Restaurant Review – The North Restaurant

This is the fanciest dining restaurant in Barrie and, yes, probably the most expensive. Naturally that made it irresistible to try, even in my financial position.  But I justify it in that I hardly ever eat out so, when I do, I can spend more on that dining experience.  In fact, over my stay in Barrie, I ate twice at the North, and I think the differences between the two experiences, as well as what was common to both events, say something about the restaurant.

I ate at the North at the end of last December, and again in mid-April, as I was getting ready to leave Barrie.  On both occasions I opted for the 7-course tasting menu as, in a high-end restaurant with a top-caliber chef, the tasting menu is the best way to see what a chef truly has to offer and to try the most variety off the menu.  As far as I can tell, the North is the only Barrie restaurant with a true tasting menu.  Other places may have something they call a tasting menu, but is usually a “table d’hote”, a fixed price specials menu, that is often lower priced than the a la carte menu.  The price, at $70, may be steep for a restaurant meal for one but is actually quite a reasonable price for a 7-course menu, as long as the food is sufficiently elevated and the portions are of appropriate size.  In Toronto, you would expect to pay quite a bit more for a chef’s tasting menu.  The two tasting menus I tried of course were different, as the menu changes seasonally and a tasting menu changes often on a nightly basis.

The first menu, in late December, could be best characterized by (almost) flawless execution, excellent flavours, but lacking in cohesion, both within each course, and in the flow of courses.  The first course was bits of beef tenderloin with asparagus.  It was somewhat of an odd choice as a first course and, while good, was not especially memorable.  Next came a trio of carpaccios.  I believe the meats involved were kangaroo (?), bison and kobe beef.  The kangaroo, if that is what it was (it has been a while) was the best and very well suited to both the carpaccio preparation and the garnishes, with the kobe unfortunately being the weakest element.  The third course was a trio of shrimp, each with their own sauce.  The only one that sticks out for me today was the one with a coconut milk and lemongrass sauce, probably the best single bite of the entire evening.  All the shrimp were perfectly cooked, but only that one was accompanied with a truly great sauce.  Up to this point, all courses were very small – only a few bites.  Now tasting menu portions should always be small since you have more of them (we’ll talk more about this later), but to have not increased portion size slightly by the third course is a bit problematic.  The fourth course though certainly was a bit larger.  This was at least the size of a full appetizer (if not a bit larger) and was a sea bass rolled around shrimp and lobster puree, served on lobster risotto.  The bass was very nice and the skin was especially tasty.  I’m not sure the lobster was necessary here, as the shrimp overpowered it, but everything was correctly cooked and was very flavourful. 

 The fifth course was the intermezzo, a small palate cleanser, most often a sorbet, that prepares you for the main course.  In this case it was an apricot sorbet, which I am pretty sure was made on premises.  It was an extremely good sorbet, but not sure it was the most appropriate for the purpose.  Having chunks of fruit in a sorbet is great for a sorbet served for dessert and makes the overall product much better, but may not be the best choice for cleansing ones palate.  Finally the main course was a full size main course, which was necessary given the small size of most of the other plates.  This was beef tenderloin with veal sweetbreads.  The beef was cut a bit strangely, which did not make for the most even cooking, but the sweetbreads were good and the sauce was very tasty.  Finally the dessert was actually quite memorable.  This was banana sushi.  Yes, banana sushi.  This was a cold preparation with nori wrapped rice with banana in it.  There was also a thick chocolate sauce smearing the plate which was a good match, but what made the dish was a small sprinkling of sesame seeds, which reinforced the sushi aspect and actually did match with the chocolate and banana (a classic pairing on its own).  

 This was a Sunday night the day before New Year’s Eve, so the chef was off that night and the sous-chef was in charge.  I did get a chance to meet the sous-chef and talk with him for a bit.  I discussed my impressions of the menu and mentioned in particular the apparent lack of a clear progression to the meal – there should be a logical flow from course to course that makes the entire tasting menu a cohesive meal.  Another issue I had with the entire meal was a noticeable overuse of reduced balsamic vinegar.  This intense sweet and sour syrup made by boiling down balsamic vinegar and (usually) adding sugar is meant to be an inexpensive substitute for true aged balsamic, which ages for decades and reduces naturally through evaporation.  Since the taste can liven up many things, and it looks striking when squiggled on a plate, chefs have been known to overuse the stuff.  This had clearly happened here.  It showed up in places it had no business being, like the carpaccio dish, even a few dots on the plate on that shrimp dish.  And in a dish where it was appropriate, like the main course, they used a substantial amount, probably too much.  This was another issue I discussed with the sous-chef.

If I were to have written the review based on this dining experience alone, I’m pretty sure the impression I would have left would be somewhat negative, which is unfair as I actually did like the food very much.  By most standards this is an excellent, sophisticated restaurant with exceptional food.  However, since they offer a full tasting menu, I judge them by considerably higher standards, as they are now placing themselves in direct comparison with top restaurants in Montreal and Toronto.  So on my last evening in Barrie before coming back home, I returned to the North.  This was a Saturday night in April, and both the chef and sous-chef were in the kitchen.  This time the experience was quite different.  These descriptions will be more detailed as this was more recent.  Starting with the first course, right away the portions were larger.  While I did feel the portions last time were slightly small, they may have gone too far in the other direction. 

 The first course was prosciutto-wrapped shrimp with pesto and a napa cabbage slaw, which worked very well, especially considering wrapping seafood in prosciutto can make it difficult to eat, but that was not the case here.  Like my previous visit, very well executed – but this time there was something noticeably lacking from my earlier visit: a logical progression to the meal.  Lighter courses were served before heavier ones.  I do not recall precisely the second course (possibly scallops? – I took pictures throughout this meal.  They have served nicely as a memory aid after all this time but I forgot to take a picture of this one). 

Prosciutto-wrapped shrimp with napa slaw

 The third course was something I feel is almost an essential for a top tasting menu – seared foie gras.  Foie gras is often paired with something sweet, like dried fruit.  The pairing this time was a bit more unusual but still very effective.  It was served on a base of lobster risotto and topped with caramelized onions.  A little excessive to be pairing rich with rich but somehow it worked.  The peas in the risotto were especially helpful providing that necessary sweet element.  Next came the fish course, sea bass served over citrusy lentils, with asparagus.  Once again, the bass was expertly cooked, but the citrus flavours actually made the lentils the star of the dish, playing perfectly off the fish. 

Seared Foie Gras with lobster risotto

Sea Bass with citrusy lentils

 As before, the fifth course was the intermezzo, that same beautifully made apricot sorbet, this time served on a plate drizzled with fruit coulis topped with dusted cocoa powder.  While fruit coulis would not normally be smart for an intermezzo (too sweet) the bitterness of the cocoa powder cancelled that and actually contributed to cleansing the palate.  The one improvement would have been if the earlier courses were a little smaller.  As you can see, this fish course was pretty much a full serving.  The result was that, by the time the main course arrived, I was pretty much full.  This was quite unfortunate as the main was, for me, a real prize.  This was a wagyu beef striploin steak (wagyu is the breed of cattle used to produce kobe beef – the difference is these cattle are raised in North America and do not get quite the same over-the-top treatment as in Japan.  And in keeping with the large portions this was a full main course size.  As one would expect, this steak had a lot of fat in it, but the beauty of this type of beef is that it doesn’t taste like you’re eating fat; it tastes like an explosion of juices and richness.  If I had not been as full, I would have been able to finish it all at this perfect state of doneness.  Still, I was able to take it home and it made quite the decadent breakfast the next day.   

