What did you eat last night for dinner?

[Master-Classter]

Hi all - my girlfriend and I will be in Montreal for 3 nights this summer (staying in Old Town/Port), and I'd love some recommendations for pastries, lunches, and especially (nice) dinners if you've got any.

I've only been a few times so I'm sure others will chime in. Off the top of my head and from my list, here are a few spots I always check out:

Culture:
Notre-Dame Basilica (Basilique Notre-Dame)- 116 Notre-Dame W., Tel: 514-842-2925
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Musee des Beaux-Arts)- 1380 Sherbrooke W, Tel: 514-285-2000
Montreal Botanical Gardens (Jardin Botanique de Montreal) - 4101 Sherbrooke St. E, Tel: 514-872-1400

Perfume - Etiket (Simon is the owner), and Holts/Harry's

Fashion - Simons, Ogilvy's, U&I Boutique, Rooney, Michel Brisson, and then Holt Renfrew and Harry Rosen

Food/Drink:
Dieu du Ciel (brewery)
L'Entrecote St. Jean for steakfrites
Le Premier Moisson (a little french boulangerie chain I like)
Nickels and Reuben's for montreal smoked meat
88 chocolatier
M-Burger (gourmet burgers)
Cinco (cheap fun eats)
L'Academie (well priced fine dining)
74 Fairmont oust (bagels)
Bofinger (ribs)
La Banquise (Poutine, Rachel street) - Also http://www.montrealpoutine.com/reviews.html
La Paryse (Ontario: Montreal institution)
Beauty's (breakfast, 93 avenue du Mont Royal Ouest), L'Avenue (breakfast, note long lines)
Eduardo's (Italian, Rue Duluth), Da Emma (Italian/Roman)
La Treskill? (Crepes)
Au Pied de Cochon (check it out)
L'Express (St-Denis: a true Montreal institution)
Also see - http://montreal.about.com/od/foodwine/tp/Montreal-Brunch-Hot-Spots.htm

Have heard good things about:
Vasco cigars (1327, Ste-Catherine W), Also Whiskey Cafe on St. Laurent and Stogies on Crescent - if you're into this
Le Centre Canadian D'Architecture, 1920 Baile Street -Chinatown, Saint Laurent Boulevard
Canadian Railway Museum - 110, rue Saint-Pierre , Tel: 450 632 2410

 

[mgm9128]

 

[mgm9128]

 

[b1os]

Bologna was pretty damn great. Went to Pasquini & Brusiani on our first morning. One of the last few salumifici in Bologna/Emilia-Romagna that make mortadella the classic way, afaik, right in a residential area. So cheap (prices in the shops that resell their produce were over twice as high) and so good. Mortadella for 7-8 €/kg etc.
Tomatoes were, again, as in Napoli last year, rather disappointing, except for Camona tomatoes from Sardegna, which I love.
More pics of Trattoria di Via Serra and Osteria Bottega incoming later/tomorrow.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

Winter is here, so Mushroom risotto. Took four hours to double reduce the stock, Carnaroli rice with swiss browns, garlic, dried chilli, fresh oregano and parsley which the frosts haven't killed off. Finished with some Pecorino Romano and washed down with a McLaren Vale Lode Star 2015 Shiraz. The wine was part of a ultra cheap mixed dozen from a local wine co-op. Very tempted to get more.

 

[b1os]

All'Osteria Bottega:

Great place. Very attentive and friendly owner. The female waitress was very friendly too. The male waiter who served us for the most part would be more adequately placed in front of the Buckingham Palace, since he kept a straight face ALL THE ******* TIME, even after we've commented on things, even explained stuff, or passing on regards to the chef, and he didn't even reply (in Italian and in English). What the ****. There were two other male waiters who seemed far more friendy. Overall a slightly weird chemistry in the staff.

Prices are in the upper region but still decent. The owner takes great pride in his selection of salumi and formaggi from the region at 10-20 €/plate as antipasti, but since we went to Pasquini earlier in the day we were already full of salumi. We still wanted to try the salsiccia cruda (essentially just very mildly seasoned raw pork meat with a hefty sprinkling of pepper (like 2 € per ball). Very nice. We've also chosen a serving of baby artichokes, "conserved" in olive oil by "ladies in the mountains", close to Bologna. 6 €. 5 whole baby artichokes. In decent/good olive oil. Just very slightly acidic, not overly, like most of the conserved stuff. I could eat this every day. Soo good. I really could eat this every day.



For primi piatti, we had tortellini in brodo [a broth made of capon and at times other meats too] and tagliatelle al ragù bolognese, both probably the main classic dishes of Bologna. Forgot to take pictures because we had too much of an appetite. The tortellini in brodo were really nice. Usually filled with mortadella, maybe some prosciutto etc, parmiggiano, egg and spices. The tagliatelle were the thinnest of the ones I've tried and tasty--not to say that thinner=better. The ragù was delicious.
Both around 14/16 €.

For the mains we had sweetbread with Parmigiano, fave and peas, a fave and peas (?) purée, and some balsamic vinegar. served relatively lukewarm (intended), it was on the mild side and delicious. Sweetbreads were very tender.

