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