Here are my eating highlights from both London and
Montreal over the last 5 weeks (confess some late May eats have crept in
here as I was too busy getting the Kid wed to blog).
LONDON
Em and I head to Nopi for brunch after a
ridiculously early morning screening of Maleficent at Leicester Sq
Odeon. I had the Shakshuka with spicy tomato sauce and smoked Labneh.
There was a lot of red pepper to contend with, I confess
I’m not the hugest fan of red peppers, sometimes they disagree with me,
but everything was perfectly cooked, most importantly the eggs. Runny
yolks, yes. I hate when they’re overcooked, I’m looking at you Caravan
on Exmouth. Great bread and a decent flat
white too. Not the cheapest brunch and front of house seemed outraged
we’d not booked a table. Weird WEIRD mirrored toilets, really quite
disturbing.
21-22 Warwick St
Soho
W1B
6.5/10
Fast forward on the same day and Art and I drank a
shitload of wine and needed to soak it up with some cheese and meat. I
just didn’t have time to fit in a full meal here, which is a shame as I
would have loved to, particularly based on
the quality of these boards.
Wines are all organic, you can buy
bottles to take away and the bread is the talk of the town, really very
good. Menu is overseen by Mikael Jonsson of Hedone fame, so no wonder
it’s good. We probably spent around £40 each, but
were there for most of the afternoon and had a couple of bottles of wine.
12A Newburgh St
Soho
W1F
8/10
One Leicester Street – Leo’s Pop Up
Fast even further forward, still the same day (oof)
and we had dinner at One Leicester St. It was the last night of a
3 month long pop up which saw Leandro Carreira (ex- Viajante chef) take over
the kitchen Thur-Sat.
It was a communal affair
with guests sharing a 7 course tasting menu for £88, wine pairings
included. Highlight was the iberico presa with baked beets and the
langoustine with honey carrots. Really fun night, obviously not
something you can enjoy yourselves (unless you went) but
keep an eye out for Leo’s next venture.
One Leicester St
Erm, 1 Leicester St
WC2H
7/10
Bel and I head back to our old fave the Berner’s Tavern for my last night in London. We lashed right out and got the
chateaubriand for 2 with foie gras, roasted baby artichokes and truffled
mac and cheese.
There is so much good stuff
going on with this dish, it’s just incredible. So much truffle. It’s
really rather good value at £80 for two. We drank Prosecco, obvs and
stopped off in the Punch Room. Love and miss this place sooooooo much.
Well done Jason.
10 Berners Street
Fitzrovia
W1T
9/10
Another old fave I had to make time for was Koya Bar, Nibs and I popped in for lunch and both opted for the special udon
which was poached chicken in soy milk broth with sesame. It was
really simple and clean, as all their dishes could
feasibly be described. We shared the mackerel sashimi also from the
specials board, I always always order their specials, they’re so
interesting. Miss you Koya.
50 Frith St
Soho
W1D
9/10
Also popped in for a Bull & Last bloody mary and Sunday
roast combo with Bel which saved me after the Kid’s hen do! They
really know what they’re doing with a bit of beef. Lemony pud was
really good too. We lurked about for the pub quiz
then hit Aces & Eights, classic NW5 Sunday.
118 Highgate Road
Kentish Town
NW5!!
8/10
MONTREAL
On my first Saturday
back I met Sarah for lunch at Café Melbourne. I remember walking by
this place in February when I visited, it was approx. -15 and I was
slipping all over the place in the snow, determined to have a wander
about and
get a bagel from Fairmount. What a difference a few months makes, it
was a boiling hot day, we sat in the window and ordered coffee and
‘jaffles’.
Jaffle meaning Aussie toastie, think Breville. I got the
mac daddy, of course, filled with actual mac cheese
and served with a nice bit of pickle and some ready salted crisps. The
big concern with toasties is usually that they’re so hot they burn, but I
found the opposite was true of this one, the second half was barely warm when I
got to it, perhaps I was chatting too much.
Good coffee though and they had a Donna Hay magazine in there and good
world cup banter.
Saint-Laurent
Plateau
H2T
6/10
Speaking of the world cup, I watched an England
match at Bishop & Bagg an English inspired ‘pub’. In inverted
commas because it’s absolutely not a pub, but they’re trying! They have
an English menu too, curries, a ploughman’s, kebabs.
I had the lamb kebabs which look an absolute mess here but were really
very good. Reports of the ploughman’s were along the lines of don’t do
it to yourself. I sound negative but I actually really like the place,
and I live near it now, woo! Apols for the shocking photo, finger included so you could see the wrap, pitta type thing.
52 Rue St Viateur Ouest
Mile End
H2T
7/10
Another greaso lunch with Sarah, this time close to
work, Le Gros Jambon appears on this list of the best Mac &
Cheese to be found in Montreal, so I had the chicken tacos. Need to go
back for the mac cheese, newsflash - it’s almost
too hot to eat macaroni cheese. It’s upsetting, and I need to stop
moaning about/talking about/checking the weather.
The chicken tacos
with a side salad were my attempt to make a healthier choice at this
diner. Really liked them actually. Nice guacamole,
sour cream and salsa accompaniments, and it was served individually on a
tray for your own construction. I rather like that.
Cute, kitschy décor and
cheap, about $12.
286 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest
Old Montreal
H2Y
6.5/10
One Saturday
evening a group of us went to Nora Gray, a restaurant opened by an
ex-Joe Beef chef and front of house duo. It comes highly recommended by
food people so I was super excited and it proved to be the best meal
I’d eaten so far
in Montreal (until my birthday meal at Liverpool House, but more on
that soon).
My starter was cavatelli with tomato, anchovy and
fennel. The pasta was perfect, all home made and great value at $12 for
a bowl. Love Italian meals where it’s the done thing to eat pasta as a
starter, they are genius.
Again, shocking picture but it's very dark in there, all candle light and orange. I couldn’t resist the special main, pork belly with
turnips and polenta. It was sooooooo good, around the $30 mark. We
drank a load of red wine and left very very happy. It’s a slightly odd
area of the city, Griffintown, up and coming
allegedly, but it feels like it’s out in the sticks with very little else
around it. Worth the trek though for sure, I’ll be back, they're awesome.
1391 Rue St Jaques
Griffintown
H3C
9/10
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