I went over the border to Canada for the weekend and promised a food journal. I don't go into detail where I host them because most don't care- but I know it is appreciated here. I'll start with the "Greasy Spoon" we ate at for breakfast. In all actuality, it might have been one of the best meals we had all trip- and most certainly the cheapest. Food is SOOO expensive in Quebec.
Prepared by "Chef Denny," (lol) The scrambled eggs were perfect, the sausage and bacon were locally made and tasted like it. The bacon was especially notable with its amazing impartation of smoke. The restaurant itself was halarious. It was last updated sometime in the late 80's and had wood paneling and orange counter tops in the bar area.
The next meal I had was some chicken salad bought at a generic grocery store. Not much to review.
For dinner we dined at the rotating restaurant on top of our hotel. The view was amazing, and it took 1.5 hours to make a full circle. Over this time we saw fireworks and the huge span that Quebec is. However, I did get lost in it because we entered the rotating ring next to the bathroom. I forgot that it rotated and tried to find my table by the same bathroom. Otherwise, the service was impeccable- second only to the Breakers in West Palm. The menu was chock full of retarded high prices for simple dishes, so we opted for the special buffet. It consisted of various cold salads, crab legs, smoke salmon, shrimp (peel and eat at a high end restaurant WTF?) , ravioli (probably frozen), vegetables (definitely not fresh), tourne potatoes, Guinea fowl, roasted lamb, and Beef Wellington
. 
From L to R on the first plate: Beef Wellington- Obviously well cooked to Mid Rare, with a toasty pastry crust that was actually cooked all the way! The sauce left a little to be desired, but it was one of the top 2 items on the plate. Ravioli- Sucked. Probably frozen. Mussles- Great butter and garlic sauce, but they aren't as good/fresh as New England shellfish. Tourne Potato- Perfect tourne, and when soaked in the mussel sauce, was wonderful. Guinnea Fowl- Probably the best thing on the plate. Given a very gamey and tough bird, this was cooked so perfectly and wasn't chewy in the least. I have suspicions that it was cooked in the chafing pan. Lamb- overcooked, dry, under seasoned, sucked.
L to R on second plate: Some sort of Pate- was tasty, couldn't tell you what it was specifically. Tortellini Salad- Pasta was cooked very well (oooooo hard task). By the time I got to the dish on the buffet, whatever else may have been in it was gone. Smoked Salmon- Probably ordered from a purveyor, but still tasty. Restaurant didn't remove the blood line. That kinda pissed me off. A tomato- juicy and exploded when punctured. Yummy. Cucumber Salad- I've had better. Crab legs- First off, I LOVE crab legs. Second, they ruined them. This high end restaurant over cooked the legs making them overly difficult to get out, then when you did, crab juice was ALL over your hands and if you're not careful, your nice clothes too.
By all of this, I sound like a food snob, but I'm not. These were all simple dishes to prepare and they couldn't meet standard expectations.
Next meal-
After searching for breakfast at 8+ places that all had ridiculous prices for a single egg and toast for at least $11, we came across something reasonable. The restaurant was at the bottom of a hotel on a market street. The meals included baked beans, toast, bacon or sausage, OJ, coffee, and homefries for a starting price of $6.25. Depending on the protein, it would be more or less expensive. The service was given by a VERY, VERY beautiful (and I hardly EVER say that word) girl names Julie. She was great, very informative and had the hottest French-English accent. I miss you! Anyway, the food, yes, the food. We saw an item that said "Horseman Breakfast." Horse Flank was the main item with the inclusion of what was mentioned above. We'd never had horse, so naturally, it had to be ordered. It was cooked medium rare, had a perfect (and I mean PERFECT) charring on the outside that gave a complex grill taste on the first bite. The texture was reminiscent of venison, but had a VERY strong gamey finish.