Wagyu striploin - so good!

After taking some time, I was however able to finish dessert, though I didn’t think I would be able to.  This was helped somewhat by the fact the dessert was on the lighter side, mostly mousse and custard based.  There was a mini banana cream pie (they like bananas here!) served in a crispy phyllo cup topped with bruleed banana (very good).  In the middle was their version of tiramisu.  The coffee-infused whipped cream was very nice but overall that did not quite work in its miniature format.  But the biggest problem with this element was the pulled sugar garnish.  Sugar decorations should be delicate and brittle, but this had the texture almost of taffy – it had probably been sitting around in the humid kitchen for some time after being made, reintroducing moisture.    Though somewhat heavier, the best of all was a spiced fudge cake.  Very rich and smooth with the spice provided a much needed lift.

left to right:  fudge cake, tiramisu, banana cream pie

Once again, execution was again very close to perfect and the flavour combinations were well thought out, exciting and bold.  I was also impressed to see the use of the previously ubiquitous balsamic reduction was much more restrained; it was only used on those dishes that could genuinely benefit from its presence.  The same sous-chef was there again that evening but, this being a Saturday night, the chef/owner was there as well, though he was not in the kitchen the whole time.  He spent part of the time entertaining some friends and/or colleagues and part of the time supervising the kitchen staff.  His presence likely meant he had set the tasting menu, whereas it was probably up to the sous-chef last time, and the difference showed in the thoughtfulness of the progression.

Though the food is the centre of the dining experience here, the other aspects should be addressed as well.  When dining alone, I often sit at the bar.  This is what most restaurants prefer as any of the tables can accommodate at least two people and seating a single diner there represents loss of revenue.  I like to do this anyway as it allows for more observation of the service, since ordering stations are often in the area and servers have to go to the bar to get their drink orders.  At the North there is an additional benefit, as the bar is next to the kitchen, which is open on the side adjoining the bar, so I have not just a view into the kitchen but also an unobstructed view to the line, the actual cooking space.  

 The overall ambience is refined and very nice as well.  It used to have a corner lot in a somewhat bad area of town.  They had recently moved (though only to next door) onto the intersecting residential street into what probably used to be a (possibly) historic house.  Their old premises are still standing and I think they use it for storage and it is clear the atmosphere there was less refined than their current surroundings.  Even the move of just a hundred metres or so took them off the main street and thus reducing the perception of a “bad area”.  A refined restaurant must have refined service.  On my first visit service was very friendly but slightly lacking in polish, especially on the part of the bussers (the person who most often brings the plate to your table – if it is not your server it is not a waiter at all).  Yes this was a tasting menu which changes daily and it was a slow night, but the busser could not fully explain the elements on the plate, a must for complicated presentations with unusual combinations.  I even asked what fish was used on the fish course (the primary item on the plate) and she had to go back to the kitchen to ask.  She was probably inexperienced and, since I had no such issues on the second visit, this was either an isolated instance, or an issue that has since been resolved.  The wine list is fairly good with a reasonably wide selection of wines by the glass, both imported and local (by which I mean from Niagara.  There are no vineyards in the Barrie area).

While I have discussed many things that could be improved and found fault with several things, I want to stress that overall I was very pleased with my experience and would recommend this restaurant without hesitation.  It is just that this is a high end restaurant which, for me, comes with some more demanding expectations.  And given that they come close to the quality of a big-city restaurant tasting menu, $70 is exceptional value for money, especially in a menu that features foie gras and wagyu steak.  Also, I shared my criticisms with the kitchen on my first visit and noticed a marked improvement on the return visit, so likely they will continue to improve and already great restaurant over time.

Restaurant Review - Painter's Hall Bistro

Yes, I’m still here and the blog is still alive.  I am working on several things right now and haven’t been writing as much.  But I have a few more things in the works now and hopefully the posts will be a little more frequent.  I doubt I will ever be back to the nearly 2 posts per week pace I had back in the beginning, but I will try to post a little more.

Two weeks ago, I made a trip to Barrie, Ontario.  I will be attending Georgian College in Barrie starting this fall and I was there to take care of some business.  I was also there two months ago for a Preview Day when I toured the school and met people in my program.  Some elements of those visits may show up in a future post but for now here is a review of the restaurant where I ate on a Thursday for lunch - Painter’s Hall Bistro.       
  

Painter’s Hall is a small restaurant that has been around for years right in the middle of Barrie’s downtown, just blocks from Kempenfelt Bay, around which Barrie’s core is wrapped.  At first glance, Barrie’s restaurant scene appeared to be rather underwhelming, and the content of online reviews seemed to indicate preferences for more pedestrian fare - in other words a dining scene like Guelph’s.  But I no longer have concerns - even if Painter’s Hall is in fact as good as Barrie gets, that is plenty good enough for me.


This was the best all around meal I have had in quite some time, and it was a lunch, a service that high end restaurants sometimes neglect.  On a first glance, the lunch menu seems ordinary, with nothing too daring or refined.  But the dishes themselves tell another story.  For an appetizer, I had seared scallops with pork belly, with some pickled carrots, a cider glaze and local microgreens.  I might consider doing some very slight nitpicking, in that I think, given the size of the two scallops on the plate, the portion of pork belly could have been slightly larger to create a more even distribution of the two proteins.  The scallops were incredibly fresh and flavourful, expertly seared and only barely cooked on the inside, making for a very elegant and impressive appetizer.

The main course was a chicken supreme (this is a skin-on chicken breast, boneless except for the first joint of the wing; it is also sometimes called an airline breast), stuffed with chicken forcemeat, roasted garlic, shallots and truffles.  It was served with barley pilaf, lingonberry jus, and local, seasonal vegetables.  I am usually reluctant to order chicken as a main, especially chicken breast, as it is so easy to overcook and be completely dry.  But it also rare that the chicken is the most expensive item on the menu, as this was, and I liked the accompaniments.  The perfect execution continued on this dish.  The chicken was perfectly seared, well seasoned and cooked to perfection.  Very moist and the stuffing was quite interesting.  At first it confused me a bit, but I believe it was because I hadn’t expected the truffle, which I assume was black truffle, which I have not had very often.  Also I had expected the roasted garlic to be more dominant, but it was really only a background flavour.  The barley was perfectly done and delicious, and the sauce was a smart match with the chicken.  I was impressed as it seems almost all the vegetables on the plate were local, particularly impressive as we were not quite yet into June.  Asparagus was a natural as it is asparagus season, but I was pleasantly surprised to also see some fiddleheads on the plate.  Another early spring vegetable, this is the shoot of a particular fern, so named because the edible portion is shaped like the head of a fiddle.  Another well-conceived dish, executed to perfection.

