CHATEAU ONCLE JAMAL - PERSIAN

 STUB REVIEW:  CHATEAU ONCLE JAMAL

ULTRA-GOOD PERSIAN FOOD

No website yet!
1620A Sherbrooke St. W.

Phone: 514-933-8866

Open: Mon. 5-10 p.m., Tues.-Sun. 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.

Price range:  $15 or much less per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip 

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Favorite dish (to date!): Tahchin Gosht

Mouthwatering summary:  Inexpensive, exquisite Persian food in Downtown Montreal
Meal to try:  Tahchin Gosht!

Man alive, I LOVE it when someone of a particular ethnic origin tells me that there's a restaurant that reminds him/her of food from home. Because I will run, NOT walk, to that place in a heartbeat. Such was the case with this awesome, recessed little place called Chateau Oncle Jamal, introduced to me by an Iranian classmate. Basically, I went with him to this restaurant and just asked him to order his favorite dishes here. Now I'm no expert in Iranian cuisine (hell, I'm not even passably competent. I'm downright ignorant when it comes to Persian cooking), but I'm going to come right out and loudly declare that this place is a Persian restaurant if ever there was one.

Because, y'know, my pronouncements on things of which I'm ignorant carry great weight somehow. :p

CRUDESSENCE - VEGETARIAN (HELL HAS FROZEN OVER)

PIGS FLY, THE WORLD ENDS,  AND HELL FREEZES OVER - 

  I ATE AT A VEGETARIAN PLACE... AND LIKED IT?:  

CRUDESSENCE - MACKAY STREET

Their website:  http://www.crudessence.com/
2157 Mackay Montreal, QC, H3G2J2   Telephone: (514) 664-5188
Price Range:  ~$15-$30 per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip

Strangers blotted out. Or maybe my camera freaked out :P.

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As you can all probably tell from my other reviews, I'm a carnivore. I eat my fruits and veggies in massive quantities (like, a half-kilo or more per day) because they're good for me, not because they're good-tasting. And when I go to restaurants, I order things I don't prep at home. I indulge myself. So, when I go to a vegetarian place, I technically am doing the first part (i.e., get things I don't do at home). Is it an indulgence though? AW HELL NO.

But, never let it be said that I don't have an open mind. I try all kinds of dishes all the time. Because, now and again, experimenting yields interesting finds (like, for example, discovering that putting peanut butter on your hamburgers is AMAZING). And so, one of my cousins (among other people) convinced me to meet up with her at Crudessence, a vegetarian, RAW FOOD restaurant. This blog post now chronicles this rare event.

So, the place was well-lit and had a pretty warm, inviting atmosphere. Definitely not a bad start. Right inside the front door was a small grocery section where the restaurant sold a ton of its products:

HURLEY'S IRISH PUB

  STUB REVIEW:  

HURLEY'S IRISH PUB - 

YOU REALLY WANT TO EAT HERE, GUYS!

Their website:  http://www.hurleysirishpub.com/

1225 Rue Crescent, Montréal, QC H3G 2B1   Telephone:  514.861.4111 
Price Range:  ~$15-$30 per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip 

 *This restaurant is a Mouthwatering Favorite!


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Ah, Hurley's. One of the pubs I go to for food rather than for drink. I mean, I do buy drinks here, but it's not the primary purpose for the visit. There's just nothing special about their alcohol, in the end. What IS special though? Their sandwiches and their savory pies!

As I've said on my list of favorite pubs (http://mouthwateringmontreal.blogspot.ca/2013/08/favorites-pubs-and-bars-part-1-update.html), my favorite thing here is the steak and kidney pie. Basically, it's huge, tender chunks of both steak and kidney cooked in a wonderfully savory gravy baked right inside a thick, chewy crust. It's all served next to a bed of salad and is just the thing to hit the spot on a cold winter's night (uh, the steak and kidney pie and not the salad, folks). Sadly, it's only available on Wednesdays. Even more sadly, because the pie is made to order, the moment they run out, they've run OUT. So, after a certain point, like say, after 8pm on Wednesday, you really do have to call ahead to make sure that they still have some. When they say, "Yes", you GO. You only live once, people! Make the most of it! Now, sadly, my cameraphone ran out of battery just before I could take some pictures last time; I will post some up the next time I get one.

Other things that are great here are their sandwiches. In fact, that's what got me to start coming here in the first place. They are all good bets, but the one that stands above the rest is the beef dip sandwich ($11.50).

Beef. Beef drippings. Curry mayo. How does one STOP eating this? It's impossible, I tell you!

HAKATA RAMEN - JAPANESE FOOD

HAKATA RAMEN:

FANTASTIC NOODLES, 

 FANTASTIC-IER EEL

 

Their website:  http://www.hakataramen.ca/

1216 Stanley St, Montreal, QC H3B  Telephone:(514) 759-6688 
Price Range:  ~$15-$30 per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip 

*This restaurant is a Mouthwatering Favorite!

