TONG SING - CHINESE FOOD/DIM SUM

LET'S ALL HEAD TO 

TONG SING FOR DIM SUM!

Their website: http://www.tongsing.ca/
43 Rue de la Gauchetière Est, Montréal, QC H2Z 1J4

Telephone:(514) 940-8811

Their dim sum menu: http://www.tongsing.ca/html/menuDimSum-Steamed.html

Price range: This really depends on your appetite! But typically, if you're a group of 4 or more people, everything - meal, tax, tip - will average out to be between $12 and $20 per person. It's a good deal, folks!

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Mouthwatering Summary:  A variety and a ton of great Chinese food, literally wheeled right to your table - CONSTANTLY.
Meal to try: Dude. Seriously. Just try it all.

Ah, dim sum. The Cantonese form of restaurant breakfast/lunch/brunch, where a small army of waitresses constantly push carts laden with appetizer-sized plates (sometimes main-dish-sized plates) of different Chinese food from table to table. All customers have to do is just select the dishes they wanted from the waitress, be served, and then enjoy the food (and then, of course, settle up at the end. No free lunches and all that). I remember when I was a kid, it was the highlight of the week to go on a dim sum excursion. The variety of the type, smells, tastes, colours, and shapes of the food was something that always intrigued me.

NUDO NOODLE HOUSE - HAND PULLED CHINESE NOODLES

FULL REVIEW-NUDO NOODLE HOUSE:

GREAT HAND-PULLED NOODLES IN CHINATOWN!

No website yet! 
1055 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montreal, QC H2Z 1J6
Phone number not found!

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




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Mouthwatering summary: Fresh and delicious hand-pulled noodles made right in front your eyes!
Meal to try: Scallion pancake followed by BBQ pork with sesame sauce on noodles

PUB RANDOLPH - PUB AND BOARD GAMES!

FULL REVIEW:  PUB RANDOLPH - 

INVENTIVE DRINKS AND 

1000 BOARD GAMES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS!

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

2041 St Denis St Montreal, QC H2X 3K8
Telephone:   514-419-5001

Their alcohol menu: http://www.randolphpub.ca/#!boire/c11rf
Their food menu:  http://www.randolphpub.ca/#!bouffe/c1jo3

Price range:  $15 or less for one person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip (depending on drink and food). Note that if you want to play games, you have to pay a $5 flat fee which grants you access to games for the entirety of the day.

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Mouthwatering summary: Just $5 to play over 1000 board games for an entire night! Plus playful drinks!
Meal to try: You're really coming here to play the board games. But, I DO recommend the "Carrot Muffin" shooter and the brownie!

Ah, Pub Randolph. This is one of those crazy awesome places where, despite there being tasty food, the attraction is actually NOT the food. Oh, no, not at all. Pub Randolph is, instead, a two-story pub that is home to ONE THOUSAND BOARD GAMES. 

...

Oh, how the inner (and outer) nerd in me just glistens with glee every time I visit or even THINK about this place! I mean, just LOOK at the games they have:

Wall ONE of games.

Wall TWO of games.

Where Wall 1 and Wall 2 join.

LA FRITA PIZZERIA - PIZZA AND SUBS

STUB REVIEW:  

LA FRITA PIZZERIA - GREAT DELIVERY PIZZA

No website!

4909 Notre Dame St W, Montreal, QC H4C 1S9

Telephone:(514) 932-3952

Their online menu:  http://www.just-eat.ca/restaurants-la-frita-pizzeria/menu

Open:  Sunday to Thursday, 11am till 12am; Friday, Saturday from 11am till 2am
Price range:  $15 or less for one person (on most things) including one drink, meal, tax, and tip




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My favorite takeout combo: All-dressed pizza and steak-pepperoni stub!

Mouthwatering summary:  Inexpensive St-Henri pizzeria and diner that delivers great pizza and subs!
Food to try:  MEAT LOVERS' PIZZA!

Ah, the joys of delivery. For those moments when you're just too smegging lazy or busy to get out of the house, having restaurants that are ready, willing, and eager to cook you food and come right to your doorstep to drop it off is a wonderful little luxury. When I get into those busy periods, one of my favorite standbys for delivery is this tiny little pizzeria/diner in my neck of the woods:  La Frita Pizzeria. And truth be told, I have literally never eaten at this restaurant in person. The most I've ever done is walk on down to pick up an order and bring the food home. And every time, it's worth the trip!