Finally dessert was best of all.  A warm flourless chocolate cake with the garnishes kept to a minimum - just a little raspberry coulis, mango coulis and a little fresh fruit.  Also topping the cake were some cooked (or maybe macerated?) raspberries and some poured sugar garnishes as well.  Well now that I write it, there appear to be several garnishes, but they were so minimal that it seemed like there was very little there other than the cake (the picture explains what I mean a bit better), which was absolutely the correct way to go.  This cake was completely flawless, the best course of the day, even with such a high standard already.

While there seemed to be only one server on duty for lunch, the service was exceptional.  Merv was very personable right from the beginning.  She was clearly selling the menu, but only selling to what I already wanted.  That is the sign of a truly gifted server.  As I had come in at the tail end of a slight rush, by the time the mains arrived I was the only customer still eating in that room.  She pointed me toward a wine that was decent quality considering I was limited to house wine (as I was ordering only a glass).  She was also very perceptive, noticing that my inquiries and compliments indicated some substantial food knowledge and I did indeed tell her I used to work in the industry.  And I also got to meet Greg Rennet, head chef of Painter’s Hall Bistro, who came out to my table.  I was actually contemplating asking whether the head chef was in the kitchen, because the execution had been so flawless it was actually un lunch-like, and indicated to me someone particularly skilled was running the kitchen.  And indeed I was right so I was able to convey my appreciation directly to the chef and talked with him for a few minutes.  (You may have noticed that I have not previously mentioned any names in other restaurant reviews.  Often I don’t pay attention to remember the names, especially as its not terribly important to me.  Here there was a very familiar and personal atmosphere, so I believe that naming names makes sense here). 

So I know there is at least one excellent restaurant in Barrie.  As with many other places I have reviewed, the prices can be a little steep, but they use top quality products, make everything in house, and deliver extraordinary quality.  And there is always lunch for slightly lower prices.  When I move to Barrie in the fall, I will definitely be returning to Painter’s Hall, this time for dinner, so I can fully experience the best of what they have to offer, which already looks so good.

Restaurant Review - Smoke's Poutinerie

A little while ago I wrote a partial review of this establishment and now I am ready to give a full review. This is also the first review I am posting of a Guelph restaurant, mainly because I do not eat at many restaurants here. It will also be something of an analysis of poutine - what it is and what makes a good one.

Most of the reviews I have posted so far are for upscale or mid-range eateries; fast food is not something I would generally consider worthy of review. And not only would this sort of food be considered fast food, but this is also a chain restaurant, with several locations in Toronto and has outlets in several other cities in Ontario and 3 other provinces. But to me, Smoke’s is different, as they specialize in one food item - poutine - and they use quality fresh ingredients.


Smoke’s Poutinerie Guelph is located in the heart of downtown on Wyndham street. The area is the closest Guelph has to a sketchy inner-city area (the storefront on the right is a shelter and employment centre). But more important for this establishment it is only a few doors down from MacDonell street, which has most of the city’s bars and clubs. As poutine is considered ideal late night food for those who are drunk and/or stoned, Smoke’s is perfectly positioned to make a fortune, especially since they stay open until 4am on Friday and Saturday nights. I had already told you how, when I was there at 2:30am during Nuit Blanche, there were huge lines filling the restaurant and it was a madhouse inside. I went back recently at a much saner time and found no lineup at all but there were several customers there even at 3pm, not a typical time for people to be eating something as substantial as poutine. While on my previous visit, I stuck to the basic, traditional poutine, this time I chose from their extensive list of more elaborate topped offerings. I ordered the double pork, which uses a green peppercorn sauce and is topped with chipotle pulled pork and double-smoked bacon. These meats are also part of several other possible combinations, along with ground beef, shaved roast beef, sausage, grilled chicken, chili and even Montreal Smoked Meat. There was also a cheese sauce used on some of the dishes.

I’m not sure that there really is a perfect poutine. I say this because it was originally intended to be a sloppy, utilitarian food, and also there are inherent contradictions within the structure of the dish that seem to deter excellence. Obviously the ultimate sign of quality in a deep fried item such as fries is to be golden and crispy on the outside and properly cooked on the inside. Now the fastest way to turn fried food into a soggy mess is to smother it with a sauce or anything else wet. So in principle, gravy on fries should be a bad idea. While some restauranteurs have attempted to elevate the poutine through the use of high end ingredients such as foie gras (I’m looking at you Martin Picard!), this is a food of humble origins - a workingman’s food - so being too fancy and meticulous seems at odds with what the poutine is supposed to be. The paragon of poutine excellence is supposedly found at Montreal fast food joints and places you could only call dives. I’m guessing they don’t use fresh ingredients or make their sauce from scratch. So, can poutine fit in with attention to quality?

Let’s get back to Smoke’s. I found mostly positives with some negatives in both poutines I tried, and what I found seems to reveal something about what a poutine is, should be, and can be. First the traditional poutine was quite easy to judge as there are only three elements: fries, gravy and cheese curds. The fries were absolute perfection. Soft and tender inside, and the very first fries I could taste before the gravy soaked in were golden and crispy. It is abundantly clear they double fry using fresh-cut, not frozen, potatoes. The cheese curds were quite tasty and at just the right temperature, somewhere between melted and still intact and squeaking. The gravy was not quite what I was used to and perhaps a little too herbed and peppery, but this gave me the idea that the sauce was maybe better suited to the more elaborate choices.

The double pork poutine was quite interesting. With this version, all the meat is topping the poutine, so you don’t get any crispy fries as they are all underneath. But the advantage is the flavour of the meat soaks into the fries and creates a more balanced flavour. The pulled pork was delicious. By itself it would maybe be a little too sweet, but mixed into the poutine and combined with the double-smoked bacon, it worked perfectly. Here the gravy became a peppercorn gravy. It seemed to be the same gravy as on the traditional with green peppercorns added. But where the gravy didn’t seem to fit so well with the standard poutine, it was perfectly matched for this meat-filled version. Which was just as I thought; their recipes are geared toward the more elaborate, topped poutines. Some of the other options on the menu scared me a bit, such as the smoked meat poutine which had Montreal smoked meat, pickle and yellow mustard and nacho poutines with cheese sauce, others with chilli and so on. But this seems to be their focus, so I believe that those should be good too.

The double pork poutine

I think what I can conclude from this is that poutine is not really an example of fine cuisine, but more a greasy and comfortable mess of food that will soak up the excess alcohol (or the after affects thereof) from a night of excess. At its best poutine would not be too fancy but we can see it is certainly possible to use well sourced and fresh, local ingredients to make the poutine quite close to real food. It can be simple or baroque. In general, I tend to prefer the simple, but Smoke’s has designed their menu to highlight the more complex offerings, so there I do prefer the more elaborate choices.

