This is for Women! Stay Strong!!!..cuz without U, there’s nothing, obviously…If you fail, we are all fck***d!

 

 

 

Women First! Bless Women! The Lord, then Women, then Existence! I and You and WE all exist because there is the Lord, then a Woman! If u do not dig that one, then u do not understand who u r…!

Bless Women! The Lord, then Women, then Existence! I and You and WE all exist because there is the Lord, then a Woman!

My Blog is a personal blog, therefore  I do whatever I wanna do with it.  Therefore I will go with what matters most to my existence: The Lord and Women!

Respect Women! Respect your Worth!

You are nothing without the Lord and a Woman. I am nothing without the Lord and a Woman! We are nothing without the Lord and a Woman!

Leaving you with this beautiful performance of one of my ATFs, Mrs Hill:

 

 

As well as as a song that …might..perhaps …sound controversial, to the distracted minds….but listen, listen carefully….listen very carefully….it praises Women (rightly so!, because we would be nothing without the Lord and a Woman, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing….Men made things, Men made many things, but without a Woman, they would have made nothing…..so keep calm and do not get upset for nothing…Lol..that song is praising Women, NOT putting them down………) :

 

 

Chez Lévêque, Montreal

Chez Lévêque (year of birth: 1972) is one of the rare long-running restaurants of Montreal. It started with the name La Lucarne then was renamed Chez Lévêque and kept the name of Chez Lévêque ever since.

One interesting feature of their menu is the presence of a section dedicated to offal, which shows that they really care about genuine classic French cooking and not just focusing on what is easy to sell.

My dining companion did order: Homemade foie gras terrine (served with homemade brioche and pear ginger chutney) as well as Grilled whole royal sea bream  (Grilled whole fish, flambeed with pastis, steamed potatoes and vegetables). He was happy with both menu items (I had a taste of his Grilled sea bream, and indeed, the quality fresh  fish was  flawlessly cooked, the appealing fresh taste of the sea beautifully in evidence. Great sourcing).

 

I went on with:

–Quenelles de brochet, sauce nantua. Brochet is French for the freshwater pike fish. And Quenelles de brochet (pike quenelles) are basically pike dumplings, served sauced (with a crayfish sauce called sauce nantua) as a dish, famous in France’s commune of Nantua (where crayfish and pike abound) as well as in the city of Lyon. I do not think that you will easily find this classic at French restaurants in Montreal, therefore I was happy to see that Chez Lévêque offers this dish. This was the sort of quenelle that could only come from a good quenelle’s preparation (mix of the panade and the pike’s flesh). Timely poached quenelle with the expected perfect soft consistency. The sauce nantua tasted rich and delicious as it’s supposed to, its texture nicely creamy, its classic flavour profile at the fore. A good sauce nantua benefits from great quality ingredients and it’s exactly what happened here: the crayfish, the bechamel sauce, the butter, the cream were all of great quality. The pike, too, was of high quality. Good 7/10.

 

–Veal kidney madeira or mustard. Pan seared veal kidney. Choice of sauce: Mustard or Madeira. I did opt for the Mustard sauce. Quality mustard was used, the mustard sauce exquisite. Equally well made were the quality veal kidney, properly cooked rosé as per my request (which is the best doneness for veal kidney). In the old days, the traditional French veal kidney preparations were strong and very offal in flavour, and it was really an acquired taste. But this version is of the “easy to love” and “not of an acquired taste” sort, which makes it very accessible /easy to appreciate to all generations of diners, which is a great thing. The proper French technique and preparation were there, the relevant French flavour profile too, and the dish was tasty. Good 7/10.

