Reviews Archives - Page 94 of 98

Walking and eating – Jean Talon Market

by Jason April 24, 2010

written by Jason

Last weekend I met a friend for lunch at Phouc Ky for noodles and we swung by Jean Talon Market for a walk and some produce. As we walked around I saw a lot of people in a concentrated area of the market with plates of deliciously golden fried seafood. I felt my noodles compress in hast in my stomach, making room for some friends, but I resisted and knew that if I forced it, I won’t enjoy it… kind of like when I try to squeeze that one more episode of Mad Men in before bedtime and fall asleep 5 minutes into it and have to watch it again the next day. If you can’t enjoy something, then there’s no point in doing it at all.

So I made a promise to myself to come back and further investigate these plates of FRIED.

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I went back this afternoon and practically sprinted to this stall. La Poissonerie Gourmet Aqua Mare was the name, which was pretty much an afterthought to me in my time of batter-fried desperation (I went back to find the name); I knew the location, therefore name came as secondary information.

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Like their name says, they’re a fish market, with fridge after fridge of fresh and frozen fish and seafood, but this isn’t what I was after… No. The deep fried seafood was what lured me. Like a mating call, the sizzle of batter touching scorching hot oil beckoned for me.

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You wander to the back of the store to take a look at the menu, place your order at the cash, bring the person manning the fryolator, then talk a walk around the store until they call your number. Yes, I’m sure there’s a more efficient way of handling their orders, but this has been working for them for this along already, so whatever. We stood outside to wait for our food.

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I ordered the fish and chips (…fries). Thick, crispy, battered, seasoned and fried to perfection, the fish was accompanied with home made tartar sauce. I appreciate my fried goods a bit hard and crispy, I don’t know how people are able to tolerate soggy batter, there’s nothing worse than biting into an onion ring and being able to pull the onion out leaving you holding a ring of batter… which honestly is still really good, but it’s the principle I’m talking about.

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My friend had the calamari and shrimp plate – served with spicy mayo. She was surprised that I ate the tails of the shrimp. I told her that when the shrimp are this small and tails just crisp up and it’s no big deal to eat them completely… She didn’t believe me, so I continued to eat the tails… and the feets of the calamari (it grossed her out… pfft, lightweight). There are also other fried fish on the menu as there were whole fried smelt (which I’ve made a date with to devour.)

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We finished our plates, but weren’t finished eating. We had made a point of it to walk around and find something else to eat. We found ourselves at one of my favorite bakery/trattoria Pizza Motta, right outside of the market.

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We walked around the place and literally changed out minds about what to eat at least five times, from pasta, fresh salads, sangwiches and pizzas, you cannot make a bad decision here.

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Everything was so tempting. We settled on a choice of three salads

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A mix of grilled vegetables, pasta with spinach, and a tomato salad with bocconcini cheese and hearts of palm. A great accompaniment to the fried seafood that we just ate.

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We also tried one of these golden fried risotto balls.

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A little surprise for us when we cut into it, CHEESE! Anything fried that involves cheese is practically an automatic hit in my book. Crispy on the outside and warm on the inside. There were a few varieties.

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The pizza and focaccia case is not to be missed as well. Also, DO.NOT.MISS.THE PASTRIES!!! The canolis are sinful.

A mighty successful eating/shopping excursion for this Friday afternoon. Tops for those who are visiting the Jean Talon market for the first time… GO.HUNGRY. With taste test plates full of fresh produce along the aisles of the market and and amazing prices that reflect the local producers and suppliers, every direction that you turn, you’ll find something that you know you’ll HAVE TO eat. It’s not as busy during the weekdays, but just be prepared to deal with the hoards of people on the weekend.

Poissonerie Aqua Mare
7070 avenue Henri-Julien
514.277.7575

Pizza Motta
303 avenue Mozart Est
514.270.5952

April 24, 2010 3 comments

Can’t miss at Momesso’s – Restaurant Momesso Original

by Jason March 28, 2010

written by Jason

Picking up my nephew and being told I had to feed him after hockey practice, we decided to go to a well known local spot owned and named after a former Hab, perfect for a young hockey player. We went to NDG’s Momesso’s for some Italian subs and hockey nostalgia.

Down a few steps from street level, it was like walking into the basement of that uncle of yours who still has a basement spirits bar with frosted marble mirrors and vinyl wall paper. The open griddle tints the air with the sweet scent of caramelizing sausage leaving little dewy drops of deliciousness everywhere.

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The main constituents of the menu is listed above the grill, the old school type menu board with plastic letters that are hand placed one at a time. Momesso’s only does a few things, but they do them right. Various hot subs is what’s on the menu, either 7 or 14 inches.

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I had the chicken sub. Marinated chicken, topped with mayo, sautéed onions, sliced tomatoes, fresh homemade coleslaw, drizzled with their own special hot sauce. These recipes have probably never been changed, and the sheer idea of modification will disrupt the gastronomic harmony between all players. These subs don’t come with substitutions or a choice of gourmet breads or calorie conscious alternatives. White bun, lightly toasted, plain and simple, that’s what you’re having, cos that’s all they have.