Regular poutines range from about 6 to 10 dollars, with large (trust me, nobody needs to eat a large poutine) a couple dollars more. They have not only ordinary soft drinks, but some natural, locally bottled beverages as well. This is also a chain restaurant with several locations in Toronto and across Ontario and some other provinces. And I have found out that this winter they will open a location in the ultimate poutine battleground - downtown Montreal right in the middle of the city’s biggest bar scene. Overall, a fast food restaurant with a quality level quite a bit higher than usual for fast food.

Having Fun in Guelph

One thing I miss about living in Montreal is the festivals. So much goes on there that one can always find something interesting to do. There is also a great deal of nightlife that is generally assumed not to exist in smaller communities. I have always considered Guelph to a very sedate city, where everyone goes to bed early and not much exciting happens. Well, that’s not entirely the case. Having a big University here is of course one important driving force, as university students want to have some kind of nightlife. Today I will discuss two events I attended recently that were well attended and great fun. First is the Guelph Ribfest, which I mentioned in an earlier post, that took place at the end of August. The other is Guelph’s own Nuit Blanche, in conjunction with the Guelph Jazz Festival, that occurred two weeks ago.

Ribfest has been an annual event here for some time, and is put on by the Rotary Club of Guelph. It is part of Ontario’s BBQ contest circuit, just like the Rib and Chicken cook-off in Ottawa that I mentioned previously. It takes place on the north end of Riverside Park, one of Guelph’s largest public parks, which features a large field more than big enough to accommodate a festival. There were 9 competing ribbers, including Blazin BBQ that I reviewed in Ottawa. However, unlike Ottawa there was a lot more to the festival than just the contestants. There were many other stalls that sold various sides, most of them along the lines of carnival foods. There were blooming onions, roasted corn on the cob, ice cream and even a funnel cake cart that did all kinds of stuff fried and “on a stick”. There was also a midway, a stage with live musical acts, and a beer tent. And thanks to new provincial liquor laws, you could actually consume alcohol anywhere inside the grounds of the event, rather than only in a designated “beer tent”. Still, there wasn’t that much drinking, as this seemed to have a definite fairground sort of atmosphere and very family-friendly. Near the entrance to the festival site, there was a classic car show. Unlike classic car shows at, say, a major auto show, there was only minimal registration for this event. The way I understand it, if you want to take part, you simply show up in your car and let them know you want to display in the show. This means that not all the cars are on display at any one time and they are there as long as their owners want. This has always been successful and I know there are many classic car owners in the Guelph area.





I had visited before, years ago, with my family and they were not overly impressed. Partly, my dad doesn’t like pork ribs or waiting in lines. Also it was rainy when we were there and it didn’t seem all that impressive. This year, we had beautiful weather all weekend and we approached the event in a smarter way. I went first to scout things out and ensure that at least some of the contestants were offering beef ribs, which we all love, and to determine a reasonable plan of action. The one difficulty was parking - this event is getting so big and popular there are not enough parking spaces. The dual problems of lines and finding a place to sit were resolved by having my dad reserve a place and sit while the rest of us went to wait in line for the food. The ribs were great once again, and the blooming onions were huge and perfectly fried. We all had a great meal and a great time and we plan to go again.




Nuit Blanche is a general term for a festival that is held at night, and runs from dusk to dawn. This is something that has been done for a while in Paris and Berlin and has expanded to Canada. Montreal has had one for quite a while, and Toronto has one as well. They are usually associated with music festivals, but sometimes they will be tied to other celebrations. This is the second year that Guelph has included a Nuit Blanche as part of the Jazz festival. As I said above, Guelph is not considered a late-night kind of place, but the timing was perfect. Student move-in day at the University was one week before this event so the city has just had an influx of many young people wanting to stay up late and party. Generally, the late night scene in Guelph focuses on a cluster of bars and clubs in a section of the downtown, which many downtown residents do not like because of all the late night drunkenness and disorder. Last week, it was certainly busy at the bars, but there were even more people downtown for the jazz festival. In the evening they had a jazz tent covering about a block of a downtown street, complete with food, beer and a stage featuring free concerts, continuing until a bit after midnight. But the real action was in various other locations throughout the downtown with numerous concerts continuing all through the night. There was one in an alleyway behind a café on Douglas street, a very small street right near the square. There I heard A Dangerously Funky Night with Mr. Danger. The crowd was really into it and there was a bit of dancing (oh, and a few hot guys too!) After that, there was a great set, headlined “Love and Affection”, performed by Woodshed Orchestra, in a hall inside a nearby church. They were kind of a jazz/dixieland mix and had a good sense of humour too. A lot of the same people from the Douglas Alley show were here as well and were even more exuberant. Many of those same hot guys were there and dancing at this one too, and I did get the impression that at least some of them, and possibly a large number of them, could be gay. I didn’t get a chance to talk with them and you can really never tell in an environment like this, but this was encouraging to me. First of all, it is so rare to see men really enjoying dancing when they’re not directly dancing with a girl, and especially for guys to dance as a group. I have always considered Guelph very conservative so this is a good sign since this indicates more openness at the least. And of course no one took any offense to these guys in any way. Of course I spent a good deal of time watching them! I probably should have tried to strike up a conversation though. Well, at least I got more involved than I usually would. One step at a time.

At two I started to listen to another performance at the same location, but I wasn’t really into this one, so after a while I decided to leave and get something to eat. Yes, it was 2:30 in the morning but there is a new establishment in Guelph that specializes in Poutine. Poutine is a Quebec specialty which is, at its most basic, french fries covered in brown gravy and topped with cheese curds. Smoke's Poutinerie, part of a chain, stays open until 4 in the morning, allowing them to make a mint off the crowd coming out of the bars. In Guelph, the bars close at 2, so going there at 2:30 on Sunday morning (after Saturday night) was probably a mistake. The shop was packed with the ordering line snaking back all the way to the door. Everyone seemed to be yelling - but apparently only the customers (!). More proof, drunk people love poutine! But you don’t have to be drunk to eat this - just not be health conscious. Also fantastic for a hangover. I feel that I need at least one more visit before providing a full review so consider this a preliminary review. In addition to the traditional poutine, they also offer many variations, mainly with various meat toppings, such as sausage, chilli, pulled pork or even Montreal Smoked Meat. There are also vegetarian options, which use a vegetarian gravy. I only had the basic poutine, and after tasting it, I found it was very good, but I have reason to think their more elaborate offerings might be better. For this reason I want to try them again before giving a full review. What I will say that their fries are impeccable and they do not cut corners by using packaged ingredients.

So there is some fun to be had in Guelph, at least on occasion.

Ottawa Food Review - Part 2

I know it’s a little delayed, but here is the remainder of my reviews of the food from my trip to Ottawa last month. But first, as a follow-up to my last post, Randy, a fellow blogger has posted his own thoughts on the issue and it is well worth the read. Check it out at http://wordsthateffect.blogspot.com/2011/07/finally-finished-my-thoughts-on-sex.html

Ottawa Rib and Chicken Cook-off

The week I was in Ottawa was the week of Ottawa’s Rib and Chicken Cook-off which takes place on the Sparks Street Mall, an event I mentioned in an earlier post. Day two in Ottawa was a busy one , working to set up our event leaving only a short period of time for dinner. As our hotel was right on the western starting point of the Mall, we decided we would have dinner at the ribfest rather than finding a restaurant and waiting for who knows how long.


