Tag: restaurant review

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Boba for days

Xing Fu Tang on St. Catherine Street. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

A walk through Montreal in the search of bubble tea.

As a newcomer to Montreal, I am unfamiliar with the many bubble tea shops that surround the SGW Campus of Concordia University. So I was thrilled last Thursday afternoon when Sara, a Montreal local, took me and my German friend Emma under her wing. 

After a long discussion about politics, we walked down St. Catherine. We walked past no less than four bubble tea shops before Sara guided us into the Taiwanese chain Xing Fu Tang.

There was a tragic tea spill on the floor when we walked into Xing Fu Tang, and the air smelled like fresh fruit and caramelized sugar. Black boba pearls bubbled in a golden pot next to the counter, and smooth K-pop tunes tumbled out of the speakers. 

An array of tea choices faced the customer, with everything from refreshing green teas to the classic brown sugar and fresh milk. 

Xing Fu Tang, which means “sugar with happiness,” started in Taiwan in 2018, and now has branches across the globe, including in Canada. They only opened a store in Montreal late last year, and it’s easy to see why it’s now become a local favourite. 

Upon entering the shop, Sara proceeded to ask the waitress for “whatever it is that smells very good.” The waitress replied, “Do you mean that drink that’s spilled on the floor?,” and Sara said yes! I went with a classic brown sugar pearl milk tea, and Emma did too.

It’s the boba (tapioca pearls) that maketh the bubble tea. The first sip is a cautious one, with the drinker uncertain what to expect. 

I started asking myself, “Will the pearls be cooked all the way through? Has the brown sugar soaked through the tapioca?”

Xing Fu Tang’s tapioca pearls are flawless — soft and chewy in the middle, and satisfyingly sweet. The brown sugar pearls offset the milk tea perfectly, and the tea isn’t sickly sweet. 

We take our teas out into the sunshine, and find a bright blue picnic table to sit on. Sara has received a tall passion fruit pearl tea, and was happy with her surprise choice. Emma — who was new to the wonders of bubble tea — took a few tentative sips of her brown sugar milk tea, and announced that while she was a little unsure about the drink, she had fun eating the pearls. We reassured her that boba is somewhat of an acquired taste, and we’ll order her a fruit tea next time.

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Ar(t)chives

Yum or Yikes! Café In Vivo

Photo by Ashley Fish-Robertson

On a busy Monday evening, I happened to stumble across Café In Vivo in a mere twist of fate.

Strategically located in the Olympic Stadium, Café In Vivo is the perfect place to study or to simply wind down, with easy access to Pie-IX metro. Situated behind tinted grey glass walls, this charming café will take you by surprise. Their meals often include meat but they offer vegan and gluten-free options as well—there is essentially something for everyone.

If you don’t stay for the espresso, you’ll stay for the décor. The airy vibe and bubblegum-pink booths are ideal for those seeking an insta-worthy photo-op. Café In Vivo is the perfect low-profile spot for students, especially those looking for a quaint spot to focus. With plenty of comfortable seating and an abundance of natural light, this café appeals to those who seek tranquility amidst the bustle of the city.

Ambience: 4.5/5

While I’m not one for drinks that induce a sugar rush, their iced coffee manages to deliver just the right amount of sweet without sending you into a sugar overload. The espresso is inexplicably velvety and not too bitter; I have yet to find anywhere else in Montreal that serves espresso like this one. The only downside to their iced coffee (and several of their hot beverages) is that there is not much of a selection when it comes to the to-go cup sizes; it’s more of a one-size only. This might not seem like such a deal breaker to some, but after you’ve indulged yourself in their espresso, it’s nearly impossible to settle for the small cups they offer. I recommend ordering drinks in their mason jar cups, as you end up getting a bit more.

I also decided to try the special of the day: a hearty cassoulet with sausage and harvest veggies to soothe the winter chills. The hot meal portions are very generous and they include a fresh bun on the side. The assortment of sweet and salty goods are baked fresh daily.

Food and drinks: 4/5

Be prepared to spend around $15 for their main hot dish of the day with a drink of choice. The portions are plentiful, so come prepared to eat. Their sandwich, salad and bakery options range between $2 to $9 if you’re craving a smaller bite. Their beverages are priced averagely, ranging from around $3 to $5.

Price: 3.5/5

A line can start to form quickly at lunch hour (as most places near the metro do) but come anytime before or after lunch and you’ll often be delighted with the quick service and selection of seating. The staff is friendly and well versed with the array of drink and food options—so don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations.