 

–Île Flottante, basically a floating meringue with Crème Anglaise. This lovely French classic dessert was well executed with the quality fresh egg whites timely whipped, the floating meringue as beautifuly light as feather exactly as it should be, the intensity of the sweetness well judged and floating atop a good Crème Anglaise preparation (milk/egg yolks/vanilla/sugar). It is rare that you will find Île Flottante at French restaurants in Montreal and when you find them, they are not always executed this well. 7.5/10

–Crêpes Suzette, guéridon service style (tableside service, if you prefer. Glad to see that this classic French traditional service is still possible at a French restaurant in Montreal). The sugar timely caramelized, the crêpes timely cooked, the proper classic French flavour profile was there and every single step of the classic French preparation and presentation was respected (flambéed tableside, etc). Loved the expressive grand Marnier and orange flavour (the sort of orange flavour that comes from superb quality oranges), exactly as it should. Fine enough. 6.5/10

Bottom line – Chez Lévêque is an institution that is not tired at all (even the interior design manages to be updated while keeping the classic French Brasserie feel at the fore) , which is, of course, something great. Instead it continues to cook food that tastes good, French classics  that do not feel dated at all (which, again and again, is something great), using well sourced ingredients. And  their “menu of the day” (à l’ardoise, to keep the theme of the classic French brasserie alive) sounded very inspired the evening we were there (we did not try them, on this specific meal, but their description were appealing). Chez Lévêque was good (tasty food, good service, nice ambience) and it is nice to see Classic French fares that are still properly executed in Montreal and that you do not see commonly elsewhere in town (for eg, offal, quenelle de brochet sauce nantua). French classics are lovely (I love it when I am in my mood of ‘I need my fix of andouillette, boudin, etc”), as always, and Chez Lévêque did age really well, indeed. Chez Lévêque. Addr: 1030 Av. Laurier O, Outremont, QC H2V 2K8. https://chezleveque.ca/

Fondue Haidilao, Montreal

Haidilao 海底捞 is a famous Chinese hot pot chain present on several continents. In Canada, you will find several Haidilao in Ontario and British Columbia. This one in Montreal  opened earlier in 2024. And “Fondue” is French for hot pot (hence the mention of “Fondue” in their name, here in Montreal).  Founded in Jianyang (Sichuan province) in 1994, it’s apparently the world’s largest hot pot chain.

The broths I ordered:

-The tomato broth  (Clockwise, it is the lil guy in the top left corner in the picture above) is very popular, according to the relevant online accounts as well as what the waitstaff told me. And indeed, it was a very enjoyable broth and one which popularity I can dig: nice expressive fresh tomato flavour, using quality tomatoes. The seasoning well judged. The pieces of tomatoes that were in the broth not falling apart, which shows how they care for important details that make a broth better (I was, one day, at another hot pot place and the same tomato broth had its pieces of tomato that were falling apart and I was like “”damn…omg…those folks are brutal, Lol. Zero care. But here, at Haidilao it is 100% caring for the little details that makes the experience of the broth really top. Haidilao is a classy place offering a refined hot pot experience , therefore they would have not  missed details like these, as expected).

 

–Spicy Beef Tallow Soup Base – Well the SBT soup base, my friends, I know what to tell you about it, but there are things I will also not tell you: I will not give you my opinion about this broth as it would be meaningless to you (whether I liked it or not will make no difference for you, as you are not …me,  obviously…). All I can tell you is that, in life, you need to try the authentic stuff as well (which this broth is all about) and not just opting for what is easy to love (I am directing this statement to non Chinese palates). You are at a Chinese hot pot, therefore be consistent and try, on top of the other broths (you can pick many broths, anyways) a genuinely Chinese broth. I know this broth and I know what to think about it, and I purposely ordered it for the sake of this review and for the sake of respecting the tradition of the hot pot place I was dining at. Encouraging you to try it, which is what I am doing, is all I care about as it is important to experience with what’s proper to the place that you are dining at. The genuine flavour profile was there, the broth really well executed (as spicy as advertised, and yet never allowing the spiciness to kill its core flavour profile, which is exactly what you are looking for in a well executed broth) so when you will get to taste it, you will know how it should genuinely taste like. At what it is, at what it’s supposed to be, they did a great job.

