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...

And the pork looked juuuuuuuust right. Oh great, I'm hungry again.

Man, that is a lot of fries with that chicken sandwich!

And here's a better glimpse of said chicken!

And then, it was time for the final test:  Did the meat taste as good as it did before?

I am very happy to say: YES. Oh, yes, it did. The pork was tender, and soft, and the spicy sauce was as rich as ever. Ditto for the chicken. Similarly, the rice was moist and flavored, also the same as before. The fries seemed just a bit drier than before, but maybe it was just a slightly off batch. Still very tasty though. And, I'm happy to say, the serving sizes also have not changed. Disaster averted! Thank God for that!

Now, that being said, I still have to come back (either with a bigger entourage, or simply much hungrier) and try the bbq chicken, the steak, and, well, everything else. That's why this was a stub review and not a bigger piece - need more sampling from the new administration first. For now though, things still seem the same as ever, and that makes me (cautiously) happy - Piri Piri Plateau is still one of my favorites. Stay tuned for updates!


UPDATE (July 24, 2013):  THE CHICKEN IS STILL VERY TASTY!

You know you want this.

 

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