L'Atelier d'Argentine ▪ Montréal

355 Rue Marguerite D'Youville
Montréal, Québec
514.287.3362
website

Elle and I were invited to try out the food at L'Atelier d'Argentine. Lucky for us because Elle had wanted to try it out for a while. A funny coincidence is that she ended up going a few weeks before our outing for a friend's birthday! [ Elle: The restaurant was extremely accommodating of a large, loud group with late arrivals and the food was fantastic especially the pan de queso style biscuits in the bread basket - which we did not get a chance to try this time.]

The restaurant is in the heart of Old Montréal and has been beautifully decorated, mixing high end and rustic details. L'Atelier d'Argentine has been opened for over a year, specializing in (obviously!) Argentinian fare. The maître d Alexandre greeted us warmly; he was very knowledgeable and helpful throughout the night.

L'Atelier d'Argentine.

While Elle decided on ordering the hermanito ($11), made up of strawberry, cherry, lime and rum, I decided to skip the apéritif since I am such a lightweight. Alexandre was nice enough to bring me a prosecco to enjoy with the appetizers.

Hermanito.

We decided to trust Alexandre and let him pick dishes that he thought best represented the restaurant. We started out with the cuarteto empanadas ($13). Four types of empanadas were included, each in different shape pastry: cheese, hand carved beef, sweet corn, and finally ham and cheese. The homemade pastry was flaky. The beef empanada was very well seasoned while the corn was the most unique filling. Elle's favourite was the combination of ham and cheese.

Cuarteto empanadas.

The appetizers were paired with Alamos' Torrontés, an Argentinian white wine that was light and fruity, perfect for our next appetizer.

Next, we had two fish appetizers: crudo de corvina ($12) and tiradito de atun ($12). Elle was very happy since she had been eyeing de corvina when we looked at the menu! Both fish preparation were raw, then dressed with lime juice right before serving, unlike ceviche in which the fish is marinated for a longer period of time.

The corvina is a white fish that is popular in South American cuisine. The delicate slices of fish were accompanied by an avocado salad. The tuna slices were slightly seasoned with paprika and topped with greens and tomato. Both dishes were excellent but our clear favourite was the corvina; we loved the combination of the white fish with creamy avocado chunks and the crispy waffle cut chips. As Elle put it, "there's nothing bad about that dish".

Crudo de corvina and tiradito de atun.

Next, Alexandre brought us quintessential Argentinan food: grilled beef on a cutting board. It was quite a sight to behold! We shared the flank steak - vacio (12 oz. for $19) and the short ribs - asado de tira (14 oz. for $26). The beef was paired with another Argentinian wine, this time Alamos' Malbec from Mendoza. I rarely drink red wine but I had to admit that I actually enjoyed the Malbec.

The beef was served with a butternut squash purée topped with bacon, carrots cooked in butter, as well as chimichurri and criolla sauces. It was hard to not add too much of the tasty chimichurri. While the short ribs were cooked beautifully, the flank steak was a tad overdone, maybe because it sat there while we ate the ribs first. The carrots were cooked to perfection and was definitely our favourite side dish.

Main: grilled short ribs and flank steak.

At this point, we were stuffed! We had one last course to go, which consisted of a sampler of three desserts: queso y dulce ($9), a milk semifreddo and panqueques ($8). The queso y dulce is a goat cheese cake topped with a quince compote and cocoa crumble. I loved the tanginess of the goat cheese and this is the perfect dessert for me, not too sweet! Supposedly, the dulce de leche stuffed crêpe is the most popular dessert; it was rich and sweet, and well counterbalanced by the milk semifreddo, which was deceptively light and airy.

 

Dessert.

Elle and I had a great dinner at L'Atelier d'Argentine. The service was extremely attentive and the food was delicious. I'm not a wine connoiseur but the staff is there to guide you through an expansive list of more than 130 wines, with a focus on South American wines.

While L'Atelier d'Argentine is probably more of a special dinner destination, it is also launching a 5-à-7 in a few weeks with $5 drinks and a new bar menu. In addition, it offers an extremely great special called Buenos Aires Hours: starter and main for $22.50 after 10:30 pm. That's a great deal to try out excellent Argentinian food.

