e18hteen

Some time ago, the boy promised to take me out on a real date. Unfortunately our last pre-summer/treeplanting weeks in London were filled with errands - moving the contents of our apartment into storage, on his part: final papers & exams, on my part: wrapping things up in the lab so as to leave things at a natural breaking point for the next research assistant.

Putting London on hold, we decided to postpone the date until Ottawa.
Enter e18hteen.

Classically trained Matthew Carmichael's menu features local ingredients. Despite the unsurprisingly little amount of 'adventurous' foods, the dinner turned out extremely tasty. We created our own tasting: they "usually" only allow blind tastings if the entire table partakes, so we couldn't manage to convince the waiter to serve a few extra blind dishes in addition to one order of the tasting menu.

greek styled tomato salad - very generous amounts of delicious goat's cheese and olive tapenade. In fact, it was an overwhelming amount, hiding the oregano vinaigrette. I should've saved enough bread from the first round - it would've made a fantastic spread! The tomatoes were unfortunately a tad disappointing. Expressing these sentiments to the waiter resulted in him not asking about any more of our remaining courses.

lobster cobb salad - with a buttermilk dressing. Served with a rather generous amount of lobster (we suspect from cold storage -- it's definitely not lobster season yet), a few slices of perfectly ripe avocado, crispy bits of bacon, blue cheese (Bleu Benedictine) and egg. Just lovely!

steak tartare - a very generous amount served in a bowl in another bowl of ice. Definitely a smidge on the cold side - too cold for the flavours to properly come through in balance. Red chillies gave the dish a slight kick, and the roasted red peppers were a delicious and unexpected addition. Though the herbed and blue-cheesed crostini were delicious against the beef, we happily spooned the remainder onto their bread as well - a much sweeter variation that showcased the parmesan in the tartare.

foie gras, 2 ways - the soy-stained torchon served with maple crystals was creamy and tasty, although not my favourite of the two as the soy almost overpowers the subtle richness. Despite a few corners being overly browned, the pan-seared version served on brioche was simple and delicious, accompanied by a tiny amount of ume.

espresso roasted ostrich - when examining the menu, the boy was initially skeptical about strong flavours of the dish: cardamom, cocoa nibs, brandied cherries, and a red wine demi glace. In the end, I'm happy he was persuaded: everything was fantastically in balance. again, very generous portions (a good 4, 5 pieces of meat).

chocolate torte - served with a blood orange sauce. Chocolate-y rich and delicious, it was an awesome way to end the meal.

I think I'll never be able to take top-notch restaurants 100% seriously though: there was great entertainment value derived from the table next to us (6 men working in finance). After a bottle of rosé, a bottle of red, and a bottle of vodka, they sounded like frat boys Being in high school, I thought everyone would have grown up by the end of university. During my undergrad, I figured people would mature once they hit the real world. I wonder about the proportion of the clientele who are their for the food (genuinely), versus going there "to be seen".

But I digress.
It was overall a fantastic night out and I'm already salivating for our next dinner date!

Restaurant 18
18 York Street
(613) 244-1188

never again [bangkok pad thai]

I was warned against this place before moving to London, but I figured I had nothing to lose - the restaurant's close to my yoga studio, and I only had an hour to nourish my belly and get back to campus for a friend's recital.

Wrong.
Oh so wrong.

I called the restaurant from the yoga studio, ordering shrimp rolls and pad thai. Two very standard (and difficult to mess up) items, that should be at least average at any Thai restaurant (or restaurant claiming to be Thai). I was ravenous after my yoga class, and pulled out my stuffed-to-the-brim clam shell of pad thai. With my splintery disposable chopsticks, I shoveled a few steaming bites into my mouth. My mouth was burning 12 seconds later - not because of the steam, but the excessive sambal (which is an Indonesian chili paste, no?). Yes, that's right - burning. And I can take spice, usually even from authentic Asian restaurants. Even worse, the sweet-salty-bitter-spicy balance was off: too bitter (see note about spice), too salty (excessive fish sauce).

