Plateaumaman's Profile
ISO gluten free cake
Le Petit Fourneau on Rachel makes wonderful pastries for food intolerances. They have a gluten-free chocolate raspberry cake, for example and many others. http://lepetitfourneau.com/
Best canned, packaged or frozen soup
Premiere Moisson has good soups in tall plastic bottles. I used to enjoy their fish soup regularly but they don't sell that one anymore. The others are usually creamy vegetable soups. I try to avoid canned foods now. I'm more likely to put some organic Campbell's chicken stock in a pot with ginger and garlic and an instant noodle package, a handful of greens and maybe a hard-boiled egg.
What does Montreal have to offer? June 30 - July 3
Khyber Pass has a small outdoor terrace and is byow. It's a nice Afghan restaurant on Duluth. Jardin de Panos, also on Duluth, has a larger terrace, also byow, and is a Greek restaurant. If you'd rather sit on a terrace on a busy street and watch people walk by there are a number of cafes and ice cream places along St-Denis, either in the Plateau or the Quartier Latin areas. Parc Lafontaine is a great place to stop along the biking trails and there is a bistro in the park as well, also with a terrace. You might want to plan a bakery tour while cycling, that could be a lot of fun.
Coming back to Montreal after 3 years of Dutchness...
You might enjoy this website, http://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2011/03/06/hagelslag/.
A few other ideas to try, SAT Foodlab and Le Comptoir charcuteries et vin, maybe? I haven't tried either yet but I hear the Foodlab is great.
Coming back to Montreal after 3 years of Dutchness...
But there are some great things to eat in Holland, like smoked eel, nieuwe haring, cheese, more cheese and Indonesian food. Nonya is a nice Indonesian place here, not Dutch-Indo, and a bit upscale should that craving overtake you. Good luck with APDC, maybe an early or late reservation will do the trick. Le Filet might be a good pick - I hear it's really good.
Shiso Plants in Montreal?
Yes, true, I had the purple one, but the taste is very similar. Here's an article that says it is pretty easy to grow roots on the herbs from cuttings: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/asianveg/msg060143071651.html
Shiso Plants in Montreal?
Update, I seem to have been quite successful in ridding my garden of shiso, so again, perhaps a cutting from an existing sprig will work. They should sell shiso at Marché Hawaii if you can't convince a Vietnamese restaurant to give you some.
Coming back to Montreal after 3 years of Dutchness...
You mean the FEBO automat is not doing it for you? Your choices sound very good already. You might enjoy Kazu if you can time your visit to avoid lineups. Bouchonne was great so if tapa-like meals are your style, maybe Pintxo? Reservoir at lunch is very nice too.
12 yrs girl birthday party in Montreal
I have been wondering the same thing for my son's class. Ideas we've tossed around, Poutineville, Restaurant Beijing or maybe dimsum at Maison Kam Fung. Chinese restaurants handle groups of this size very well.
Shiso Plants in Montreal?
They often come up in my garden so I will check and see if I have any to give away. They spread very quickly so I've been weeding them out. Or ask at Pho Tay Ho if they can give you some as they have it in the bun cha mix. It might be possible to get some to sprout from a twig from there.
QING HUA DUMPLING
That's hopeful, at least. The pork/green onion dumplings were only randomly juicy, the lamb too wet and explosive. I've always enjoyed the dumplings on Lincoln and the service is usually okay. Cold dumplings must be really upsetting. Perhaps the expansion has watered down both locations.
QING HUA DUMPLING
We finally got around to trying the second location of Qing Hua dumplings and were very disappointed. I would have thought having the same recipes would result in similar food but these were not as refined at all. The dough was very pasty and thick, the fillings very coarse. I had the lamb and coriander which had a strong mutton taste and long uncut threads of coriander. The pork and green onion dumplings were also bland and coarse and unevenly fried. Will return to the old location only now or Mai Xiang Yuan. All dumplings are not created equal.
Kid-friendly places for grown-ups (Montreal)
One of my friends waited in a line at Kazu for two hours with his 5 year old and she swears, never again! I have eaten there with young children but went very early and was lucky. Parc Lafontaine is a great place to picnic and there is also a bistro in the park now which I've heard is quite good. Or the idea of bringing takeout food there is good too. L'Express should be fine at an early seating and is actually quite fun for breakfast. There's a website called A La Carte Express (www.alce.ca) that delivers restaurant meals so that's another option. Have fun!
Last-Minute Itinerary Advice
Sounds like a really fun itinerary! I would probably head to Kouign Amann for a breakfast of croissants and chocolatine and try La Binerie for a snack or lunch instead. They are very close to one another. You might want to add the ice cream shop Les Givrés to the list as it's just down the street along St-Denis. And you can always have your St-Viateur bagels at their café on Mont-Royal which might be more comfortable than dashing up to St-Viateur in Mile End and the bagels are made on site the same way. The tip to switch Schwartz to Monday is a good one too. The market is fun on Sunday, and the lineups at Schwartz on Sunday are a drag.
