La Brasserie Brunoise

Located just west of the Bell Center
August 16th, 2007

La Brasserie Brunoise opened up this spring across from the Bell Center as the sister restaurant to Brunoise, located on the Plateau. The space is open and has a real French bistro charm to it, save the large HDTVs on each wall.

We've walked by this restaurant a dozen of times before, saying, "Hey, we should try that place," and always hesitating to actually do it because there was never much of a crowd inside. It's easy to be suspicious of places that aren't busting with people, and sometimes rightfully so. But in this case, our first impression couldn't have been more wrong. It's a new restaurant, so it'll take a bit of time to gather a following. But after the meal we had, we're convinced this place will be lined up regularly before long...

We sat down at a nice table for two and ordered the house recommended Babich Sauvingon Blanc -- a tasty label from New Zealand. The wine was fabulous and we quickly placed our orders for the main course.

[Plat Principal]

The Duck Confit, served on a bed of baby arugala with "small potatoes," was one of the most succulent in the city, and the sauce was amazing -- dark, rich and full of flavour. What it was made of (or magically conjured from) exactly, I don't know. It was just plain delicious.

The other entrée we ordered was Quiche Florentine with salad, which was a two-inch high slice of light, fluffy cloud. It looked like a piece of New York cheesecake, but it had a savory taste that went well with the Smoking Loon Cabernet.

[Overall Impressions]

Our server was fabulous and, as it turns out, was one of our favorite servers at Casa Tapas. She was glad to see us at La Brasserie Brunoise, which was simply lucky timing for us. All and all, great food, great value, and friendly service puts La Brasserie Brunoise near the top of the list.

La Brasserie Brunoise

Located just west of the Bell Center

August 16th, 2007

La Brasserie Brunoise opened up this spring across from the Bell Center as a sister restaurant to 'Brunoise', located on the Plateaux. The space is open and has a real French bistro charm to it, save the large HDTVs on each wall.

We sat down to a nice table for two and ordered the house recommended Sauvingon Blanc - a tasty label from New Zealand called Babich. The wine was fabulous and we quickly placed our order for the main course.

[Plat Principal]

The Confit de Canard on a bed of Arugala

Chez Meloche - Dilallo Burger

Talk about blind luck. Having moved close to the Artwater Market, south of Montreal's downtown core, we ran across this small restaurant while commuting back and forth from our apartment to the market for groceries. It had a very basic sign, dated interior and was typically busy with locals all hunkered over the tables chomping away.

The piece de resistance here is their famous "Special Burger - tout grani", which translates into "with everything" (Relish, Mustard, Onions, Tomatoes and Lettuce). There are four choices, each one offering something special: Plain, Hot Peppers, Cheese, and Capicole. We opted to go big and went for a combination of these which had Hot Peppers, Cheese and Capicole. Added to that we greedily choose a Poutine to share between the two of us.

The burgers come wrapped in a thin wax-paper like packaging, while the poutine came in a soup bowl that you might find at your grandmothers home. No sense wasting energy on the surroundings when people come for what they find within them. The first bite of burger is pure flavor explosion: the burger patty is a loosely packed ground beef, perfectly seasoned, the hot peppers kick in to get your taste buds running and the capicole gives it a nice little finish. Each bite continues like this, juices running out everywhere, until you realize that you have inhaled the burger in ten large bites and didn't set it down once. The first time is like this for everyone, the burger being that delicious that people are unable to set it down.

Now on to the poutine! With ample handfuls of squeaky cheese, crisp golden fries and a good solid 'sauce burn', I give this poutine a serious thumbs up. A perfect compliment to the burger we had so quickly devoured.

And for this two person meal - $10.50 taxes included. Amazing.

2523, Notre-Dame Ouest [MAP] - 514-934-0818

My Canh

We had searched around Montreal for a new place to get noodle bowls (rice noodles, spring roles, cilantro, bean sprouts, etc.) and had been frequenting a little hole in the wall restaurant called Crystal #1. It was rather run down, dirty, but the noodle bowls were good, with a slightly different approach (sauted onions!). One Sunday, we decided to check out a place up the street that was always quite busy, in hopes that I could try their Pho soup. It is called My Canh, situated in the China Town region of St.Laurent Blvd. [ MAP ]

The place has about 12 tables, typically busy with families and couples. They have a mainly Vietnamese menu, with a healthy selection of soups and noodle bowls to suit most tastes.

*Note* We were unable to find any Pho soups on the menu, which was what I was looking for, having fallen in love with them in Vancouver. To our surprise, the majority of the soups on the menu were Tonkinese soups. With a little Google searching we found out that Tonkinese soups are simply Pho soups from the Tonkin region (I assume in Vietnam). In any case, it looks like they are very similar soups.