 

–Thai Tom Yum Hot Pot. I was at a Chinese restaurant, not a Thai restaurant, therefore, naturally, and lucidly, I was not going to expect Haidilao to pull off the same kind of  Tom Yum flavour I would expect from a Thai restaurant. What mattered here is that the core Tom Yum Thai flavour profile was still respected and it was a lovely broth (with, at the fore, the expected nice fresh core aromas of what Tom Yum are packed with,  such as the appealing fragrance of  fresh lemongrass ) that I would order again when I go back to Haidilao Montreal. And between you and me, I know some Thai places in Montreal that do not even get their Tom Yum base this right. I enjoyed dipping some of the meat in both the tomato broth and the Thai Tom Yum broth (but of course, do not mix both broths together…that will  not be the idea of the century. Just dip the meat in one broth, then dip it again in the other broth).

The meat:

Marinated beef meat. I tried this …………knowing …….exactly …..what was going to happen…… – On a grill (for eg, at a Yakiniku or Kbbq spot), this would have been a HIT.  As a hot pot, Nah, not at all, nowhere near. I perfectly understand what Haidilao was doing here (the marinade is superb), BUT…………yeah, it’s superb for BBQ, not that ….superb…for hot pot. Well, at least, from my standpoint……………………………..;p as it’s popular (so I may be in the minority here. Try it and see for yourself. Taste is always subjective, as always ………….).

 

Beef oyster blade — Advertised as being crisp and tender and that was accurate. It’s one of the most popular choices of meat at hot pots, and for good reasons, therefore no need to go on and on with the obvious. It’s like a popular hot chick…do you need a PHD in human behavior psychology to understand why she is popular? No! Lol. So, same thing here. The Beef oyster blade is a hot pick.

 

AAA Boneless Beef Ribs. Advertised as “Rich, marbled and tender beef”. Well, that was not just a tease but a reality as well.  Another popular protein at hot pot restaurants. Another hot pick, which slogan already has all you need to know about it.

As always, Haidilao was a charm. BTW, I know I was succint in some of the food item descriptions, but if you are really interested to learn more about the menu items of Haiilao, then you will be happy to learn that on their web site, they have detailed information about their food items (even suggesting what to pair with your broths, etc). Take advantage of that, as few restaurants in the world have such an informative online presence.

 

Bottom line: I tried Haidilao once in the past and that was in Toronto. Somehow, I preferred the one of Toronto, but there’s no denying that Haidilao Montreal is really good and yep, easily one of the very best hot pot places in Montreal (and that is what matters, here). The place is new, clean, service is  superb, the sourcing of the ingredients is great and the broths are well prepared. I hope they do well and thrive in Montreal as they deserve that (they work so well). Haidilao is classy but relaxed, which is great. It seems like, in Montreal, the chains are doing way better than plenty of solo operations, these days………….a reminder that in life….nothing is set in concrete………..hahaha…………..

The greatest VOICES of ALL TIME…here are mine, what are yours? Merci, Luce!

Yup…Yeup…yep..I know it’s supposed to be a food blog, but, at the end of the count,  it is …a personal blog. Therefore, I throw whatever I wanna put on my blog. So, food is good, indeed. But for me, Music is better. Way better.

In this post, je voudrai rendre hommage à ce que je considère comme étant la première puissance mondiale artistique: Le QUÉBEC! À Caesar ce qui appartient à Caesar, comme diraient nos amis Anglos.

I love artists because they create. It is amazing, for me, to see people … creating. And Québécois are world class crafters. They paint, and it’s the painting the world has got to beat. They sing, and the world has to beat that song. They draw, and it’s the same pattern. It’s just amazing to see such a nation that is almost uniformly creative/artistic. They just have it. In French, we say ‘tu l’as ou tu l’as pas’ j(not to be taken in an arrogant way).

So, for this post, j’ai le gout de rendre hommage à des voix d’anthologie, des voix du Québec. Québec, que tu m’aimes ou pas, j’en ai rien à foutre. Pour moi, ce qui compte, c’est que je t’aime. Le reste c’est de la shnoooooooooot! ;p Je t’aime et t’aimerai toujours, que ca te plaise ou pas. hahaha.

