Let it be known, I don’t like soup. Why? I don’t know. I think it comes from when I was a kid and being forced fed soup… murky herbal and medicinal soups that smelled like a mix of the inside of a cedar chest and a damp math textbook. The concept of soup never made sense to me; why fill up on liquids when that’s just going to take up space and restrict the intake of actual food and deliciousness? As I grew up I reconciled with soup and have slowly let it back into my life in the forms of noodle soups and salsa. Letting the weather stipulate what I ultimately end up eating, I think it’s safe to say that Pho, is a winter-time meal – don’t get me wrong, by all means, eat it in the summer, because what you really want in 40 degrees with humidity is a bowl a steamy hot soup. A friend and I hit up this spot we both like to go to when cold is in the air and boots on our feet: Pho Tay Ho.
A bunch of us were sitting around talking about what we hadn’t eaten in a while. Dim sum, dragon fruit, cotton candy, abalone and shepherd’s pie were some of the things that were mentioned, none of which were feasible for a late night meal. In the midst of my trying to explain and justify why I can’t eat pho at night time, someone mentioned the one dish that was powerful enough to shut everyone up… Peking duck.
The simple mention of it rendered everyone silent in quiet contemplation, remembering their own personal experiences with the dish. “Peking duck” was so compelling we don’t even remember who said it, not even the person who suggested it. We agreed and made plans to hit up Peking Garden on Queen Mary.
If you’re unfamiliar with Peking duck, it’s quiet the production. You order the duck whole, it’s oven roasted to crispy skin perfection. I know I refer to things as “perfect” often… but this time I really mean it. Traditionally this dish is served in multiple courses, which include the wrap, a stir-fry with noodles and a soup.
The waiter carves the duck table side at an incredible speed, credit goes to him as this place is known for their Peking duck and to say they go through this process a few times a night would probably be an understatement. The meat was juicy and not gristly, also quite flavorful and sweet, this is attributed to the pre-roasting preparation.
There are two schools of thought in Peking duck carving as well as course options. Some places will carve the skin off for you and prepare a second course using the meat in a stir-fry and then make a soup with the bones. Peking Garden subscribes to keeping the meat with the skin, reason being, it gives you something more to eat when you wrap it up in the pancake – as I was told by the waiter. This being said, the procedure is as follows.
“Pancakes” (homemade, I should add) are steaming hot and is the vessel of choice to aid in the face stuffing of duck.
Accoutrements, julienned cucumber, spring and white onions; to be wrapped up in the pancake with the duck with a drizzle of hoisin sauce (homemade).
… like so. You then proceed to roll ‘er up and and enjoy the wonders of roasted duck and all the happiness that it brings. The bite of the crispy skin and the tender meat of the duck, contrasted by the cool cucumber and sting of onions with the sweet overtone of the hoisin sauce; you will not know any happiness other than this, unless you’re Peter’s mom from that coffee commercial being woken up by the smell of Folgers on Christmas morning.
Peking garden’s second duck course is an option of having the bones sauced and stir-fried or soup, as we had two ducks, we had both options. The bones were fried up in a sweet and spicy sauce with onions. Most of the meat was shaved off for the pancake course, but there is still some left on the bones. Utilizing every part of the bird is typical in the Peking Duck experience. Nibbling meat off the bone isn’t for everyone, however, for those who enjoy the mild fowl taste of duck will truly appreciate it.
Second is the soup. The bones are used to make a soup that consists of Nappa cabbage, tofu and cellophane noodles. Really fragrant, the soup is rich in deep ducky flavor.
As if two ducks weren’t already enough for the few of us, we ordered half an Imperial duck. Not that it’s British or something, but I think it’s because this was the preparation of choice of the Emperor. It is deep fried and pulled off the bone, and served the same way as the Peking. Brace yourself for the crunch. A crunch so intense, the resonance of it would discombobulate the liquid in your ear causing you to fall to the ground in a dizzy heap of duck skin crackling trance.
If that wasn’t enough food, we also ordered the Kung Pao shrimp. It was extremely flavorful, the sauce was sweet, and spicy. If you’ve ever wondered what the “pow” is in Kung Pao shrimp, it’s… GARLIC. The battered shrimp were crispy and held to the sauce without turning into a soggy pile of something that would taste like sweater wearing crustaceans after a workout… well, not really, you know what I mean.
