Food Review: Imadake (Montreal)

Imadake is a Japanese restaurant located by Atwaters subway station in Montreal. Across the street from Place Alexis Nihon, you'll find this tapas Japanese goodness.

This is just a taste of what we had. 

Also, this was my favorite dish: Beef tataki with ponzu sauce ($9). It was melt-in-your-mouth tasty slices of tenderized beef.

I was pretty unimpressed with their take on Seaweed salad ($8). It had a lot more arugula and other leaves and very little seaweed. But, I must admit that the dressing was very tasty and not at all over-powering. It had a hint of peanut butter.

Imadake Stone Grilled Steaks ($15). The presentation was very nice but the taste was only o-k. There wasn't anything w-O-w about the meat.

White fish carpaccio ($10). Not as tasty as the beef tataki, but it was still pretty good. The fish was very fresh and paired with the caviar/green onion/sauce was delightful.

Korokke, Fried Chicken with wasabi mayonnaise ($8). This was a very unique and tasty fried chicken. The exterior had a roll in batter and peanuts. The texture was different and not all that bad. The wasabi mayonnaise was not spicy in any way.

And lastly on our menu, we ordered the Pork belly Ramen. Hmmm... maybe not as good as the Ramen made in Toronto. Or it could also be that after eating all the others, this was a very normal and not-so-special. The soup was indeed very tasty though.

The atmosphere reminds me of Toronto's Guu or Don Don, but with less noise. There's a lot of space and the shouting or sorts (i.e when someone orders a bomber sake) was very weak! haha sorry!

Overall, the food was very tasty!

3.8/5 

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Food Review: Lee Nam Jang

On a very cold and snowy night, your body craves for something hot hot hot!

My friends and I stayed uptown and headed to a fairly new Korean restaurant at Sheppard & Yonge Street.

We went early in the evening when there were very few patrons. Got there and was warmly greeted by our waitress/owner (perhaps?). Had a look at the menu (medium-big) and the prices started at $10. They had a lot of big plates to share, so that's good for bigger groups.

I ended up ordering Beef Bone Soup + rice ($9.95). 

Funny thing was there wasn't any bones in it. Instead, they gave me thick slices of beef with noodles in it. The waitress also brought me cut green onions to add in my soup. Had a sip and it tasted very very bland. I had to put a generous amount of salt and when it still didn't "taste", I had to add a tsp of hot sauce which finally made it all better.

Their kimchi was very tasty as was the rest of the side dishes.

Not bad! But still... nothing can beat Sunrise House with their amazing prices and taste! =0)

Food Review: Old Neighbor

Welcome to Old Neighbor.

Located in Scarborough, Ontario.

Came here on an early Sunday afternoon to enjoy some Northern Chinese Cuisine. Though I'm not too familiar with certain Northern Chinese tastes, I stayed with the basics.

First we ordered a plate of green onion pancakes ($1.99). Sorry, we were hungry so we ate it up pretty quickly. They give you 2 circular pieces. One thing they forgot or just don't do is salt the pancake. =(

Then we had a tray of Siew Long Bao ($5.99)

As usual, very good and delicious. Nothing to complain about!

Next we had some Port dumplings ($4.99), which were also very good. Can't really go wrong with dumplings.

And lastly, we ordered Shanghai Fried Noodles ($5.99)... their version.

Instead of the thin yellow-looking noodles, they made it with the thick noodles. This was different but very great!

Overall, the food was tasty and the service is like any other chinese restaurant in Toronto.

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Hotel Review: Le Westin (Montreal)

The front steps of Le Westin on St. Antoine Ouest, Montreal, QC

Checking in as their SPG member, your treatment is significantly better. And here's a taste:

With your SPG, you will be able to access their Executive Lounge. Note: They always have a small variety of fresh fruits and unlimited drinks.

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But let's talk more about the rooms. 

It's been written (on Yelp & their website) that their beds are "heavenly".  And I must attest to it as well. It's not too soft and it's not firm, but just right (-said Goldilocks).

Towels and toiletries are well stocked. However, I did find that the lotion was only okay, not as creamy or smooth. My favorite part of the "bathroom heaven" is the robe! It's not as heavy and towel-like as the Ritz, but it's light and oh-so-comfy!

I've only started to notice that almost all the hotels I've been to (in the last 1.5 yrs) have also provided this service for "forgotten items". But Westin takes the cake. They have a "Westin Kids Club items".

 

And for the happy coffee-lover, each room greets their guests with Starbucks coffee with matching Starbucks/Westin combo cups to "take away" (as the European call it).

Le Westin Montreal also houses the restaurant, gaZette. Along with the SPG membership, they give a complimentary breakfast buffet (ends at 11:00am). Otherwise, for all other guests, the buffet is roughly $20-30.

The service at gaZette is very nice but a little slow. The waiters are very professional and always smiling. The food here is also top notch. Along with their fresh fruit bar, they've got the brie and cheese and tiered selection of pastries and the rest of the breakfast bunch. 

Another wonderful SPG alert - H A P P Y . H O U R (5-7pm)

 We sit, we get into the happy hour... and then..... we eat & drink!

Smoked and fresh salmon tartar (Caviar and lemon creme fraiche, $12) 

 Crispy spicy chicken wings (Blue cheese dipping sauce, $11) (photos above)

Sparkling wine, Prosecco (Italy, $14)

Beef carpaccio (Cipollini onions, black garlic, beech mushrooms, reggiano cheese & extra virgin olive oil, $12)

And to go tapas:

Mini antipasti (Local cheese,, grilled mixed vegetables & proscuitto, $10)

Mini angus sliders (Cheddar cheese served with regular & sweet potato fries, $13)

Taste of all the tapas was *MUAH* good! The sparkling wine was sweet, the brie was divine, the beef carpaccio was melt in your mouth with a tint of sweetness from the onion and the chicken wings were very spicy. My own disappointment, if I can even say that (after all that good food), the mini sliders were a bit dry and bland. But everything else was a very tasteful happy hour experience.

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Service: 6/5, friendly and professional

Price: $$$

Environment: modern and clean

Location: next to Old Montreal (closest subway station: Place -D'Armes)

Overall, a 5/5 experience

Food Review: Cafe Mirage

Brunch time at the Sheppard location is nice and quiet... that is until 12pm when all the business men and woman come down for lunch. Afterwards, the place is loud and full.

This is my go-to place whenever I want to stay uptown and eat when it's not breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

Today's order was a Montreal Lox

Montreal Lox: Our jumbo twister bagel topped with smoked Norwegian salmon, fresh cream cheese, and red onions.

One very bad thing that didn't seem to be included was "dressing". Therefore the salad tasted like dry yuck. Still, I ate it for it's nutritional factoid but I was extremely disappointed that they did not have it included.

The sandwich, because it was "jumbo", they gave a very generous portion of cream cheese and smoked salmon. Points for that! 

Overall, today's meal rates at 2.8/5

Food Review: Frais Cafe & Sandwiches (Montreal)

In the heart of the financial district, this cute little cafe, just off Cote du Beaver Hall/Rue de la Gauchetiere Ouest, is nestled along the string of other restaurants for busy workers around the area.

Having a late lunch, we pleasantly skipped the rush hour, but that also meant another thing:

Not much of a variety left. =0(

But the staff was very nice and very helpful. Out of the three we got the Chorizo Epice panini (sausage with cheese and red peppers, $8,95)

The cafe itself is very cute. It's small with a modern decorum.

There's a small amount of tables in the front and a big open space by the cash and bar. 

As a lover of anything made into a sandwich, this panini was very tasty. The sausage used was very good with a hint of spice. 

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