Ribfest is made up of several independent vendors and competitors mostly from the United States with a few Canadian entrants. This event is part of a competitive circuit of similar events throughout Ontario during the summer. The competitors here proudly displayed their wins at all these various competitions, including one that takes place right here in Guelph, which will take place this year from August 26-28 - and I will be there. Judges give awards for ribs, chicken, sauce and pulled pork, and some stalls provide additional offerings as well. Particularly during the weekend, the lines at the best stalls were very long but when we went there on Friday afternoon, it was raining steadily, keeping many of the crowd away. The stall we chose was actually the first one we came across, though we did check out the others on that first block. One reason for choosing this one was that the smoke smelled much better and sweeter than at some of the other competitors, where one had almost an acrid smell. Also this stall sold, in addition to chicken and pork, beef ribs, which is my mom’s favourite and also a selling point since one of us did not eat pork. Finally, this competitor was a Canadian outfit, based in Chatham, Ontario. So Blazin BBQ was our choice. Between the four of us who went, we ordered most of their offerings, and I made sure to try as much as possible, ordering their “mighty meat” combo, which contained pork ribs, beef ribs, and chicken. The orders also came with coleslaw and baked beans, the expected sides for true barbeque.

This was the best meal of the trip. The beef ribs were especially impressive, full of flavour and meltingly tender. The sauce, which I believe was the same on all the meats, was absolutely perfect. It was smoky sweet tomato based sauce in the Kansas City style. I am very picky about sauce, since I find most to be unpleasantly sweet and sticky. While sweet, this one was not too sweet and was a perfect match for the meat, which in every case had just enough smoke. Also the meat was not oversauced, a common failing of lesser barbeque. Some of this team’s highest accolades were for sauce, so I’m sure I am not alone in this opinion. The chicken was perfectly cooked. This was especially impressive since I know how hard it is to have chicken fully cooked yet still tender and juicy. The pork ribs were very tasty, though I would have preferred them to be just slightly more tender. Still, they were not at all chewy or tough, they came off the bone easily and completely. It may even be that in competitions, ribbers are cooking them less because judges now prefer ribs that do not fall off the bone - those that do are considered overcooked. The sides were certainly decent, though not as good as the meat. They were definitely good, but just like others I have had many times before - nothing special. But anyway, the sides seemed to be an afterthought to them, and that was the way we approached them too. The portions were large and the prices, though not especially cheap, were certainly reasonable given the portion size and quality. My companions had simply different combinations of the same things: either beef or pork ribs with chicken.

Restaurant Review - Really Lebanese Food

I am a little conflicted about including this review because I do have, on some level, a personal connection to this restaurant. A relative of mine is closely involved with the establishment, which means that it is hard, if not impossible, to be fully objective in reviewing this place. But I honestly do like the food and I feel that, as long as the reader is aware that I have a personal connection with the restaurant, the review can still be of use.

In part because of this family connection, our family event all went for lunch at this restaurant, a group of about 40+ people. Really Lebanese is a small strip mall shawarma restaurant in the east of Ottawa, on Montreal Road. They call themselves “home of the garlic king” a reference to their chef, Adel, the self-styled garlic king. The promotional methods they use are certainly over the top and some have criticized them for this, but it certainly attracts attention, which I would think is the purpose of self-promotion. And it seems to fit with Adel’s engaging and “out there” personality. He rides around in a customized van that has to be seen to be believed.

Really, the picture doesn't quite do it justice. Oh, and that dome with the crown around it? That's the sunroof, so Adel can be on display, kind of like a popemobile.


I have been to Really Lebanese many times before, so my review will also be influenced by previous visits. The specialty is shawarma, a lebanese dish of spit-roasted seasoned chicken served in a pita with various condiments. It is somewhat similar in concept to the Greek gyro, but the seasonings, condiments and side dishes are different. While there are other offerings, including vegetarian ones, I must admit that the only thing I have ever ordered there is the chicken shawarma. You choose the size you want and can choose whatever you want from their array of condiments. My favourite is definitely the garlic sauce. It has a great creamy texture and, while it does taste intensely of garlic, it also has a certain mellowness. It is also available for sale in containers on site (at one time it used to also be sold at some Ottawa grocery stores but alas, no more). Another must have, other than your standard lettuce, tomato, cucumber, etc., is the pink pickled radish - excellent! The sides are a selections of typical lebanese offerings: hummus, tabbouleh, fatoush, and a chickpea salad. This group meal we had was originally intended to be a picnic in a park, catered by the restaurant, but because of weather we had to switch it to the restaurant. Because it was a large group, and we were running late, the meals had been prepared beforehand and set out waiting for us, which does affect the quality. Also, in my meal, the two salads I happened to get included neither of my favourites - the tabbouleh (theirs is the best I ever had) and hummus. Luckily my cousin, sitting next to me, did get those two sides and shared with me (thanks Max!). For dessert, there is a really good baklava and soft serve ice cream. Really Lebanese has been in business for many years, originally in a VERY small space in Orleans which used to be an eastern suburb of Ottawa and is now part of the amalgamated City of Ottawa. They moved to a larger location a few blocks away, and more recently to a still larger space on Montreal Road in the neighbourhood of Gloucester, still in the east end but closer to the centre of Ottawa than they were before. This is an exceptional place for lunch and a friendly environment.



Food Review - Delta Hotel and Suites Ottawa

Saturday night was a buffet prepared for our family group prepared by the hotel. I generally do not have great expectations for hotel buffets or large catered banquets. The food is usually bland and/or boring and often poorly cooked. What they gave us at the hotel, though, was rather good, considering the difficulties inherent in a buffet. There was a goat cheese and spinach salad that was quite decent and an orzo salad that was actually quite good. I almost decided to avoid this, because a pasta salad is usually something put on a buffet because it is “supposed” to be there. It is usually quite awful and is too often a repository for whatever is about to spoil and must be used. In this case the flavours were lively and the orzo was correctly cooked. The main courses suffered from the more common problems that plague buffets, but they were still rather decent. There was a salmon in a creamy sauce that was overcooked to my taste, though for some they considered it correctly cooked (it was not dried out). Also I found the sauce just a bit too salty. There was roast beef with a mushroom sauce. I was very apprehensive about the meat, as I prefer my meat medium rare I saw little prospect of that being achievable with meat sliced in advance and sitting in a steam table. Yet, when I selected the least cooked pieces they were at least medium, if not actually medium rare - a pleasant surprise. The sauce was excellent. The vegetables looked at first glance liked frozen mixed vegetables, but when tasting them they were too correctly cooked for that to be the case. Also there was also some small amounts of less traditional vegetables that do not appear in frozen packets, and these batches varied a little each time the chafing dish was refilled. The mashed potatoes, on the other hand, were bland and uninspired.

