Meatmarket

The Rating:

2 Fat Buddhas: Interesting, generous, delicious sandwiches

A good price for a great sandwich

The Review:

On another lunchtime jaunt, we wandered up to this cute little eatery in the Plateau, ironically enough, suggested to us by a vegan friend. The place is small but not cramped, with a clean modern finish, and a selection of local artwork on the walls available for sale. We'd taken advantage of sending an advance party who had placed our orders for us, so the service was very quick—in fact, we even required a hurry-up call, as the service was faster than we were.

The lunchtime menu has quite an interesting selection of sandwiches, although rumour has it that the burger is award-winning. We were disappointed to find out burgers are on the evening menu only. Nevertheless, the sandwiches, as well as being intriguingly named, offer a good selection of meaty and vegetarian, each with a tasty combination of fresh ingredients.

The sandwiches were a very generous size, and bursting with fillings. They were accompanied by a serve of shoestring fries—both normal and sweet potatoes. Very well done indeed. The sandwiches had the perfect combination of flavours, and were fresh and tasty.

Best of all, the sandwiches are well priced at under $10. This is a place I recommend for lunches, and will certainly be going back to try again in the evening to test out the burgers, and maybe even hit the wine and cocktail lists.

http://www.meatmarketfood.com
4415 Blvd. Saint-Laurent, Plateau

Decca 77

Our Rating:
Time and again this restaurant has delivered food of a high calibre

With a $35 prix fixe 3-course option ($25 at lunch), this is great value

The Review:

A recent return trip to Decca 77 has given us an opportunity to update our review listings with this great find. It has an excellent location in Centre-Ville, amidst the action, and right near the Bell Centre (beware when the hockey's on...). The interior is an achievement in design, with a soaring ceiling, interesting use of features and lights, and warm woods giving a welcoming, um, welcome.

As we are wont to do, we ordered our usual "apero"—dry martinis: one gin with a twist of lemon, the other vodka with olives. Good examples of each were proffered, always a good sign of quality in our books. In fact, even better, one time we went to Decca 77, and the vodka martini was a little sub-par. We were discussing this, and the attentive staff overheard. Horrified, a new martini was promptly delivered, which was a much improved replacement.

Refreshments imbibed, we launched into the menus to see what new options were available. As always, the prix fixe was irresistible, with choices including fresh seafood, beef, lamb, and delicious-sounding desserts. While there are many more options à la carte, the selection and value for money of the prix fixe cannot be beaten for us. Our courses selected, it was onto the wine list.

There is an extensive and impressive wine list, and perhaps this is where Decca 77 makes a lot of their money—you won't be finding many bottles under $50, if any. Noting our perusal of the wine list, the sommelier materialised at our side to assist in our decision. We were happy, and a little surprised, to find this position held by a fellow Australian, and with that we launched into a discussion of oeneological variations within Australia, and what global wines we could begin tasting to lead us from our favoured homegrown wines to more local varieties. Extremely helpful and knowledgeable. A couple of more reasonably priced wines matched to our selected meals were chosen, and, well, the guy knows what he's talking about.

We should probably get onto the food now. The prix fixe includes 3 courses, each of which has 4 options to choose from. With a couple of fellow diners, we were able to sample most of these dishes, and there was not a disappointment between them.

For entrée, our first dish was the somewhat ubiquitous (and this is not necessarily a bad thing) seared scallop, served simply with a delicious sauce and salad. The scallop was crisp on the outside and mouthwateringly tender on the inside, melting away in a suffusion of fresh taste. Excellent. The other entrée that made it to our table was the beef tartare. Again this was fresh and delicious, with a gentle mix of fresh herbs and capers lifting the silkiness of the beef.

We leapt like Australians at the opportunity to have lamb—it's such a staple at home, and yet so difficult and expensive to buy here. On the menu were 2 lamb options, and both were among our selections. First was a lamb saddle, roasted to perfection and served with a chickpea sauce and roast vegetables. The lamb was fresh, tender, and brought back memories of home. The other lamb option was a novel "burger". This was a tall stack of a fresh tomato and lettuce atop a light burger of lamb with fresh herbs. The burger was intriguingly light, I can't think of another word for it. None of the normal heaviness of lamb, but all of the flavour. With this came a parsnip chips, a great accompaniment. On the non-Australian side of the table, roasted fillet of Tilapia was the dish of the moment, the fish with a plain crisp golden-brown crust, and meltingly flavourful inside.