Alors, wow…mon beau Québec, par où commencer? Ok…écoutes, Luce, Luce Dufault. Quel voix!  Luce is, for me, one of the greatest  voices of all time. But she seems to be humble and does not seem to make any noise, so the world  will perhaps never hear of her. Mais wow…quelle voix! Merci Luce!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…I discovered Luce, ages ago,  through Dan Bigras ‘Tue moi’. She did barely sing on that song. But  I listened to her own songs, and wow. Luce has one of the greatest voices of all time. And if you do not agree, I do not want to see you anywhere near me. Thank you – Lol.

Québecoises, Québecois, Québec…wow, vous  êtes artistique  et créatif en mosus………..c’est fou

 

Chat 2 u soon…in the meantime, enjoy one of my preferred artists of ALL TIME. SHE is one of the GREATEST! Abaraka baake, Sona Jobarteh!

 

And Sona with her lead guitarist:

 

 

Always thought Wyclef was a genius and Haiti…., well ya know…my heart is broken just 4 now … but u and I know that better dayz r ahead. With the Lord’s blessing, it is all gonna be alright ….

Always thought Wyclef was a genius…damn he is so spectacular,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

 

 

 

and Haiti…., well ya know…my heart is broken just …4 now …and that lil heart get rarely broken, Lol…trust me…but u and I know that better dayz r ahead. With the Lord’s blessing, it is all gonna be alright. Just wish I could be relevant, Lol…too bad I am not relevant, but it is Ok, …………….

Haiti, ma chérie, un jour …. un beau jour….en attendant, tiens le coup. Tu comprendras et tout sera soudainement clair/net/approprié/à point. On s’en reparle. J’ai confiance. Laches pas! Pour l’instant et pour bien du monde, on est impuissant. Si HB …. qui, dans son temps, ne chantait pas que pour le plaisir de chanter….a chanté ta gloire, toi Haiti ma chérie, toi ma jolie….si belle..mais punie pour ………ce que l’on sait tous…..si moi, qui ne tombe pas pour n’importe quoi…suis tombé pour toi… crois moi, que c’est pas pour rien…n’en déplaise aux sceptiques … un jour tu te leveras et leur **** …ce jour arrivera….t’as eu le courage que plein d’autres n’auront pas dans 300 vies…ca va fesser for a while, a very long while, c’est sur……..but those in the know…well, they know ur worth, so at the end of the day, you will have the last laugh.

 

Practical tip (if you do not know what to order at a restaurant): find what is popular at that restaurant.

If you do not know what to order at a specific restaurant, go for what’s popular at that restaurant.

For sure, you can simply ask the waitstaff for some advice, but you can also just check, online, if the restaurant is present on sites  like  Doordash, Yelp, Uber Eats, Restaurantji, and look for their most popular dishes.

Not all  crowd-sourced reviews about businesses (in this case, about restaurants)  do  have such practical information available or if they do, it’s not always published in a straightforward / user-friendly (easy to find) way. But the aforementioned (and I am just there are others, too) sources are doing a great job at that. Hope that helps.

 

As an eg,

on Restaurantji:

on Yelp:

on UberEats:

on  Doordash :

It is fun to see ppl havin fun, it is fun 2see this….Lol…isn’t?

I am a hedonist, therefore you can imagine how happy I am, when I see the importance for others to add a bit of fun in whatever they are doing:

 

 

Happy New year 2024!

As it is customary at the beginning of every new year, I do post the previous year’s Top 7 Most Viewed Posts according to your hits.

In 2023, the “Top 7 Most Viewed Posts”  according to your hits  has been:

 

1.MY “BEEF” with Wagyu (14.35% of all your hits in 2023) is the post that did receive the most hits all along 2023. For reasons that elude me, all my blog’s posts related  to meat (steak, steakhouses, beef, etc.) have always been  popular — a reality that I have always found strange, considering that the reviews of some high class restaurants often get lost in the shuffle — , and my posts about Wagyu are no exception to this pattern. I happen to tolerate Wagyu ONLY because it is an amazing Business concept. As lucrative as it gets. But when I eat something, I need to be able to enjoy it as much as it is hyped. That was not my case with Wagyu. Wagyu is certainly not bad…just not that $$$  great (Wagyu is  $$$ …obviously – I am talking about real Wagyu, from Japan, here). As a fan of Japan and of most  Japanese creations (those who are familiar with my blog already know my profound admiration for Japan, and that is coming from someone who does not admire easily…), and, most importantly, someone who is NOT  ignorant about the efforts invested by the Japanese food industry in the quality of their Wagyu (food management, quality control of the highest order, etc.), it pains me to say that a Japanese success story such as the Wagyu does not appeal to me, but this is not a blog to please the food industry, therefore I speak my mind.  Anyways..been there, done that, and I can confidently submit that Wagyu is just not my cup of tea. To each their own.

