anachemia's Profile
Yangtze on Van Horne claimed by fire Sunday night
Hehehe...nasty (but it was so much better taste-wise, whatever it was!)
It does indeed feel like they're nickeling and diming wherever possible....but then, what restaurateur WANTS to do this to their customers? I don't get the sense they're doing it out of greed necessarily. It's likely a combination of the previous owners being too reluctant to raise prices for too long, food prices shooting up in the last year, and new expenses related to fraud-proof receipts, etc.
That being said, if they DID get an insurance windfall, it wouldn't be a bad strategy to try to share some of that with their customers, at least for a while. Even if the old prices were out of line and completely unsustainable, a 200% price increase is WAY too drastic and they're really on track to scare everyone away, fast.
Yangtze on Van Horne claimed by fire Sunday night
I went there too on Friday night. I don't share Apple IIGS's vitriol at all, I thought they were making a decent effort. It's true that many of the classic dishes are a little off - remains to be seen whether this is temporary or not.
Portion sizes are way way down, but at the same time the quality of the ingredients seems to have gone up - the chicken, shrimp and vegetables were very fresh and tastier than before. So it's a mixed bag.
As for the classic dishes, almost everything was at least slightly different. The fried noodles were a downgrade, exactly as Apple IIGS described. The plum sauce as well, but they DO offer the "original Yangtze plum sauce" for a modest $1.50 fee (not included even if you order a Yangtze dinner!) We thought this was extortion and didn't bother.
The eggrolls looked very similar, and the filling was close but not quite the same. They still use cabbage (and not the dreaded bean sprouts) but the meat was not pink anymore, there was less of it, and it was not seasoned the same (my dad thinks they used to add ginger or something). They were also much greasier, like the deep fryer wasn't hot enough. We also suspect they have changed to canola or something, instead of peanut oil or whatever they used to use - all the fried food tasted flat and a bit bitter.
Apple IIGS is right on about the lack of meat in the wontons - we tried the peanut butter dumplings and they were about 95% wrapper (not exaggerating). Still tasty though, and frankly I seem to think the old Yangtze wontons were not much better.
Agree that the spareribs seemed to be cooked differently (less dry, not in a good way), though perhaps they haven't gotten used to the new equipment. The garlic sauce also seemed less complex, perhaps switched to HFCS. It wasn't terrible, but it's possible they're cutting some corners here.
My dad wanted to try something off the Szechuan menu, so we ordered Sesame Beef. It was undercooked, soggy, and the sauce was not what we expected - it tasted like orange, with an excessive dusting of sesame seeds thrown on at the last minute. We'd definitely not order this again.
On the bright side, the chicken and black bean sauce was a completely different dish and way improved. At Yangtze they served bland steamed chicken with celery and tons of onions, whereas here the chicken was grilled (delicious) and served with multicolored peppers and other veggies. There was a nice ratio of chicken to veg but the overall serving was smaller than before. Not the end of the world when you're getting 5 dishes, but compared to the former portions it could be seen as stingy.
We discovered the hard way that the $2.50 surcharge for Cantonese did not include the special wide noodles - they didn't have them and could not tell us if or when they'd be getting them back. That being said, I actually liked the skinny egg noodles - they complemented the dish well and reminded me of the Bird's Nest dish from Kam Shing. The shrimp were very good quality, they were not stingy with the meat, overall it was just as good as before.
The pricing is going to be their Achilles heel, I fear. Not only have the prices gone up dramatically, but there are new added charges at every turn. For starters, here are their dinner prices before & after...
No 1: was $19, now $22
No 2: was $20.50, now $25
No 3: was $23, now $28...etc.
On TOP of that, every substitution on the dinners incurs a $1 charge *per person* (i.e. dinner for 2 = $2 extra per dish). Change 2 or 3 dishes, and it adds up fast. Also, a few things that used to be free are not anymore - for example, we got charged $2 per person for Chinese tea with no warning. Not a great way to encourage the old crowd to keep coming back.
