Pasta-E-Fagioli and some news

I have recently started writing food features for an online magazine, Leacock's. Yea, yea, I know its a funny name, but go check us out.

My first article for them of course had to be one of my funniest moments in cooking. The time Petrovski started cooking for me and kept me in the dark about what the dish was for almost 3 years. He made this Pasta and beans dish that he called Mac-N-Beans Russian style and it became one of our comfort foods. He does this thing where once he discovers that I like something, he won't let me know what exactly it is. Just so he can make/buy/get it for me all the time. He does that for wine too. I honestly don't know the name of my favorite wine!

Anyway, here is the pasta dish that I finally weaseled out of Petrovski. It's true comfort food. I din't grow up eating it, but I wish I had!

   

Pasta-E-Fagioli Recipe

Lola Rosa Cafe (Best Montreal Discovery Yet)

Location :  545 Milton, Montreal. 
Website : http://lola-rosa.ca/ 

Damages : Average Expensive - $13 per plate (approx)

Food : Awesome!

Ambience : Very Boutique-y, homey feel

Service : Amazing, personalized and friendly

"I could issue an open challenge to any restaurant in Montreal to make a plate of Nachos better than this one!" said my extremely satisfied husband after he sampled the dish.

Seriously. It was THAT good.

And not just the Nachos. Going by a few online reviews, our first order was the Nachos. We ordered a half portion first, but when we saw the dish arrive on a fellow patron's table, we promptly changed it to a full portion. And we paired a black bean burrito with it. We definitely wanted to have the brownie there, so we chose to skip the appetizer or soups. Can't you tell how healthy we are? :D

The Nacho (notice the capital N) were served on a huge wooden chopping board (ingenious!). Let's discuss them layer-by-layer. First we had some amazingly crispy tortilla chips. They were pure corn, from the taste of it, and lightly salted with a bit of garlic pepper. Then came the black beans. Rich, thick saucy beans, full of flavor. Topped on that was a thick red salsa, bursting with the freshness of tomatoes and cumin. Next were lots of bits of avocados( my favorite!) and chopped scallions. And finally on top, rest two scoops of sour cream and shredded beetroot. The whole thing was topped with a generous helping of chopped coriander and paprika. Oh and did I forget the cheese? Of course there was cheese. Oozy, melty, soft cheese. All over the dish. And the whole dish was piled high on the chopping board/plate. Beautiful. Take a look. 

Next, the burrito. This was also one of the best burritos we have had so far in the city. Carlos and Pepe's had turned out to be an extreme disappointment already. 

The burrito was a nicely warmed tortilla, with black beans and corn queso served on a bed of salsa sauce. This was served with a side of mexican rice and fresh crunchy salad with a dressing that I could not identify but sure did love. Next time, we shall take pictures that  after having a couple of bites so you can see the insides better. 

The burrito was normal portion. So we finished it easily enough. But the Nachos. Oh my god. We were beyond full and yet we could not stop eating it. Really. We kept going at it. Both of us. Ashwinfinished the Nachos and although we were so goddamn full, we could not help but order the dessert we had promised ourselves. So it was brownie with ice-cream time.
Ah, piece of heavenly goodness. 

The brownie was soft with a nice crunchy top, dense, but fluffy. My immediate reaction to the first bite was, "Damn I wish I could bake THAT well!" Since Ashwin had finished the never ending Nachos, I took it on myself to leave no morsel uneaten of the brownie and proceeded to stuff my face with it. 

The people at Lola Rosa are really sweet too. We reached there just minutes before their kitchen closed since Ashwin had a match before, but they still entertained us. In fact, our server, a pretty young woman, was having her dinner that time, but in spite of that, she gave us her full attention and kept interrupting her meal to come to us and ask if we are ok, or we needed anything else. 

Near the end of the meal, the owner, Eric, himself came and asked us if we loved it. Nice. 

Now if you are from some weird planet and food and service alone isn't enough to pull you to a place like Lola Rosa, their is yet another beautiful facet to this Bistro. It's like a living, breathing, everyday, Post Secret Project.

The tables near their window place seating have little drawers in them. Ashwin noticed these when we were waiting to make a bit of space in our tummy for dessert. When I, the eternal explorer, opened these drawers, we found little bits and pieces of papers and notes. Little secrets or anecdotes that people had scribbled on them and left them there. It was beautiful. I went crazy after that. I opened the drawers on all the tables in our row (We were their last customers so the place was empty. Really. I do not embarrass my husband like that publicly!). It really was beautiful.

When we were paying the bill, Eric mentioned that they have a new restaurant opening in St. Laurent area soon. And that will have even more food! Color me excited. :D

Smoke's Poutinerie - Vegetarian Poutine!

