wokhei's Profile
Anyone visited C Thai? New "authentic" resto in Little Italy
This spot opened a few months ago (seemingly under the radar) on St Laurent near Jean Talon. Not much info out there yet and wondering if anyone's been?
A friend who's lived in Thailand for a long spell said it was their top choice in town. I'm optimistic and mildly skeptical (their FB page is highlighting pad thai and spring rolls), but plan on visiting this week and will report back in full. It's BYO. Fingers crossed!
Does anyone know where I can get green or young coconuts in montreal?
Marche Oriental (St Denis and Jean Talon) pretty much always has them in stock, sometimes on sale for 99c.
Best Chinese restaurant in Montreal
I'll second KanBai and add in Golden Stone, also in ChinaTown 2. The hot and sour potato slice, "chinese salad" and leek & egg dumpling are among my favourite dishes in the city.
Opinion on best burger bun?
Thanks for the leads everyone. Kenji's a great resource at SE. Have been poring over the posts and might just have to do a lab of my own at home. Was planning on using the Heston-inspired recipe in the new Mission Street Food book (which is great). Much appreciated!
Opinion on best burger bun?
Looking at having a serious Blumenthal granulated burger feast soon and wondering if anyone would chime in on their favourite bun solution. Egg/brioche/potato/pretzel bun? Somewhere local off the rack or a great recipe? Had a heavenly hotdog at Le Gros Jambon this weekend on an in-house roll and want to reach that level of bunnery. Thanks in advance!
Where can I buy reasonably priced, delicious Portugese custard tarts
I'm really fond of a little place on des Pins, east of st laurent. Believe they're a dollar a piece. Portuguese bakery before you hit St Denis.
Marché Soupson (Jean Talon/Waverly)
Can't say enough good things about this spot. it's really refreshing to see a "dep" curated with this level of attention to detail. The amazing thing about the soup is that the "cream" soups use cashew cream made in-house and contain no dairy. Every bit as tasty as one with heavy cream, IMHO.
It's worth mentioning that all meats for the sandwiches are rotisseried on site, too.
Big thumbs up.
It's my little spot, but I wish it a lot of success.
Is there anywhere in Montreal for fresh flour tortillas
There are amazing, soft flour tortillas at the latin butcher Mundial(?) just on the west side of the JTM (behind the pet store on Jean Talon). Heads and shoulders better than anything else I've found. I'd swap my pillow for a bag willingly.
Two sizes, both in a hamper in front of the cheese and meat section as you walk in. Red writing on the bag. While you're there, pick up some of their house crema, soft mexican cheese from the water bins and the incredibly good fresh chorizo - you'll best any mexican resto in the city.
Coconut water
I don't know- I always figured those premium brands had yogi sweat in them or something to account for the price.
Coconut water
Much more economical to pick it up in cans at an asian market. Best one in my sampling is Chaokoh brand. $1.50 for 500ml can at Marche Oriental on St Denis near Jean Talon.
(http://www.philamfood.com/images/P/cha-coco-juice-w-jelly-17oz.jpg)
Chaokoh also makes predictably great coconut milk.
Best homemade chips in Montreal?
On a good day, the free house-made chips in the Hotel De La Montage bar are dangerously tasty. I think they throw some paper-thin onion in with the potatoes. Don't blame me if you eat a whole bowl. You have to randomly catch them at the right time though, as they can lose the crisp factor on occasion.
Additionally, the sausage purveyor (forget the name) at JTM in the easternmost entrance outside always has little brown bags of chips in the display case. I've never tried them though, as it would take up valuable lamb-merguez-sample room in my gut.
How is the SAQ?
Depends on your usual tastes. I've had trouble finding wines from washington state or oregon regularly, and the new world selection is admittedly not a main focus. You may have also been spoiled by Food&Drink, Vintages and Classics magazines. I find it slightly hard to keep up on reviews and new releases.
Pizzeria Magpie
I'm sad to reply with a similar experience as well. This weekend on our 3rd visit, for an 8pm reservation, we waited over 20 minutes at an empty table to have our drink order taken, another 15 for them to arrive, then another 15 minutes to order food.
On a separate note, I would really recommend they invest in some simple stemware, as the tiny, clunky cups they use (while I'm sure traditional) certainly don't do any of their wines justice, and what looked to be about 3oz of their Pinot Noir for $9.25 disappeared quickly. No water provided throughout the meal, either. The table beside us received their food at the same time and were offered a free dessert for their wait, as it turns out they had arrived at 7!
I really want to like Magpie, it's a nice atmosphere and the food's good, but the spotty service and new pricing has sealed the deal that we're not returning any time soon. (two individual pizzas, two "cups" of wine and a shared salad came to almost $80 with tip!) Back to the MTL pizza drawing board, I guess.
(good) Popcorn kernels
5 Saisons on maisonneuve and green now has small jars of Fireworks brand popcorn, I believe from Washington, in a few varieties: crunchy red, blended, etc. It's quite good. I do have to say that you're never going to squeeze stellar results from an air popper. On the stove in an old cast aluminum pot is IMHO the only way! Try 'toasting' the kernels at medium heat until they brown slightly in the oil, removing them from the element after the first pop to rest for a minute, then returning them at high heat to finish popping. Roasty and nutty and perfect.
Who makes the best sandwiches in town?
I have to sadly admit that Pickup's quality started to vacillate wildly in the past few months. Quality seems absolutely tied to who's behind the prep counter, and it's been so inconsistent that I've dropped them from my top spots. Disappointing! Agree that Sparrow's as good as ever though.