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I have to admit:  I wasn't always sold on the notion of eel as food. I mean, I wasn't grossed out by it at all; I just didn't see any extra appeal of eel that regular workaday fish would not have. And then, I discovered Japanese grilled eel. That first time, it was like an atom bomb of goodness had gone off in my mouth.  So now, years later, Japanese grilled eel is among my favorite dishes. Done right, it's mildly sweet and loaded with flavor, and the texture of the eel is a near-perfect mix of fatty and meaty. In effect, it has the just-right type of eating sensation that I'm looking for in cooked fish. And one place that I think really grills its eel well is Hakata Ramen. That's why I get the following dish often:

Bowl of goodness, oh yessss...

FAVORITE PUBS & BARS, PART 1

FAVORITES! 

PUBS AND BARS PART 1

Update August 9, 2013:  This list was originally part of a two-part favorites post, along with Japanese food. It now has its own page. The link is here:  http://mouthwateringmontreal.blogspot.ca/2013/07/favorites-part-2.html . Maps and more places have been added. Don't say I never do anything for you guys!

PUBS AND BARS

1)L'Amère à Boire - Microbrewery and Pub - Quartier Latin

Their website:

http://www.amereaboire.com/index.php?page=stout-imperial&hl=fr_FR 

2049 Rue Saint-Denis, Montréal, QC H2X 3K8   
Telephone:(514) 282-7448

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Oh, how I do love this place. They make a collection of their own beers (in fact, they don't serve anything they don't make, as far as I know), and they serve some pretty delectable food to go with it.  A perpetual favorite combo of mine there is the rabbit burger with a pint of Cerna or a pint of Imperial Stout. But really, try all the beers - they offer them all in convenient, inexpensive sampling sizes (but which are still fairly substantial for a sample). Or, go hog wild and order pitchers if you're with friends. My blog post on it: http://mouthwateringmontreal.blogspot.ca/2013/08/lamere-boire-microbrewery.html

FAVORITE HAMBURGER JOINTS!

FAVORITES:  HAMBURGERS (YOU WILL NOT FIND FAST FOOD CHAINS ON THIS LIST, LEMME TELL YA)

I have this friend who, by all appearances, cares a little too much about his appearance at times. His hair's pretty obviously very coiffed (with nary a single hair out of place or yielding to the blowing wind), he takes care to always dress in clothes that highlight his trim physique, and he maintains a pretty careful diet. I mean, seriously, at one point the boy knew the calorie count of orange juice, ferchrissake. Yeesh.

That said, he does have at least one weekly indulgence - hamburgers and french fries. The problem? He used to get this fix at McDonald's. UGH. I had to re-educate the boy, post-haste. The following list was basically what I threw at him, just before I started dragging him by the ear to get some real fast food (seriously, if you're going to indulge, why would you indulge in McDonald's of all things? The stuff's terrible. Are their french fries even organic anymore? Morgan Spurlock left his fries out for two and a half months and the stuff didn't even show a single speck of mold. There's something seriously wrong with food that refuses to decompose - if even mold, nature's eaters of the dead, won't touch your food, why in the HELL are YOU touching it, idiot? I mean, just look at this! http://youtu.be/4wmac-INoXg

*ahem* Sorry, that paragraph kinda ran away from me there.

So, with that out of my system, here are my favorite hamburger spots in the city.

L'Anecdote - Plateau Mont-Royal
Their Urbanspoon website: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/67/722607/restaurant/Montreal/Plateau-Mont-Royal/Restaurant-LAnecdote-Montreal
801 Rue Rachel East, Montreal, QC H2J 2H6  Telephone: (514) 526-7967


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I've already done a review on this place (see http://mouthwateringmontreal.blogspot.ca/2013/07/stub-review-lanecdote-excellent.html ), but this definitely bears mentioning:  EAT THEIR HAMBURGERS AND DO IT NOW. Especially, their venison burger. This is a tiny diner with fantastic burgers and fries cooked in peanut oil. Their burgers are nice and thick and served in nice, chewy buns. They do have other food, but I can't comment on those items because I can never resist their burgers. So, uh, go. Now. Don't walk. Run!

PRET A MANGER (PM) - CHINESE FOOD

PRET A MANGER (PM):

CHINESE RESTAURANT, FRENCH NAME; ALL TASTY

 

Their website: http://www.just-eat.ca/restaurants-restaurant-pm/menu
1809 Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, Montreal, QC   
Telephone: (514) 931-8889
Price Range:  $15 or less per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip 
 
*This restaurant is a Mouthwatering Favorite!
 

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I first sauntered into this Chinese restaurant years ago and was immediately intrigued by its menu. They served snake soup. That's right:  soup, with serpent in it. Holy HELL, I had to try this! And I was duly rewarded. Don't know how or why, but it turns out that putting snake meat in your soup was an AWESOME idea. Who knew (well, apparently, and obviously, Chinese people)? For a while there, I couldn't stop going to this restaurant, because I loved that snake soup just that much. And because I have a tendency to overdo or overeat something when I first discover it.

Yeah, I'm a wee mild touch obsessive at times.