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

C THAI - THAI FOOD (KINDA SELF-EXPLANATORY, RIGHT?)

 

STUB REVIEW: C THAI -

GREAT THAI FOOD IN LITTLE ITALY?! 

Their website: http://cthai.ca/ 

7112 St Laurent Blvd, Montréal, QC H2S 3E2
Telephone: (514) 508-3792

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

 
 

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I don't understand the "C".

My favorite dish here: Chicken phad thai!

Mouthwatering summary:  Inexpensive, very tasty Thai food in Little Italy
Meal to try:  The chicken phad thai, with Golden bags as appetizers!

Oh, Montreal. City of culinary wonders. And incongruity. Did I mention the incongruity? Readers of this blog, if any, will remember that my very first individual review was on a French restaurant named Mrs. Amigos that is operated by Chinese staff (see post here:   http://mouthwateringmontreal.blogspot.ca/2013/07/mrs-amigos-delightful-french-restaurant.html ). Well, I believe I've found another. In Montreal's Little Italy, home of Italian cafes, Italian trattorias, and a huge honking soccer store, we have... a LOVELY Thai restaurant named C Thai. 

VAN HORNE PIZZERIA - PIZZA (WELL, DUH!)

STUB REVIEW:

VAN HORNE PIZZERIA - 

THICK, DELICIOUS, FILLING PIZZA

Their Urbanspoon page:  http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/67/723262/restaurant/Montreal/Outremont/Van-Horne-Pizzeria-Montreal

1505 Van Horne Ave, Outremont, QC H2V 1L4   
Telephone:(514) 277-5555

Their menu:  http://www.urbanspoon.com/cities/67/restaurants/723262/menu_photos/125234 

Price Range:  $15 or less per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip  
 
*This restaurant is a Mouthwatering Favorite!  

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Ah, pizza. One of the manifold joys in life. I still remember the first pizza I ever ate. It's actually a vivid flashbulb memory. Yes, I know, most people have flashbulb memories about where they were when John F. Kennedy was shot or when Princess Diana died. Me? I have flashbulb memories for food.   ...I really do march to the beat of a different drummer, don't I?:P.  

Anyhow,  I was all of six years old, and Dad had brought home a greasy, topping-heavy all-dressed pizza with a very thick and chewy crust. In one bite, I became a demon possessed. I couldn't stop eating it, and I licked the plate so clean it glistened in the afternoon sun. I've been a pizza believer ever since (did I just make pizza sound vaguely spiritual?!). I keep on trying new pizza places - well, most pizza places. Not chain pizzerias (I'm slightly mildly snobbish about food, I know). I've come to appreciate both thick greasy pizzas and the more delicate thin-crust pizzas cooked in "authentic" ovens. Van Horne Pizzeria is an unassuming, sparsely-appointed restaurant that serves the thick greasy type of pizza. And it is GLORIOUS, and it is inexpensive, which makes it even more glorious!

On a recent visit, me and an eating companion got a 10" Sicilian pizza and a 10" Special Van Horne to share. Here are the pizzas!

Sicilian ($10.95):

Whoever came up with the idea of putting anchovies on pizza is a genius, I tell you!

RESTAURANT RAPIDO DU PLATEAU - DINER

RAPIDO: 

UNEXCITING BUT FILLING

Their Urbanspoon page:

 http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/67/722744/restaurant/Montreal/Plateau-Mont-Royal/Restaurant-Rapido-Du-Plateau-Montreal

4494 St Denis St, Montreal, QC H2J 2K8  Telephone:(514) 284-2188 
Price Range:  $15 or less per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip 

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I had a hell of a time trying to figure out how to describe this place. I mean, I like the (rotating) staff, and the place has good opening hours. But... well, I guess the only real thing to do in this situation is to just jump right in and express how I'm feeling. 

Basically, this restaurant is not bad by any measure. It is, however, average. Formulaic. Boilerplate. A thoroughly competent diner, with no real defining feature outside of the fact that it's open late and is therefore accessible. And there is definitely a place for such places in the hearts and bellies of customers. Well, mainly bellies. Yes, the name of this blog is Mouthwatering Montreal, but I would be doing a disservice to seekers of reliable late night places if I didn't also talk about reliable stuff from time to time too. And so, away we go...