We also had the pigeon, which is a staple at All'Osteria Bottega. Perfeclty cooked (in my opinion), 100% tender throughout. But with a twist, from what I can tell: the legs and wings were a tad crispy, and more cooked through, but still perfectly tender. Served on a slightly bitter kind of veggie (dandelion maybe?) with bits of pancetta. The sauce actually reminded us of German roasts/roulades. In the end we've concluded that it tasted a lot like red cabbage, which may have invoked the associations. Either way, delicious.
The pigeon was 22 €, the sweetbreads 16 €.

The only criticism might've been that the aged Parmigiano was slightly too powerful for the sweetbreads and the sauce for the pigeon maybe a bit for it too. Other than than, all great.



For dessert we've had zuppa inglese, which was phenomenal. Essentially cantuccini or similar soaked in potent grappa?, served with layers of crema bolognese (?)--that's what some gelati were called like but now that I'm googling it I can't find anything... anyway, a relatively egg-centric cream. Might've been a classic custard, I'm no expert at it. Really good. The caffè was surprisingly good too. A rather light blend but extracted perfectly.
Dessert was a cheap 6 €, given the ingredients involved.

Unfortunately, their "wine menu" is a bit on the expensive side. They don't have a cheap-ish house red but their cheapeast bottle of vino rosso started at 25 €, which is, considering the overall prices of the place, a bit hefty. It was nice, but a tad too warm.
Overall a must-eat if you're spending a few days in Bologna.

 

[b1os]

Now... Trattoria di Via Serra... Wow. Such a cozy, great place. Great(!) owners, great waitresses, great food, great prices. Located in an--imo--great area. Anyway.

The owners,Tomasso and Flavio, operated a restaurant in the mountains around Bologna before they opened Trattoria di Via Serra in Bolognina (just a tad north of the stazione centrale, just outside of the "ring road/city walls") in Bologna. It's a rather anarchic area, beautiful, quite a bit like parts of Berlin, with its own problems of gentrification etc. Either way, we've spent a good deal of time there (we've had four lengthy lunches in the area--three of which, in a row, at Trattoria di Via Serra) and calmed our full bellies on a nicely located bench with a cold bottle Moretti/Nastro Azzurri from the local Pakistani.

Anyway, the "antipasti":

Their version of "piada romagnola", with a thicker bread, served with squacquerone--like a thick cheesy yoghurt--, and some compote of figs. Good stuff.



"Crescentini", with mushrooms. Nicely flavourful.



Their daily soups. I love the presentation. Very tasty too. Potato base and green veggies.



Tosone--the remains of the parmigiano reggiano production, what they scrape off to shape the wheels. Very young, wrapped in pancetta. A tad chewy, of course, so cutting off smaller portions is advised. The bread generally served with the meal, I think sourbread, helps. Delicious though, the vinaigrette for the salad is nice too--simplistic with only good aceto balsamico and olive oil I think.



Now on to the primi piatti:

Tortelloni filled with a ricotta/sage mixture (SOOOOO soft, "fluffy" and creamy, god damn!) in sage butter. This was so "mild" yet just perfect.



Gramigna served in a "salsicca ragù". The salsiccia was fennel-based. It was very, very good, not as delicate as the tortelloni but super comfy and delicious.



This was served on June 2nd, Festa della Republica in Italy, for a "Slow Food event -- Trattoria di Via Serra is well integreated in the Slow Food movement--for the earthquake casualties in Italy. All of the profits go towards them. Chitarra served in a fave cream with lods of aged pecorino and crispy pancetta on top. Very good, but not my favorite. Probably because it's more Roman than Emilia-Romagnan to me.



Tagliatelle al ragù. The tagliatelle are relatively thick, quite al dente, a bit difficult to eat with a fork, but delicious. The ragù is on the acidic side but well-rounded throughout.



Probably the only "disappointment" at Trattoria di Via Serra. Tagliatelle, coated in a (very mild) stinging nettle (?) pesto, with (very mild) porcini and chanterelles. Just lacked a bit of flavour, imo.


Tortellini in Brodo: great stuff. Nice broth, great tortellini.


Secondi etc tomorrow. Tired and picture limit per post reached. Sorry for the spam.

Spoiler: can't remove the large pictures

 

[b1os]

Idk how to remove all the repeated huge pictures at the end of the post. :/ Edit: Hid them inside a spoiler tag, but just removing them and pressing save doesn't do anything.

And I'm hungry again now.

 

[b1os]

Alright, the remaining pics with maybe a bit less drunk rambling.

We also had a liver paté made from some small bird as antipasti, served as an ice scoop, drizzled with pistacchios, along with brioche, some pear jam and raspberries. Very nice.

This was heaven. Deboned rabbit, wrapped in pancetta, and seasoned with rosemary and other stuff. Juicy.

Spoiler: Inside

Same idea. Some small chicken from the countryside, deboned, wrapped in its skin, seasoned with other herbs than the rabbit. Quite rich (the skin being rather ***** on these) but very delicious as well. No dry bits, all juicy.



