TRAVEL: Montreal: Les 3 Brasseurs (3 Brewers )

Location(s):

A.  732 Sainte-Catherine Street West, Montreal

B.  1658, rue Saint-Denis, Montréal

www.les3brasseurs.ca

(All images photohogger)

Let me start with the pros of the restaurant:

Amazing beer-battered poutine.  Great atmosphere: loud, bustling, was fun to be there during the Stanley Cup playoffs.



The Food (pros & cons):

Everything was grease-central (could be a pro for some?).  The fish and chips came with overly battered and overly deep fried fish, so much so that the fried shell separates from the fish. 



The flatbread pizzas are so thin, which some peopel may prefer, but I say why bother! You practically have to eat the whole thing with a knife and fork which I know some prefer for eating pizza, but I like to pick it up like a pie.  Loaded with lots of veggies so it wasn't bad.  



My understanding of, and the way I make, a Nicoise salad is with tuna, hard-boiled eggs, beans, tomatoes, olives, optional artichokes, red pepper and anchovies, all on a bed of lettuce.  This one came with smoked meat instead of tuna.  Since all of us eat mostly only fish, we opted for no smoked meat.  It was alright, but would have preferred more of the original style of a nicoise salad. 



The beer-battered poutine (that we didn't order) was delish.  We ordered regular poutine and thought that what we got was regular poutine, and wondered why it was so greasy.  But as far as greasy poutine goes (which it all mostly is, anyway), it was a winner!



The cons of the restaurant:

What is with the section of the restaurant that is also part dish-clearing station/garbage take out?  Please get rid of this section!  I understand one has to clear the dishes and take out the garbage, but is there not a wall behind which this could be done?  We had to sit there and be a witness to a server scraping off the plates into the trash and worse see one of them struggle to pull out the garbage bag from the trash can - minus gloves!  Then the trash can fell over with a crash!  Not something that you want to see before (or anytime) you get your meal.

Then, we were billed for the beer battered poutine ($8.99) which we ate unknowingly as we thought we'd simply ordered the regular poutine ($5.99).  I realize it's only a difference of $3, but it was still the server's mistake which she acknowledged and insisted to correct but the manager then said couldn't be reversed.  So our server told us not to tip her instead.  How ridiculous is that?  Needless to say we DID tip her on top of their mistake.  She gave us each $5 gift cards to use back in Toronto.  Thanks but you won't see us running over there anytime soon.

Sitting next to the kitchen on visit number two (St. Denis location), we had a clear view of all the cooks in the kitchen, all the orders given, all the plates being served, and all the accidents, such as the dropping of a plate of salad near our end of the table.  A hearty dose of salad dressing landed on four of us and what did they do to make up for it?  "2 beers on us!" Thanks fellas...we were only a group of fifty!  And the group menu they gave us was crap.  Four options for dinner included: some flatbread with chicken dish, some sausage and sauerkraut dish, some veg lasagna and some chicken skewer dish with fries.  I had the veg lasagna and it was soggy, covered in cheese and tasteless. 

Besides that, the restaurant is so cramped (why else would we have been right beside the kitchen?) that our server(s) kept squeezing their ar*** between our two tables to get to another section of the restaurant. This happened all night long and I received several scrapes to my back from their pens!  Definitely not a good dining experience.

I don't know who the three brewers are but they need to get their act together.  The beer they brew?  Not one of them did I fancy...but I'll let Beerhogger review them for you. 



Overall, A had slightly better food and service, whilst B is somewhere I never wish to dine again. 

One can hope that Toronto's location is better, but I'm not holding my breath.

A.

B.

TRAVEL: Montreal: Nil Bleu

Location:

3706 Rue Saint-Denis
Montreal, QC

http://www.nilbleu.ca/

Hands down the best Ethiopian restaurant I've been to thus far.  But don't ask me, ask my Mom and Mom-in-Law who couldn't stop raving about it.  And they know how to cook, if you know what I mean.

The dishes we ordered were:

YETIMATIM SALAD $4.95 (tomatoes, onions, green peppers seasoned with lemon and olive oil dressing)





the VEGETARIAN PLATTER FOR TWO $27.00 (potatoes/cabbage/carrots, lentils, spinach)

and YEASSA TIBBS $14.95 (sole cooked with green peppers ginger).  

One thing to note is that the fish came on the same platter as the veggie platter, which may not be good for those who are strictly vegetarian so be sure to make this request when you order!

We also ordered the house wine, which was a Spanish red and quite good.

They gave out damp napkins to wipe our hands with but didn't take them away like one would with hot towels, so we realized we had to keep them, and it made sense later as we ate that it was easier to wipe our fingers with.  Be warned that you will leave with turmeric stained fingers nails (even after washing) after dining here, but let me assure you, it's well worth it! 

Everything was delicious...and the injera kept coming until we were completely and utterly stuffed.



The exotic decor, which is what I want my home to look like (think animal prints, African sculptures, white leather couches) is beautiful and seems very new. 



My hubby who'd eaten at Nil Bleu perhaps 12 years ago didn't remember it looking like this!  The fancy bathrooms round up the upgraded look.  



The service was a tad slow, but since we weren't in a hurry, it didn't bother us and overall the service was sweet and attentive.  Thank you to Chakib & Rahel for making our Moms very happy :)



Great place for dates or groups and has outdoor seating.  I've already recommended Nil Bleu to my family and friends who are visiting Montreal next month!

TRAVEL: Quebec City, Carlo's Pizza

Location:

117, Rte Principale E RR 2, Sainte-Cécile-de-Masham, QC J0X 2W0, 819-456-4545

Not only does Carlo do pizza, and amazingly well (the veggie one we got was chock-full of tasty veggies and not very greasy), he does the best poutine I've ever tasted in Quebec!  Mighty squishy curds and a not-too-salty gravy that's just the right consistency.  The pan fried tilapia was amazing with the poutine!  They don't skimp out on quantity either, check out the amount of cheese on this caesar salad!  Now, if only Carlo's was closer....



 

TRAVEL: Montreal: La Banquise

Location:

994, Rachel Est, Montréal

Train ride to Montreal: $144

One order of Classic Poutine from La Banquise : $7

Trek to taste the highly recommend poutine in Montreal after eating a full breakfast across town and before a full tea then running back to catch the train: priceless

Open 24 hours!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="384" caption="Classic Poutine $7"][/caption]

Squishy cheese curds!

We cleaned up well

Place was packed!

TRAVEL: Montreal : Les Glaceurs

Location:

453 Rue Saint-Sulpice
Montreal, QC

www.lesglaceurs.ca/

We just happened upon this cute pink cafe on our walk through Old Montreal and boy were we happy we did! Our friends C&K hadn't been to this ice-cream/cupcake place before either, so it was a real treat for all of us.



There were many gorgeous cupcakes; it was so hard to decide!

So, much like the Seinfeldian black and white cookie, we went with the vanilla cupcake and the brownie cupcake.





Iz..how you say...pretty, non?

And damn, that frosting was kickass!