No saving grace with the ridiculously priced (6.95$ for two!) shrimp rolls. I had originally thought that splurging the extra 1.45$ extra for shrimp would be worth it and that I had nothing to lose. Oooooh dear. I was wrong to expect a Montreal-pho-house quality of spring roll, but I had a little bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, it would be at least mediocre-to-average quality. Nope. No herbs (?!). Piddly amount of cucumber. One piece of shrimp. Something that vaguely resembled white noodles. Tiny serving. And the peanut sauce was not peanut sauce: it was a dollop of peanut butter in a lot of way-too-sweet coconut milk. Of course, the extremely large and topped to the brim container of condiment that comes with a takeout order never makes sense either, but that's a tangentially related rant.

Bangkok Pad Thai
0 of 5
735 Richmond Street

London (Ontario, that is).

We've landed ourselves in the little town of London, in a 825 sq ft 2 bedroom apartment that's costing us less than the 1bdrm Montreal pad.

Perhaps I should rephrase myself: we're now located in Canada's 10th largest city. Ahem. It takes a little getting used to when you've lived in Montreal for the past 5 years...

My biggest concern moving here was that there'd be a lack of food scene - but I've been proven wrong so far! After 8 weeks of London-ing, we've had beautiful food (outside of our own kitchen, of course) at Garlic's and The Only on King.

A couple of Sundays ago, the boy and I had garlic ice cream. Yes, true to the name of the restaurant, they tried to prominently feature garlic in all of their dishes, including dessert! Pleasantly surprised, it was pretty damn tasty: the spicy kick from the raw garlic balanced well with the vanilla in the ice cream. The waitress seemed to think we were "brave" to try the chocolate covered garlic garnish (that would've benefited from being slightly less sweet) - perhaps most of the patrons are less daring than us. Food was okay - satisfying, but not as creative or original flavours as I would've liked.

The pan fried northern Lake Erie yellow skinned wild pickerel was done perfectly - every time I order fish at a restaurant (which seems to be rare), I wonder why I don't order fish more often! It was served with a little too much remoulade, though (which went well with the potatoes, but overwhelmed the fish if you glopped it on). The boy had the the braised dorset lamb shank, accompanied by a jalapeno & mint jelly. It was nice. Satisfying.

Tonight, we dined at The Only on King - and even had a chance to meet the chefs Jason and Paul and sneak a peak at the kitchen! (drool... I want one of those). The boy's surprise tasting menu was of beautifully autumn, and started with a chestnut soup with apple crème fraîche. An heirloom beet salad with chèvre and smoked bacon on arugula, a gnocchi and perch dish, and cornish hen done just right. Dessert? A deliciously rich and smooth chocolate tart. His mum (who suggested the lovely restaurant after reading in En Route that it was on the top 10 list of new restaurants in Canada) had a fantastically balanced endive salad featuring a blue cheese dressing, apples, and pecans. And a main of perch and dessert of sticky toffee pudding (which came with a fantastic vanilla ice cream). My rillettes to start were accompanied by lovely olives and marinaded artichoke, and the rib eye with creamed spinach and chanterelles was fantastic. The meat was cooked perfectly - and thank goodness they didn't ask how one would like it done, because it precludes the possibility of morons ordering it medium well or well done! And I must confess (rather sheepishly) - this is the first time I've had chanterelles, and I've definitely fallen in love with them. Plating was a little less exciting, but the tastes more than made up for that component.

I'm looking forward to visiting The Only again, and seeing what Jason and Paul will whip up (their menu changes daily). Lovely atmosphere, and a cozy dining area that seats about 30. And part of their decor? They have a meat block and a duck press. How cool is that?

The Only on King
172 King Street; 519.936.2064
**** (of 5)

Garlic's of London
481 Richmond St; 519.432.4092
*** (of 5)

m for mediocre - m:brgr

Our lunch visit yesterday to the new burger bar m:brgr left much to be desired. The burgers were good, yes, but definitely overpriced for what they're worth. And it wasn't anything that couldn't have been made at home for tastier. The reasonable burger price of 8.75$ doesn't reflect your total bill (as expected - I'd already peeked at the menu on their website) since toppings add up. A few toppings later, and your burger ends up being closer to 18$. The portobello on the boy's burger were slightly lacking in flavour, and unable to hold up against the beef. My burger, topped with house-smoked bacon (which I will admit was quite tasty) and cheddar that was too mild for my liking (especially against the pickle). Moreover, our foodie companion's fried egg was overcooked (isn't the whole point to have the runny yolk meld with the sandwich?).