Hidden gems around Guy/Concordia
Golden Stone on St Mathieu right by the fire station is a sure bet. Leek and egg dumpling, chinese salad and hot and sour potato slice. Amazingly consistent, if you stick to their classics.
Chez Mein - best cheap meal?
Ha ha! I was waiting for someone to do a fake review of this spot. That's hilarious. IMHO, it's the most sub-human food in Montreal. Only once I was inebriated enough to try it, and the next day found a piece of paper I had drawn on, diagramming the contents of their springrolls. I listed the ingredients as "bad dreams and whatever burned the nazi's faces in Indiana Jones."
La Maison du Nord pork sandwich
Apologies- I was trying to say it was nice to have the hand pulled noodles from the original Qing Hua provenance, but the beef in the dish was tough and maybe even seemed prepared a day or two before.
La Maison du Nord pork sandwich
I did see a big jar of sichuan pepper and watched the young chef put a sprinkle into our green onion pancake, which added a nice additional dimension. However, all in all I found the food to be rather mediocre.
We had a cold potato salad (lacking in depth and acid and drowning in oil), noodles with beef and cucumber (good noodles-nice to have the old Qing Hua ones again, tough beef, poor balance of seasoning: much too heavy on the black vinegar), and fried pork and cabbage dumplings (nice filling, wrapper a bit thick, but super oily and unevenly cooked -some burnt, some not even brown).
This would have been a totally passable meal, but we are thankfully spoiled for quality around Chinatown2 now, and you really have to step up to the plate to compete with the surrounding restaurants. Not sure when I'll be back, what with Qing Hua, Golden Stone, Tapioca The and Cuisine Szechuan a dumpling-toss away.
Who makes the best sandwiches in town?
So I made the recommended epic pilgrimage to Manzo's and tried both their signature sub and also the steak and cheese. I have to say I was expecting big things and was rather underwhelmed, though I liked the bun. Lacking salt, developed flavour and was even a bit dry?
I am more than willing to officially throw down the steak gauntlet to Manzo fans and challenge them to hit up Le Pickup for their steak & spicy pepperoni sub. I defy anyone not to fall in love with it. It'll occupy your REM cycles.
Who makes the best sandwiches in town?
Glad you went! Make sure to come back and try the pork- the faux is great, but the pork is transcendent.
I also tried the grilled haloumi since and am now torn in an equilateral triangle of sandwiches when I go there. Between the haloumi, bbq pork and steak sub, I think I can cycle amongst them till I'm dead.
Montreal's third-best bagel?
R.E.A.L. [is it seriously an acronym for something?] also has a location on St Catherine at Greene. The bagels are indeed top notch, but the rest of their merchandise is miserably overpriced and the staff are super crotchety. It feels Westmounty in the worst sense. Get your sesame (specify you want them fresh from the chute as I've been duped with oldies more than once) and get out of there!
Great wonton soup in Montreal
The only wonton soups in town that have really delivered for me are the ones at Tapioca Thé on Maisonneuve at Guy, and Qing Hua Dumpling's on Lincoln. Both soups are unadorned, neither's broth is anything transcendent, but the dumplings in both are handmade, and you don't feel like you're just slurping up wrapper. Go for it.
Who makes the best sandwiches in town?
Fantastic- will be sure to check it out. Thanks for the tip!
Damascus knives
Also in the area, but based online, is PaulsFinest.com - I believe you can arrange for local pickup. Very competitive prices and I believe he has a few damascus models in stock (by Mcusta and Sakai Takayuki), depending on what shape you were looking for. I find the damascus adds a bit to the price that I'd rather apply to a superior steel/fit and finished knife. To each their own!
Har Gow In Montreal Chinatown
Noodle Factory on St Urbain and Gauchetiere makes a very consistent har gow. Definitely give them a shot- I find the shrimp in all their dishes to be top notch.
fish & chips?
FINALLY found fantastic fish and chips in Montreal (my gold standard is Chippy's in Toronto). Not sure if they're a regular item, as I know it's a market-based menu, but Reservoir on Duluth, east of St Laurent, had fish and chips as one of their menu items last week, and they were impeccable. Succulent, melt on the palette fish in a shatteringly crispy batter. Not greasy at all, and served with a nice caper-spiked tartar sauce. They had run out of fries at that point in the night and gave us some house made chips and an arugula salad as replacement, both of which were lovely.
The meal was exceptional, and if these fish and chips are sticking on their menu, I'll be there weekly.
Who makes the best sandwiches in town?
I'm excited to see my two favourites haven't been mentioned.
Hands-down the best sandwich in the entire city in my opinion is the BBQ Pulled Pork at Depanneur Le Pickup (Waverly, South of Jean Talon). Incredibly deep flavoured slow-cooked pork, pulled to fine filaments, thrown on the grill to reheat and caramelize, topped with some type of habanero relish, pickles, a vinegary slaw, spicy house mayonnaise inside of a grilled Portuguese bun. It's perfection. An absolute steal for 6 dollars.They also do a veg version with some sort of stand in protein. Go there as soon as you can. Their steak sub is incredible too.
Grilled cheese victor goes easily to Sparrow, with a side of their fries. Thick, savoury bread and at least some old aged cheddar, maybe another cheese in there as well. The bread has a nice crunch, soft interior and it's meal-sized.
Now if someone could direct me to a solid New york style deli sandwich, with my choice of meats, cheeses and antipasto, preferably at a place that bakes their own buns, I'll be able to die sandwich happy.