Location :  2019 Rue Bishop, Downtown Montreal
Website :  http://smokespoutinerie.com/

Damages : Next to none! $6.99 for a small and $8.99 for freakishly huge meal

Food : Awesome!

Ambience : Like a fast food restaurant

Service : Again, like a fast food restaurant

So, this review might be slightly biased since I am a first time Poutine eater. Actually, no. Second time. But the first one was so bad, that I have 1) Erased that experience from my mind and 2) In comparision, this Poutine, was OBVIOUSLY great.

One amazingly big brownie point goes to this eatery for the simple fact that it had Vegetarian Poutine! In a city where everything is meat based, in a place where the Bacon is named after the country, getting the state dish's vegetarian version is a find. 

And the vegetarian Poutine was great too! Out of the two people in our party who ate the meat versions, one of them liked the vegetarian more.

Both of us veggie people got the Onion and Mushroom Veggie Deluxe Poutine. So no variety there. Though I, like an idiot, ordered for the large portion. Let's just say, that we all took home leftovers, but Ashwin and I, the large portion orderers, well, a week later, we still have Poutine sitting at home. After being consumed as an entire meal 5 times already. THAT huge.

Well, the Onion and Mushroom Poutine was amazing. The gravy was well spiced, onions perfectly caramalized and the mushrooms soft and well dunked in the gravy. The fries were as good and crispy as fries should be, the cheese curds used were soft and creamy and melt in your mouth cheesy. Topped with fresh green peas, the entire thing came together really, really well. Though next time, I think I'll try the Nachos Poutine, because that looks like an amazing fusion of cuisines. Mexican and French? Yes Please!

Ashwin found his favorite meat combination, Chicken Bacon Poutine. Let's just say that he likes it so much, he refuses to let me throw out the leftovers, a week after too. He believes its the perfect combination to go with the Poutine-y fries, gravy and cheese curds combination. 

We were way too hungry to take pictures this time, since we went there directly after Ashwin's Soccer game. Which was directly after work hours. But the pictures here are from the Poutinerie's website, and that is exactly how our food looked. So you won't mind me pilfering the image from there, will you?

Last piece of advice though - When eating Poutine, always always opt for the smaller portions. No matter how famished you are. It will always be more than enough. I promise you. (In case it isn't, Montreal is full of desert studios to fill your stomach after anyway right? ;) )

Carlos and Pepe's Mexican Restaurant - Go if you must

Location : 1420 Rue Peel, Downtown Montreal
Damages : Inexpensive - $9 per plate (average)
Food : Strictly average
Ambience : Casual
Service : Great
I judge Mexican restaurants by a simple standard - their guacamole and salsa should be better than my homemade one. And based on that, this restaurant lost by leaps and bounds. Which is sad. Let me tell you why..
Carlos and Pepe's has the advantage of being a stones throw away from Rue St. Catherine. It also has the most pretty seating arrangements, with table placed by its huge glass walls facing the streets and small booths in little corners of the restaurant. Its servers are warm, friendly and smiley.
As soon as you enter a small basket of heavenly spiced tortilla chips are placed in front of you with a small dipping bowl of a unique salsa and barbeque sauce combination. And a little bit into that basket, the server will get you a warm mug of vegetarian soup, on the house. So far, so amazing.
But the main order is where things go downhill. All dishes don't come with guacamole, and I know I'm complaining just because I am a crazy avocado lover but hey.. chili with guac, quesadillas with guac.. always taste awesome. Anyway, we went for the fajita (which did have guac accompanying it) and a veggie chili platter (no guac).
The food came fast enough, but boy, did it disappoint us. The veggie chili platter was a bed of rice, which barely visible beans on it smothered with cheddar cheese. The Salas served on the side had less than sufficient dressing and Ashwin refused to touch it at all.
The fajita was served on a Sizzler platter, with four tiny plastic containers filled with a sparse helping of cold refried beans, salsa, discolored and over salted guacamole and sour cream. They also gave us a bamboo basket with soft tortillas with it. All the veggies in the fajita were not seasoned. Some tasted just of oil. The condiments in the tiny container were just vile and the soft tortillas tried their best to bring the dish together but failed against the rest of the component's conspiracy.
We left both the dishes not even having eaten them halfway. The desert menu was like any normal restaurant's but so disgruntled were we that we refrained.
The drinks menu showed an impressive range of margaritas and martinis but since it was a workday lunch, again, we refrained.
Both our verdict at the end of the meal was that even though the quality of the entrees left a lot to be desired, having tortilla chips with salsa and some margaritas here after movie wouldn't be a bad idea.