In summary, there are definitely pricing issues and several classic dishes are a bit off, though this may improve once they get established in their new kitchen. The corner-cutting and higher prices are more likely a reflection of the economic times we're living in rather than bad intentions on anyone's part. None of us felt they were trying to dishonor the past restaurants, and we actually saw some familiar faces from the previous staff (former manager was still there & said hi). They listened to our complaints about the dishes and the pricing so who knows, maybe they'll dial it back a notch. It's worth nothing that the dining room was nearly full and there was a wider demographic (families with young kids, couples, etc.) so maybe they'll be able to thrive even if the old Yangtze crowd is alienated by the changes. We'll see.
iso canned/jarred sour cherries
(for future reference...) Pretty sure they have them at both branches of Ella's Deli (Snowdon metro, across Queen Mary - and Cote Saint-Luc road, corner Westminster)
They may also have some at Batory Euro-Deli on St. Viateur.
I would not expect to pay $6 at either of these places. Probably more in line with the other Russian place mentioned.
Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice Tea
I love this stuff too! I've recently seen it at the following places (mostly in the centre of town):
- The health food store at the corner of Parc and Sherbrooke
- Young Brothers on Van Horne near Wiseman (Outremont metro)
Seem to also recall seeing it at some or all of the following:
- Loblaws (Parc & Jean-Talon)
- La Cité (Metro and/or Eden)
- Santé Thuy on Bernard
- BioSanté on St. Viateur
Celestial Seasonings is a pretty widely distributed brand, it's probably carried elsewhere too (i.e. IGA, Provigo, maybe the pharmacies would have it).
Good luck!
Yangtze on Van Horne claimed by fire Sunday night
The cantonese chow mein is worth the extra few bucks; they use thicker egg noodles and more ingredients (shrimp, chicken, lots of veggies).
Their wonton soup has always been top-notch (handmade wontons), and the hot and sour soup was less consistent but often very good.
The spareribs in garlic sauce (small ones) are a bit greasy but delicious.
The unbreaded sliced chicken in black bean sauce is good, especially you ask for the half-salt version. Otherwise it's really salty.
I agree with Barack about the shrimp with lobster sauce, though it's not the most appetizing-looking dish in the universe (and also quite salty).
A few caveats: their chicken-fried-rice is just so-so, tends to be plain and bland. And you may want to steer clear of anything with sliced beef unless you don't mind tenderized mush.
NOTE: all of the above are based on the previous owners so can't guarantee any of it still holds. I'll report back after this weekend.
Yangtze on Van Horne claimed by fire Sunday night
Good question. Called the same old Yangtze number, 514.733.7171.
Looking for a good restaurant with good vegetarian options near Quartier Latin cinema
(For future reference...)
If the non-veggies are willing, Commensal is right there on St. Denis.
Chinese Food for Jewish Christmas
Whatevs. As long as Gordon Ramsay hasn't become a silent partner and stuck his nose in the plum sauce, there's still hope. ;-)
I'm going there on Christmas, will report back on whether it still sucks (IMHO).
Yangtze on Van Horne claimed by fire Sunday night
I called their number earlier tonight to see what would happen - they're open! Same menu, same number, same eggrolls.
Note: they've reined in the delivery radius a bit until the original location is back online, so you may need to make the schlep if you wanna try it.
New Scichuanese Restaurant in Town-very authentic and delicious [KanBai restaurant]
Also, thanks for all the recent posts, foodlovergeneral - lots of helpful info & discussion. It's nice to have you around here.
Yangtze on Van Horne claimed by fire Sunday night
That reminds me - I seem to recall (maybe 3-4 years ago) that the Tiki Ming chain of Chinese fast-food restos was connected with Yangtze. In particular, the TM in Complexe Desjardins had Y's delivery menu on display. I asked them what it was about, they said they were sister restaurants...
These ties may have been cut with one of the ownership transfers in recent years, but man, wouldn't it be awesome if you could get Y eggrolls at every Tiki Ming?
I'll ask them about it next time I'm down there...
Chinese Food for Jewish Christmas
For old-school classic Cantonese, Yangtze on Van Horne (just west of Victoria) is one of the best.
Question about Romados
Dic Ann's once refused to sell me a takeout poutine with the sauce on the side, for the exact same reason.
If only these resto owners understood that their competitive advantage is not in their secret sauce recipe; it's in how they make their loyal customers feel. Alas.
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Dic Ann's
10910 Boulevard Pie-IX, Montreal-Nord, QC H1H, CA
In search of HONEY CRISP APPLES in downtown Montreal (including Atwater Market)
At that price, they were probably a lower grade. I've seen them elsewhere for $2.49-2.99/pound. They'd still be fine for cooking.