Already with satisfied tastebuds and stomach, it was time for dessert. Firstly was a trio of profiteroles, each with a different filling: butterscotch, white chocolate, and dark chocolate, each with matching sauce. The profiteroles were light and fluffy, the filling rich and decadent. Across the table was a banana marmalade, which was a uniquely textured and banana-rich dessert. There was also a rich, yet light on the palate, chocolate option, which did not last long enough for a thorough analysis.

This was yet another great and varied meal, with very fresh produce presented in interesting and diverse fashions. The service was attentive and helpful, our courses appearing in a timely fashion, all our needs attended to, and with many a tolerant smile at our conversing in French.

One of the best parts about the prix fixe menu at Decca 77 is that it changes every week to include seasonal produce and the chefs' latest inspirations. So that means it is perfectly reasonable to go every week to taste the newest dishes. Isn't it?


http://www.decca77.com
1077 Drummond, Montreal
Closed Sundays

Pizzeria Napoletana

Our Rating:

1½ Fat Buddhas: Decent pizza in a noisy environment. Not worth the wait

Reasonably priced, but not cheap.

The Review:
Apparently this place is an institution among pizza fanciers in Montreal. Located in the heart of Little Italy, it is reputed to put out thin-crusted, wood-oven pizzas and authentic pastas to a thronging crowd. Well, we thought, we best try that sort of place out, then!

We arrived early on a Saturday night, around 5:30, actually. We were off to the semi-finals of the Roger's Cup tennis, and thought a good dose of pizza would see us through. It surprised us that there was already a line-up outside the place. Half an hour wait. Well, we thought, it MUST be good then, so we hung around, and used the time to peruse the limited selection of wines at the depanneur across the road to take advantage of the BYO option (or "apportez votre vin", so that would be AVV, I guess).

Finally inside, it was a noisy and hectic place with long communal tables and a somewhat bizarre inclusion of a fake tree in the middle of the dining room. The service was brisk and not altogether friendly, but the cork was out of the wine within seconds, and orders taken as quickly as a menu with 34 options of pizza and 34 options of pasta, plus other stuff, would allow. And then it was a waiting game. We knocked off the bottle of wine with only some decidedly average bread rolls to accompany, well before our meals arrived. And that has less to do with the speed at which we drink than with the waiting time.

Our dishes arrived one-by-one: gnocchi in a tomato sauce, pizza verona (with zucchini and eggplants), and a pizza napoletana (mushrooms, achovies, tomato). The gnocchi were ok, but the sauce was not too exciting. A bit thin, but reminiscent of a traditional Italian sugo. The pizza was a good size, with a crisp, thinnish base. The toppings were nothing exciting. Fairly generic tomato sauce, scattering of toppings, and light on the cheese. Really should have tried their margherita pizza, which we believe to be the true test of a pizza place. But we didn't. Oh well.

Overall the pizzas are decent. Better than other places we've tried in Montreal (granted none of them have really been pizza restaurants), but not amazingly so. Pizzas came in at around $15 each, A little less for the gnocchi. So not too bad on the wallet.

Most likely, however, we won't bother lining up for it again though. Especially in the rain.


http://www.napoletana.com/
189 Dante Street, Little Italy

The Burgundy Lion

Our Rating:

1½ Fat Buddhas: Hit and miss food in a nice enough place

Fairly reasonably priced pub grub

The Review:

In our continuing quest for good food and a local pub, we thought we'd try out the newly opened Burgundy Lion, not too far from our home. They're going for an English Pub theme, with a nice wooden bar and staircase, a pretty small courtyard area, and lots of English beers on tap. The place is still a bit stark, though (maybe even more so since it was quite empty early on the Thursday night we visited), without the warmth of an English Pub, and the music (an eclectic mix of 80s rock) seemed to creep louder through the evening to make conversation a little difficult.

The service was quick, friendly and attentive (and wearing suspenders). The water brought to the table had cucumber in it, which was refreshing, and pleasantly reminiscent of our favourite gin, Hendrick's. The wine list, however, is quite limited, especially when you're drinking by the glass—only a couple of decidedly average wines available. The beer list is better, with many imports. They have their own Burgundy Lion Ale on the list which was not very good—tasted like a cheap draught beer with a nasty aftertaste. To redeem them, they do have Bierbrier beer (try ordering that after a few) on tap, which is an interesting ale from a local Montreal micromicrobrewery.