And for formality and to round off the meal… Vegetables, just in case any of our parents are watching. Chinese broccoli stir-fried with garlic. The best thing about this particular vegetable is that when you order it, its preparation is usually undercooked, and if you’ve ever ordered it, you’ll know why.
If you’ve never had the Peking duck experience or even if you don’t have a particular interest for horticulture Jardin Pekin is a place that you need to check out. Aside from the duck, I’ve been told that their shrimp toast as well as their dumplings are something to behold as well and is something I’m planning on ordering the next time around. Jardin Pekin is old school; you go there for the no-frills honest Chinese grub with soul.
Jardin Pekin
5339 Queen-Mary
514-484-9139
http://www.jardindepekin.com/
***Bring your own wine
I’m always up for a culinary adventure, even if it requires a little bit of driving. My telling people to shut up and eat has reached the north shore of Montreal, having broadening my quest of eating through Montreal, to the Greater Montreal Area. I didn’t know what I was in for, whether it was an authentic representation of the fiery, face melting spice indigenous to Thailand or some G rated version that would make white rice seem spicy. We found ourselves at Talay Thai in Laval ready to get thai-ed.
Started off with a basket of complimentary shrimp chips which were freshly fried, they were still warm and crispy. I guess this is a Thai answer to the bread or tortilla basket… so which came first?
I had the seafood tom yum; a staple in any Thai restaurant. It was not too spicy and the seafood was not overcooked, which is something common in any seafood soup. Going to a Thai place and not having Tom Yum, would be like going to Dairy Queen and not having Ice cream… or wearing shoes without socks, it’s something you have to… well, should do.
Next up was an order of Katong Tong. Described as a “golden basket”, it was little fried rice flour cups filled with a mix of chicken, peppers and spices. Really moist and tasty, I kept saying after every bite that I would probably be ables to about at least 20 of these.
We then cleansed the pallet with an order of the Mango salad. Served with peppers, onions, mint, coriander, and dressed with a sweet and sour fish sauce dressing, this salad was crazy refreshing. Thai cuisine philosophy is being able to taste all different tastes all at once. This dish was a perfect mix of sweet, salty, sour and spicy… kind of like me.
Our first main was garlic eggplant with chicken and basil. The vegetables were very fragrant and bright, both flavor wise and visually. When was the last time you had eggplant in a dish that still looked like eggplant? This is a testament to an extremely hot wok with proper “wok hei”.
Next up was the Pad Thai. This dish had the right amount of spice, the heat was not overpowering and the lime and bean spouts set the dish off completely, really fresh and clean; appreciated especially for a noodle dish with sauce. What completed the dish was the fact that the rice noodles did not stick together or get gummy as the dish sat, no one likes to eat a clump of noodles.
We then had the duck with red curry and lychee. Cooked with bamboo shoots and fresh basil, the coconut in the red curry was delicious ad definitely worth a second order of sticky rice. The duck was tender, and stood out in the flavorful sauce. Again I would have taken a straw to the curry, but I didn’t think it would have been publicly acceptable… you should have seen what I did with the leftovers…!
I didn’t think we’d have room for dessert, but something spoke to me and I was compelled to order it, which was sticky rice with coconut milk and mango. The mango was incredibly sweet, and it was complemented nicely with the sticky rice doused in coconut milk. The sweetness of the mango complimented the saltiness of the rice.
It was about half way through the meal that I realized that the spice level in this Thai food only hit a medium. We weren’t asked how spicy we wanted the food – but I’m sure had we wanted our food a bit spicier, they probably would have been able to accommodate this request. With the tameness of the heat level, obviously this might not appease the seasoned Thai food eater, but I see this as a perfect opportunity to be introduced into this exotic cuisine; whether you’re the one trying or bringing someone to try Thai food for the first time. As we all know a bad first experience can ward someone off forever, Talay Thai will make sure you’ll keep coming back.
Restaurant Talay Thai
1585 Boul. des Laurentides
Laval
450-933-7999
p.s. BRING YOUR OWN WINE.