In search of HONEY CRISP APPLES in downtown Montreal (including Atwater Market)
Spotted a big pile of them at the IGA in Place Dupuis today - nice big ones from Quebec, $2.49 / lb.
pork belly and kimchi
FWIW, Young Brothers on Van Horne has kimchi that is quite good - I believe it is made on the premises but not entirely sure. This place is diagonally across from Outremont metro station.
Stairsholme Farm meat/eggs
Here's what they say in their weekly Tuesday mailings (always the same, only the date changes)... note that they *do* recommend ordering in advance, even for eggs:
Hi everybody,
We would like to communicate that we will be Thursday September 1st, from 3:00pm till 7:00pm, at the COOP Maison Verte (5785 Sherbrooke Street West, corner of Melrose, in NDG).
We will have available all our products:
- Grassfed Beef: steaks, strips, ground, roast, cubes, blades or chuck, ribs, and shank.
- Grassfed Veal: ground, cubes, blades, roast, shank, chops.
- Grassfed Beef sausages seasoned with chives or ginger
- Duck eggs
- Organ meats available now: liver, cheek meats, kidneys, ox-tail, heart, and tongue!
It is important to place your orders; we will receive them until Thursday at 10:00am.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, or if you wish to place an order.
Looking forward to seeing you again,
Rommy and Andrew
Ferme Stairsholme (450) 247 0143
Enjoy! I have ordered their eggs numerous times in previous years and they are indeed delicious and entirely worth the trek.
Laurier Gordon Ramsay
I went last week and posted a full review in the Rotisserie Laurier thread. Summary: disappointing. The fries and sauce were inedible, the chicken was ordinary, and the coleslaw was delicious but not the right kind to accompany this kind of meal (it was sweet and stringy, not crisp and tangy).
They may have improved upon these issues since last week though - my understanding is the recipes were still being tweaked.
Rotisserie Laurier
The menu has changed slightly since last week, perhaps based on people's feedback.
Seeing the English version for the first time, I still find that few of the dishes resonate with me, or feel like homey comfort food.
Items like tuna salad, shrimp/crab rolls, porchetta, fish & chips, ribs, planked salmon and sliders may all be wonderful dishes, but they have absolutely nothing to do with "homestyle" Montreal comfort food. They are dishes one could expect to see on an upscale menu anywhere in North America - especially closer to the West coast where top-notch fish and seafood are not just readily available but a point of local pride. The few Montreal-ish favourites strike me as overly clichéd, and not something you'd ever expect a local to order off a mid-range dinner menu: the onion soup, St. Viateur bagel and smoked meat mac & cheese (new addition since last week) are perfect examples. Seeing these on the menu makes me cringe.
I was the one who found the sauce to be off when I ate there - fairly confident it was the classic version, since there were no peppercorns in it and no hint of peppery flavour. Whatever it was supposed to be, it should not have gone out. They must have agreed having comped my dinner. It could definitely have been an off night, hopefully they will pay more attention to ensure they're getting it right.
I'm curious to hear about other people's experiences at Laurier, especially as things evolve. Anyone else been?
p.s. Olivier I second your suggestion about adding some kind of pea soup to the menu...I hope they'll put this on in fall/winter. Hopefully not at $6 though!
La Poule, Bernard street
Ducked in briefly to see what I could find out...it looks like they've kept the original La Poule rotisserie counter as-is, and taken over the adjoining dining room which has its own entrance and separate italian menu (which I didn't get a peek at this time). I did notice the tables were all set with folded napkins and lots of glassware, FWIW.
Rotisserie Laurier
Even if not intentional on anyone's part, if you know you're plating dishes for one of the most influential people on the local food scene, you're gonna make sure things are as perfect as possible.
They obviously know exactly who she is, so it's besides the point whether she's objective and honest (which I really do believe is the case).
I would love to get her opinion of the food I was served the other night...
Rotisserie Laurier
Because I wasn't aware they were rehired. That's very cool to hear.
If anyone has a link to more info about that please share!
Rotisserie Laurier
Glad to hear they may be doing SOMETHING right (especially when their friend Lesley is in the house). I missed her radio review, but based on her Twitter comments, it sounds like she was more interested in the new additions to the menu.