Service: 4/5

Photo by Ashley Fish-Robertson

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Ar(t)chives

YUM or YIKES!

As we were escorted to our table at Maman NYC, I spotted The Bachelor’s Vanessa Grimaldi with a finished plate of food. Once seated, I decided to approach her but turned around to see that she had left. My feelings towards my Maman experience mimic this chain of events: exciting and deflating.

Located on Notre-Dame St. W., Maman is the perfect spot if you’re looking for a café that will satiate your culinary palette and Instagram needs. The blue-and-white antique-style dishware juxtaposes the bohemian, rustic décor which features distressed wood, exposed brick, and greenery.

Photo by Erica Rizzo

Maman’s menu is not overwhelmingly extensive but offers a variety of breakfast and brunch dishes with plenty of healthy, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. If you enjoy elevated clean eating, you’ll have a tough time deciding what to order. The assortment of baked goods and pastries, which I would absolutely recommend, looked so tasty and decadent. I would give their food a four out of five. Their coffee menu, however, I would skip altogether — two words: tasteless and diluted.

While the coffees and pastries were fairly priced, main menu items were on the costly side, ranging from $13 to $17, excluding add-ons. This leads me to rate their prices a three out of five.

As for the atmosphere, the café was very noisy with loud music playing over the intense chatter. I felt like I had to keep raising my voice to speak. Also, almost everyone was taking pictures, which can become annoying. So, three and a half out of five for ambiance.

The service is where Maman was truly lacking. Perhaps it was because they just opened and were working out the kinks, but my family and I had to wait an hour for three orders of toast and two iced coffees. Mind you, my mom had gotten her cookie and latte, and my dad his cappuccino, within 15 minutes of ordering. It was the missing toast, which was likely forgotten about, that we had to remind our waiter for. I am compelled to give the service a one and a half out of five.

Would I return to Maman NYC? Sure, if I wanted an Instagram picture and a mediocre coffee. But other than that, I think I’ll stick to Starbucks.

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Student Life

Don’t judge the food by its plate

Flickr image.

Kazu restaurant.  Flickr image.

While there aren’t as many izakayas in Montreal as one would hope, Kazu does fill the void. An izakaya is a Japanese drinkery where the food is just an added bonus to the cheap drinks.

At first glance, Kazu seemed a little dingy, but once you walk in, it was pleasant and intimate. There is a crowded bar, an eating area with individual seating and six tables. While it may be tight, the lack of space creates a friendly vibe among all the customers. Although if it is privacy you want, this may not be the best place.

The decor is quite particular at Kazu. The menus are pieces of colored paper taped onto the walls and are written with what looks like faded highlighters. The customers are given a sheet of paper in a ripped plastic protector, covered with taped Post-it notes, with different choices of appetizers like eggplant dip, cooked soybeans and fried tofu. Not exactly your typical menu.

When I asked the waitress what the specialties were, she replied, “Anything with seafood!” which consists of about half the menu. There is, however, quite a variety aside from seafood, such as chicken, beef and pork. Like a typical izakaya, they serve sushi, ramen soups and vegetarian meals. Their signature dish is their homemade ice cream and ice cold green tea. There is a small selection of imported beers, and of course, sake.

I decided to order the tuna and salmon tartar with rice. I have to admit, my skepticism got the best of me when I first walked in, especially when I saw the waitress come with our food on chipped dishes. All my worries vanished after the first bite. I instantly fell in love with the place. Aside from being delicious, all the orders came with a bite-sized appetizer of egg and soya soup or potato and lettuce salad. The portions are extremely generous, and the prices are respectable. A budget of $12 to $20 is plenty for a good meal at Kazu.

For people on the go who enjoy a good Japanese meal, Kazu offers takeout. Perfect for students who want a quick quality lunch.

Although the open-concept kitchen can be quite noisy, it’s always fun to watch chefs at work. Luckily, the selection of soothing piano music does drown out the noisy kitchen making the atmosphere more relaxing and pleasant.

The service is quick, and the waiters are friendly and accommodating, which is a plus for customer service. It is open from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch and from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. everyday except for Tuesdays and for lunch on Saturdays.

Considering the restaurant is small and usually very crowded, I would suggest arriving when doors open if you don’t want to wait. The line goes all the way outside and onto the street on busy days, which is something to keep in mind if you are on a tight schedule.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised. If you’re craving Japanese food, I would definitely recommend giving Kazu a try!

 

Kazu is located on 1862 Ste-Catherine St. W.

