of tender lamb and a rich meaty sauce.  Seriously good but I was getting full and becoming increasingly unable to breathe.  There was a great Canadian sparkling Riesling on the menu which we were knocking back, but evidently I'm allergic to it.  Unfortunate.  

Our other main was the whole sea bream with red cabbage and carrots ($31).  Nice but very boney, I'd attacked it with my knife and fork ahead of the waitress coming to the rescue and filleting the thing for us.  I'd dislodged a lot of the blighters so it wasn't the easiest dish to eat.  The accompanying gremolata was amazing.

Our dessert was shared, the chocolate, coffee and salted caramel pot with honeycomb ($10).  This reminded me of the best dessert I've ever eaten served in the same way and everything.  There was no Italian meringue in sight but there was honeycomb lurking in there.  Amazing.  Still couldn't breathe though. 

They didn't have any amaretto (urgh, seriously restaurants, sort it out) so they rustled us up a cointreau based aperitif, not the same.  That and the Riesling aside, I loved everything, even loved the Riesling, it just didn't like me much.  Open Monday to Saturday, dinner only.  I'll definitely be back, soon I hope.  It's a solid Old Montreal choice, they have daily changing seafood specials and this is what they're most known for but the mains are also worth checking out.  Must do Chuck's other restaurant, Garde Manger, first.

Le Bremner

361 St Paul East

Old Montreal 

H2Y

8/10