UnConundrum's Profile
Cuchen rice/pressure cooker
I just received a 10 cup Cuchen black diamond as a gift. Only time I use a pressure cooker is for canning. Does anyone have one of these? What do you make in it other than rice and beans? Does the pressure cooker work like any other electric pressure cooker?
Drunken Fish. - STL
My son and I enjoyed a much above average evening. Wait staff was quite pleasant and familiar with the menu. Although he wrote nothing down, he intercepted a mistake from the kitchen, reordered, and brought the mistake to our table without charge. We each had an appetizer and 3 maki, and shared 2 carafes of the house sake. While not traditional Japanese style, the fish was quite fresh, the rice was properly cooked and special requests no prob. Our total bill came to only $125. Quite the bargain IMHO. We're in town for the NRA convention and will probably stop back before we leave.
What does a foodie want for Christmas?
How about a vinegar collection? Ice wine cider, ice cider vinegar, a good balsamic, champagne vinegar, raspberry, etc....
What is Montreal's Best Greek Restaurant?
Probably everyone will say Milo's is THE best, and I won't disagree, but it's expensive. If you're looking to impress, that's where to go. We had a very nice meal at Faros last night. We like to order 3-4 appetizers instead of a main, because there are so many things we love :) We've also enjoyed Philinos and Mythos in the past. Mythos is the largest of the three and I think Philinos has the most active bar. Faros is the smallest and no bar that I noticed. So, I'd say Faros is the quietest of the three as well and I think maybe Philinos the liveliest.
Hope that helps
Bouchees Gourmandes: reopening soon!!!
Just another note of sadness. I had missed Moh's post and we walked up Bernard today planing on making reservations for the weekend... I'm depressed. They were great folks and an asset to the city. They'll be missed, both in Canada and out.
Rosalie - Pizza
I agree, but then, that's why I posted the question here. I've seen no comment on their pizzas anywhere, or even the wood fired oven. I didn't know if it was new or old, but it's existence offers the "POTENTIAL" for great pizza. Asking the Hounds is the only way I know of to glean the opinions of those who have tried it.
Grains of Paradise [split from Montreal]
[Note: this thread was spliti from the Quebec board at: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/669834 -- The Chowhound Team].
I've never heard of "grains of paradise." Could you describe the taste and how you use it?
Rosalie - Pizza
Walking past Rosalie tonight, I could see a wood fired oven through their window. Their menu (http://www.rosalierestaurant.com/index2.php?v=v1) confirms that they serve pizza. Anyone know what their pizza is like and whether they welcome patrons for just pizza ?
Lunch at Nhu Y today :)
We had a very nice lunch at Nhu Y today. We were fans years ago of Le Papaya Verte, but it changed hands a few times, and declined until it went out of business. We were happy to find Nhu Y last year and we're glad to report that the food is still fine. We arrived at about 12:30 to find the restaurant absolutely packed, not a table to be had. We returned about 15 minutes later. My wife had the dumplings in peanut sauce and I the shrimp with sweet potatoes for starters. Jan went on to the chicken with basil and I had one of the lunch specials, shrimp and chicken with vermicelli. We thoroughly enjoyed everything. If you're looking for something other than Pho, give this restaurant a try :)
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Restaurant Nhu Y
134 Rue Jean-Talon W, Montreal, QC H2R2X1, CA
Stopped in a Avesta Tonight.
Tonight we decided to go cheap and stopped at one of our favorites, Avesta ( www.restoavesta.com ). As before I got the Manti, small beef filled dumplings, made by hand, in a yoghurt sauce for $12.99. There has to be well over 100 of the little dumplings in a serving. It's beyond my comprehension that someone would still make them by hand, but it you time it right, you can see her sitting in the window making them! They're tender, and the flavor is great. My wife had Menemen, a spicy tomato sauce with veggies and eggs that she just loved. I can't speak to the quality of the wine as that has never really clicked with me, but we had half a carafe for $11.95. I think our whole meal, including tax, came to $44. If you want an inexpensive night out, Avesta is great.
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Avesta Cafe Resto
2077 Rue Sainte-Catherine W, Montreal, QC H3H1M6, CA
Stopped in at Mozza tonight
A sheeter is a machine that rolls dough out, like a pasta machine, but on steroids. Instead of shaping the dough by hand, this machine makes all the dough the same thickness.
A cornicone is the rim around the pizza, often called the "crust." I happen to like a high, airy, tender cornicone, and the pizza at Mozza had virtually none.
Stopped in at Mozza tonight
We went exploring in Laval today and stopped in at Mozza for dinner. The restaurant was dead so we picked a seat with a terrific view of the wood fired oven. Overall, our reaction was... eh!
We started out with the calamari and what I believe they called a "pizza fresca" which was a salad served on a flatbread. The calamari was excellent. Served with both a marinara sauce and aioli, both in ample quantities. The calamari was quite tender... very well done :) The pasta fresca was OK too, but launched a warning shot. As our order went in, I saw dough sheeter off to the side of the oven. Sure enough, the flatbread went right into the sheeter. A show was made of throwing the dough in the air after the sheeter, but I wasn't impressed. When served, to no surprise, it was quite thin and none of the great dough taste I was hoping for. The salad and toppings were fine, so I figured... ok... it's a flatbread. As we were finishing our meal, someone ordered a pizza, and sure enough the dough went through the sheeter again. I got up to look at it when it came out and there was hardly any cornicone, surely not the type of product their oven is capable of producing.
