Indie Coffee Passport: Cafe Fixe

Second Visit of the Coffee indie passport! Located in Saint-hubert, near the Jean-Talon Market.

Solid Cappuccino 

Earl Grey Cold Iced Tea

Cookie.

The heart and soul of Montreal: The Jean-Talon Market

The Market places in Montreal are some of the best in the world.This is the beating heart of most culinarians, from the hipsters in the Mile-end to the families in Ahuntsic, everybody shops there. This post is not about the best spot in the market, which are plenty, but about the spots I frequent more or less frequently.

Day Drink and Brunch, le Pourvoyeur

This is the local watering hole in the market. Right on Jean-talon, it has a beautiful patio.

Pint of Mystique

Spanish Gin and artisanal tonic, this was amazing.

Creton and toast. This was brunch right:)

El Rey Del Taco: solid taco in the market

It usually comes with 3 salsa, the salsa verde is mind-blowing delicious by the way, and the Horchata is a sweet delicious concoction. Cinnamon, milky goodness. 

Cheese and Nopales with tortillas. Wouldn't order again, but they are tasty.

Taco Al Pastor, Chorizo Taco, I Forgot what was the last one but they were all delicious.

La Boite au Huitres, great seafood, from the cheap clams to great amazing oysters.

Poutine Centrale

Stewed maple beef ragu in maple syrup poutine

bacon, mushroom onion poutine

Havre des glaces, amazing ice cream

La Carreta for homie Salvadorean food, pupusas and tamales.

You should visit, go look around, follow your nose, buy some produce, try the small local producers, because it's a great marketplace, with awesome people and great food.

Indie Coffee Passport: Cafe Replika

Future blogpost may be posted with pictures from potato phone because my camera was stolen. Derp

I just bought one of those coffee passport that gives me 25ish coffee at 25 different spots! This was one of them. The coffee shop is located on Rachel, near many other really good coffee places, and some very good Portuguese joint. 

The interior is drop dead gorgeous. Full of old pictures, solid art work representation and a beautiful coffee machine.

A great Turkish  coffee, smooth, aromatic.

 Since this is a third wave Turkish Place, I ordered a Berek with Spinash and cheese. It was good.

On a side note, look at the China. You don't see this everyday in a coffee shop. They are beautiful.

Will return even without the coffee passport.

Sababa Grill, Middle Eastern food on Saint-Laurent

Walking down on Saint-Laurent, me and my SO decided we wanted Middle Eastern food, so we stopped at this cute looking joint. Through the power of google, we discover this joint is actually owned of/used to be owned by the same guys behind Rumi. Prices are decent, but food is delicious.

Labneh with Zaatar, a creamy, unctuous, zesty concoction.

Baba Ganoush, a bit sweeter than I was used too, but it is delicious nonetheless. A bit more chared before pureeing would have been nice. Still a good dish.

Aubergine, Citrus Confit. It is apparently a Jewish Marrocan dish, and it is delicious. A bit sour, a bit sweet, perfect balance.

Hummus with Lamb and mushroom. The star of the meal. It was amazing.

Missing: Mergez and a Fatoush. All was delicious. Use the labneh as a dipping sauce for the fries;)

Would return for a light snack if I'm craving Arabic food and I'm right next to it. Although they are other options for Middle Eastern food around that area of town that I am also quite fond of.

Indian in Park-Ex: Chand Palace

The Chand Palace replaced what used to be my favourite Indian restaurant in Montreal, the Curry and Naan restaurant. So, this has pretty big shoes to fill. They do not dissapoint. The food is vibrant and delicious.

Mango Lassi and Salted Lassi

The Mango lassi was great, but the salt lassi was even better. A lot like Ayran, its a salty yogurt based drink. It contains some spices, its quite good. It cuts through the heat.

Chili Paneer

A famous Chinese-Indian dish, it is full of tomatoes and chillies. 

Chicken 65

This dish originated from Chennai, and contains red chillies, ginger, vinegar, and garlic that coats the fried chicken.

Lamb Vindaloo

Delicious dish from the Goa Region, it is a spicy concoction of lamb, potatoes vinegar, spices and chilies. It was good, but could have been spicier

Pulao Rice

Pulao is a variation of pilaf, or is it the other way around?, is a tasty combination of peas, and onion cooked in ghee. Goes really well with the meal.

Cheese Naan and Paratha

The naan was fluffly and delicious. My dining companion complained the Paratha wasn't flaky enough. I thought it was ok, but I do love my starches. 

Korean in the West Side: Ave Seoul

I went to the beach today with a few friends. Of course, we went the day there was a crossfit competition, so we tried the "health food" menu. 4 hours later we were hungry again. We ended up in the West side of town, in a neighborhood known as Ville Saint-Laurent, because one of our friend lives near the cote-vertu subway. 

Miso and Mushroom soup.Quite tasty. 

Banchan: Cabbage Kimchi, fried potatoes with honey, Soybeans, and broccoli. 

Topokki, A bit spicier than I was used too, quite preferring this version than to the other ones I had in Montreal.

Korean Sweet and sour fried chicken, with a hint of spice and some fried peanuts. This is amazing.

Gimbap, unlike the Japanese counterpart, this has a heavier sent of sesame oil. Filling contained pickles, avocado, Surimi, and more. This was actually decent appetizer/snack.

Fried Rice, Apparently it was good, didn't get to try it.

Beef Dosolt Bibimbap. Spicy, fresh, crunchy goodness.

Seafood bibimbap, the seafood was mostly mussel and Matane Shrimp. Fresh, vegetable adds to a really fun crunch. I love this dish, especially the crunchy rice at the bottom.

Seafood Udon, the Udon at this place are some of the best I had in the city, elastic, tasty.

Pizza in the Plateau: Magpie Pizza

Well, I was craving a pizza, so my SO and myself ended up in one of the best pizza joint in the city, Magpie Pizza on Maguire.  The restaurant looks gorgeous, full of natural light, the wood oven is beautiful, probably the work of an Italian master.

The day was burning hot, so I ordered a cocktail that is really popular in the American south, Homemade Iced Tea and Bourbon. The Iced Tea isn't the typical southern Iced Tea, which is way to sweet for my taste, it has less sugar. It is delicious and refreshing, especially with the small buzz the bourbon gives you. 

Oysters, peppered vinegar, horseradish, cocktail sauce. The oysters are good, oysters being the fast food of the sea. good stuff

We shared a margarita pizza. The dough was puffy on the rims, thin in the middle, but not too thin, like those "californian" pizzas. Crunchy, doughy and it stretches, unlike when it is too bread-like. The pizza dough is marvelous. The mozzarella was fresh, delicious and cheesy. They also give a chili oil that you drizzle on the pizza that is amazing.

Would return for dinner or for an appero.