When I pay a visit to Rapido, I usually grab something off the table d'hote - it's typically a pretty good deal. Before 9pm, you get a soup, main meal, dessert, and coffee/tea for $14 or much, much less. Some of the table d'hote items are actually $9, if I recall correctly. There are also even cheaper combo options that aren't a part of the table d'hote. For example, you can get a sizable poutine and a bottle of beer for $8. Rapido certainly gets the pricing part right!

Let's get the bookend items of the table d'hote out of the way - soup and dessert.

Chicken noodle rice soup. It's okay...

And a bit of cake. Again:  It's okay...

There's really not too much to say about the soup and dessert. The soup is some variation on standards - chicken noodle or vegetable - and the dessert has been either brownies or chunks of cake. Nothing's ever stood out. The food is just competent and filling.

Things you find as main dishes in the table d'hote include souvlaki in pita and big burgers:

FAMEUX VIANDE FUMEE ET CHARCUTERIE - DINER

FAMEUX - SMOKED MEAT PLACE WHERE THE BEST DISHES ...AREN'T THE SMOKED MEAT? (ALTHOUGH, I DO LIKE THE SMOKED MEAT TOO...)

Their Urbanspoon page:  http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/67/721176/restaurant/Montreal/Plateau-Mont-Royal/Fameux-Viande-Fumee-Et-Charcuterie-Montreal

4500 St Denis St, Montreal, QC H2J 2L3   Telephone:(514) 845-8732
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) probably know that I exercise a lot. It's simply one of the foundations of who I am. Can't help it:  I'm a hyper guy - I barely sleep (because my body automatically wakes up after about four or five hours of sleep), I can't stop moving, and I talk a mile a minute. That excess energy HAS to go somewhere. And so, I exercise - oftentimes to the point where I need multiple changes of exercise clothes per training session. Oh, I feel that burn... There is one mild, ever-so-slight downside to all that exercise though: I'm dumber than a box of hammers at the end of my workouts. No, seriously, I am. Like, really, really, really dumb. Simple directions become impossible to follow, I can't speak any of the three languages that I normally do, I forget where I parked (or if I even took the car that day) - hell, at the end of my craziest workouts, I can't even SIT UP STRAIGHT.

When those moments arise, I make a beeline straight for the big portion food places. Dainty places are fine for dates or snacks (well, snacks for me, at least - apparently my snack = full meal for a lot of people. Hmph. Pansies.) ( :P ). When I'm so hungry my IQ drops 30-plus points, I NEEDS TONS O'FOOD. Happily, one of the places that dishes out good serving sizes is also pretty damn tasty. 

Ah, how I do love that confluence of concepts... 

So, to wit: Fameux! This place is supposed to be a smoked meat place, but man alive, I keep on finding I enjoy their other food way more. Don't get me wrong, their smoked meat isn't bad at all - just doesn't feel like it measures up to other places (a favorites list of smoked meat is forthcoming, dear readers!). Instead, what I keep coming back for the pizzas, big-ass table d'hotes, and breakfasts.

Seriously, I love the pizza here, ESPECIALLY the bacon-onion pizza:

Only one picture, despite it being my favorite here. Because honestly, no picture will ever do justice to this pizza. Just go eat it, people!

BOCADILLO - LATIN AMERICAN SANDWICHES

STUB REVIEW BOCADILLO:

SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE (NOT HOLDING HANDS) (JUST SMILING) SERVING SHINY HAPPY FOOD

Their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bocadillo/56070501978
3677 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal, QC H2X   Telephone:(514) 227-4041
Price Range:  $15 or less per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip 
 

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To the surprise of absolutely NO ONE who talks to me for more than a second, I'm a world-weary cynic (I refer to myself as a realist, but who listens me anyway? :P ). I snark, I point out the flaws in plans, I give telemarketers a hard time - I'm the sarcastic guy on every sitcom (and the big guy in action movies, and the forensic scientist in cop shows, and I'm going to stop this train of thought now). That said, I am still a very happy and cheery man (hell, I actually once played Santa Claus to deliver food to lonely seniors on Christmas. I fit the role on cheer alone, and, actually, on cheer only too - being young and all that, I would never be mistaken for an old fat guy. Lemme tell ya - that fake beard ITCHED). Being jolly and being a realist aren't contradictory, in the end. 