Coconut water
There's another brand on sale at Rachelle-Bery right now sold in a glass bottle. I tried one this week and it was okay, although I still prefer Zico.
rijsttafel at Nonya?
I haven't had the rijstafel but order à la carte and find it delicious. It's upscale Indonesian food, so slightly different than Dutch Indonesian. The portions might be smaller than you'd get in a Dutch place, and there is more emphasis on presentation. The food is authentic. I recommend the rendang and bebek bengil, the pandan creme brulee. I like the Tuesday and Wednesday table d'hote for $20, good deal.
Where can I buy Nestle Quality Street chocolates in Montreal?
Saw them at the Pharmaprix at St-Laurent and Mont-Royal yesterday, a small box for $7.99.
Chu Chai
I walked by yesterday and it was still papered up. There's a nice Taiwanese vegetarian place around the corner you could try in the meantime, Su Shian Yuang.
Cabane a sucre Au Pied de Cochon
Cool. Reservations don't seem to be as hard to get (yet), which is nice. I have loved the tarte tatin topped with foie gras at their restaurant so can only imagine what they'll come up with for an apple season menu!
Desperatly seeking crispy shredded beef in Montréal
Agreed. I think you can just ask for crispy deep-fried beef in any Cantonese place and you'll get something like that. I'd try Maison VIP, Keung Kee and Beijing in Chinatown.
Big in Japan
That's weird. I've never heard of a rule like that. And I have to agree that the only time I went to Big in Japan the food was worse than disappointing. There seemed to be too much emphasis on a kind of heavy mayonnaise.
Why there's no Conveyor sushi Restaurant
We sometimes go to the conveyor belt sushi at Odaki because my kids love it, they love being able to grab food as they see it go by. It's not the best way to serve raw fish though so the sushi on the conveyor belt is most often with cooked fish or little servings of melon or other less perishable snacks. I'm just as happy they stick with this rule and order the sushi I want from the menu they also have.
Butchers that sell ground chicken and/or lamb at good price? (And also need a place to buy jamaican jerk seasoning)
The most inexpensive ground lamb I've found is at Marché Adonis and they have several locations so maybe one near you? They also have it from time to time at Intermarché on Mont-Royal near Christophe-Colomb and that's a decent price. I don't love ground chicken in burgers but I did get nice ground turkey at Loblaws recently. They might also have a Jamaica jerk seasoning. Otherwise I'd try La Depense at Marché Jean-Talon.
Satay in Monteal?
Nonya has good satay and I imagine Mia Bureau's Indonesian tapas are good too, as the chef there apparently used to work at Nonya. A lot of Vietnamese places like Pho Tay Ho have decent shrimp brochettes. Another place for good meat on a stick is Lallouz for their kebabs.
Cabane a sucre Au Pied de Cochon
I noticed today that you can buy the maple taffy, maple butter, maple cotton candy and other products to take out at the restaurant on Duluth. Also, their website mentions a special menu at the cabane à sucre in September of this year, seems to relate to apple harvest time. I wonder what that will be like?
Where to find Sambal Bajak?
Yes, I can confirm you'll find sambal badjak at both these places, as I get it often. I think most of the Indonesian products at Marche Hawaii are in aisle 10. La Depense has Koningsvogel brand and maybe one other, while there is more variety at March Hawaii. We get the extra heet (extra hot)..
Rippled Salt & Vinegar Chips?
Well, that seems like a rather resounding "non" on the rippled chips, hey? There are some good British chips around, Tyrrell's potato chips, that have good flavours like Worcestershire sauce and sun-dried tomato. Apparently they make a sea salt and vinegar "furrowed" chip. Maybe it can be ordered from one of the places carrying them? I get them at Vieille Europe or Fruiterie le Plateau.
Montreal food tour
Wow, that's very dedicated food tourism. Will have to ask you for a list when we go to NYC. I would definitely head to Point G for macarons, Kouign-Amann for croissants and kouign-amann although I love, love their tarte tatin and their pain au chocolat (or chocolatine), so that's a lot to enjoy in that one place. Frits Alors isn't too far from there for some frites with mayonnaise, L'Barouf for a beer maybe? I also love Lallouz at lunch for their lamb kebabs or the pogo-merguez and fries. It might be worth a trek out to Poutineville for their smashed french fry poutine, maybe that Australian tourtiere place. Schwartz is good fun even for the most blasé of us locals. Romados isn't too far from Kouign-Amann or Patati Patata actually, so all that is walkable for snacks. You could go in a circle and also hit Sabor Latina (used to be Supermarché Andes) for their empanadas, tamales and pupusas. It's all walkable except for Poutineville and the Aussie pies, now I think of it. When I last went to Manhattan I made a Google map of restaurants I wanted to try so I could plan my walking tour that way, worked out well.
Where to eat with kids?
There's a sausage appetizer there too that can pretend to be a hotdog, and regular poutine or fries, of course.
