DINNER July 24, 2009

I spent my first few years in Montreal living in the charmingly named McGill ghetto, which helps to explain why I have probably eaten a good fifteen to twenty meals at Isakaya since it opened in 2002. Some were pretty good, others not so much, but for a long time I liked Isakaya because it had an interesting menu (which for Montreal means more than just sushi) at decent prices. From time to time the sushi was actually good but the real draw for me was the ogonomiyaki. Isakaya’s was a tidier version of the classic street food whicn I would order at every visit.  I last ate at Isakaya about three years ago and had sushi that was so spectacularly bad that I announced I would never return, ogonomiyaki be damned.

I hadn’t planned to eat at Isakaya but was meeting friends for drinks and decided to join them earlier at the restaurant, where they were already tucking in to sashimi. I was giddy with the prospect of ogonomiyaki (in fact, I recall threatening to order two), and its disappearance from the menu was the first of many disappointments. Continue Reading…

LUNCH July 14, 2009 and July 22, 2009

The area west of Concordia is quickly becoming a destination for ethnic cuisines of all stripes and one newcomer already making waves is Antep Kabab, purveyor of Turkish delicacies. The only regret I experienced in two visits here was forgetting a camera both times, because Antep makes a sandwich that is not only tasty but beautiful as well.

The menu is short. You can get chicken, lamb or filet mignon kebabs or the antep kabab, a take on kefta featuring spicy ground beef and lamb. You can get your kebabs on a plate with rice and salad or you can get them in a sandwich. While the menu also features pides “boats”, Turkey’s answer to pizza, these were never available on my visits. As far as I know, the pides boats might not exist at all and just be a not-so-elaborate hoax. Continue Reading…

DINNER July 3, 2009

In the past I have done my fair share of grousing about the lack of quality Thai food in this city.  Never mind regional Thai cuisine, I would just be pleased to get my hands on some well prepared Bangkok-style (i.e. international) Thai food. Much like Heracles battling the Hydra, with every time I think I’ve covered the issue exhaustively there is always one more place to visit.

I went to Restaurant Thailande because it was Monday. Don’t mock me. It’s not easy to find a place to eat out on Monday. Because it was a weekday, I only ordered one dish, the pad kee mao (drunken noodles), but, boy, was it good. Broad rice noodles wok-fried with garlic, onion, peppery basil, chile and those unfortunate bell peppers that seem to make their way into every Thai dish in the city, all combined in a tasty symphony. Noodle dishes like pad kee mao are representative of the Chinese influence on Thai cuisine (especially Bangkok-style Thai) and this pad kee mao had what the Chinese call “wok hei” (the unusual sensory experience of good wok-cooked food that combines the mouthfeel of something quite fresh with the taste of flavours created by Maillard reactions and mild charring) in spades. Describe it how you will, but this was a great noodle, and I left Restaurant Thailande that first night with visions of a return visit and great Thai banquet dancing in my head. Continue Reading…