Blackstrap BBQ

I used to live in Verdun; right in front of Gaumond le Restaurant, which used to be Patisserie Chez Gaumond. As a child, my mom would bring me to Chez Gaumond to pick out their mini cakes and pastries. They were delicious! Unfortunately, they've closed down, and I'm not even sure if it's a restaurant or grocery store that's replaced it.

There are lots of new restaurants opening up in Verdun, specifically Wellington street. It's always been such a great area filled with different ethnic backgrounds. Living in Verdun provides you with such convenience, especially since metros are literally a 5-10 minute walk from wherever you are in Verdun. When I used to live there, Wellington street looked pretty rundown, but recently it's looking better...at least in my opinion!

So, last Tuesday, W and I decided to try out a new restaurant that opened up called Blackstrap BBQ. It's not something I would expect on Wellington street. It's pretty hipster-y and feels like it should belong on Boulevard St. Laurent or St. Denis, but it was refreshing to have something quite modern serving humble food in a not so popular neighbourhood.

Here's how it works, you walk in the restaurant and you order your food and pay first. You then take a seat anywhere you like and wait till they call your name. It's a really casual place filled with the smell of smoked meat. It is just a lovely smell especially on a cold February in Montreal!

W ordered a pork plate that comes with coleslaw, and a bread bun. You also have the choice of a side. W ordered macaroni and cheese fritters as her side. The pork was smoky and salty heaven! I did think it was a little dry though...nothing a little BBQ sauce can't fix! I forgot to mention that each table/counter has a bottle of housemade BBQ and a spicy sauce. The spicy sauce wasn't spicy at all in our opinion; it was more vinergary than spicy. The BBQ sauce had a hint of plum which was nice.

The macaroni and cheese fritters were sinful! SOOOO GOOOD!!! I would go back to Blackstrap BBQ for just that!

On to my plate! I ordered brisket, which again came with coleslaw and a bread bun. I decided to order a side of braised greens. I loved the brisket! Very smoky, oh so tender, and moist! The greens were slightly vinegary and went really well paired with the brisket.

We decided to make a mini slider with the bun and meat. I have to say, the bun is just so fluffy and light! A little bit sweet if I remember correctly. Just delicious!

We were pleasantly surprised with Blackstrap BBQ. I honestly didn't think there would ever be a BBQ smokehouse type of place in Verdun. The price is great, as you can tell from the photo of the menu I posted above. The food is delicious and simple. At some point, I felt like I wasn't in Montreal; as if I were somehow eating in one of the Southern states of U.S.

I highly recommend Blackstrap BBQ. If you're ever around the Verdun area with an empty stomach, try it out!

There are so many little restaurants on Wellington street and they're all so different from one another. All you need is a bit of time to explore. I'm hoping to try out other restaurants in my old neighbourhood.

Kebuki

It's been awhile hasn't it? I have no excuses...I came back from Hawaii and still haven't posted anything about the food. I've recently lost focus.

No worries! Ms. Piggy is back and there will be lots of updates on Burgers and Rice! Updates about Hawaii will be up soon, but I've got a couple of surprises up my sleeve before I write about the delicous things I ate during my trip to Hawaii.

So...today is my birthday! My mom and I decided to have dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant, formerly known as Fukyu but was forced to change its name due to it's similarity to a certain word...

Kebuki is a nice little place on Rue Jean Talon Ouest, a 10 to 15 minute walk from Namur metro. The decor is very nice, although tonight was a quiet night, being that it's a Wednesday. I've never seen it during Friday evenings or weekends, but Kebuki deserves more attention!

The menu is small and simple (something I like), and prices are reasonable. They actually have a Valentine's Day special still going on which is 55$ for 2 people. Very good price, and you get tons of food!

My mom and I decided to order off the menu and because the Valentine's Day special was just too much food for the both of us.

We started off with an appetizer called Mount Kebuki, which were avocado halves filled with salmon tartare, and topped with fried taro strings, and masago. It was lovely and refreshing compared to the typical tempura appetizers and what not.

Next, we had soft shell crab, which is my favourite and will always order if on the menu! So crispy! The sauce that came with it was delcious; salty, sweet, vinegary, and I believe filled with shallots.

We then had a sushi roll called Kodi-Mon. The presentation was beautiful and I loved the use of flowers in their garnishes. It almost marked the coming of Spring! If I remember correctly, the roll consisted of tuna, salmon, and albacore. That's a roll that's worth the money in my opinion. The dish was fresh and made up for my red meat filled week! Besides, I will eat anything that has shiso leaves!

Last dish was a bento box that my mom had ordered, which was a typical grilled teriyaki salmon. It was delicious all the same, but not spectacular. It also comes with a miso soup and to our suprise, spring rolls with a sesame dip.

Overall, delicious food, great ideas, wonderful presentation, great service, and reasonably priced. My favourite was the Mount Kebuki dish because it was very creative. I would definately go again, especially since its literally a 5 minute walk from my appartment! They also do take out and I recommend Kebuki. It's much better than many sushi places in downtown Montreal with, pardon my language but, shitty service, and terribly rotten looking fish.


