Thursday, October 22, 2009

Fair Trade Tea

Four O'Clock Ginger and Lychee White Tea

Saw this product inside Le Marché des Saveurs in the Jean-Talon market. I had to get it since it said fair trade, which reminded me of an amusing exchange of words between my friends.
I noticed that this box was twice the price of other non fair trade teas. I also noticed that each tea bag is individually wrapped.


The bag expands into a tetrahedron when dunked in water.

Berta said this tea tastes like medicine. Renée said it's okay with honey. I think I agree with both of them.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Marché Jean-Talon

The Sights of Marché Jean-Talon (7070 avenue Henri-Julien, Montréal)
514-937-7754
info@marchespublic-mtl.com
Hours:
Mon - Wed, Sat: 7 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Thurs, Fri: 7 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sun: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.

This giant market is just a short walk away from station Jean-Talon, and it's very exciting. It has all sorts of fresh produce, baked goods, meat shops, speciality food stores, and some food stalls. In short, it's a great destination for a lover of food... or someone who needs to buy produce in basketfuls.

There are peppers hung like Chinese firecrackers! Beside a plush ape!
You can even find cheap lawyers! Three for a dollar is the best deal ever for a big offender.
If the outdoors is not your thing, there's a pretty large area that's covered by a roof. And yes, there are washrooms.

It can get pretty crowded.
Look at all those pies.

All the bright colours of the produce are absolutely marvellous!
I found Tintin!
Sheila kept pointing out the "giant green onions" sold everywhere. I thought they looked more like leeks, and after searching up the translation for "poireaux", it turns out that they are leeks.
The red peppers really do look like Chinese firecrackers from far away.
There were also various types of cauliflower: orange, purple, mutated!
Props to Sheila for taking these pictures even though the fractal patterned broccoli gave her goosebumps. I kept referring to them as freaky broccoli, but they're called Romanesco broccoli or broccoflower. I wanted to buy one just to walk around with.


We noticed something interesting at La fromagerie Hamel.
This contraption heated two giant semicircles of cheese.
The cheese was then scraped onto a slice of bread.
I want one of those for my house.
Then, it was served to us as a free sample. Yay!
Hot, melty cheese on bread is delicious. So is salty, cured meat.

We were pretty lucky not to have to wait in line. Actually, the line started forming after we got there so our timing must be impeccable.

There are plates of cut-up fruit so people can try before they buy. That is how everything should be.
Also, I love the description of "Super bonne".

Notice the roasting of whole birds in the lower oven.
Of course I didn't just look at all the food. More of Jean-Talon market in the next post! :D

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Patati Patata

Patati Patata (4177 boulevard St-Laurent, Montreal)
514-844-0216

It's easy to miss this tiny place on the corner of St-Laurent and Rachel Street, but we walked the street a second time just to make sure we found it for dinner.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that this place is small. We were lucky to find a free table to sit at. I think there were two tables for two and some stools at the bar. It's actually pretty cool that the place is so tiny since right behind the bar, you can see the staff make the food without anything to hide. There was also a steady stream of people coming in after we sat down.
My poutine with bacon ($5):
I had the choice of bacon or beef, but bacon makes everything better. Crispy fries and bacon, squeaky curds, and great taste made this a great meal. The olive was a nice touch too. I felt that the price was so fair that I could order fancy mineral water ($2).

Sheila's tofu burger with salad and poutine:
The burger might look small, but the price matches its size. Though I don't remember exactly what they were, the sauce options for the salad sounded pretty interesting. One involved cilantro.

I really liked the atmosphere of this place. It was lively and fun. There were multicoloured Christmas lights lining the window, festive music, plenty of people, and two easily likeable staff members.

Total damage for my poutine and mineral water: $10.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Broadway Cheesecake Co.

Broadway Cheesecake Co. (655 avenue du President-Kennedy, Montreal)
514-849-2255

CHEESECAKE!
The mini cakes looked so adorable that I had to get two all for myself, one Ferrero Rocher and one chocolate chip cookie dough.
Dense!
I liked the cute cookie on top and the bottom layer of cookie dough, though it would have been more exciting if there were chunks of cookie dough throughout the cake.
I preferred the chocolate chip cookie dough flavour, but I ate them both like two-bite brownies. I kid, I kid. They were at least three bites each.
Total damage: $7.90.