The one saving grace? Excellent coleslaw (also as expected - it's the same stuff served at Moishe's, and it's the stuff that turned me onto coleslaw in the first place). Okay, and their lightly battered sweet potato fries were pretty tasty as well. But aren't burger joints supposed to highlight burgers?

I'm glad I tried the restaurant, but the hype is overrated and my first visit was likely my last. Don't be fooled by their tagline "required eating".

2025 Drummond; 514-906-2747
Dinner for 2, before tax, tip and drinks: $45-$75

brunch at trattoria amore

This weekend landed me in Toronto, and happily reunited with a dear friend who's been missing in action for 5 months. Okay, not really MIA per sey, unless you count disappearing to Berlin for the summer as such. Sadly, our academic paths have led us to be in different cities, but alas! It gives me yet another excuse (beyond my mother's rendition of oh-so-good Chiu Chow styled duck) to come visit.

We caught up in the yuppy neighborhood of Yonge + Eglinton, where yummy mummies were plenty, dog-walking (and child-walking) on sidewalks. With Sunset Grill being packed (and neither one of us extremely craving the greasy spoon: to be honest, I'm still recoiling from the Quebec protein of August), we sauntered north along Yonge. A few restaurants seemed to serve brunch, but Amore caught our eye with its menu displayed prominently beside the door. C-Food, for example, had this silly little tv screen on the patio, that stayed too long on the '15$ prix fixe' screen, without divulging the details of this special. It wasn't that Amore had a spectacular menu, per sey, it just, well, had a menu.

Reasonably priced enough (brunch items seemed to mostly hover at 9$ or so), we took a seat on the 'patio' - a crammed 3 table space in front of the restaurant. Unfortunately, it proved not to be the best seat of the house, as the autumn winds and shade quickly cooled our ordered items. I suppose I'm still in denial that summer is quickly fleeting.

I was sorely disappointed with the overly lemony hollandaise sauce on my bennys. Which leaves me still on a quest to find the perfect rendition of this sauce. The last time I had eggs benedict, I was in North Bay where the joint served a way-too-thick version of the sauce (did they put cornstarch in it?!). And unfortunately, my dear friend was unimpressed with the undercooked potatoes that came with her spicy italian sausage frittata (the bread was a redeeming factor, however.) Coffee was standard, as far as coffee goes when it's served at 2.3$/mug.

Spending QT was more of a priority today, so I think I wasn't actually as frustrated (vocally, anyway) with the food as I would usually be. Sometimes, even good service can't make up for the food. When I'm in the area next, however, I'll probably be venturing elsewhere. Like Grazie Ristorante, for example (a fave of my dear friend's).

Amore Trattoria
2425 Yonge St.
* * (of 5)

ottawa feasts, midnight snacks, and lunch

Part of the long weekend was spent in Ottawa, during which, unsurprisingly, there existed a repeated theme of food. Easter dinner with the boy’s family included: a creamy broco-cran salad, a lettuce salad with uber sharp red onions, spiced butternut squash soup, turkey (served with a nutty pecan stuffing), clove-studded ham, vegetarian quiche, sweet potatoes, apple pie, cherry-apple pie, lemon meringue pie. (!!)

Onwards, post dinner adventures: brief catch-ups with friends, meeting of the fiancée, cigars on the rooftop of a 20-something story building. And then? Someone wanted shawarma. Do you know how difficult it is to find a joint that is open on the Sunday night/Monday morning of the Easter long weekend? Scouring downtown Ottawa shortly after 1am, we finally landed on the corner of Elgin & Gladstone. Marroush International is a very moderate joint, with a very nutsy balding and mustache wearing owner. Entertaining. Random. And “full service” entails a dramatic unwrapping of your sandwich, complete with the rip-plus-toss-with-a-flair of the foil covering. All in a farcically sexual (but so very unsexy) manner. I was trying to parse the expression on the face of a North Bay-er: was she creeped/shocked/entertained/laughing/etc? I didn’t order anything myself, but snuck a bite (or two or three) of the boy’s sandwich. Thumbs up from him.