There was a marked variation in the quality of the dessert table, a must for private hotel functions. There was a great deal of variety, with several fruit-based tarts, cakes and squares, as well as fresh fruit. The desserts that had a pastry crust - the pies and tarts - were not very good as the crust was too tough. On the other hand, the cakes and squares were excellent. The sticky chocolate cake was probably the best, though a nicely spiced carrot cake ran a close second. The brownie-like dessert squares were also very good.

The overall success of this food, given the obstacles, I believe reflects very well on the overall quality of the hotel’s kitchen. We also had a brunch buffet at the hotel the next morning (this being the standard breakfast buffet for all guests) and that was very good as well. They make sure to keep the buffet stations constantly refilled and the food stays fresh. The smoked salmon was excellent (can’t tell if it was made in house or not - it could have been but there is excellent commercial product available too), the scrambled eggs were not overcooked and the bacon struck the right balance between chewy and crispy. It’s not like there was anything extra special - just the hotel breakfast standards. It was just well executed and care was taken. This is something often lacking in hotel buffets, so this was a welcome treat.


Restaurant Review - East India Company

We spent Sunday walking around Parliament Hill and the Byward Market, then all got together for dinner, in a group of about 11 or so people (don’t remember exactly). East India Company is an Indian restaurant (surprise!) on Somerset Ave. near Elgin street, in the south east end of downtown. This restaurant also features buffet service. I had been to this restaurant before many years ago when I was living briefly in Ottawa and even took part in a cooking class that they were offering. I remember that the food was fairly good then. The buffet featured a wide selections of the classics of Indian cuisine. One thing you will notice as soon as you enter, is the artwork and large decorative pieces that give the restaurant a very distinctive ambiance. Along one wall (where our table was), there is an intricate mural, which was built in India and shipped here at great expense.

The lamb curry was particularly good, as was the tandoori murgh (spicy chicken). The samosas and pakoras were a weak point, though I suppose I should have realized that small fried items are not at their best after sitting in a steam table. There was a good vegetarian dish, whose name I cannot seem to remember, that had vegetables in a creamy sauce, probably made with yoghurt. The butter chicken was also good and so was the chicken masala and lamb kofta (meatballs). Naan, Indian bread, costs extra but is very good, they also make excellent pappadums, a very thin flatbread that is more like a cracker and is wonderfully spiced. There is an extensive selection of pickles and chutneys as well. I’m not a big fan of these, but some of the chutneys, particuarly the mango, the coconut, and the tomato chutney were very good.

As for dessert, I really don’t like Indian desserts very much, the flavours and textures they tend to use are not really appealing to me. But judging from the opinions of others, some of the desserts were well received, including a mango mousse, a rice pudding, and the iconic Indian dessert, the gulab jamun, a specialty here.

The price is reasonable, twenty dollars per person.

Restaurant Review - Vittoria Trattoria

Before starting this review, there is some blog news to share. The Writer’s Kitchen is now a featured blog on Restauranteers.com. Restauranteers is a restaurant and food blog that also collects a wide variety of food blogs with an amazingly wide variety of different topics. I was initially unsure about joining with the site as I also write about other topics, but decided to go ahead because they are looking for a diverse collection of blogs. This will introduce more readers to this blog. For those of you who are not foodies, don’t worry - this partnership does not mean I will only focus on food. The mix will stay similar to how it has always been. Check out the blogs they have to offer at http://blog.restauranteers.com/top-bloggers. There is also a new badge on my sidebar that will take you to their home page. Another change is that I have added a button for readers to subscribe to my RSS feed. My blog always had that functionality, but now it is easier to grab my feed.

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My mom and I arrived in Ottawa a day earlier than originally planned so we could help her sisters, who were organizing our family event, with some setup tasks. The payoff for this was we were able to get together with a few early arrivals for a dinner in the Byward Market. The restaurant chosen was Vittoria Trattoria, a fairly well-regarded restaurant in the heart of the market. Since there were 10 of us for dinner I wasn’t really keeping track of what everyone on the table was having. The menu focuses on the neighbourhood Italian standards, with the expected antipasti, many pizza and pasta selections, and secondos such as veal, chicken, and lamb. To start, I ordered the mussels with grappa, raisins and pine nuts. The mussels were fine. I kind of liked the touch of pine nuts with mussels and the broth was excellent, and I believe the grappa was useful in allowing the mussel broth to be the primary flavour (as opposed to, say, wine). However, when I make mussels myself I always try to find the freshest possible and cook them immediately, so the mussels are usually exquisitely fresh. These, while they were absolutely not spoiled or obviously old, were not as supremely fresh as mussels can be. This is probably an unrealistic expectation in most restaurants though, so I will say I liked the starter.

I had veal marsala, an Italian classic, for my main course. The sauce was fairly good, but the meat could have been prepared better. Veal scallopini requires careful treatment to be sure it is at its best. This veal had a slightly pasty texture on the outside, likely a result of too much flour used to coat the veal before pan-frying. Also the veal was just a little tough. There could be a couple of reasons why this happened. First, the veal was probably overcooked. Second, veal scallopini is usually cut from the leg, a tough cut of veal. In order to make this a tender cut, you must cut very thin slices and then carefully pound the meat to make a very thin, wide piece. This may not have been pounded enough. The sides were decent but not excellent. Several in our party had pasta and, from what they said, the pasta was cooked perfectly and the sauces ranged from acceptable to very good. For dessert I had zuccotto, a layered cake and mousse based dessert. That was excellent and definitely the best part of the meal. Other desserts include a good tartufo and a less than stellar molten chocolate cake.

Some were impressed with the food but the majority opinion (including my own) was that the food was not excellent but certainly good. It can certainly be considered an average neighbourhood Italian restaurant. The problem is that, because Vittoria’s neighbourhood is the Byward Market, the prices are too high for the quality of the food. The main courses are in the upper 20 dollar range with the high end meats (veal chop, rack of lamb) well over 30. I did not order anything overly expensive and my meal still cost at least 50-60 dollars with ONE glass of wine, before the tip. I have read reviews other places that complain about poor service here, but when we were there, the service was good. Again I would not consider it superb but they were friendly and reasonably accommodating. The wine list is pretty good, with some affordable selections, several by the glass.

Restaurant Review - Pintxo

I have now left Montreal. I will explain the details in a forthcoming post. But the night before leaving I went to eat at Pintxo, a Spanish/Basque restaurant tucked away on a side street in the Plateau Mont Royal neighbourhood of Montreal.


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The street is mainly residential and 2-3 blocks from Rue St. Denis, where many more restaurants are found. I first went to this restaurant with my parents almost 2 years ago and was impressed then. The style is tapas - “pintxo” is the Basque version of Spanish tapas. The restaurant features a menu with a wide variety of pintxos that use typically Spanish ingredients but are combined and presented in a modern way. They have main courses as well and offer a tasting menu that includes four pintxos selected by the chef and a main course of the diner’s choice. While I’m sure the main courses are good as well, I have not tried any of these larger dishes on either of my visits - opting instead for many smaller ones because tapas restaurants offer the opportunity to sample many different things. This is especially good if you are the type of person that, when faced with a menu at a good restaurant, wants to order everything because “it all looks so good!” I am definitely like that so, like on my previous visit, I ordered all pintxos.