We had some help on this review, which meant we were able to sample a wider range of their offerings than if it were just us two. Good thing too, since we managed to order some pretty average dishes, but our fellow diners picked some good ones. The food appeared in a twinkling of an eye after ordering, making us wonder how much was preprepared and just quickly heated up. It was all nicely presented, and looked quite appetising. Upon the raving review of the waiter, Michael foolishly chose the Portobello vegetarian burger over the meat version. It was somewhat disappointing: the mushrooms (there were 3 rather thin specimens) were not thick and juicy, and were accompanied only by some plain cheese (the burger not even hot enough to melt the cheese), lettuce and tomato. Kind of plain. The chips were pretty good, and a generous supply of tomato sauce and mayo were provided, along with a small bowl of some generic packet gravy, which did not add much to the plate or palate. The bangers and mash were also disappointing—who'd have thought it could go wrong? The sausages had an odd, lumpy, and yet somehow floury texture, with very little taste. They appeared well-cooked, but tasted undercooked. The mash was uninspiring, and reminiscent of Deb, that delightful dehydrated packet mashed potato. Just add water. All this was drowned in some dark gravy, which, again, did not add much to the plate.

Thankfully our fellow diners had more luck than us. The fish & chips were excellent—the fish thick pieces of firm, white, tasty fillet, encased in a crunchy thick batter without any trace of excess oil. A good sized portion too, with a pile of chips, coming with tartare sauce and, oddly enough, a small bowl of mashed peas. Maybe that's supposed to be English. The other dish ordered was their "Colonial chicken", which was a cardamon-heavy tikka masala style. It was tasty enough, and what we'd expect to be seen in an English Pub. One thing that was a little on the annoying side were the flies that seemed to be attracted to our meals. We had quite a little fly party happening for a while there.

The food was reasonably priced, between $13–$16 for the mains we ordered; wine and beer was also in the average price range. All up this decent meal, with a couple of drinks each, set us back about $60 for the two of us, so it's not overly cheap, but still reasonable value for money.

Not too sure we'll go back, however. The food was ok, but nothing that would merit a special trip to the place. The atmosphere was ok, but I also wouldn't make the trip there for drinks. If we were in the area at the right time, then perhaps we'd stop by.


2496 Notre Dame O., "Little Burgundy", Le Sud-Ouest
http://burgundylion.com

Thai Grill

Our Rating:

1 Buddha: Mediocre food with terrible service

Overpriced for what you get

The Review:
The location is easy to get to on St Laurent and Laurier, and the restaurant decor certainly transports you to a stereotypical Thailand vista with the use of Thai Gods and Goddess statues, and a rather unusual use of fountains in the washrooms! The atmosphere was good, even if you did feel a little like you were in a Thai brothel (not that I've been in one, but all the red, the dull lighting, and the ornate partitions fits with my impressions of Thai brothels). Maybe the brothels aren't quite so fancy.

We went in wanting to catch a quick bite before heading to one of the comedy festival shows.
We expected that the appetisers we ordered with a glass of wine wouldn't take too long to prepare (can you see where this is going already?). There were some impressive dramatics by who we assume to be the head waiter, in just laying plates on the table, but even that was not enough to keep us entertained whilst we waited for half an hour before our drinks were delivered. Half an hour to get 2 glasses of wine. Nice glasses, mind you, but very thirsty by that stage. Then, we pressed the urgency of our timeframe upon our flamboyant waiter to see if we'd actually any food within the hour, he said he'd hurry the process along. Another 20 minutes later, our shared appetizer plate arrived. Not too impressed, because that left us only 10 minutes before it was time to leave.

The restaurant professes to provide savoury and succulent dishes, and in our experience the appetiser plate was reasonably good. It included three different dipping sauces and a nice arrangement of mango salad in the middle. Shame the mangoes were not quite ripe, or maybe that was the texture they were going for? The prawns appeared to be strangled by some fried noodles, which looked pretty good and thank goodness for the dipping sauces, otherwise they would have tasted quite bland. The standard chicken dumpling, satay chicken shaslick & spring rolls were ok, but nothing overly impressive. And certainly not worth waiting the best part of an hour for (especially without wine). How hard is it to chuck a few things in the deep fryer?

On this small sample, the food seems reasonable, but generously overpriced—the appetiser plate turned out to be an unexpected $14 per person. The wine list seems to cater for a large variety of people with most of the wines by the glass costing around $9. So for a handful of spring rolls, satay, and dumplings with a glass of wine for two, the bill was up over $50.

If you're after a quick meal though, this is not the place to go to. And if you're after a cheap meal, this is not the place to go. And if you're after an authentic Thai cuisine experience, well, our small sample didn't really allow for full assessment of that. At least it's a purely Thai restaurant, and not a cross-cultural mix, like the Szechuan–Sushi place down the road.

We most likely will not be going back to this one.

http://www.thaigrill.ca/
5101 blvd. St-Laurent, Montreal