Tag: Food wars

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Student Life

La guerra del taco

Visit Matraca for a wide array of tacos, sandwiches, and burritos. Photo by writer.

Though Montreal isn’t exactly a capital for the spicy food of our southern friends, there are a few hotspots around to satiate cravings for a more authentic Mexican food experience. The faceoff: Tequila Taco House versus La Matraca.

Round 1: Tequila Taco House

Tequila Taco House. Photo by writer

Their interior may be small, but the high ceilings with tall shelves supporting earthenware pottery and desert plants gives it a comfortable and open feel. A waitress arrives instantly with water, menus, and preemptive bowls of hot sauces. You know you’re in for a fun night when every table is filled with margaritas and festive salsa music is playing in the background.

Before sinking your teeth into a main course, try the guacamole nachos as an appetizer. The guac is homemade with the summery tang of lime that goes great with the oily bitterness of the thick cut corn nachos. For colder weather, there’s the Aztec soup. Though salty, the taco shells lining the bottom do well to offset this, and the cheese and sour cream swirled on top are irresistible.

For the indecisive, the waitress enthusiastically recommends the Tequila Taco special. It has a little of everything, and is perfect for sharing. It comes with four soft tacos with two shrimp balls each that are fried in cornbread. Served with spicy mayo, a corn-herb-rice medley, chunky tomato salsa, and a side of nachos speared into a dollop of refried beans and cheese, it is positively filling. As a side comment, their food presentation gets a top grade.

Try the Tequila Taco Special for a bit of everything. Photo by writer.

 

As for drinks, the margaritas are where it’s at. The lime was maybe a bit salty, but the fabulous Jamaican margarita is reminiscent of an amaretto sour with tequila.

In all, it’s not exactly cheap, averaging at $12 a dish, but the food is quality enough to make it worthwhile.

Rating: A+

 

 

Round 2: La Matraca

Visit Matraca for a wide array of tacos, sandwiches, and burritos. Photo by writer.

Anyone looking for the Mexican equivalent of a Belle Province, look no farther! La Matraca is a diner with quirk, from its signs about la etiqueta del taco, to its corkboards crammed with photos of satisfied customers, to the “I <3 Tacos” t-shirts for sale.

The menu is a DIY checklist allowing for a mix-and-match of different dishes. While there isn’t any guacamole, they do have a savoury bean and Mexican sausage entrée soup, that I highly recommend. The flautas, taco-cheese rolls with a bean dip, are great for a group of friends to split.

The main dishes are a wide array of tacos, sandwiches, and burritos. The guera is the highlight of the menu, a flour tortilla with seasoned beef and cheese improved only by copious amounts of the three types of spicy sauces provided. For dragon-people who like to feast on fire, La Matraca’s hot scale for these sauces starts at around a 6 and hovers comfortably at a 9.

Their unique beverage selection includes milky sweet agua de Horchata, agua de Jamaica (a homemade ice tea), and fizzy apple soda.

Prices range from $5-8, but the portions are small and the prices reflect this.

Rating: A

 

Winner:

The quality of Tequila Taco House gives it first place, but both are worth checking out. I suggest taking a date to Tequila Taco House, and friends to La Matraca!

 

Tequila Taco House is located on 2 Sherbrooke East St.

La Matraca is located on 4607 St-Denis St.

 

Categories
Student Life

Food wars: Romados vs. Coco Rico

Photo by writer.

We’ve all been hungry enough to eat a whole chicken, but where, as students, can we afford to actually satiate our budgeted stomachs in such a way? Turns out the golden light of deliverance shines brightest on Romados and Coco Rico, two venerable Portuguese roast chicken delis.

Photo by writer.

So what better way to kick off the midterm season than with another round of food wars to settle which of these Portuguese pleasers are the most palatable. Let the chicken fight begin!

Romados

Round one: Romados, a deli whose mouth-watering reputation precedes it among Montreal foodies – and one who lives up to the talk (or rather drool). Upon arrival and without delay, an entire half a chicken was ordered with combo. And by combo, think full course meal.

After carving the half chicken, they pile a Styrofoam takeout box with a decadent display of rice, crisp tossed salad and enough fries to make your heart want to book an appointment with a cardiologist post-consumption. While drinks are not included (although highly recommended!), the happy surprise of a complimentary fresh-baked sourdough bun and custard fruit tart awaits you at the counter. If you aren’t beside yourself with an over encompassing level of joy at how amazing this place is, you may still be able to note with flabbergastation how this all comes out to less than $10.

Romados makes your taste buds love you; the chicken is tender and satisfying in a way only a home-cooked meal feels. The rice is savoury and flavoured with subtle herbs. The bun and the salad do well to cut the grease of the chicken, which is buried under all the sides, marinating in its own juices. And the fries. What can even be said? Thick-cut, piquant, and abundant, they complete the banquet in the best way. There’s enough food to last for two if not three meals, so it’s good to stop the main course about halfway through to sample the custard tart, a creamy and decadent finale.