Anyhow, it's summer and crazy hot now, and snake soup is a winter dish, so I'll post a picture of that when I order it in winter. And besides, they do have other things on their menu, and little by little, I worked my way through their menu. The stuff was always good - never ever disappointed. However, being the full-blooded hardcore carnivore that I was (and am), I never touched the vegetarian side of their menu.  Why would I? I'm a full-blooded hardcore carnivore. 

One day, at the wheedling of a close friend, I was convinced to give at least one item on the veggie side a try. Lordy, I doubted and then some. But, it was a very good friend who knew me well and was always full of good ideas, so I ordered it (I also ordered an all-meat dish to offset the veggie dish, but that's neither here nor there). And I have to say, I was very happily surprised. It was tofu and somehow it was good.

Oof. I feel as dirty typing that as I did the first time I admitted to it. Gah!

So, here's a picture of the magical tofu dish that I'm sure must be laced with some kind of magic:
 

Yellow stuff=tofu; white stuff=giant mushroom; green stuff=vegetable.

 ... Why am I eating this stuff again?

MAISON DU NORD - NORTHERN CHINESE FOOD

MAISON DU NORD 

AKA: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ORDER THE CHINESE CREPES HERE!

Maison du Nord - Northern Chinese food - Downtown

Their UrbanSpoon page:

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/67/1549250/restaurant/Downtown/Maison-du-Nord-Montreal

Their own page (sadly, not yet in English, or French):

http://www.restolamaisondunord.com/index.php 

2130, Rue Saint Mathieu  
Montréal, QC H3H 1H5  Telephone: (514) 670-3188
Price Range:  $15 or less per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip 

*This restaurant is a Mouthwatering Favorite!

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Readers of this blog (if any) will have noticed this restaurant noted on (one of) my (increasing number of) favorites list. Just can't help it! It's a small restaurant but the flavors are intensely big. Of all the stuff on the menu that I love, the Chinese crepes are what I love most. To the uninitiated, Chinese crepes are typically bigger and thicker than their Western counterparts. This is what the savory green onion crepes served here typically look like:

Looks more like a stuffed pita than a pancake, don't it?

They're big, thick, and chewy, and most of them are absolutely teeming with flavor. I very often go to this restaurant just to buy one of these ($2.99) for a quick salty snack on the go. That said, smaller eaters, be warned - a single crepe is a meal for most of you! That's the power of their crepes! The other crepes are a dollar or two more, but they're all worthwhile (especially the sweet ones!).

FAVORITE JAPANESE RESTAURANTS

FAVORITES! Japanese Food

Update August 7, 2013:  This list has now been split into two separate posts. And more stuff's been added to both lists. Like maps. And more places.

1)Sushi Yasu - Japanese Food - Brossard

Their website:

http://www.sushiyasu.ca/bros.english.htm  

1200 Boul. Rome Local W Brossard, Qc  J4W 3H3 Tel: (450)465-8383

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Bar none, this is my absolute favorite Japanese restaurant in Montreal. It's also one of the rare Japanese places that's owned and operated by Japanese folks. I imagine that this place gets by on word of mouth. Their sign is phenomenally nondescript (I seriously spent 30 minutes looking for this place the first time I went), their website harkens back to the dawn of html coding, and service, while very courteous, can be slow. But you know what? NONE of that matters! Their sushi and Japanese curry is to kill for! Personal recommendation:  Get the battered, deep fried pork chop with Japanese curry, the takoyaki (octopus), and the sliced beef tongue. Go. NOW.

FAVORITE CHINESE AND PIZZA RESTAURANTS

FAVORITES! Part 1: Chinese Food and Pizza

 

So, let's get started, shall we?

Montreal is a pretty big city with literally thousands of restaurants and hundreds of pubs and bars. In some locations, restaurants stay open for decades, whereas in others, some disappear quickly. I'll sort through old and new eventually, but for now I'm going to begin by compiling a list of favorites across the board!

In no particular order of favoriteness (yes, I know that's not a real word, and I don't care), here are the places I go to pretty damn often. Don't ask for an absolute favorite of mine, because seriously, that ain't happenin' (it's like asking me to choose between my index finger and thumb - it. Can't. Be. Done.). I will be doing more in-depth posts on each of these later. For now, you'll just have to live with quick blurbs. For convenience, I list restaurants by Name - Food Type - Location:

CHINESE FOOD

1)Maison du Nord - Northern Chinese food - Downtown

This is a small restaurant tucked away on St. Mathieu, right outside the Guy-Concordia Metro Station. They make their own noodles, craft thick Chinese crepes (both sweet and savory), and offer a wide variety of dumplings (steamed, boiled or fried). Plus: The serving sizes are HUGE. Double-plus: The food is VERY INEXPENSIVE. 

Their UrbanSpoon page:

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/67/1549250/restaurant/Downtown/Maison-du-Nord-Montreal

Their own page (sadly, not yet in English, or French):

http://www.restolamaisondunord.com/index.php 

2130, Rue Saint Mathieu  
Montréal, QC H3H 1H5
Tél: (514) 670-3188