Chocolate fondant cake without flour/yeast. We've also had Zuppa Inglese but compared to Bottega's it just couldn't keep up at all. Sponge cake soaked in not as much alcohol and light vanilla and chocolate pudding.



One of the goodies at Via Serra: nocino. For free. Be it one glass or three. Delicious stuff too.



House wine is good value too. Organic/natural wine from right next to Bologna. Blend of Barbera and Sauvignon. On the brighter/acidic side, but delicious. 12 € per liter.

Spoiler: wine

Antipasti range at 8-9 €, primi piatti at 8-10 € and secondi at 14-16 €. Dolci are 5 €. Overall a great value, imo. Can be difficult to get a table. They don't take orders by mail/facebook, only via telephone, and they don't really answer it that often either. Flavio showed us a list of 20 mails that came in just that day requesting reservations and it wasn't even 3pm yet, so their system is understandable. The best bet is to just show up and hope for a free spot (as an alternative there's still Nonna Aurora like 500 meters aways, see below), or show up to make a reservation.
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We've also had lunch at Le Golosità di Nonna Aurora, also in Bolognina. A cozy atmosphere and friendly waiters too. Nice mix of locals ranging from businessmen to people in their 80s. The tortellini in brodo were good although the broth wasn't quite as good as Bottega's or Via Serra's. The tagliatelle al ragù were among the better, the ragù being a bit differently flavoured than usual. More pepper among other things.
For secondi we had their tripes, which were delicious, and filled zucchini with "meat balls", the meat balls being very heavy on the parmigiano, I believe. Good too, would gladly return again.

When we arrived in Bologna we had a quick cheap lunch at Osteria dell'Orsa, who serve tagliatelle al ragù at 6 € (relatively small serving though). Pasta was good, ragù too acidic. House wine was too warm.

Overall I wasn't blown away by the ragùs, simply because I believe mine taste equally well or even better at times. Still delicious, of course.

We picked out two Slow Food places in Modena for lunch on our day trip to Modena/Parma, which were supposed to be open on a Monday (lots of places are closed on Mondays). The first one was closed for whatever reason, the second one was closed for repairs. So we drove to Parma by train and had lunch at an alternative, Trattoria Corrieri, a huge museum-like place. I knew that it wasn't going to be personal or whatever, but I figured the food had to be decent.
The waiters were indeed not personal at all. We had lots of salumi and Culatello di Zibello as well as torta fritta, which was all delicious, along a nice bottle of Lambrusco.
For primis we had a mix of tortelloni and capeletti in brodo. The tortelloni (ravioli) were overcooked and did not taste good either, having had the ones at Via Serra before. The brodo was weak, the capeletti had a weird filling and were overcooked as well. Disappointing.
We tried the horse meat tartare (there's a lot of history involved with horse meat production/consumption in Emilia-Romagna). Seasoned with salt. The meat was delicious.
Overall it's not a place I would recommend. I wouldn't return either.
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I'm not the biggest fan of ice cream, but being in Bologna one has to eat some, and we did, sometimes twice per day. Galliera 49, Funivia, etc. Can't really go wrong with any of the more frequented (or better-rated) gelaterias. Very creamy texture, rather rich at times.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

Cold bleak Friday so a vegetarian lasagna made with Linda Mac veg mine. Sauce reduced over three hours, organic tinned tomato and paste,black olives, Swiss browns,Spanish onions,eggplant. Organic garlic and dried chilli, parsley and Mozzarella on top.

With a fresh picked red oak lettuce & rocket salad dressed simply with irganic EV Olive oil, lemon and salt.

Washed down with a 2016 Liz Richardson Victorian Cab Merlot and NZ V Samoa rugby test.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

TRUFFLES

First one of the season now to decide what to do with it on Sunday night.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

Sunday night home made spelt fettuccine, left the truffle with half a dozen eggs for a day and used four of them with 250 gram of spelt flour for a very soft thin pasta.

The sauce was a Swiss Brown, King Brown and cream reduction then added the grated truffle with garlic let it simmer a bit then some Pecorino Romano to serve.

Served up with a mixed green salad from the veggie garden and washed down with a Mornington Peninsula Ten Minutes by Tractor X 2015.

 

[GeorgeC]

Hi all - my girlfriend and I will be in Montreal for 3 nights this summer (staying in Old Town/Port), and I'd love some recommendations for pastries, lunches, and especially (nice) dinners if you've got any.

Seeing that you'll be staying in Old Montreal, you might wanna check out for lunch Olive et gourmando but it's a VERY popular spot. For a nice dinner, le Serpent, again in Old Montreal, is very good.

Pastries in Old Montreal : Maison Christian Faure. One of the best in the city.

You might wanna leave the crowds/tourists in Old Montreal behind and hit the Mile End. Tons of great little restaurants, third wave cafés, bars etc. Check out Larry's for casual dining or brunch. Larry's is, by the way, not far from Les Étoffes, a small boutique that sells Lemaire, SNS,etc.

Have fun!

 

[Synthese]

Excellent, thank you!

 

[MichaelCee]

pangasius fish with brown rice topped with teriyaki sauce and a dash of low sodium soy sauce... fresh papaya and mango for dessert