SuWu ▪ Montréal

3581 St Laurent Street
Montréal, Québec
514.564.5074
website

SuWu newly launched a brunch menu and invited us to try a couple of dishes. Located on Saint-Laurent, which is not known for brunch, it was quiet when we got there at 11 AM (brunch is served between 11 AM and 3 PM on Saturday and Sunday), but not quiet inside. The music was not really my taste at that time of day. The restaurant is beautifully decorated with a just rustic enough cabin look.

SuWu interiors.

The café allongé (~$3) was served with a shot glass of milk, to which MrDee asked if that was by design or if they had not received creamers yet! I thought it was an original detail. This speaks to Saint-Laurent being better known for drinking than brunching. If you're looking for something spiked, on offer are endless mimosas for $35 and brunch bowls ($30 for 4 people).

Elle went the healthy route and ordered the smoothie of the day, which had cucumber, kiwi and coconut. It was refreshing and a unique combination (~$4-5). You can also order it with alcohol, which makes it a bit less healthy!

Smoothie.

MrDee ordered the SuWu BLT ($9), made up of peameal, tomato, lettuce and a fried egg. He seemed to enjoy his BLT; his only comment being that the amount of mayo was a bit excessive. The portion seemed on the small side for the price. The accompanying hashbrown was a solid block of grated potato that was fried to a crisp. Elle thought it was very good but slightly underseasoned.

SuWu BLT.

Elle ordered the egg in a basket ($13), which consisted of a savoury bread pudding with mushrooms, bacon, and an egg in the middle. Unfortunately, as there were so many ingredients, the egg nestled inside was not cooked at all. Elle likes her yolk runny but the egg whites were fully clear coloured. Our waitress was very nice in taking back the dish and making sure the egg came back cooked.

Egg in a basket ($13).

I went all out and ordered the Fried Chicken French Toast ($12). This provides great bang for your buck: three slices of French and three pieces of boneless fried chicken, topped with blueberry sauce. The blueberry sauce was different and there wasn't enough for the French toast, so I asked for some syrup. The fried chicken was definitely a home run! The chicken was moist, very well seasoned with an interesting mix of spices (Elle thought Chinese four spice while it reminded me of Indian spices) and crispy. Very happy with my choice!

Fried Chicken French Toast.

It's hard for us to pass on donuts when they're available so we ordered the mini-donuts ($5) which came with a strawberry jam. The donuts were warm and soft on the inside, a perfect vehicle to scoop some jam. Mini-donuts are definitely worth ordering on the side!

Donuts.

SuWu offers a unique brunch menu in a hip setting. There were a few vegetarian options including a baked egg on avocado and breakfast nachos. They might have to work over a few kinks from their new menu but overall we enjoyed the food. It seems they take reservations which is always a plus when going out during the busy brunch time. The dinner menu also seems fun and affordable. Will have to check it out!

Satay Brothers ▪ Montréal

138 Avenue Atwater
Montréal, Québec
514.587.8106
website

Elle and I had been wanting to try Satay Brothers for a long while. When we finally got around to visiting, we were disappointed to hear their brick and mortar restaurant had closed. The good news? They had reopened their stall at the Atwater Market.The restaurant is seemingly when it's too cold to eat outside.

There has always been a line when we've visited but it moves relatively quickly. You go up and give your order, find yourself a spot at one of the picnic tables, someone calls out your name and brings you your food. Everyone on staff is very friendly.

Satay Brothers.

Elle and I decided to split a few dishes. First, we started with the papaya salad with pork ($6.96). The papaya salad was fresh and the slices of red chili helped kick it up a notch. The pork was good and well seasoned. I love the old school plastic Chinese plates that remind me of my grandmother's dishes.

Papaya Salad with Pork.