The servers suggest 5-6 plates per person, but I would suggest that, to have sufficient food from small plates alone, you will probably need at least 7 per person. I started with six, found it not to be enough and added three more dishes.

I began with an octopus carpaccio with cava vinegar. This dish certainly showed innovative technique as the dish was presented in sliced rounds as for beef carpaccio, but an octopus consists primarily of tentacles that are much thinner than a loin of beef. What they appear to have done is gather a mass of octopus tentacles and possibly additional body meat to fill the gaps and somehow form the mass into a tube and frozen to set. This remained intact because carpaccio is usually sliced thin while frozen and allowed to thaw on the plate. The actual flavour of the dish was mild and not overly distinctive, but worth trying at least for the novelty. Second came maple smoked scallops with green beans and sundried tomatoes, served cold. The smoked scallops were excellent and within the smoke you could taste a hint of the maple. The other elements of the dish also worked very well together. Third was fresh sardines layered with avocado and marinated vegetables. A very pretty dish (see picture) and a good concept but it could have been a lot better. The main problem was the avocado was underripe. If the avocado was ripe and properly creamy I believe it would have worked well with the strong flavour of the sardine. More marinated vegetables would have helped too. As it was, the sardine was really the only thing you tasted and, while nice, did not make for a good, balanced dish.


After that came a goat cheese ravioli with duck gizzard confit. The texture of the ravioli and the mouth feel as the warm goat cheese coats your mouth as soon as you bite into the pasta feels really good going down (hmm, is this food porn? If it is, hope it’s good.)

The next dish was a piece of local lamb saddle, seared on all sides, cooked medium-rare and served with sweet potato puree. The dish was probably the simplest dish I had, but perfectly executed and one of the most flavourful. They left just enough fat on the lamb to provide the lamb-y flavour that I like so much but was not fatty to the point of it being unappetizing. The lamb was cooked correctly, nicely seared, well seasoned and accompanied by sweet potato that was perfect.



Up to this point, I had been drinking a glass of Spanish red wine with my food. Wine matching can be very difficult with tapas style dining as you are eating a wide variety of foods that don’t necessarily match with any given wine. Just choose what you like and go with it. At this point I decided to go with a sherry called Apotoles, which was very impressive. It had a taste kind of like salted caramel on top of the traditional sherry taste. And the timing worked out well, because the next course to arrive was seared foie gras with vinegared lentils, making an excellent wine pairing. A wine that is slightly sweet is often a good match for foie gras.


The second wave of plates began with mushrooms stuffed with duck confit. What was unexpected here was that rather than “stuffed” mushrooms, the duck confit seemed to be more of a sauce for the mushrooms. The taste was almost like a bolognese pasta sauce, but with duck. Exquisite. The cremini mushrooms had good texture as well to stand up to the deeply flavoured sauce.

Next was a seared scallop served on what they called a “chorizo tapenade”. Now a tapenade is typically a coarse puree or spread, often made from olives. What this was was pieces of chorizo cut into very fine dice and fried or sauteed until crispy. These were tossed with pieces of some type of pea and served as the base for the scallop which was topped with tobiko, or flying fish roe. While very small, this dish was probably the best of the night. The scallop was perfectly cooked, the chorizo was amazing and there were so many different textures going on that it was a joy to eat. I have known chefs to top many a dish with some form of fish eggs as though adding caviar was a sign of quality, with little regard to what kind of roe was used and whether it actually made the whole dish better. In this case, the tobiko was perfect as it has a most peculiar texture that provided great contrast to the dish. The eggs have crunch to them but they also kind of pop when you bite them so it’s a really interesting experience when eaten with the soft scallop and chewy, crispy chorizo.



The final dish was chorizo sausage with morcilla, or blood sausage. They use a good quality chorizo here so once again the chorizo was excellent. Now normally I do not like blood sausage, as it usually has a texture I describe as “chalky” that does not appeal to me. This was different. They did not pack it into a casing but left it in a pate consistency, so it was almost like a spread. The taste was very good and the texture was all right for my taste. And of course the pairing with the chorizo was successful as well.



I recall from my previous visit that their desserts are good, but I had already gone a little overboard on food and wine and decided not to order one this time. The service was very good, especially as this was Saturday night and the restaurant was full. There were one or two very minor errors, not even really worth mentioning as they did not detract from the experience. The bill can get away from you here, but it is certainly possible to spend less if that is an issue. The main courses are around $20 and seem to be of a good size whereas the pintxos average about $7 apiece, running from $5-10 with a couple going to $12. The tasting menu I mentioned earlier might be a good deal here as it includes four pintxos and a main course for $32. If you do what I did, you will end up paying more, up to $100 with wine, tax and tip.

The restaurant is small and is rather popular so reservations are a good idea, especially if you are going on a busy night. Although I have now left Montreal, I may still post some additional reviews from places I have eaten in previously.

Restaurant Review - Griffintown Cafe

This review is of the kind of restaurant you would never know about unless you lived in the neighbourhood or did some serious research. I recently had two meals there, both excellent.





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Griffintown café is a small restaurant in Griffintown, a community just outside of the downtown core that used to be neglected and a little slum-like until recently. A revitalization project is currently underway and there are lots of new condo buildings and property values are rising rapidly. The restaurant itself is a small rustic style establishment that feels exactly right for a neighbourhood restaurant. One little example of the atmosphere is that they serve water in old bourbon bottles and the water glasses are fashioned after bourbon glasses, so it almost feels like you are in a saloon going on a major bender. The cuisine is American Southern style combined with some Latin/Mexican offerings. There is a TINY open kitchen in the corner that would seem unworkable for serving their capacity of about 50 people, but they seem to do a good job, and there is evidently a prep kitchen downstairs. They serve dinner 5 nights a week, lunch Wednesday - Friday, and brunch on the weekends. I found the place in search of a restaurant for a large group of family for a brunch and found some good reviews for their brunches, as well as for their regular menu. On my first visit, I went for a Friday lunch by myself to test them out. While what I had could be considered a burger and fries, it was much more than that, and quite excellent. It was a beef, lamb and duck burger, with fried fingerling potatoes. The burger was amazingly juicy, cooked nicely and the flavour of lamb was certainly evident, something you do not always get in a burger made with combinations of meat. The fries were cooked correctly and appropriately salted. They asked if I wanted ketchup mustard or mayo, but actually brought the requested condiments on the side, which turned out to be a good thing. This was because I had requested ketchup and mustard, my usual for burgers, but I tasted the burger as is first, and it turned out that, not only were the condiments unnecessary, they would have distracted from the flavour of the meat. For dessert, I had a pumpkin cake with a cream cheese creme. It was kind of like a cross between a carrot cake and a spice cake. The sauce was like cream cheese icing you would find on a carrot cake, but thinned out, to the consistency of a custard sauce. Very good. I was impressed so I reserved a table for Sunday brunch. Just note that, for groups of more than 6, brunch reservations can only be made for 10am, when they open.