We ordered one large Tonkinese Soup with Rare Beef and a Vietnamese Noodle Bowl with Spring Rolls and Lemon Grass Beef. This came with tea and a plate of bean sprouts, lime and Thai basil for the soup.

The Tonkinese Soup was a large bowl of broth, flat rice noodles, onions, and thin slices of rare beef. I added the bean sprouts, lime and Thai basil, along with a healthy dose of Hoisin sauce and Sriracha Hot Chili sauce (the one with the green top!). Stir and enjoy. First impression - WOW! Amazing broth - flavourful, savory and citrus fresh. That magical combination typical of most Asian soups combining savory base flavors with herbal and citrus top notes. The bowl itself was massive - I would not recommend the large for one person unless they have skipped aleast one meal. The rare beef mixed well with the overall flavors of the soup, with the noodles providing good substance to pull in from the broth.

The Vietnamese Noodle Bowl with Spring Rolls and Lemon Grass Beef came with a bed of thin rice noodles, cilantro, peanuts, sprouts, shredded lettuce, Thai basil, crisp Spring Rolls (bite size pieces) and stir fried Lemon Grass Beef - toped with the traditional clear sauce (not sure what is in this, but there is a component of Fish sauce). Mix and dig in. Your first bite is flavor explosion - the flavors start to mix into each other, the crunch spring rolls contrasting the noodles and the tastes of fresh herbs really seals is all together. The bowl is a perfect combination of flavors and really fills up one person.

We ended up frequenting this place on a weekly basis, and typically order one soup and one noodle bowl, and then simply share.

Great restaurant for weekend lunches!

Le Vaudville

O'Thym

Located near 'Le Village'
Feb. 10th 2006

We had been meaning to explore this little spot called O'Thym for months now, but just never seemed to be able to make it happen. On several occasions, we were told that the restaurant was full for the evening, but that we could call back at 10pm to see about availability. We were finally able to get on the list this Friday and with our SAQ bag in hand (bring your own wine) we presented ourselves at 9pm for our reserved table for two.

The first thing you notice was the size of the dinning room - the floor space was small, yet the room had a very high ceiling which gave it a much more open feel. The decor is simple yet classy, large chalk boards on two walls list the menu and a small bar with staff busy at a multitude of tasks.

Presented as you are seated is a 'eau' menu, with around eight varieties of bottled water - we tried the Oxygizer which had a certain zing to it (but that could have just been marketing). The menu was main French cuisine, with a variety of fish and meat dishes. We ordered the Tatin de Fois Gras au Figues et Porto as an entree, followed by the Fillet Minion and the fish of the day Seared Red Tuna with roasted coconut.

[Entree]
The meal begins with a Cream of Asparagus Soup with a drizzle of crème freshe, which flat and lacked complexity of character. The verdict on the soup was "We could do a more flavourful version of this at home". The fois gras entree was served seared on two figs, which were on a bed of fluffy pastry, with drizzles of sweet port reduction around the small tower. The seared fois gras had a deep rich flavour which was balanced by the sweet port reduction and figs. Verdict on the fois gras was "One of the more flavourful fois gras entrees we have experienced".

[Plat Principal]
To cleanse our palettes, we ordered an Orange Vodka Sorbet. It was served in a champagne style glass, a large scoop of frozen sorbet, in a pool of vodka. The vodka tasted like a flavoured Absolut variety and the sorbet was on the sweet side - neither of us finished our sorbet. The meals arrived on blazing hot bone white plates, with an elegant presentation of their signature fresh sprig of thyme (which was also present on the entree!). The fillet minion was a generous cut, cooked perfectly medium rare, sitting in a some type of flavourful jus. The meat was surrounded by wild mushrooms (amazing), two carrots, and a small serving of scalloped potatoes in a garlic cream sauce. The texture of the meat was so tender it was almost creamy and very flavourful. Verdict on the Fillet Minion - "A beautiful cut of meat and it was obvious that the chef wanted the accompaniments to compliment, not steal the show".

The seared red tuna was a thick cut, seared perfectly rare, surrounded with a variety of vegetables and toasted shredded coconut. And of course, came with the signature fresh sprig of thyme. Verdict on the tuna was "Most likely the best fish we have had in Montreal - very fresh and perfectly cooked"

[Service and Ambience]
O'Thym is one of the few non-smoking restaurants in the city, which gives it the upper hand with providing an enjoyable dinning experience. The waiter that served us that evening was very helpful and accommodating - his lack of English did not in anyway hinder our experience. The restaurant is quite charming and provides for an ideal classy dinner environment.

[Overall Impressions]
O'Tyme is a charming classic French restaurant - but book early as they fill up fast. Price was on average for other French style restaurants in the city and was of good value for the food and service provided.