 

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Student Life

Rubs: A carnivore’s heaven

There are, in my opinion, only two types of people in this world: meat-lovers and vegetarians. Today, I am sending a defining message to those who boast about the amount of meat they could eat in one portion and who take pride in finishing a 32-oz. steak. I am sending a message to those who not only enjoy meat on occasion, but to those who can truly understand the meaning of a glistening, fresh piece of premium meat. My message to you is clear: Go to Le Fumoir Rubs Smokehouse.

Please do not misinterpret my passionate banter. This is not a steakhouse, nor is it a mere restaurant. This is a good, old-fashioned smokehouse. This means that everything, from the mouth-watering prime rib to the enormous brisket, is smoked in a $20,000 first-class smoker.

George Riskas, co-owner of Rubs, was all pride when speaking about the main reason behind the restaurant’s success.

“Our smoker smokes 2,000 pounds a day of meat,” said Riskas. “The smoker cost me more than the whole kitchen.”

There aren’t many things that I like to call perfect, but these meats have exceeded all expectations. The fact that everything is smoked daily and that all sauces are made from scratch, makes this place a winner.

Behind every excellent food establishment lies a great story.

This is one of two childhood friends, Riskas and his partner George Vourliotis, who decided a few years ago to buy a smoker for their backyard — much smaller than the one they currently own — and eagerly started testing different ways to cook and spice some of their favourite meats. Ribs, briskets, steaks and pork were among their long list. They endlessly tried various spices for different meats, desperately looking for the perfect rubs. These were the foundations of the restaurant’s menu.

“We’ve created our own rubs, our own spices, for every different meat; and these rubs have at least 12 to 15 spices in them,” said Riskas.

Not too long ago, they decided it was time to become restaurant owners, and that is when Le Fumeur Rubs Smokehouse, the first restaurant of its kind in Montreal, was born.

Although neither of these fine gentlemen have ever owned a restaurant before, they’ve done a hell of a job for their first time. Their success can be attributed to a sincere attitude, as well as a simple knowledge of how their ideal restaurant should be.

“I try to recreate what I want when I go to a restaurant. I want top service and great food, plain and simple,” remarked Riskas.

The food isn’t the only part of Rubs that’s attracting an endless line of customers. The decor is a rich mix of old-fashioned and a modern, creating a cozy atmosphere.

“We got some ideas and then we brought a designer in. We gave him our opinions,” said Riskas. “He took some of our opinions, and then he did his own thing too. That’s how the store turned out. It keeps people feeling warm.”

There you have it folks. In a city renowned for its amazing culinary establishments and world class chefs, two gentlemen have managed to introduce a new concept to the city, and they’ve done it just right.

 

Le Fumoir Rubs Smokehouse is located on 17 Prince Arthur St. E.  View map.

 

 

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Student Life

Bring your own wine and elastic waistband to Chez Ennio

It was a dark, stormy, endorphin-deprived night. We pulled over to the side of the road ― after all, driving under the influence of hunger could lead to serious legal infractions. With the help of our smartphones, we were directed to an extensive list of Bring Your Own Wine restaurants in the downtown area.

Chez Ennio on Fort and de Maisonneuve was the only restaurant we hadn’t heard of, so my partner-in-dine called to secure a reservation. After several minutes of “Oh yes, we are starving…trust me…yes. I like pasta. Veal too. Anything,” he turned to me and said, “Oh my God, I just made a new best friend.”

After crawling down a few icy steps, Ennio himself greeted us with Montreal-style kisses on both cheeks and firm handshakes. Once we wiped the frost off our glasses, we were able to soak it all in – that we were, indeed, intruding into what seemed to be this man’s very own living room whose perimeter had been sprinkled with trinkets and artifacts from his childhood.

As he helped us towards a quiet table in the back, the discussion veered towards his actual residence a couple of blocks up the street. The meat (no pun intended) of our exchange ventured towards his life growing up in 1940s Tuscany, his amicable relationship with luscious tomatoes, perfectly-shredded pecorino and parmesan, and his ancestral recipes that transcended dozens of generations to seep into the kitchen of this delicate Italian eatery.

After taking way too long sifting through all the pastas, fish and meats and this and thats on the menu – we were famished at this point – the boss himself rested a most colourful garden of lemon-doused vegetables and a bowl of bean soup before us. We found ourselves asking out loud, “Is this real life?” They had both been made fresh merely minutes before, with the mozzarella melting on the soup’s exterior bearing an eerie resemblance to a Montreal winter roof.