We were a group of 9 people for brunch, all members of my extended family, none of whom live in Montreal. There were at least two other groups in the restaurant which, together with just a couple small tables made a full house for brunch. They feature the standard brunch items like eggs benedict several different ways, french toast, egg plates, sandwiches and salads, as well as some more unique dishes, like crab cakes, an egg dish somewhat like huevos rancheros, that they called huevos divorciados, but with more genuinely Mexican ingredients like avocado and Mexican crema, and a breakfast burger, which was a sausage patty on a bun topped with a fried egg. They make their own bacon in-house, make their own cured salmon (unsmoked) and generally try not to take shortcuts. I ordered the eggs benedict with bacon and goat cheese. Others ordered the benedict with the salmon or with the spinach. The huevos divorciados, the breakfast patty, french toast and the yogurt and granola were also ordered. While I certainly didn’t taste everyone’s plate, it was very obvious that everyone greatly enjoyed the food. The benedict was excellent. The eggs were perfectly cooked and the house-made bacon had perfect flavour. The hollandaise was flavourful and correctly made, though I would have preferred a little more, especially since the english muffins were rather thick. The goat cheese was of good quality and matched well with the bacon. It was served with a small side salad and a form of hash browns, with good flavour. I was also able to taste the house cured salmon. The texture and salt level was perfect, though I would have liked a little more flavour from herbs or citrus, as has been done in other restaurants I have worked in.

The service was very pleasant and rather competent, especially considering there were three large groups at the same time, filling the restaurant. Several in our party requested some additional sides during the course of the meal, and they were delivered quickly. For brunch in Montreal, the price was fairly reasonable, with most brunch dishes in the 10-15 dollar range. Believe me, brunch in Montreal, especially downtown, can easily get a fair bit pricier than this. Lunch prices are comparable with dinner prices a little higher, but with some very interesting dishes. I have not been there for dinner yet, but would certainly like to. They also feature live music in the evenings.

So to summarize, great atmosphere, friendly service, and great food. A hidden gem that deserves to be unearthed.

You will notice that at the bottom of this post I have an "urbanspoon" icon. I have decided to submit my restaurant reviews for listing on the urbanspoon restaurant review website. This site has helped me find restaurants in Washington D.C. and also helped me select this restaurant as well. If approved, the review page for this restaurant will directly link to this post in their blogs section. I plan to do this with other restaurant reviews as well.

Restaurant Review - Ferreira Cafe

I realize that when I wrote restaurant reviews from my trip to Washington they were very well received and I enjoyed them as well. Up until now I have not done any reviews of restaurants in my home of Montreal. The reason is that, since I do not reveal my real name and I work in the industry, the reader would have no way of knowing whether I am actually promoting the restaurant I work for. However, there are so many wonderful restaurants here that I would like to share my opinions. Since I have no plans at present to disclose where I am actually working I have decided on the following protocol: I will not review any restaurant where I currently work or have worked in the past. With that out of the way, I will move on with my first review.


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This week, my mom was in town for a visit and we ate at Café Ferreira, an upscale Portuguese restaurant on Peel Street in downtown Montreal. I had eaten at Ferreira once before I moved to Montreal, five years ago. I was very impressed then, though I don’t fully remember what I ate, just that it was beautifully prepared and very busy (I had to have my meal at the bar).

Five years later, they are still packed pretty much all the time. We went on a Wednesday night, typically not a very busy night and they had no tables available (we did not have a reservation) and like the last time, they had space at the bar. I was skeptical about not having any tables as the restaurants was only about half full when we arrived, at about 6. However, within 20 minutes every single seat was full and shortly after that, all the seats at the bar were also occupied by diners (good thing we came early). Obviously reservations are a must just about any time.

The menu emphasizes fish and seafood, though apparently the chef is also renowned for his skill with grilled and roasted meats as well. I began with pan seared octopus with potato puree and my mom had the caldo verde, a traditional Portuguese kale soup. The octopus was perfectly cooked and amazingly tender, even the smaller thinner pieces of tentacles, a sign of great skill as octopus becomes tough and rubbery if even slightly overcooked. The potato puree had bits of cilantro inside, which served as a form of palate cleanser. Unfortunately the potato came out cold. I believe it was intended to be served warm rather than hot, but as we did have a bit of a wait, it may have been sitting a while. The soup was very nice, but the star of that dish was the small amount of Portuguese sausage that garnished the soup. Not sure if it was chorizo or linguica or some other sausage (I’m not as familiar with the different sausages as I should be) but the depth of flavour was amazing.

For mains, we both had fish and we both shared each dish. The two items we ordered were salt cod with caramelized onions and potato puree, and fresh black cod with porcini mushrooms and a port reduction. Black cod is also sometimes known by the names of Butterfish or Sablefish; it is very common in the Pacific Northwest. I was obviously inspired to try the salt cod because of my recent experiments with cooking it myself, about which I posted. The salt cod was prepared beautifully, with no discernable saltiness remaining. The fish, onions, potatoes and a light tomato sauce on top contributed to making a very comforting dish. A few olives of garnish added a little saltiness back in the dish, which I felt was a good choice. But the black cod was probably the better dish, as it was phenomenal. The cod was perfectly cooked, moist and almost creamy inside. The porcini mushrooms were a perfect match with the mild cod and the port sauce tied everything together. One note - my mother was not quite as impressed with the salt cod as I was, but primarily because she began by tasting the black cod dish, which was a much stronger flavour, while I did the opposite.

For dessert, I chose a warm fig tart with sweet potato ice cream and my mom had an almond tart with pear sorbet (it was listed on the menu as a poached pear). We also each had a glass of tawny port with dessert. The fig tart was amazing, with an intense taste of figs, and it also had some very tasty slices of dried fig with it. The ice cream was very good and complemented the tart. The almond tart was very good, though the pear sorbet could have had a more intense flavour.

The service was very pleasant, especially considering we were waited on by the bartender, who was obviously quite busy running the bar as well as serving all the dining customers at the bar. We did have to wait a while between courses, to the point where it became very noticeable. Still it was a very busy night, so the kitchen probably was somewhat backed up. At least the quality remained good.

One warning about this restaurant. Be prepared to drop quite a lot of money - the prices are very high. Most of the main courses are over $30CAD with some dishes over $40. I can understand why however. They use high end ingredients and where they don’t - as in the salt cod dish - the price is substantially lower. Also the portions are generous, so they are not gouging you with those high prices - it is simply what it costs to get this much food of this caliber. The wine list offers primarily Portuguese wines with several available by the glass. The wines can also get expensive but I find this is the case many places in Montreal. They are also open for lunch Monday to Friday and have a late night menu as well. Despite a few small mistakes, I very highly recommend this restaurant - if you can afford it.