Last week I talked about Southern barbecue – ribs, chicken, brisket and other delicious meats slowly smoked over wood fire. This week I’m talking about barbecue again, but from the east. Way east for Chinese style barbecue. I’ve written about Dak Hing before, my favourite place for Chinese barbecue uptown. Succulent whole roast pork with impossibly crispy and crunch skin, deep and flavourful poached free-range chicken in seasoned soya sauce and fiery red and tender barbecue pork. This time we’re heading to Chinatown to a classic spot that has been serving up some of the best Hong Kong style Chinese barbecue in the city for ages – Dobe and Andy.
Here’s your Jason fun fact of the week: I’m a certified KCBS BBQ judge. What does that even mean? It means in the summer, I drive hours alone to different cities in Canada and Northeastern United States to eat and judge barbecue. Don’t get this confused with the traveling “ribfest” carnival. A KCBS barbecue competition is an event where professional teams from all over gather for a weekend to meticulously cook chicken, ribs, pork and brisket for prize money and bragging rights. All for a chance to be invited to the Jack Daniels’ World Championship Invitational BBQ competition.
Obviously, my barbecue travels are on ice for the foreseeable future. But I yearn. Local spots (and competition veterans) Blackstrap BBQ and Lattuca BBQ fill the void temporarily. As well as spots like, Icehouse, Paradis BBQ and Rubs that also serve BBQ. Recently I heard about a new barbecue place in Montreal; Smokebox Fumoir & BBQ so I had to checked it out.
I often get asked for Thai recommendations. Like an old man, I start my answers with, “Picture it, Montreal 2012… a quaint little mom and pop Thai eatery located in Little Italy. Unassuming and under the radar serving the best Pad Thai west of the Mekong…” This place closed a while ago and will forever be my golden standard by which all Thai food is compared to. They were old fashioned, unpretentious and served delicious homemade food. Since then, there have been many restaurants serving delicious Thai food. Fun places run by younger generations trying to make this cuisine cool. With spots like Thammada, Pamika, Mae Sri, and Thai Sep it’s easy to see why Thai food has become so popular.
I rarely write about restaurants off-island. But I happened to be in Laval-West and remembered someone telling me about a family run Thai/Cambodian restaurant that I should check out. Who am I to overlook a place serving spicy Southeast Asian food on one of the year’s coldest? I stopped by Lotus d’Asie to get my fix.
I’m considering changing the name of this site to Shut Up and Eat Fried Chicken – your go-to source for fried chicken content; all fried chicken, all the time. What can I do when there are literally new chicken places opening up by the hour? I remember when Korean Fried Chicken (KFC) wasn’t even a thing yet. I had Yangnyeom Chicken for the first time 12 years ago at one of my favourite spots, Chez Hwang (closed) – a family run spot in N.D.G.
They explained that it was almost like General Tao. I was sold before tao. But it was so much more than just a lazy equivalent. The batter, the fact that it came on the bone, the sauce. Then came the different variations! It didn’t stop. Places like Mon Ami, Comon, Dawa, Corilla, and Olivia’s Authentic Chicken are proof now of how far yangnyeom Chicken has come and where it’s going. To add to the list, this week I checked out the newest Korean fried chicken spot in Saint-Henri, Les Crazy Chickens.
What do you know about food from the Congo? I know as much about Congolese food as I do about the Franco-Prussian war of 1870; I know nothing about the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Obviously I was pumped to try a new food I’ve never had before. I told myself, “Jason, forget everything you know about Congolese food”, so I did. I’m not going to sit here and tell you some contrived story and gush about “how much I love African food and this is now my new favourite place” because I literally have nothing to compare it to. Not that I would be so trite anyways. So when I was invited by Le Uptown to try their Congolese grilled chicken, I was excited to see what it was all about.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; K.F.C. is better than K.F.C… wait, what? You heard me, Korean Fried Chicken is better than K.F.C. Wherever it is in Montreal, I’ve had it. From my current favourite and gold standard Comon in Verdun, to the OG chicken spots Dawa and Mon Ami in NDG or Hoya in the Plateau and the new comers Olivia’s and Matjip, I’ve gone in deep. I think I’ve eaten my weight in Korean fried chicken in Montreal, all 185 pounds. Stop laughing. So you know I had to investigate when I got word that there was a new spot in the West Island for KFC. How could I say no? I had to. It’s my duty, for science… and safety. This week I visited Corrilla in Kirkland.
The Farsides recently introduced their new delivery menu featuring Hat Yai fried chicken. Hat Yai chicken originates from the Souther Thai town of Hat Yai that is located next to the Malaysian border. I remember fondly having this Thai fried chicken in night markets in Southeast Asia. The chicken is usually served with a generous scoop of deep fried shallots with a side of sticky rice. I haven’t been able to find anyone who makes Thai style friend chicken in Montreal, so when The Farsides hit me up and wanted to send me a sample of their new delivery and takeout menu, I was excited to accept the offer.
Does anyone else remember 49 cent pizza on Saint-Mathieu and de Maisoneuve? Many Fridays of my youth were spent taking the 165 bus down Cote des Neiges to cop the best deal on pizza in the city. For $2, you got two slices of the shadiest pizza and a drink. The food was questionable at best but the risk was part of the experience. It was one of the few places you can go eat fully knowing you’d probably get sick…and you were ok with that. There was a time where you could get a slice almost anywhere in Montreal until these slice shops slowly dried up. Recently, there has been a literal boom in by-the-slice shops, but not just ordinary pizza; New York-style pizza to be exact. I checked out the newest spot slinging slices, Pizza Toni.
In the past five to eight years, the proliferation of ramen shops in the city has blossomed to a point where you can get decent ramen almost anywhere in the city. My favorites are still Yokato Yobabai and Kazu, don’t @ me. At the same time as the ramen rise, there was a variable poke bloom as well. When was the last time you got a poke? No, not that thirsty thing you did on Facebook to get your crush to notice you. I meant poké; the delicious dish of soy sauce marinated raw fish tossed with savoury aromatics like scallions, red onion, sesame.
What if I told you, you can now get ramen, poke annnd the city’s best taro latte all at the same time? That’s right, the newest hotspot in NDG is located at Mia Café Club AKA, Ca Lem AKA Caviar Sushi Poke & Ramen.
Montreal has some great Chinese restaurants, this we know. But did you know that we have different restaurants that serve very specific and regional cuisines? There are considered to be eight regional cuisines in China. The cooking styles are familiar but very distinct and differ from each other. Some of my favourites are Beijing, Mon Nan, and Kam Fung for Cantonese, Hong Mere and Gia ba for Sichuan, and Nouilles Lanzhou and Delice Oriental for Jiangsu. I recently went to a small local spot for some delicious Taiwanese food. Although not part of China, Taiwanese is indigenously Chinese and the food shares many of the same qualities. I visited Maison Mignon to get my fix of Taiwanese comfort food.