I didn't go near any of that - personally I didn't see the point of ordering burgers or short rib sandwich when they made a point of keeping the old favorites on the menu. I was excited to try Ramsay's "improved" versions of these classics. So much for that.
Rotisserie Laurier
I got to eat there last night**, but take my comments with a grain of salt, as it's very true that they're working out LOTS of kinks (still in the soft-opening phase).
First, I take back my previous snarky comments about the decor. They clearly took much more care in the refurb than it appeared from the early pictures. That said, the antique pieces that were preserved now stand out much more against the freshened-up backdrop. Pieces like the distressed door-to-nowhere in the bar and historic plates plastered into the wall seem somehow grafted on, placed there to serve as a testament to the resto's past, rather than incorporated as living parts of its new incarnation.
Unfortunately, these decorative nods to the past are a perfect metaphor for what seems to be wrong at Ramsay's Laurier: the signature dishes that formerly served as the resto's heart and soul feel like they, too, have been grafted onto the menu for nostalgia's sake alone. Juxtaposed among modern clichés that have nothing to do with Montreal or chicken (like the trio of mini-burgers, the short rib sandwich, or the series of trendy salads), the old-school rotisserie dishes are but a sideline, literally - banished to a dusty corner of the menu, not even listed under Main Dishes. Core classics are either nowhere to be found (Hot chicken sandwich?), modified beyond recognition (Chicken Pot Pie made with feuilleté - whaaat?), or served up in odd formats (Poutine only available as a main dish - who wants to eat Poutine for dinner, except maybe tourists?).
The shift in emphasis toward trendy new dishes could be forgiven if the execution of the few remaining classics was at least passable, enough to satisfy cravings and gradually ease diners towards the new additions. Based on my meal last night, this is a serious problem: the flavours do not pass muster - pas pantoute. The chicken itself was a bit dry and generally unremarkable. The fries were beyond overseasoned - I ate TWO and could not choke down any more (a feat for a french-fry addict like myself). The sauce was extremely salty and had the wrong flavour profile entirely - it belonged on a slab of roast beef, lacking any hint of the complex spices typically used in Quebecois sauce brune. Since my dinner was drenched in it, I could only eat about 4 or 5 bites before surrendering - it was just too salty. The coleslaw was pretty much the only thing edible on our table, but the sweet mild dressing, while admittedly delicious, bore zero resemblance to the zingy Montreal slaw that usually accompanies rich rotisserie chicken.
While I have to admit there's something deliciously surreal about being served inedible food in one of Ramsay's own restaurants, the outcome at the new Laurier so far is just as puzzling as it is disappointing. Why bother keeping the old resto's artifacts (including the ancient newspaper clipping in the entrance) if you're not going to honor its legacy? Why fire the whole staff in one fell swoop if you're supposedly trying to preserve its history? Why even attempt to keep the old classics on the menu when the new renditions utterly fail to live up to local diners' expectations? Rotisserie is Montreal's soul food, a tradition that is alive and well in many other venues around town. To put these classic dishes on the menu and fail to honor them properly is not just a waste of everyone's time, it's really an insult to the culinary traditions of this city.
Perhaps the uninformed Zagat hordes will flock to the place for its clichéd tourist specialities, but if the new Laurier doesn't improve over the meal they served me last night, they're going to alienate the local segment pretty fast. They've certainly managed to alienate me: I've been a fan of Ramsay for years, but based on this recent experience, if I ran into the guy tomorrow, I'd sincerely tell him to **** off. ;-)
** Disclosure: We took the risk of eating there during their guinea-pig week, so we expected some glitches. We agreed to fill out a 2-pg questionnaire during the meal, and provided detailed feedback about everything that we felt wasn't up to snuff. They comped one of our mains after we complained about the salt levels. Resulting total was about $35 with tax and tip (no alcohol, minus one main). For what it's worth, I still wish them the best and hope they manage to turn things around.
Rotisserie Laurier
How could they be "made by the same people as before" when the entire staff was canned back in April?
American Cheese Society Conference this week!
I imagine the government required any cheeses sold to be labeled in French? Seems pretty reasonable given that this is a French-speaking territory...I think most if not all products sold here need to comply with that rule. That said, if the ACS was not aware of Quebec's language regulations until it was too late to comply, this doesn't necessarily make our laws "punitive"...just strict.
In any event, sorry to hear about this snafu - hope the conference goes great otherwise and enjoy the city!