 

2.Auberge du Vieux Puits, Fontjoncouse (13.38 % of all your hits in 2023). It is a first-rate restaurant, a dining destination. And their Chef, Chef Goujon, is genuinely amicable (he talks to you and you are tempted to invite him for a beer at the closest pub, yes, yes he is that amicable. So rare in this industry). The world class frog leg/Cuckoo flower leaves coulis was mesmerizing. Genuinely so. The Oeuf poule Carrus « pourri » de truffe melanosporum (pictured), a successful signature dish of their own. They have a small hotel attached to the restaurant, in case you do not want to drive back to your hotel or house right after your meal (but of course, book it in advance if that is what you want).

 

 

3.Dal Pescatore, Canneto sull’Oglio (13.21 % of all your hits in 2023) – It is the fine dining restaurant that I love the most in the world. And no, I do not need to visit all of them to get to that conclusion, Lol. Nah…no need to do that. Just need to visit the  key world’s elite restaurants that are known, by those in the know, to stand out in their respective categories. And from there, you will have a firm idea of what is “your”  best restaurant in the world (among those elite fine dining restaurants, I mean). It is a subjective matter, anyways, as there’s no such thing as “the best restaurant in the world”…  That is just  marketing BS, as you may have guessed! With that in mind, Dal Pescatore is that … special one, for me!

 

4.Louis XV, Monte Carlo (13.19 % of all your hits in 2023) – Even though the savoury dishes, on that meal, did not impress me, I still think that should take  nothing away from the great restaurant that Le Louis XV is (beautiful classic restaurant interior decor, world class service, an overall  superb experience) .

 

5.Tempura Matsui, New York, NY (12.57% of all your hits in 2023) – A world class tempura restaurant outside of Japan. It is not cheap, that is for sure, but at least, here, I can see where my hard earned money is going. Classy across the board.

 

6.My Post Card of Donostia – San Sebastián  – That post appealed to 12.28% of all your hits in 2023. This is an old post (published in 2011), but it has always been a popular reading since its very first days and it was easy to see why: San Sebastian is one of this world’s popular destinations. As a man who despises ignorance, I am  someone who enjoys discovering various places and cultures, their food, customs, arts, history. Consequently,  I did sacrifice a fair share of my hard earned money in the enlightening  experiences that  travels and dining adventures are . I  traveled whenever that was possible, and wherever my heart led me. Some destinations, I loved  (Vietnam, Japan, Italy, Burma, Spain, India). Others, I did not like at all (I’ll cover that somber episode, at some point, I promise… but for now, I am busy with the bright stuff;p ). San Sebastian was a lovely destination: their casual food scene (eateries, tapas, affordable restaurants) dazzled and it was  cheap beyond belief (especially for the quality of the food on display), they have a pretty sandy beach called La Concha, and it is a  city that is scenic with lots of history. I am looking forward to visit San Sebastian again.