We also shared a serving of the satay of the day (3 skewers for $6.09). How could you not have the satay when you're eating at Satay Brothers? Served with slices of cucumbers and a peanut sauce, the meat again was very well seasoned and nicely grilled. Elle dreamed about the large vat of peanut sauce that must exist behind the counter; we also spotted the sauce being served with the gado gado. The sauce was very addictive.

Satay of the day.

Finally, we shared a laksa lemak ($7.83), a noodle dish served in a curried broth, fish cakes, crunchy tofu, slices of shrimp, bean sprouts and a spoonful of chili to spice it up. This dish is so flavourful and there are so many elements that work well together. This is a dish that made me come back on a rainy day (which we have been having many lately) when I was looking for something warm and comforting!

Laksa lemak.

If you're at the Atwater Market or by the Lachine Canal, do stop by Satay Brothers to try out their Singapore fare. They also have a pork belly steamed bun and a vegetarian sandwich. It will be worth your while. It's even worth a detour, just for the laksa lemak!

Kazu ▪ Montréal

1862 Sainte Catherine West
Montréal, Québec
514.937.2333
website

I had visited Kazu once before to try out their ramen noodle (only served at lunch time). I had been itching to go back but going to Kazu takes a bit of organization as they're very busy and don't take reservations. They open at 5:30 PM and the best way to get in is to get there half an hour or so earlier and wait in line. We were lucky (back in October...) and were the last people in line to be seated at 5:30 PM. This meant the poor people right behind us had to wait for the next seating.

Kazu.

Kazu is probably Montréal's original izakaya. It offers a variety of Japanese fare on their menu and on white and yellow paper posted on the walls. Elle, our friend E and myself decided to share different plates. We started with the homemade tofu kimchi salad ($5). Anything with kimchi will get my attention. This salad was packed with flavours between the pickled vegetables and dressing, piled on the soft tofu.

Tofu kimchi salad.

We also shared a tofu hot pot soup. I really enjoyed the savoury soup, especially after waiting in the cold for half an hour.

Tofu hot pot soup.

The sea bass salad ($25) consisted of a piece of fried sea bass with a sweet and sour sauce, and topped with all sorts of crackly items.

Sea bass salad.

I had really been wanting to try the shrimp pancake salad ($10). It's pretty much the shrimp burger with less bread and topped with a salad. You can't go wrong with a homemade shrimp patty.

Shrimp pancake salad.

The food at Kazu is totally worth the wait although arguably it would be nicer to wait in the summer than our cold winter months. The small restaurant makes it cozy and you won't be able to find food like this anywhere else. I also recommend ordering one of their ponzu drinks; we all really liked it.

Prohibition ▪ Montréal

5674 Monkland Avenue
Montréal, Québec
514.481.8466
website

It seems all of my favourite Montréal food blogs have already posted about Prohibition. For good reason: it's a terrific brunch spot! We headed there for Elle's birthday before Christmas. It is located on busy Monkland Avenue in a semi-basement that was not too dark.

Prohibition has a small menu with unique items. The men of our group ordered the maple fried challah French toast with fried chicken ($13). Two large pieces of deep fried challah bread accompanied a piece of crispy chicken. It's a very impressive plate and Mr. Dee (Elle's hubby) seemed to really enjoy it. I wish that the bread wasn't deep fried because I would definitely have ordered it; it just seems a bit too heavy for me.

French toast and fried chicken.

Instead, I ordered the lemon ricotta pancakes served with blueberry compote and sugar bacon ($13). I'm not usually a pancake person, but ricotta pancakes appealed to me and I'm wild about anything with blueberries. The four pancakes made for an impressive stack and the ricotta ensured they were light and fluffy. I was worried the thick cut bacon would not be crispy but I had nothing to worry about. I was very happy with my choice, combining sweet and savoury. I would probably order this again, even though I'd be tempted to try other dishes. 

 Ricotta pancakes, blueberry compote and thick cut bacon.

Elle and our friend MJ ordered the breakfast sandwich ($12), which consisted of an egg over easy and peameal bacon served in an English muffin. Elle seemed to enjoy her sandwich, after squirting me with her runny yolk, and the very generous portion of fries, that I was happy to help her finish. Those were good fries.