Le Vieux St-Laurent

Le Vieux St-Laurent (3993 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montréal)

Festin 2: 2 pancakes, 1 sausage, potatoes, beans, 2 slices of toast (not pictured), bacon, eggs, and a coffee.
I ordered an extra glass of orange juice for good measure, but the coffee comes with free refills.
This breakfast lasted me for practically the whole day. It was protein and carbs galore. I was really glad that the cute fruit cup didn't contain any berries. It had cantaloupe, honey dew, and some grapes. The bacon was crispy, as were the potatoes, which reminded me of a superior, cut up version of the potato tornado from the CNE.

Sheila's apple and cinnamon French toast with a glass of chocolate milk.
Her French toast both looked and tasted very good. Sheila found it to be very sweet, and I found her staring at the meat on my plate during most of this meal.

Overall, this was a pleasant experience. This breakfast joint is unpretentious, the food is hearty, and our server seemed genuinely nice and attentive. I'm glad we stopped by.

Damage: $12.95 (post-tax, pre-tip).

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Phil's Original BBQ

Phil's Original BBQ (838 College Street, Toronto)

Right when I walked in this restaurant near the corner of Ossington and College, I immediately noted the smoky barbecue scent in the air. It smelled like meaty goodness.

Apparently this establishment was on the Food Network's Restaurant Makeover show. Frankly, I think that show does very little to help any of the places that appear on it. Redecorating and introducing three new dishes isn't enough to significantly improve business, in my opinion (influenced by Andrew). That being said, I have no idea what Phil's was like before it went on the show.

Out of the items on the simple one-sided menu, I went for the Pulled Pork plate ($15) with beans and potato salad.
The potato salad was kind of meh. If it was supposed to be the same as the one from the Salads section of the menu, it would have had horseradish dressing. I tasted none of this. The beans were okay; nothing to applaud or complain about there. My last experience with pulled pork from another restaurant was pretty terrible, so I had low expectations. This pulled pork wasn't bad. Only a couple larger chunks were dry, but most of the meat was sufficiently covered in sauce. The sauce had a slight vinegary taste to it.

Notes:
Service was pretty attentive, but there wasn't anybody else in the restaurant.

The lime that came with my 7Up ($2.25) had a lot of brown marks on the peel and the sides looked pretty dried up.

The food came really fast. It might have been faster than McDonald's at a busy hour.

I read reviews beforehand, and ribs and pulled pork seemed to be some of the safer options.

Total damage: $23.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Pusateri's

Pusateri's Fine Foods (57 Yorkville Avenue, Toronto)
416-785-9100
Hours:
Monday to Wednesday: 8 - 8
Thursday and Friday: 8 - 9
Saturday: 8 - 8
Sunday: 8 - 7

Jess calls this place the grocery store for rich people. I don't think I can disagree.

They have a pretty enticing selection of cakes and desserts, but I don't think I picked the best choice.

Chocolate wafer:
It really is like a rather large wafer. It has a bit of an alcoholic taste. The wafer layers weren't really crunchy as expected, but kind of soft. I should've tried a piece of cake instead.

Total damage: $3.41.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

St. Lawrence Market

Mustachio (93 Front Street East, Toronto)
416-367-VEAL (8325)

South Market Hours:
Tues-Thurs 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Fridays 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
Saturdays 5 a.m.-5 p.m.

Veal and eggplant sandwich on focaccia bread:
Really huge!
This sandwich would have been amazing had it been warm. There were a bunch of these wrapped up and sitting on the counter. It's a shame we were there near closing time. Because it was wrapped up and cooled off, the fried elements weren't really crispy. I have to commend the size of the sandwich though. It's quite fit for a big appetite. I need to try this again when the market isn't about to close to make a better assessment.

Total damage: $6, taxes included.