Had a lovely dinner with my mother. Unfortunately, I'm another year older, but also another year wiser!

Kazu

I went out with W today and had such a lovely time. It's nice to have a girl friend to go out with. I have to admit, I hadn't seen her in quite a while and felt like we had lost touch. I was really glad I got to catch up with her today and hope I can see her more often next year.

We had a nice walk on Mont Royal and took plenty of pictures of the newly fallen snow. Winter might just be my favourite season because of the fluffy white snow and mainly because I just don't like hot weather haha!

We decided to have dinner at Kazu which was a restaurant we both really wanted to try and heard plenty about. Located on Sainte-Catherine Street West, it's the perfect spot for business. It's a tiny restaurant with only a few tables and a small bar. Along the wood panelled walls, were all sorts of specials they had. All the waitresses were Japanese, as well as the cook. It's really hard to find a Japanese restaurant that is actually owned by Japanese people or have a Japanese chef here in Montreal, so I felt pretty good and didn't worry about it's authenticity when I heard random Japanese words being spoken every so often.

Essentially, Kazu is an izakaya. I have never been to an izakaya before, and I've never been to one in Japan. But I've always seen it in dramas and episodes where Anthony Bourdain would go to Japan (*squeals* I'm sort of a Bourdain fan girl. He would be freaked out by me)! An izakaya is sort of like a casual bar that serves drinks and a variety of foods like soup, ramen, rice, and plenty of snack foods like dumplings and what not. I don't think they serve sushi, but they did have sashimi.

We arrived at Kazu at around 7:30pm and there was a line of people waiting to get in. We didn't wait that long though, and got a table next to the window. The waitresses were really cute and fast paced as the place was just so busy! The whole place was bustling with people, the cieling was lined with giant paper laterns, and everyone seemed to be enjoying their food. I felt like I was transported to Japan the moment I walked through their doors.

We decided to have the Okonomiyaki because I literally have always wanted to try it. I have never tried the real thing, but it tasted exactly as how I imagined it. I guess the only way for me to find out if it was authentic  or not is for me to go to Japan and try it!

It was served with a huge pile of salad on top with pickled ginger and bonito flakes. All the pictures I've seen of okonomiyaki have always been the okonomiyaki without salad, but I was happy I got my serving of greens. It was delicious and I especially liked the pieces of shrimp and cabbage. I loved the sauce they put on it...whatever sauce it is... I believe it's okonomiyaki sauce or some sort of vinagry barbecue sauce.

We then had the 48 hour pork rice bowl. It was good, but W and I came to the conclusion that it tasted and looked like something our moms would cook at home. It looked like thinly sliced pork, stir fried with onions and some soy sauce. I'm not sure if their pork was really cooked for 48 hours, but it was very tender, so I'll give them that. Overall, it was ok and wasn't that special. But I have to take into account that an izakaya serves food that's pretty much home style food/street food?

Kazu was pretty good, the prices are reasonable and portions were big. I would really like to go back and try their tuna salmon bowl, pork neck, and their homemade tofu (only on Sundays). Tonight, we preferred the okonomiyaki and regretted that we didn't order the the pork neck that the waitress recommended.

As for service, it's ridiculously fast! The waitresses also don't come up to you constantly to ask you how everything is. I'm not one for people coming up to me every few minutes while I'm eating to ask how I'm doing. That's just me. I'm Asian through and through, and I like fast service, water when I need it, and no small talk! Kazu just serves straight up good humble food. No pretrentiousness.

It was nice to catch up with W today. We did some last minute Christmas shopping afterwards :)

P.S: I'm off to Hawaii this Saturday! New food to try! I'm so excited!

Au Pied de Cochon

For D's birthday, I decided to make a reservation at Au Pied de Cochon. Mind you, his birthday is long gone (I never had time to update this blog. I'm sorry!) I thought Pied de Cochon would be a nice birthday dinner.

Living in Montreal for most of my life, I never had the chance to try this apparently world renowned restaurant. I have seen Chef Martin Picard on The Food Network many times, and loved his show The Wild Chef. Once I saw Anthony Bourdain feature an episode of Montreal and Martin Picard's foie gras poutine, I knew I had to go! I've been wanting to go to Au Pied de Cochon for years now...I know, crazy right?

Well, on November 16th 2012, I got the chance!

Our reservation was at 5:30 (the only spot they had left). We showed up a bit early, so we walked along Ave. Duluth for a bit. There are lot's of interesting little stores, and right next door to PDC is a lovely chocolate shop!

We waited for a bit outside of PDC, and I got a glimpse of Chef Martin Picard and I was starstruck! Near the entrance, there is a large tank full of swimming eel and a giganctic pumpkin! Without notice, the host took our names and seated us near the window. The moment we sat down, people immediately started piling in! It was crazy! People were so desperate to get in and get a taste of the food.