After sleeping off the randomness, we met with an old friend of the boy’s for lunch. It seems that cross-city franchises have different expectations at their various locations. The boy, when in Winnipeg last summer, had positive remarks regarding drinks and cocktails at Moxie’s. I, on the other hand, encountered a version in Toronto (the one at Fairview mall) that left me wanting much, much more. If memory serves me, I had ordered the soup/sandwich combo - my soup was tepid, and my club sandwich was lacking bacon and tomatoes. Due to my preconceived notions of Moxie’s nation-wide, I had to do a slight double take this past Monday: we walked into a modern looking venue that was large and two-storied, with an open kitchen (though the fake wood-fire oven was disappointing), and attractive waitstaff. I soon discovered tjat the washrooms were just as trendy (I’m a fan of the tiled trough sink). Then, the food. For what it was, it certainly surpassed my expectations (the fries did, however, leave me parched for the remainder of the afternoon). I ordered the portobelo baguette-sandwich, and the boy and friend seemed to find their respective steak sandwiches just dandy (open-faced steak sandwich, which was the special of the day, and greek salad steak wrap).

Back in Montreal, the snagged turkey leftovers (now sitting prettily in the freezer), hopefully imply that we’ll finally get around to making a savoury, curry pie.

mondo fritz, revisted

Not long ago, I was raving about the yummy poutine at Mondo Fritz (we had had a hankering for grease after beer @ Brutopia). Within two weeks of that outing, I revisited Mondo Fritz for more of a lunch time meal, to catch up with a friend. Visite numero 2 has left me with complex sentiments about the restaurant, which I shall share:

Still a thumbs way up for their service: speedy, and pleasant, like last time. I ordered one of their burgers (I believe it was the "Danoise") with a side of fries - fantastic toppings of blue cheese and sundried tomato, but the crux of the burger left me craving my own rendition (secret ingredient = soy sauce in the ground beef). The meat patty was a little off, size-wise, in comparison to the rather large bun (to be fair, the kaiser was quite tasty and fresh), but it was pretty standard fare, and rather overdone. As were the fries, they were much darker than the last rendition - though I wonder what the poute would've tasted like sans gravy. Crispier fries are certainly better at holding themselves up to ladles of gravy, but when when they're on their own, even the Mondo Fritz's tasty variations of mayo (the basil/pepper one rocks) can't save overdone/burnt ones. Portions were, again, quite generous.

casa tapas

[reposted from chanlindsay.blogspot.com]

The boy and I went on a proper date Wednesday evening: having been finally released from opera rehearsals (and having just completed 8 of this semester's 20 credits) gave us an opportunity to venture to Casa Tapas (266 Rachel Est, between St. Laurent and St Denis). Spotting a funky mural on the side of the building, we arrived at 7:30 or so, and were placed at the bar because of our sans reservations. Certainly a good sign, if business thrived late on a Wednesday evening.

Standard bread bowl, and olives served in a demitasse: warm? (sorely lacking in knowledge base regarding olives, I did a quick search on "warm olives" when I came home: they were certainly endorsed by the NY Times in 1987.) Warm is good! They were pretty damn tasty, and I'm not usually an olive-out-of-hand eater (the boy even less so).

Their rendition of a "Spanish Caesar" was interestingly done with greens in lieu of romaine: served with a toasted slice of herbed baguette, and a surprise cherry tomato in the bottom. Do they do Caesars in Spain? We were unsure of the dressing's constituents (as the salad was severely underdressed) but were quickly distracted by the garlic saffron soup. Served piping hot (and still bubbling), it sported big chunks of fresh croutons. Stoneware definitely has its heat retaining benefits! In our excitement, lips and tongues were slightly burned, but no matter: the soup was fantastic, adorned with little bits of tomato and parsley. Note to self: splurge on saffron (time to do another run to Vieille Europe).