Before we were even finished round one of our appetizers, Ennio brought us another helping. Mouths ajar, we couldn’t tell if this gift was a by-product of our tipsy, sweet wine-induced imaginative stupor, or our waiter’s undeniable hospitality. The latter was, of course, true, leaving us ready for the entree with an even sweeter taste on our palates than any wine could ever deliver.

My heap of homemade spinach ravioli came with no scarcity of chunky tomato sauce. Sizzling hot and with faint enough notes of cinnamon and nut to keep me intrigued, I told myself to eat slowly and save the rest for tomorrow so as to relive the salivary glory. Taking baby bites was, as it turns out, not necessary – even after I was too full to even fathom the idea of eating one more bite, I had lunch for the next day and the day after.

My picky dinner mate even scarfed down his entire plate of sautéed zucchini, veal parmesan and other root vegetables — dishes he would otherwise avoid like the highway during a torrential blizzard. We could hear Ennio hammering away at the veal in the kitchen steps away, like a real paysan, so as to soften it to its desirable consistency — one that he expresses by clenching the tips of all his fingers together and bringing them to his lips to kiss. “Mwah!” he said.

Chez Ennio is not a place to come to talk business. Its dim lighting sets just the right ambiance for a little spoon feeding and footsie canoodling under the table. For a $33 table d’hote consisting of all the trimmings, dozens of authentic Italian dishes between $15 and $20, and V.I.P. service to boot, you really feel like you’re ripping Ennio off once he brings the VISA machine around.

 

Chez Ennio is located at 1978 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.

Categories
Student Life

Bar & Boeuf brings the charm

As soon as I entered the door of Bar & Boeuf, I ran face first into a white curtain hung from the ceiling that is used to block the winter winds from sneaking in as diners enter. I thought for a moment that maybe I had entered the wrong building, but then the host untangled me from the long white monster and welcomed my boyfriend and I to Bar & Boeuf, leading us to our table.
This table was located next to the busy bar, which was a bit inconvenient because we were constantly being bumped by the 40-year-old cougars flirting with young men right next to us, sloshing their fruity drinks and getting rowdy. It was entertaining to watch, but annoying to deal with when you just want to have a romantic dinner.
The music was mostly made up of lounge music and it was a little loud, presumably to drown out the horrible cliché pickup lines being pronounced beside us. But overall, the music went well with the decor and I was able to speak and hear without having to read anyone’s lips.
The decor was modern and refreshing―a splash of pink lighting from the high ceilings shined down on the white furnishing and looked very classy. The crowd at Bar & Boeuf were in their 30s, and my boyfriend and I were evidently the youngest guests at the restaurant.
Once we got situated we received the menu. We were feeling fancy, probably from the illusion the restaurant gives you of being a trendy couple in a CSI: Miami episode, so we each ordered a martini. The lychee martini I ordered had the perfect sweet and exotic taste without the bite, and my boyfriend ordered the extra fruity festive martini, receiving an eyebrow lift from our waiter.
We ordered our dinner and unfortunately had to wait for a very long time to receive it. Since we were starving, we persuaded our waiter to scurry back and forth with warm bread and water refills, to keep us from running out and getting a Big Mac instead.
For dinner, I ordered the suckling pig with iced parsnips, sweet potatoes and turnip, and I was not disappointed with my choice. The tender smoked meat of the pig in a delicious rich gravy sauce was perfectly complimented by the sweet potatoes and the crunch of the parsnips and the turnip. The presentation was flawless and not only a feast to the mouth, but to the eye as well. My only complaint is that the portion was rather small and, though it did not leave me still famished afterwards, I felt like I would have asked for seconds if I could.
My boyfriend ordered the Arctic char, which of course I stuck a fork in and then immediately regretted my decision, wishing I had ordered it instead. The fish is served with späetzle (tiny little German noodles or dumplings made with flour, eggs and milk, which often replace potatoes or rice), beets and pork. I thought the fish and pork would be a bizarre combination, but I was mistaken since the taste of the späetzle and the beets created the perfect harmony between the two. The beets added a smooth sweet flavour and a romantic red colour to the dish, and the buttery taste of the späetzle melts in your mouth with every bite of the light Arctic char.
The bill for this meal was pretty pricey, but the genius engineering of the dishes proved it to be worth every penny. Bar & Boeuf even has a Valentine’s Day menu, so bring your special someone to experience the pink and white decor and mouth-watering dishes for themselves.

Bar & Boeuf is located at 500 McGill St. For more information, please visit www.baretboeuf.com.

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