Coco Rico

Next stop, Coco Rico. After ordering half a chicken with a combo, it is already evident that there is no comparison with Romados in terms of bang for your buck. Not to say there isn’t ample food – it can be stretched to two meals comfortably, but definitely not three. That said, there is a generous halved chicken with roast whole potatoes, a side of salad of your choosing (coleslaws or noodle salads similar to what you’d find at a Metro or IGA), and the option to add on an egg tart (at additional cost). The price is not bad coming out to a bit over $11.

In terms of taste, Coco Rico is definitely up there. If you’re one to enjoy the devil on your tongue, say yes when they offer the spicy gravy and liberal powdering of seasoned paprika over the chicken and potatoes. Perhaps it is this added help, but the food seems only to increase in tastiness throughout the meal. You’re guaranteed to be picking the bones in no time. For dessert, it’s worth un-notching the belt to sample the egg tart; indisputably better than at Romados, both pastry and filling melt on your tongue. The one complaint on leaving is that the chicken is a bit dry.

Winner:

Both these delis will leave you haunted by gustatory cravings, but a winner must be declared, and that winner is Romados. The food, the price, and the eatery setup itself (cozy, bright, and warm yet well ventilated) were all just unbeatable. If you haven’t been and you’re craving roast chicken, you’re craving Romados – you just don’t know it yet.

 

Rotisserie Romados is located on 115 Rachel East St.

Coco Rico is located on 3907 Saint Laurent Boulevard.

Categories
Student Life

The triumph of the top truffle

Velvety smooth truffles will help you feel the love this Valentine’s Day. Photos by Navneet Pall
Velvety smooth truffles will help you feel the love this Valentine’s Day. Photos by Navneet Pall

It feels like the holidays just ended, and yet here comes another one: the infamous Valentine’s Day. If you’ve come up dry for ideas on how to spend some time with your special someone, then have no fear―here are two chocolate shops, Fous Desserts and Suite 88, where you can take your sweet-toothed sweetheart and that won’t disappoint.

Fous Desserts
A quaint and snug store, Fous Desserts has walls full of tea and counters full of chocolate. It’s definitely the kind of place to go for a laid-back but romantic date.
The top chocolate pick of the cheerful staff is the praline noisette, and indeed, it definitely deserves to be first on the list. While extremely sweet in its creamy nougat-style flavour, the sugariness is subtly undercut by a crisp wafer bottom.
There are also quite a few close contenders for first place that are certainly worthy of mention as well. One is the classic cocoa truffle, which has a surprisingly aromatic flavour and a creamy inside. A win as far as truffles go.
Then there is the caramel a la fleur de sel, which is at once creamy, salty and sweet, transitioning smoothly through the taste sensations for mouthwatering results.
Not to be forgotten is the imaginative praline banane, a different yet delectable chocolate that proves banana really is the ultimate fruit that can make anything delicious even better.
Finally, there is the wonderful collection of tea-flavoured chocolate. There’s the Jasmine (fragrant and subtle), the Earl Grey (bested in its spot-on flavour only by the tea itself), and the surprising Green Tea truffle (authentic in taste and very good). If your special someone is a tea fanatic, well, let’s just say you probably won’t find a better gift than a box of these babies.
In all it’s a wonderful little shop. “Homey, nice and cozy,” said satisfied first-time customer Francis McNamee, who favoured the praline noisette and caramel a la fleur de sel best.

Suite 88
Next up is Suite 88. Styled with high-end modern decor, it might not represent your typical idea of cozy, but this chic chocolatier boasts some fairly incomparable truffles.
The extremely friendly and helpful staff all wholeheartedly recommended the tried and true favourites. “The praline croquante and the crêpe pralinée are definitely the most popular,” said the waitress with a smile.
While both were fantastic, the former a smooth delight rolled in a nut coating and the latter being wafery and light, there were some others that certainly gave these truffles a run for their money.
The newest addition to the chocolate collection is the explosion de cacao―rich, nutty and extremely tasty; a must-buy for any lover in love with chocolate.
After that ranks a tie between the nature, the original truffle, and the menthe. There is a lot to be said for the nature―it is pleasant and creamy, a classic in every way. As for the menthe, it is simultaneously rich, fresh, cool and soothing (good to end a box of chocolates on). Best of all, the mint doesn’t taste remotely like the artificial flavouring put into your average cheap chocolate; as with everything at Suite 88, it is crafted to gastronomical perfection.
The best, however, has to be the Grand Mariner, melting and velvety from the first bite. An absolutely exquisite taste experience, it gives the kick you want from the orange without the overwhelming burn of the alcohol. A whole box of these wouldn’t be enough.

Winner
So if what you’re looking for is a teashop that’s lovely and warm instead of bright and modern, then Fous Desserts is where you’ll likely want to be leading your lovers. But between the two shops, Suite 88 is without a doubt the one that will have your taste buds head over heels in love.
Surprisingly, and despite the posh set-up that might have a student wallet’s nerves a-trembling, Suite 88 is also half the price of Fous Desserts, where it’s $1 per chocolate instead of over $2 with taxes. On top of that, it’s only a hop-skip-and-a-block from the SGW campus, making it the perfect destination for some after-class romancing.
And so, without hesitation, I declare Suite 88 the sweetest treat.

Fous Desserts is located at 809 Laurier Ave. E. and Suite 88 at 3957 St-Denis St.

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