I know fish isn’t for everyone, but you can’t get away from the media brainwashing us with the health benefits of fish as though we’re some fatty-acid deficient zombies. The jingle ladened commercials of my youth never mentioned the Omega-3s that we have become such perverts for – they only preached consuming our strawberries if it came rolled up in plastic, listening to some red-headed clown and his posse pedal a nutritious family McMeal, then washing everything down with monosyllabic neon coloured drinks packed with wholesome goodness that ate holes into your teeth while you slept. I mean, eating healthy isn’t all about twigs and berries and stuff you’d line the bottom of a hamster cage… where was I going with this? Oh yeah, fish. You don’t like fish? Hack it.
I had made an agreement with myself many moons ago that I wouldn’t review pho. I know… “WHY?!”, right? I’ll tell you why. Because, pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) is peculiar – there is no definite – it tastes different from north to south, east to west, family to family. It would be hard to compare or qualify one bowl of noodles to another, the essence of ‘pho’ is there, but like anything else it all depends on personal preference and taste. I’ll spare you the history lesson and recipe preparation, but it just boils down to what your taste buds find acceptable and I’ve decided to share this place with you that has been appeasing and filling my pho void for years. I assume everyone has some sort of experience with pho, if not, here’s the quick run down. Once you’ve ordered your noodle soup, a plate of bean sprouts, Thai basil, and lime wedges are placed on the table. Contrary to popular belief and practice, the bean sprouts are *NOT* a complimentary appetizer or amuse-bouche… it goes i your soup. If you like the taste of plain raw bean sprouts, by all means, go for it; I guess I’m just a stickler for formality, just like how I get irked when I see people putting ginger on their sushi.
My friend started with the spring rolls. Vermicelli noodles, Thai basil, lettuce, pork and shrimps delicately rolled up in a rice paper wrap, it’s served with a side of peanut dipping sauce. Fresh and crisp, this is polar opposite of the imperial rolls – which are fried, so make sure you’ve got the right name down before you order. You’re more likely to be asked by the waiter if it’s the “fried” or “fresh” ones that you want, I’m sure this is a direct response to many a orders being returned when someone was expecting a nice fried roll with fish sauce and instead received a white log with a side of hoisin-peanut sauce.
We also split an order of “Banh bot chien” – fried rice cake with egg. Made with rice flour, the “cake” is fried up on a flat top until crispy and then an egg is beaten and mixed in, served with a tangy vinegar dipping sauce. This is the kind of dish that if you didn’t know what it was, you’d look right past it on the menu. Most people don’t know to order it unless they know exactly what it is… That’s why I’m telling you to order it. I’m confidant when I say that Pho Lien is the only Vietnamese restaurant that not only makes their own rice cake, but serves this dish at all. Something that almost resembles a twisted and wonky Asian poutine, the rice cake is crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.
Pho. A perfect mix of chewy rice noodles, beef brisket, raw flank, tripe, tendon and beef balls and swimming in a meaty broth. The soup is what really makes this bowl, beef bones are boiled with aromatics, prepared in a very specific manner to yield this magic liquid that although I’ve never had before, I can only assume tastes like unicorn tears. We both ordered the “special” which is basically the all-dressed noodle. The menu comprises of different variations and essentially a mix and match of all the ingredients.
Bean spouts, Thai basil and lime are added to complete your bowl. Don’t be afraid of the raw flank, the soup is hot enough that with one flip of the noodles, the beef will cook itself. Don’t get me wrong, the place also serves other dishes, dry noodle dishes, rice plates and what not but serious eaters go here for the pho… Serious eaters are serious.
This steamy bowl of Vietnamese comfort food hits the spot and I’m convinced it tastes better in the winter when the temperature outside if a bone chilling minus ridiculous degrees and just a word of warning… Like with Korean BBQ, the smell of pho will permeate your clothes and people on the bus will know exactly what it was you had for lunch. Don’t get discouraged by the phoddicts lining up out the door, people move through the place like milking cattle, you won’t wait more than 10 mins at the most.
Pho Lien
5703 Côte-Sainte-Catherine
(514) 735-6949
Closed on Tuesdays
My dad and I were on our own for dinner tonight… propane has been running low and grocery day is Tuesday. So what were two dudes to do? We hit up a local seafood restaurant. Yes, Pizza was a consideration or even Chinese take out, but we decided to keep it classy for a Sunday – even though we sat in a two-seater booth, drinking water from a plastic cup watching the flicker of a bunch of flat screens in the dining room.
We went to Restaurant Rayan on Cote des Neiges, a spot that hasn’t been around all that long, however, every time I’ve driven by, the place is full. We went in and found out what the fuss was all about; at the back of the restaurant there is a market fridge and ice table, packed to the brim with fresh seafood.
IMPORTANT:
The procedure is as follows. When you walk through the door, head directly to the back of the restaurant to where you’ll proceed to pick out your seafood and side dishes and cooking method. They’ll give you a number and you give that to a waiter. You’ll be seated and once you’re ready to pay, you bring your table marker to the cash and pay at the counter. We figured this out as we were standing there watching people bustle around as though we were living out a scene from The Time Machine.
Our first side was a salad. Really fresh and tasty. It was topped with fresh herbs, and in the end, it was still salad… however laced with something because my dad killed it, and he doesn’t like vegetables unless they’re covered in Chinese oyster sauce.
Second side was fried potato wedges. It arrived hot and practically sizzling, the protective layer of oil and batter acted as insulation to keep the potatoes hot… I also suspect these things had a hand in plugging up that well in the Gulf of Mexico too.
We started with the 26-30 extra-large shrimps sauteed in butter and garlic. The chef was so generous with the garlic and butter, the shrimps could have been resurrected with the amount of liquid it was swimming in. Also, there wasn’t enough bread in the world to sop up what was left on the plate after we were done with the shrimp.
Then we had the fresh fried calamari, served with cocktail sauce and tartar sauce. Lightly battered, the squid was perfectly cooked and tender; no chewing on lobster-pincher rubber-bands.
Row upon row of fresh fish, it was hard to choose just one; we picked a medium sized pink-snapper. We were extremely impressed at the quality and freshness of the fish. My dad said that the turnover rate is so high, the fish never has time to go bad, by the time the fishie gets comfortable on ice, someone’s already picked it. We asked for it to be grilled, fried will be the option the next time I go back.
Restaurant Rayan is definitely a spot I’ll be returning to in the near future. The service was a bit shaky – I attribute it to their ordering and serving system, but it’s not anything that can’t be easily fixed, no points deducted. The garnish (Za’atar) that found its way stop of all our dishes was undoubtedly Mediterranean/middle eastern, the distinct taste of parsley, nutmeg, oregano and other aromatic spices highlighted all the flavors nicely. A lot of people are weary of seafood, and that’s only because of the associated smell. When seafood is fresh, it doesn’t smell fishy, and Restaurant Rayan’s catch is so fresh that when they went to sleep the night before, it didn’t know it was going to meet me the next day.
Restaurant Rayan
6080 chemin de la Cote-des-Neiges
514-735-6866
*EDIT*
I went back with my dad, as he was already looking forward to it before we paid the bill the last time. Order was almost the same except for these exceptions:
Instead of the potatoes we opted for the rice. Fluffy and buttery, the rice was a great filler, its reality was heightened by the fact that I drizzled the garlic butter over top of it.
We had the snapper fried this time. I found it to be a bit dry, but loved the fact that the meat sealed itself to the skin and was able to eat large sections of this fish as it’s classical counterpart: a chip… a large fish chip… amazing.