 

7.La Caye, Brooklyn (12.15% of all your hits in 2023) – La Caye is closed, but based on your hits, it was a popular post in 2023. La Caye’s online ratings never did justice to the great food this house was pulling off (the perfect example of why many people, like me, do not have any respect for  the online ratings) , but  that is because La Caye was pricey. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that La Caye’s online ratings would have been very high if La Caye was not expensive. I was not happy with the price, too, but La Caye was located at a stone’s throw of the Barclays Center (just 6 mins walk away), home of the Millionaires of the Brooklyn Nets in downtown Brooklyn. As expected, such popular location comes with a  considerable occupancy cost (exorbitant property taxes, high rent, etc.) and  the diner had to eventually pay for that. Furthermore, a cheap restaurant is the last thing a sane mind would have … in mind…to  feed the Millionaires of the Brooklyn Nets that may potentially flock to La Caye, Lol. The Millionaires were never there, every time we ate at La Caye, but the place was always packed to the brim and the cooking consistently dazzled. Alas, La Caye did close and I miss this gem of a restaurant a lot. Restaurants come and go and most of the time I could not give two bollocks about that, but La Caye was a special place, a very special One, with a first-rate Haitian kitchen brigade  cooking some  genuine Haitian food of the highest order ( this kitchen brigade mastered the fundamentals of cooking  — timing/seasoning/heat control/balance of flavours/work of the textures — in a way that is very hard, even for the most ambitious kitchen brigades to achieve on a regular basis, a feature that was consistent with every single visit we made at La Caye). The only thing that I found “peculiar” about La Caye was  that they did not have rum (Haiti’s most popular drink)…if my memory serves me right…but they had mojito, lol….a bit like going to an Italian restaurant and they do not have wine but they serve vodka cocktails – Go figure, Lol.

Honorable mention to the post of L’Ambroisie (Paris) in Japanese. This is a post that gained a lot of traction shortly after it was published and has remained popular ever since. When I started reviewing Michelin starred restaurants, the original intent was to post my reviews not only  in English, but in  Japanese as well because there were so many hits from Japan on my Michelin starred reviews. I had a Japanese translator who did actually translate my English review of L’Ambroisie in Japanese. Unfortunately, she is now very busy and I have no translator anymore, which is why I have stopped the translation of my reviews in Japanese. Of course, I could use google translate or any other AI tool for translation, but I prefer a real person from Japan translating my reviews in her mother tongue. And I need that person to understand, as much as it is possible, the emotions I had during the meal I want her to review in Japanese. Consequently, it takes someone I know and who can take the time to understand what I am trying to convey, and not just robotically translating what I did write on a piece of paper. Anyways, many thanks to this blog’s readers from Japan for your years of perusing that review of L’Ambroisie in Japanese (as well as your numerous hits on the other Michelin starred reviews found on this blog). 日本および世界中の日本の読者の皆様に感謝します!

“Do you have one or several All Time favorite food writer (s)/food journalist (s)? If you do, who are they?“ is one question you have been asking me via email, since, actually, a very long time. Well, I, for the most part, am not a fan of people writing food reviews / sharing their opinions about the food they eat (with the exception of some rare examples), but Yes, I do have one: the late A.A. Gill. The self-contradiction, here,  is that I do write food reviews and yet I do not like reading them. I do not like reading food reviews because (1) food is subjective, anyways, therefore whatever your appreciation of the food you are reviewing, it remains essentially pertinent to you. Not to me, obviously. Except if you have specific pertinent educational information to bring to the table (2) many of those food journalists/celebrated food bloggers/food reviewers/poster-diners are treated like queens and kings by the restaurants they are visiting, therefore why should I bother with what they are writing when I know that the normal diner that I am … will not be necessarily treated the same way? Lol. So, Yeah, I write food reviews, but as explained elsewhere on this blog, I write them because I have a network of foodies that exchange foodie intel with me and this blog is my way of sharing back with them (instead of emailing them, they simply can read what I need to share with them on this blog). That’s all. That’s how this blog started. Now, back to the late A.A. Gill: OMG… he was the most entertaining of them all! Instead of reading boring nonsense about food, with A.A. Gill I was having a show, Rfaol. Just read his review of Chez l’Ami Louis in Paris (here), and you will understand what I mean. A.A. Gill loved modernist food and he was not a fan of classic cuisine. I am not a fan of modernist cuisine, I love classic food…but, at the end of the day, all of that did not matter as his article on Chez l’Ami Louis was so amusing. As amusing as A.A. Gill has always been. I always had plenty of fun with A.A. Gill’s writings! That’s all that mattered tbh. I am also a fan of Périco Légasse (From France’s Marianne Magazine) , but that is because of his genuine devotion to their “local terroir” as I am very “protectionist“ when it comes to local economy/local food, as well as Marie-Claude Lortie  (when she was working for Montreal’s La Presse). Marie-Claude was actually the only food journalist whose reviews of food I did seriously read! Because somehow, whatever she narrated about, was exactly what I was experiencing on the field, and then some.