The tapas ordered were: 1) Grilled sardines with cumin - I've always loved sardines, and cumin's my new favourite spice as of 2007. It was subtle on the actual sardines, but the paired julienned zucchini/red pepper salad was very satisfyingly cumin-ed. 2) Filet mignon of lamb done in an almond-tomato sauce and colourful peppers - wow. Simply, wow. 3) Artichoke served with aioli - surprisingly citrus and hinting of orange, the aioli was an intriguing pairing with a vegetable that has yet to grace its presence in our own kitchen. Sidestepping the orange-garlic-mayo topping, the boy raved of its grilled texture, while I tried to parse flavour combinations uncommon to my pallette.

The waiter then suggested desert to us, and deciding on a more Spanish theme, we tried their churros instead of the crème brûlée. Sweet, deep fried goodness! I suppose each culture has its own rendition of fried dough: Spain decided on pleasantly dense batons (piped directly into the hot oil?). A demitasse of chocolate sauce was served on the side; I stared sadly at the remainder when no churros remained, longing to spoon the rest in my mouth. I suppose that would have been imprudent.

I certainly look forward to tasting the other menu items; until then, we shall have to try our own rendition of garlic saffron soup.

mondo fritz on st. patrick's day

[repost from chanlindsay.blogspot.com]

The glory of St. Patty’s day includes city-block-long line ups in front of Hurley’s at 8:30pm, so we ventured next door to Brutopia instead. Of course, the female bartender served the men before even taking our order, but I would have acted similarly if it meant more tips in my pocket. Drinks in hand, (chocolate stout! - the boy was proud) we agreed that venturing out was indeed a Good Idea. Besides - I now own a button with a shamrock!

Onwards, upwards: to St. Laurent, where poutine lay to be consumed. Frites Alors was suggested, and I politely turned it down, offering an adventure to Mondo Fritz instead – I found the former’s poute to be ‘okay’ the last (and only) time I was there, as the ‘meh’ quality of their fries became the limiting factor. My only other encounter with Mondo Fritz was a couple of years ago, when the line-up for Schwartz’s was too long for my grumbling stomach – I remember the burger being okay, but fries plus flavoured mayos definitely hit the spot. Yesterday, we ordered the Alpine poutine to share (serving size = massive for just the two of us): chevre, mushrooms, grated cheddar, topped with peppercorn gravy. The fries were fantastic in their ‘european-style’ goodness – not too thickly sliced (definitely not shoestring, either), skin-on potatoes, deep fried to produce fries with the perfect ratio of golden-crisp-outer-layer to layer-of-inner-softness. Water is served in label-less wine bottles, and the woman who took our order friendly and efficient. Moral of the story: if you’re going to have a heart attack in a bowl, you may as well go all out. I’m definitely going to have to try their other variations – topped with sausage, or steak… To my veg friends: rumour has it that their gravy is meat-less!

chu chai

[repost from chanlindsay.blogspot.com]

Vegetarian Thai dinner, for a vegetarian friend's birthday. Where else in Montreal, but Chu Chai?

Located at 4088 Saint Denis (between Duluth and Rachel), the restaurant was packed, naturally, on a Friday night. The restaurant is victim to the Chinese floor plan syndrome (I overheard the waitstaff in Cantonese): business mentality of cramming more people than allowed by fire regulation policies. Not only did I worry about knocking people (and their dinners) over while squeezing my way to the restroom, we were made to wait 90 minutes before our orders were taken. But I should backtrack slightly: the birthday girl made reservations for 7:30, for 11 of us - and half of our party was standing at the door for 40 minutes because they only had a 6-person table available. Do 'reservations' not mean anything? Half an hour of waiting later, the waitstaff mumbled something about compensating our inconvenience with free drinks. That offer, they quickly retracted. And we ended up having to barter for a discount: at first, they agreed to 10% off all drinks (what does that work to, 50 cents per person?), and finally 10% of the final tab. Role reversal indeed: aren't restaurant owners supposed to alleviate the situation and win-over their frustrated patrons? I've never heard of customers having to bargain for a discount when clearly they have been wronged.