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The 11 year old all-star defenseman had himself the 14 inch “supreme”. This is what reminded me what it was like to be young. The kid polished off 14 inches of steak, Italian sausage, sautéed onions and bell peppers, topped with cheese, coleslaw and their hot sauce. I know, the only thing that didn’t come with this sandwich was a cigarette and an antacid.

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I also need to mention how incredibly sinful the onion rings are as well. In every sense of the word, perfect. No, panko, or spiced dry dredge or special beer soaked batter or anything, The onion rings are everything you expect an onion ring to be, hot, crispy and circular, nothing contrived, honest.

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Fries… well… were fries. Oily and splendid.

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I know what you’re thinking… “You two ate all of this?!” Do not fret, we did not. As eating at a place like this isn’t something that happens all the time with the mass consumption of oil rich enough to sooth a rusty engine, if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it right.

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And to make it a perfect meal, a Brio to wash to wash it all down.

We walked in and the place was exactly as I remembered it. Walking through the doors was like walking through a porthole, to when time ans space stood still, to a time where the Canadiens were contenders, faux wood wall paneling made the lamest living room look like a ski cabin and spoons were greasy. Momesso’s is definitly keeping the local napkin business alive.

Momesso Original – Caffé Sportivo
5562 Upper Lachine rd.
514.484.0005

March 28, 2010 1 comment

Mile-end/Plateau Mont-Royal Reviews

Mo’ rockin’ food! – Restaurant Au Tarot

by Jason January 29, 2010

written by Jason

I hope everyone is having a great start to the new year and adjusting to writing 2010, I on the other hand was stuck in ’09 for almost a week… kind of like daylight savings time when I usually end up spending half of the first day living an hour in the future. I’ve been banking my restaurant excursions and filtering which ones I need to share with everyone. Don’t worry, there are a bunch of great ones in store, so stay tuned!

I got a heads up on a Mediterranean restaurant in the plateau called Au Tarot. A small little place on the corner of Marie-Anne and Beri, this place serves up tajines and couscous. Mediterranean, as stated on their menu, is referring to nothern-African-southern-“Mediterranean”. As when I think “Mediterranean” (and I’m sure I’m not the only one) think lots of feta, seafood, and olives. We totally forget about the African based Mediterranean food, and in this case, more specifically Tunisia as that’s the flag featured on their signage.

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On a suggestion from a friend, we ordered the spinach brik. A pastry of sorts. Spinach with tomato, cheese, wrapped in phyllo dough. We weren’t told nor warned, but when we cut it open, it oozed with yolk. I didn’t mind and quite enjoyed it, my dining companion however was a bit grossed out about it. We asked the waiter, (who coincidently was the owner) if the egg was supposed to be cooked, he said no.

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For the main course we asked for suggestions and were told that the chicken tajine was very popular. Gently braised, the meat was falling off the bone, which we deducted that a dinner experience is heightened when knives don’t need to be involved. It was tajined with olives, preserved lemons and various herbs and spices. Extremely aromatic and fragrant, the process of cooking the chicken left it very moist.

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The tajine is served with the vegetables that are included in the stewing process. Like the chicken, the root vegetables were really fragrant, taking on the herbs and spices of the broth, highlighted with raisins, and chickpeas (which I might mention are neither chick nor pea). I was a bit disappointed however that the “tajine” wasn’t served in the actual tajine that the dish is named after. Whether or not it was used as the cooking vessel, or the menu item was just named based on it’s technique and tradition, I didn’t get a chance to ask.

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Our second main was “Souris d’agneau”, which literally translated is “mouse of lamb”, sounds sketchy but in reality it’s the calf of the lamb. Seared and then slow-cooked in its own juices, with a hint of sweetness, like the chicken, the meat was fall off the bone and really flavorful. I needed something more substantial to go with this dish rather than a side of couscous, like a bowl of rice to sop of all the gravy… or a straw.

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The couscous was well… as thrilling as couscous can get. Just about as exciting as playing solitaire with actual cards while watching women’s golf.

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We were lucky enough to get a plate of complimentary desserts. The baklava was not overly sweet and it was parfumey from the rose water used to bake it. It was a nice change to have an almond cookie that didn’t follow a meal that consisted of fried noodles and rice and soy sauce based everything.

We walked out of there full with a heavy bag of leftovers. Au Tarot was a great change of pace; ethnic food that’s simple and doesn’t require much thinking with a minimal level of bravery involved (required for most ethnic dining). All menu items sounded delicious and I doubt you can go wrong with any of the Tajines. Decor wasn’t really reflective of a Mediterranean sentiment, more than it did Chez Cora, but that’s arbitrary and didn’t effect the dining experience as we were too focused on stuffing our faces.

Au Tarot
500 Marrie-Anne E.
514.849.6860
http://www.restaurantautarot.ca/
P.S. Bring your own wine!

January 29, 2010 2 comments