They served some warm rolls with a nice crust, but both my wife and I felt the bread had no taste. She finished up with the 4 cheese ziti which she thought was ok, but it had no sauce to speak of. The pasta itself seemed to be of decent quality, and the cheese was fine, but we had expected a bit of sauce of some sort, probably gorgonzola since that was one of the cheeses, but no such luck. I ordered the Chicken parm which was quite tender, but left me with a feeling that the breast was dry... My wife didn't agree, and I have problems describing the mouth feel I was left with... dry is the best I can do. Once again, the platter was under sauced. There was indeed some tomato based sauce on the chicken, under the cheese, but not a drop on the plate; almost like the sauce was painted onto the chicken. Same with the cheese, just enough to cover the chicken. I also thought it was somewhat strange that the default side for chicken parm was french fries. The fries were fine, but in my neck of the woods chicken parm is usually served with a side of some kind of pasta. There were also some grilled veggies included that I enjoyed.
Bottom line is that the meal was OK, and I'd surely go back for the calamari, but don't know what else I'd order.
On a side note, I noticed that Sami's Fruits was across the street. We stopped in an picked up some fruit for our hotel room. Sure wish I had that kind of selection somewhere near my home. Of course, you guys have Jean Talon, not much more is needed.
Pizzeria Napoletana HELP
I agree with you. Bottega wasn't worth the time the night we were there. I make my own Neapolitan pizzas in a WFO at 800F - 900F/1450 - 1650C, and enjoy proper leoparding of the crust, but that's not what we got at Bottega.
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Bottega
65 Rue Saint-Zotique E, Montreal, QC H2S1K7, CA
Lemon extract or oil
Email me at wprince@unconundrum.com. We'll be staying at the Vogue. And send me a reminder next Friday (20th) so I don't just forget :)
Lemon extract or oil
I'll be traveling to Montreal on the 22nd, stopping at King Arthur's in Vermont on the way North. I'll gladly pick some of the "good stuff" up for you if you can wait till then.
Montreal sushi?
I've been to Zenya several times and enjoyed it. Koji works there, well, at least he did. Haven't visited Montreal in a year.
Who makes the best sandwiches in town?
I'd second Provisions. Been a year since we were in Montreal, but we really enjoyed our sandwiches there, and found them to be something different.
Thermomix anyone?
Thanks for the reply. I bought one through Canada and have fallen in love with it. I also found an Australian forum where we can trade ideas and recipes in English... www.forumthermomix.com.
Foodgasm in Reading Farmers Market
I know this is a very old thread, but I was wondering if anyone knows where to get Greek yogurt in the Reading area. Someone said there's a Greek farmers' market other than the Fairgrounds Farmer's Market. Any ideas?
Bouchees Gourmandes: reopening soon!!!
Make sure you're hungry. Good Lord do they feed you!
Bread-making course ?
It's a ride, but King Arthur Flours in Vermont offers professional and non-professional classes.
PROVISIONS on St-Laurent Street
My wife and I stopped by yesterday for lunch on our way to the Biodome. My wife had the beet salad which she absolutely loved. I had the special bavette sandwich on the homemade roll. The meat was perfectly done, and far more tender than I had expected. I tried a side of the fennel salad which was very good, but not outstanding. Seemed to be just a touch on the salty side to my taste as well. Didn't detract from a great meal. We'll return, soon.
3 of my favorite Canadian sodas
The new lunch restaurant Provisions on St. Laurent serves spruce beer. I tried it there yesterday. It wasn't to my liking, but it was distinctive.
Bouchees Gourmandes: reopening soon!!!
When we stopped by the other day for brunch, I picked up one of their almond croissants. There used to be a little bakery on Saint-Mathieu that made the best I had ever tasted, and I constantly looked for something similar. On the way home, I broke off a corner, and tried it... wonderful, but I was going to finish it before I passed final judgement. Took it back to our hotel room and had to run out for a few moments. Came back and found that the dog got it :(
Went back today and picked up 2 almond croissants, and they were great. Dare I say even better than what we had before. The dough is very buttery, and the top stays crispy, almost like there is a coating of melted sugar, but there isn't.... Can't explain it. Simply heaven. Oh, and by the way, they have nougat today....
Bouchees Gourmandes: reopening soon!!!
We asked today and yes it is only weekends, but they do have a lunch and homemade soups.
Bouchees Gourmandes: reopening soon!!!
Another thank you to Moh. We stopped by for the brunch today, and it was wonderful as others have posted. I'm a big eater, but we both walked out stuffed. Sounds like they make some small changes from time to time. No foie gras, but we got some duck confit :) Unfortunately they were out of the nougat, but she told us when to expect some more, and we're not telling ;)
Turkish delights?
Just arrived in town tonight and decided to try out Avesta, a nice walk from our hotel. I've never eaten Turkish food before, but we really enjoyed our meals. My wife ordered the little dumplings and when I told our waiter that I couldn't handle spicy foods, he suggested that I get the same thing and he could make it not spicy. We both loved it. There must have been 50 of those little dumplings in a bowl filled with yogurt and I think sun dried tomatoes, with parsley and mint? around the edge. We each had a glass of wine (we're not picky so I can't tell you much about it), I had a Turkish coffee, and we shared a baklava. Total bill, including tax, was only $44. We'll return, maybe even this trip :)
