There’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, something that I’ve wanted to cross off my food list of Montreal; to eat at every single BBQ restaurant in Montreal. When I say BBQ, I’m talking about American, southern BBQ and I don’t mean restaurants that just so happen to serve a random rack of ribs or a maple bacon smoked something or other. We’ve got a Places that specialize in the cuisine and craft like the award-winning and standard setting Blackstrap BBQ in the city, but to complete my list, my goblet of sauce had to be topped off with a small road trip north of the city; the place was far, and by far I’m talking I had to pack a snack for the car.
Forget everything you know about “Dakgangjeong.” “Dakgangjeong” is korean fried chicken, and if you don’t know what Korean fried chicken is, then you’ll have no idea what I’m talking about, but follow me. If you can imagine it’s the crispiest, mind-shattering, twice-friend, battered fried chicken that would make a handful of autumn leaves look and sound like a matzo ball. If you’re looking for Korean fried chicken in Montreal, there are a few places to find it. Some of your favourite Korean restaurants serve their own signature versions, and then there are the places that specialize in it like it’s their job… err, wait a minute.
You know what’s totally underrated? Tea. Not the ambiguous white pouch of Orange Pekoe that’s haphazardly thrown on the side of a one-cup metal teapot that probably hasn’t been washed since the day it was bought; but proper English tea. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no expect in the fine intricacies of afternoon high tea, unless you count the times I helped the old lady next door as a kid, who was drunk off brandy in the afternoon and couldn’t hook up the oscillating sprinkler to her garden hose and offered me Club Social tea crackers in return, or the times I’ve mimicked a British accent when picking up a particularly pretty tea cup with my pinky in the air (admit it, you’ve done that before.) There aren’t many places that do English tea in Montreal, but the few places that do, do it extraordinarily well. I visited this place recently that doesn’t actually serve high tea, but does prove themselves as one of the premiere places to go for a spot of tea.