Breakfast sandwich.

I might be biased since it's in my neighbourhood and just a few minutes' walk from my place, but I think Prohibition is a great brunch spot for a number of reasons. The food was excellent and the plates plentiful. I liked the original breakfast items. Not ordered were also huevos rancheros and shakshouka. The service was very attentive: so much so, that I had to tell the waitress to leave my tissues on the table, while she keenly picked them up to throw them away. Finally, the big plus is that Prohibition takes reservations! No waiting in line, wondering when you'll get to enjoy brunch!

St Paul Dishcrawl ▪ Montréal

It's hard to know where to begin when I haven't posted in a while so I've decided to post the most recent restaurant outing and I'll try to work my way back. This was a fun one as it was my first Dischcrawl with Elle and our friend E, on one of our coldest days this year.

The concept for Dishcrawl is similar to university days' pub crawls and apartment crawls (good times!). There is a Dishcrawl ambassador who picks 4 restaurants and a large group (I think we were close to 25) crawl through the restaurants trying out different foods - all for $60. Only the first restaurant where we meet is revealed and the rest are a surprise.

Chez L'Épicier
311 St Paul Est
Montréal, Québec
website

Our gathering place was Chez L'Épicier. Elle and E were excited about our first stop as it has a good reputation for refined French food. The restaurant served a trio of appetizers: a play on grilled cheese, a beef tartare slider and a shot of Jerusalem artichoke soup, which was our favourite. Since E does not eat meat, she had an intriguing savoury macaron, flavoured with olive and goat cheese. We were all intrigued and jealous!

 

*****

Brasero Hardi
139 St Paul Ouest
Montréal, Québec
website

Making our way west on St Paul, our next stop on the crawl was Brasero Hardi. A new restaurant that opened last September, it was one of our favourite stops, and not just because drinks were waiting for us at the tables. The drink, named "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", consisted of Midori melon liqueur, green tea, lime, cardamom and weirdly seaweed.

Brasero Hardi served a main of braised short ribs on mashed potatoes dotted with bacon and smoked salmon. The short ribs that were cooked for 6 hours completely stole the show; they were melt in your mouth tender and the potatoes were just as good. I'm not one to order short ribs at a restaurant as I usually go for seafood, but I would definitely order this dish again.

Our friend E didn't do so bad herself. I didn't take a picture but she had gnocchi with a truffle sauce. The truffle scent was so strong and fragrant, it left us omnivores wondering what we were missing. I think Brasero Hardi is worth another visit, especially after hearing about the terrasse they have in the summer.

*****

Dolcetto
151 St Paul Ouest
Montréal, Québec
website

While I worried after our first stop that we wouldn't have enough food, after our second stop I was worried I'd be too full. Dolcetto, which the owner described as serving Italian style tapas, had a marine/Breton vibe. We were served a trio of pizzette: Margherita with burrata, pear and Gorgonzola and their best seller fig and foie gras. I loved the burrata but thought there was too much Gorgonzola and it took over the pizzette. I surprisingly liked the foie gras against the sweet figs, as I'm not the biggest fan of foie gras.

*****

Santos
151 St Paul Ouest
Montréal, Québec
website

Santos also specializes in tapas and Spanish food. I wasn't feeling the vibe at Santos with its strong red colour, its loud music and large TV's. It seemed to not know if it was a restaurant, a club or a sports bar.

We were first served salmon tartare with a slice of avocado on top of a toast that we all enjoyed. When the paella came out, we were a bit overwhelmed as we were pretty full. I'm not a big paella person, so it was ok to me. We were all very excited to end our night on a sweet with a churros, although I was hoping it was going to be hot instead of cold. It was still good nonetheless.

We all had a great time at our first Dishcrawl. The ambassador Jenny King was very friendly and picked some good restaurants. It's nice to not only discover new restaurants, but discover them all in one night. While $60 is not cheap, I think it was a good price, considering the amount of food, and that it included taxes and tip. I would definitely sign up again, maybe once it gets warmer.

For better pictures, check out Dischcrawl's blog post on the event.