Some of the restaurants I liked the most in  2023:
-Grand Central Oyster Bar, 89 E 42nd St, New York, NY. https://www.oysterbarny.com
I am a massive fan of seafood and Grand Central Oyster Bar has been a favourite of mine whenever I am in NYC. It can’t beat your favourite seafood restaurant in Maryland or the Maine, that is for sure, but for a seafood spot in NYC, I am happy with GCO.
-The Ace, Toronto. 231A Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto, ON M6R 2L6. https://www.theacetoronto.com
For the sake of variety, I went and tried some of their good restaurants in Toronto (after all, there is not just NYC as a dining destination close to Montreal), and the work of the flavors at the Ace blew the doors off the barn. I have no clue if their food is always that good as that was the only time I went eating there, but the dishes I had during that visit were great. Loved the Ace: no fuss no muss, just some lovely bold flavors and the consistent focus on making food delicious, with what it takes to thoroughly digest your food: a superb service and a great ambience!
-Supply and Demand, 1335 Wellington St. W, Ottawa, ON K1Y 3B7 https://www.supplyanddemandfoods.ca
We, Montrealers, do not always think about Ottawa as a dining destination. But that is a mistake. Furthermore, Ottawa is not far from Montreal. In 2023, I went to visit a couple of restaurants in Ottawa, of which Supply and Demand did impress for the exact same reasons you will be impressed by a restaurant (great food, great service). I like the simple things done really well, and S&D nailed it in that regard. I was also happy with my meals at Sansotei ramen (153 Bank St., https://www.sansotei.com) as well as The Whalesbone Elgin Street (231 Elgin St, https://thewhalesbone.com).

My current list of  “places that do / did  not impress me at all”  – Latest UPDATE Dec 31st 2023: In Montreal, aunt dai , pizzeria magpie and satu lagi, In New York, torishin, quality meats.

My   current list of  “favorite places to eat”… in NYC: Peter Luger/Sushi Azabu/Gallaghers/Emily/Sushi Noz  . In Montreal: Ichigo Ichie Izakaya/Beba/Pho Nam Quan/Yin Ji Chang Fen /Chien Chaud Victoire/ La Frite à Brigitte (the one I know is the one in Vaudreuil-Dorion), Deville Dinerbar , Rita, Le 409 , the Lafleur on 475 Avenue Lafleur in Lasalle , Beijing Restaurant , Sailor’s , Nozy , Restaurant Keung Kee  , Fuchun  and  — even though it is not an eatery —   Xing Fu Tang for my #1 bubble tea (I am a long time fan of the Alley Montreal, my other #1 best bubble tea in Mtl, but XFT   has now the edge, I find) in Mtl. But be warned: some of those places are not fancy at all as I do not care about fanciness. I care about the taste of the food and I found them tasty and yet, you should know better that is utterly subjective. As always, I do not recommend anything. I just know what I want/What I like/What my palate liked. That is it. That is all.

Sushi Noz, one of my (few) favorite Sushi shops in NYC, is now a 2 Michelin-starred destination – I am delighted to hear that. For those who did follow my blog, you already know how I hold SNOZ in high regard. I am not always the most cheering person, in general, when it comes to the restaurant world, but … there are some exceptions, here and there, to that rule…so, SNOZ … I’ll admit…I care about their success…I have nothing to do with them, they have nothing to do with me, but for once, their 2 stars made my day. That’s for sure. Am I surprised by their 2 stars? No, not at all: they work so well, the pursuit of excellence, the world class service…I mean, they really stand out. Well deserved, SNOZ! Well deserved!

Wishing you all a new year of scrumptious dining adventures!

Happy New Year 2024!