Montreal the best of the rest

Well, well, well. It's been a while. My 2015 resolution is to "stay connected". Hence this blog post. I remembered I hadn't finished my blog post about Montreal from 2014 and thought I really owed it to the city to continue. Here I am. A mish-mash of the rest of the finest Montreal has to offer that you simply must see.

Number one ranking goes to Pho Lien in Cote De Neige, a family run Vietnamese restaurant which is known to have customers queuing up outside even in the deep dark bowels of Winter. This restaurant is local, local, local and completely off the tourist track, and for me that's what I find exciting about travel. Dining where the locals eat, and really immersing yourself in whatever culture the city offers. You are either going to find brothers Tan or Long manning the cash register and occasionally Mother Lien, to oversee.

The Pho is the specialty here, piping hot broth laced with star anise, cinnamon and *secret weapon ingredients* I would most likely have to kill one of the Lien family members in order to discover the recipe. The Pho comes in small, large and extra large sizes, and protein choices of chicken, beef (also rare) pork are available. The usual suspects accompany the soup, Thai holy basil, bean shoots and lime. The broth is out of this world. Clear like a consomme, and addictive as ice. You WILL be left wanting more, and in the famous words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, you WILL be back.

 I must be admit I had been a devout and faithful Pho disciple, until I discovered a dish on the menu which I can only describe as a "Vietnamese Poutine". I first ordered the rice pancake out of food envy when I saw it being delivered to another table. It's a dish of rice noodles shaped like fries and scrambled with egg and served with pickled carrot and radish, and a vinegar dipping sauce. I know it doesn't sound so appealing, I get that. But trust me, believe in me - I would never lead you astray on our foodie journey together. Order it. Now. Everything just blends harmoniously, with none of the ingredients crying out to lead, rather all are just happy to hold hands together and sing "Kumbaya my Lord".

Following a spirit cleansing and soul uplifting bowl of Pho, you are probably going to want to put your fast food hat on. And, if you like fast, good, food then you are in luck. Momesso's in Notre-Dame-De-Graces (NDG) does amazingly good subs, pizza and has beer on tap. It's inconspicuous and set down a small flight of stairs so don't be concerned if you can't initially find it. I was almost beside myself firstly because we couldn't actually find the shop front and finally because when we did I thought it was closed.

You are going to want to go for the sausage sub their biggest seller. Sausage with tomatoes, onions, coleslaw and hot sauce. We also ordered the Steak with peppers, tomatoes,lettuce, onions, mushrooms, cheese and hot sauce, and split them in two. And don't forget a side of onion rings if you really want to make your arteries work hard for the evening.

If you can handle any more saturated fat following Momesso's, then you are definitely going to want to head back into downtown for a spot of Lebanese. Boustan is open to 4am, just the thing after a boozy night out on the town. You can order a plate like chicken shawarma with pickled vegetables and salad or just have a shish taouk (chicken) in pita. Either way it's all good. I also really enjoyed the kibbe (spicy meat and pine nuts enveloped in a cracked wheat casing) which was really crunchy to the bite.

 

If you aren't into Lebanese food, you have to enjoy a burger. Everyone likes a good burger right? Best of the best for fast food has to be Five Guys Burgers and Fries. There are a handful dotted around downtown, the most central is located at 468 McGill. They do handcrafted burgers, hotdogs and fries. If you are more in the market for a sit down meal, you know posh it up a bit, then m:brgr on Drummond does excellent burgers and fries. Go with an appetite because the servings are big, and you get a side of coleslaw and mayo with your meal. The sweet potato fries are insanely good. They also play a lot of the big matches (hockey, NFL) on big screen TVs so if you aren't going to a game, then this is the next best place - beer, food and atmosphere.

 

Now you have woken up from your saturated fat coma, you are thinking about breakfast right? Ok, maybe you're still not hungry, but by the time brunch rolls around you're tummy is gonna need to fill the void from the night before. I have just the place, but only for the non-germaphobes. Cosmos. If you do decide to visit this place, leave all your food hygiene expectations at the door when you arrive. The snack bar was started by Greek immigrant Tony Koulakis sometime in around, oh I don't know last century. The man was so famous, or infamous he had a documentary made in the 80s in his honour, titled "Man of Grease" (pun). The place is now run by Tony's son, Nick. If you happen to check their Facebook page (The famous Cosmos) you will find out that poor Tony was killed some time back by his mentally ill son. It's a sad story, but from what else I read about Cosmos it seems Tony really touched a lot of people during his time manning the grill. And on a positive note, apparently they don't smoke now while they are cooking your food. Hygiene baby steps.

Of course you can order basic, you know a couple of eggs and a side of bacon and toast. But why not throw caution to the wind and try their signature dish the "mish-mash", essentially a mix of a lot of eggs, potatoes, onion, peppers, mushrooms and bacon all mished and mashed on the grill till the outsides are burnt and crispy but a veritable delight of vegetable meat and egg meets you in the middle. The British might call this dish stodge. I call it heaven.

I bet you are asking yourself why, when posting about fast food in Montreal I don't do a lengthy piece dedicated entirely to Poutine. Chips, gravy and cheese curds constitutes fast food right? Bien sur!
Well here goes. I've been told La Belle Province does a mean poutine, although I have never been, and I also previously reviewed La Banquise, which was okay. But to be frank, my poutine heart lies outside of Montreal at a place called Chez Ashton's in Quebec City. "So fresh and local!" So fresh and local, according to the servers at Chez Ashton - they cannot set up a store in Montreal because the "freshness" simply wouldn't last the distance between the two cities, some 3 hours away. And you wonder how you can tuck into those USA cherries in December in Australia?

Chez Ashton's is a double edged sword for me. I love it, but I hate their "freshness" philosophy because it has ruined my ability to eat at Chez Ashton's EVERYDAY. If you happen to be in Quebec City and its surrounds in the Winter you are going to love Chez Ashton's even more. They run a Winter special where they discount the price of the meal by the temperature outside. I am certain it's the only time ever that Quebecers (or anyone for that matter) ever actually wishes the temperature in Winter should nose-dive further. We were very lucky to be blessed with a -22 degree day, and a 22% discount on our meal. Although secretly I had hoped it might dip to -25, even if briefly.

Now I am a big advocate of the original poutine, that is, just chips, gravy and cheese curds, but I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that the chicken poutine (replete with chicken and peas) may just be the best damn chicken dinner I've ever eaten (sorry nan). Oh, please do try.

In light of the above, you might well ask, "What does one do after reaching foodie heaven?". Reminisce. Reminisce.

So what about duck, do you like duck? I'm going to let you in on a little secret about where to get the best (and cheapest) plate of Peking duck in all of Montreal. As you would expect, it's near Chinatown in St Laurent and is called Fung Shing. Anyway enough rambling have a look at this plate of duck.

It's true Montreal is a foodie mecca. You can go upmarket, or eat where the locals eat at a fraction of the cost. That's the beauty of visiting such a multicultural city with abundant deep roots, and be all the richer for the experience. Bon appetit!