Poor service aside, their pad thai was quite delicious, as was another noodle-ly concoction ordered by the boy: it sported generous amounts of thai basil, and imitation duck. I started with their tom yum nam khon- hot & sour soup with coconut milk, which was good, but I had slight doubts: I suspect that their broth sits in a giant vat, and the remaining ingredients of desired soup-type (soup with mock seafood/meat/tofu/etc) are tossed into the bowl of pre-ladled soup. Not impressed with the undercooked mushrooms, and wished the soup came piping hot. Washing the meal down with Tsing Tao, however, was definitely a good call.

Highlight of the evening, of course, was good company. And the backgammon and key lime pie: mmm.

zumaia

[repost from chanlindsay.blogspot.com]

Spanish cuisine? Yes please! Check out Zumaia, on the corner of Guilbault and St Laurent, just south of des Pins. Sardines, octopus, scallops, beef tartare, chevre stuffed roasted red pepper, duck and mushrooms with a sauce of cassis, paella, and truly professional and excellent service. I would've swiped a Spiegelau tumbler or two (or three or four?), plus a handful of Riedel wineglasses, if it weren't for the great service and good food: I'll have to look for a terrible restaurant that knows their glassware.

Speaking of Spanish, dinner tonight = homemade paella. I confess, I'm rather excited.

ten ren's tea time

[repost from chanlindsay.blogspot.com]

Dinner tonight in Richmond Hill (yes, twice in the span of a week). At Ten Ren's Tea Time, on hwy 7 between Leslie and Bayview. Service was mediocre at best, with servers who didn't speak Cantonese (Mandarin & broken English only). At least the managers were full of smiles, and slightly apologetic. Food was interesting: but seemingly more conceptual cuisine than actual culinary art - the flavours of the different teas that were supposedly in all of the dishes was subtle, very very subtle. But the prix fixe menus (with actually quite a bit of choice) were well priced (mostly 15 or 20$) and multi-coursed (a tiny salad - made up for with a tasty dressing, soup, main dish with rice, dessert, and tea - but by tea, since it is a tea house, there were plenty of interesting choices). I think the wonton soup was with a hint of jasmine (I've forgotten now) - which came through the broth-from-a-can taste; pleasant and interesting. The pu-erh beef brisket was tasty, but didn't taste, to me, of pu-erh at all - a little bit of a disappointment, because it's the stuff I grew up on, my family's tea of choice. A new tea in my books to close the meal: tian-mu (mountain fog? I think that sounds somewhat like a loose translation) . The leaves are apparently picked in the early morning dew on this mountain... and the vagaries of that hearsay make me want to become more of a tea drinker.

And now I'm going to sleep through all of that caffeine.

sweet basil

[repost from chanlindsay.blogspot.com]

Pan asian restaurant, this time in RH way up at 10610 Bayview Ave. Sweet Basil is worth raving about: fabulous service, and great price:quality ratio (8.99 pad thai, 14.99 appetizer plate for 2-3 with spring rolls, satay chicken, mango salad, crab cakes). Lemongrass ice tea? Tasty.

Of course, I was in great company.

o.noir & garçon

[repost from chanlindsay.blogspot.com]

After much procrastination, reshuffling, and irritation, I've finally ventured into the dark for food. That's right, at the newly opened O.Noir. Must say it lived up to my expectation, but nothing more. Food was alright, but not extraordinary, but the conversations and company and experience bolstered my overall impression of the evening. The beef carpaccio starter (paired with extremely sparsely dressed, but thankfully tasty, greens) reminded me of my love for the meat (which inspired the ground-Angus purchase for pasta tonight). As a main, the number of shrimp on my plate tallied a goodly portion (though it was basically cooked/doused in nothing but butter), and the sun-dried tomato risotto lacked sun-dried tomatoes. But the concept stripping visual input: super cool. It was only a little disconcerting at first, with missing depth of field and visual cues in general. Didn't really 'change' or heighten the way I usually taste food anyway, but, I'm partial to recommending the experience.

Speaking of food, I will shamelessly promote Garçon, which I (somehow) failed to mention earlier (!). Prosciutto wrapped scallops, served on cantaloupe, anyone? And the rabbit tasting dish was oh-so-satisfying...