DINNER October 31, 2008

Pakistani cuisine is, unsurprisingly for those of you with maps or history books, quite similar to the cuisine of northern India. And since Punjab cuisine through an East London lens was how most of us were likely introduced to Indian food, the Pakistani menu at Halal 786, with its kormas, jalfrezis, biryanis and chicken tikka masala, will seem familiar to many.

Jean-Talon east of Parc is mecca for Indian food, Montreal’s little Brick Lane if you will, and while I have sampled the wares of quite a few of its restaurateurs, there always seems to be someplace new to try. Housed on the second floor of a nondescript building, the first thing that strikes you about Halal 786 is the nautical theme–almost as if you had walked into a New England fisherman’s hut and found an Indian cooking class in full swing. Continue Reading…

DINNER October 24, 2008

I am wary of pan-Asian restaurants. You know, those something-for-everyone places that pump sushi, General Tao and Vietnamese spring rolls out of the same kitchen. Call me Cartesian but I like a little rigor in my menu. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Last week in New York we ate at Momofuku where steamed pork buns rubbed shoulders with a kimchi stew and a nice selection of sake.

Chinese food in Montreal tends to have as many thrills as our recent election, but emboldened by the Momofuku experience, we opted for a local restaurant that seems to be trying to offer the same type of inventive pan-Asian food. Soy offers a predominantly Chinese menu, but one that incorporates dishes and ingredients from the other culinary traditions of East Asia. Continue Reading…

LUNCH October 2, 2008

There are companies in the United States that will sell you a kit with everything you need to open an Irish pub, from the pint glasses and the knickknacks on the wall to a broguish Irish name for the joint. Of course, the pubs don’t look like actual pubs in Ireland (there are not enough children eating crisps in front of the telly in mid-afternoon), but the North American consumer is none the wiser.

Walking into Pois Penché I can’t help but wonder if someone doesn’t offer the same service for 1940s French brasseries. White tablecloths, checkerboard wood floors, red chairs, a little brass and dark wood, some vaguely post-Impressionist art and a few uniformed waiters and we’re off to the races (although methinks the crocodile print banquettes and chandelier may be a tad too much). The Edith Piaf-era songs yodelling over the sound system help as well, but you still get the impression that this is a restaurant with no soul: a corporate reproduction unmasked by the PP logos embossed on everything in sight. Continue Reading…