I loved the ambiance of the restaurant. It was warm and reminded me of a cabin with all the wooden tables, chairs, and paneling. Perfect for cold autumn nights! I didn't feel any snootiness from the waiters or customers. Our waitress was really lovely and took her time to explain what specials they had for the day and any questions we had on their menu. That night, they offered sea urchin, which was quite tempting, but I just wanted to try things from their menu. Overall, it was a very nice and comfortable ambiance.

A word of caution: portions are huge. Don't eat too much before going to PDC. Don't be afraid to ask them to pack left overs.

We started off with some sourdough bread and the most amazing butter I've ever had. There's something different about that butter at PDC...I'm tellin' ya!

I had seen so many food bloggers order the foie gras cromesquis, that I just had to order a plate. We were told that we should wait about 30 seconds to pop them in our mouths. The little deep fried molten cubes of foie gras literally melted the moment it was placed in our mouths. It wasn't as good as I had expected, but wasn't terrible either.

D ordered a delicious bowl of French onion soup. It was fucking amazing (excuse the profanity)! Really though! Best French onion soup I've ever had. Very cheesy, piping hot, and even had chunks of pork in it, which is different from other French onion soups. The broth was just..fantastic.

They also offered a pea soup with foie gras that night. We didn't try it, but the couple next to us ordered it, and it looked very very yummy!

I ordered a foie gras tart, and let's just say it was ORGASMIC. No words, just orgasmic. This was a flaky buttery tart served with some sort of cheesy sauce, a bit of mashed potatoes, lobes of cured foie gras, and balsamic reduction.

For the mains, D ordered a special of the day which was a variation of the Happy Pork Chop, but bigger. A lot bigger! The pork chop was a a little too tough in some parts and perhaps too big. It wasn't as good as we'd expected. BUT, I emphasize the "but" because D let me take it home, and this pork chop tasted really good the next day. Like, really good!

I ordered the PDC melting pot. It consists of their cheesy mashed potatoes, topped with pork belly, boudin (blood sausage), pork sausage, and onions. It was oh so lovely! The mashed potatoes are to die for. I had never tried blood sausage and thought I wouldn't like it, but it was my favourite out of everything from the PDC melting pot. It was fluffly, creamy, and filled with wonderful herbs and spices. I highly recommend this dish, especially for cold nights!

We could barely finish our mains, but I really wanted to have dessert. After so much heavy food, we decided to share a poached pear with vanilla ice cream. It wasn't mind blowing, but it was a nice way to clean our palates. I liked the vanilla ice cream more than the pear haha.

Overall, it was the appetizers and the PDC melting pot that stole our...stomachs. I will definatley go back to try other things on their menu, like their foie gras poutine. I went home with a very big doggy bag and thoroughly enjoyed the left overs next morning hehe.

What I love about this restaurant is that they use whatever is in season and constantly change their specials. Like I mentioned earlier, they offered sea urchin that night. They also offered squash soup and other lovely and delicous things!

I highly recommend this restaurant. If you're a Montrealer like me or just here for a visit, make sure to get a reservation at Au Pied de Cochon. Please make a reservation, because people line up for this place! You probably won't get a seat if you decide to walk in without a reservation.

At the end of our meal, D and I waddled our way back to the car. It was definately a happy birthday.

Deep-fried Everything!

Want to know a great way to use up pancake batter?

That's right, batter up everything you can think of and deep fry it!

This will probably be one of the most unhealthiest and crudest things I'll ever do to my food, but you know what, sometimes a girl just needs to have some deep fried goodness in her life! Usually, these deep fried days are spontaneous, where I'm craving lots of fat in my diet.

This all started with a craving for corndogs. I had no cornmeal and was too broke to go out and get some, so I had to be creative. I used the leftover Bratwurst sausages I had, cut them into thirds, skewered them and made mini "corndogs." After making my poor man's version of the corndog, I kind of got excited and used whatever I had in the fridge. I gathered up some mushrooms, and dumplings, impaled them onto skewers, dunked them into pancake batter and fried, fried, fried till they were golden, crispy, and delicious.

NOTE: I didn't have any Mars Bars, or Oreos, but if I had them on hand, I probably would've deep fried those too!

 

 

Okay, these don't look very pretty (taken with my Iphone), but like I mentioned earlier, these will probably be the crudest things I'll ever do to my food. Desperate times calls for desperate measures.

 

 

 

Here's a little snap shot of the inside of the deep fried dumpling, and yes, I did dip these babies into vinegar...*blushes*

 

My favourite has got to be the deep fried mushrooms due to their juiciness. I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of those! I didn't have this food blog at the time.

 

Don't have a recipe either, sorry! If anyone wants to try this out, just use a standard pancake recipe, or premade mix.

 

I'm quite embarassed at how I will throw together some of the most unhealthy meals sometimes...but I did enjoy it, so no regrets!

 

Come back for more, because next time I'll deep fry pickles, Mars Bars, and Oreos!