So, it always pleases me to no end whenever I'm in the presence of happy cheery people. There's more than enough grump and sulk to go around; why add to it? And happy and cheery definitely describes the folks at Bocadillo. I've only been here twice so far, and the people don't seem to stop smiling, even when they're not engaging with you. After taking your order with a grin (y'know, service with a smile), they then seem to happily go about cooking the food, bringing the food, cleaning the tables - basically, they seem cheery even when no one is looking at them, and that is just AWESOME. It's definitely a good start to a dining experience, y'know? And now that it's summer and there's a terrasse in the back, the place is just that much brighter too!

But enough about atmosphere. Because, in the end, atmosphere doesn't fill the belly. What about food?

Well, I'm happy to say, the food is good too. This restaurant is known for its sandwiches and sandwich-like things. To wit: Pulled pork sandwiches (the pulled pork was marinated in passion fruit juice).

By the way - those fries? They're that colour because they're YUCA fries - so, slightly different in colour from french fries. Also, my phone camera doesn't do too well under low lighting. Or maybe I suck as a photographer. You decide!

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?

PIRI PIRI PLATEAU - PORTUGUESE BBQ

PIRI PIRI PLATEAU PORTUGUESE ROTISSERIE

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT BUT STILL GOOD (PHEW!)

Piri Piri Plateau Rotisserie Portugaise - BBQ - Portuguese BBQ - Plateau Mont-Royal

Their website:  http://www.piri-piri.ca/

415 Avenue du Mont-Royal Est, Montreal, Quebec   
Telephone: 514-504-6464 
Price Range:  $15 or less per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip 
   
*This restaurant is a Mouthwatering Favorite!

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(Scroll down for July 24, 2013 update) (hint: Still very good meat!)


As a person who thoroughly (perhaps too thoroughly) enjoys meat, it's always a joy to find good restaurants that specialize serving good meat. Even more joyous when the place is easily accessible and inexpensive. One of those places that I discovered quite by accident about a year or two back was Piri Piri Plateau Portuguese Rotisserie. It's a very casual restaurant with some very excellent meat. The chicken, roast pork, and steak was fantastic. Tender, juicy, flavorful and slathered with rich hot sauce, the stuff made my knees weak. And that effect remained every subsequent time I walked past the storefront (yes, they have other food too, but, y'know, I don't really care too much. Their desserts are good, but they so aren't the reason why I keep going back). Also, the older woman who works behind the counter most days just makes you happy to be a customer - she greets everyone with cheer, a smile, and a "Bonjour cherie!" (she also seems to delight in piling up food on your plate - always a plus!). It's just a delight to eat here.

Soooo... when I saw this the other day, you can see why I might have been a bit concerned, right?

Look in the upper lefthand corner to see why I was disturbed (innocent passerby blurred in image, intentionally) (but wouldn't it be a hoot if such a weird sight were real?)

Still don't see it? Let me blow up the pertinent detail:

Gah!

Oh Lordy, the dreaded "Under New Administration". You NEVER want to hear or see that one of your favorite places is under new administration. Let me repeat: YOU NEVER WANT TO HEAR THAT. AT ALL. What if the new owners have taken all that was magical about the place and replaced it with... well, non-magic? I had to know...

And so, I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and walked inside (yeah, okay, I know I'm silly. Sue me; I take meat seriously).

The first good sign that things may not be all that bad is that the happy cheery woman was still behind the counter. Okay, that was good. There was continuity here... I felt myself breathing easier...

Next, I took a good look at the menu on the wall. Everything was still there, and the prices were the same. And, right underneath the menu, the meats, cooking on grills and racks looked much the same as they always have.

Excellent, excellent... 

And so I took the plunge. I ordered roast pork sandwich with salad and rice, and my eating companion ordered the chicken sandwich with fries and salad (at the same time, the happy woman complimented my shirt. Nice to know $15 shirts can actually draw praise :) ).

We were both served within minutes (per usual) and we brought the food over to the eating area. Lookin' good:

Still a big serving...

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!).