The second plate is perfectly cooked over easy eggs (which I am a stickler for!) perfectly seasoned potatoes- not to much salt, not to much pepper, perfect. The sausage wasn't the type of breakfast sausage you'd expect. It was very mild, with no fennel seed. Instead, it had a hint of sage and mild pork- a warmly welcomed change from the norm. The toast, OH the toast. It HAD to have been homemade (or at least local) bread. It had a hint of fresh yeast and the texture of Texas Toast (the frozen kind). To top it off, it was grilled with the same carbon crust as the horse. I've never had such complex bread! It is customary to spread the beans on the bread- which I tried to do, but wasn't very satisfied. I ate them separately and added fresh salted sweet cream butter to my toast. Something about me- I grew up in rural FL near farms and such. I know what fresh vegies, meat, milk, and butter taste like; and this butter was as close to fresh that I'd been in a while.
The last meal I had before we left was Poutine, or Poutille. I can't spell it, I can only say it. "PoOt-en." The locals love this dish, but it hasn't grown on me and probably never will. The dish is french fries smothered with chicken gravy and cheese curd. Not exactly refined French food. Either way, I guess the point is that everything gets soggy? I'm not sure, but it wasn't all that wonderful in my opinion. I might have eaten 6 fries out of that dish just to be sure I didn't care for it.
That concludes my Canada Food Travels. I'm headed to Vegas in August where I'll review various buffets and In and Out hamburgers. Anything of value inbetween there will be posted too. Enjoy, comment away.
Prepared by "Chef Denny," (lol) The scrambled eggs were perfect, the sausage and bacon were locally made and tasted like it. The bacon was especially notable with its amazing impartation of smoke. The restaurant itself was halarious. It was last updated sometime in the late 80's and had wood paneling and orange counter tops in the bar area.
The next meal I had was some chicken salad bought at a generic grocery store. Not much to review.
For dinner we dined at the rotating restaurant on top of our hotel. The view was amazing, and it took 1.5 hours to make a full circle. Over this time we saw fireworks and the huge span that Quebec is. However, I did get lost in it because we entered the rotating ring next to the bathroom. I forgot that it rotated and tried to find my table by the same bathroom. Otherwise, the service was impeccable- second only to the Breakers in West Palm. The menu was chock full of retarded high prices for simple dishes, so we opted for the special buffet. It consisted of various cold salads, crab legs, smoke salmon, shrimp (peel and eat at a high end restaurant WTF?) , ravioli (probably frozen), vegetables (definitely not fresh), tourne potatoes, Guinea fowl, roasted lamb, and Beef Wellington
. From L to R on the first plate: Beef Wellington- Obviously well cooked to Mid Rare, with a toasty pastry crust that was actually cooked all the way! The sauce left a little to be desired, but it was one of the top 2 items on the plate. Ravioli- Sucked. Probably frozen. Mussles- Great butter and garlic sauce, but they aren't as good/fresh as New England shellfish. Tourne Potato- Perfect tourne, and when soaked in the mussel sauce, was wonderful. Guinnea Fowl- Probably the best thing on the plate. Given a very gamey and tough bird, this was cooked so perfectly and wasn't chewy in the least. I have suspicions that it was cooked in the chafing pan. Lamb- overcooked, dry, under seasoned, sucked.
L to R on second plate: Some sort of Pate- was tasty, couldn't tell you what it was specifically. Tortellini Salad- Pasta was cooked very well (oooooo hard task). By the time I got to the dish on the buffet, whatever else may have been in it was gone. Smoked Salmon- Probably ordered from a purveyor, but still tasty. Restaurant didn't remove the blood line. That kinda pissed me off. A tomato- juicy and exploded when punctured. Yummy. Cucumber Salad- I've had better. Crab legs- First off, I LOVE crab legs. Second, they ruined them. This high end restaurant over cooked the legs making them overly difficult to get out, then when you did, crab juice was ALL over your hands and if you're not careful, your nice clothes too.
By all of this, I sound like a food snob, but I'm not. These were all simple dishes to prepare and they couldn't meet standard expectations.
Next meal-
After searching for breakfast at 8+ places that all had ridiculous prices for a single egg and toast for at least $11, we came across something reasonable. The restaurant was at the bottom of a hotel on a market street. The meals included baked beans, toast, bacon or sausage, OJ, coffee, and homefries for a starting price of $6.25. Depending on the protein, it would be more or less expensive. The service was given by a VERY, VERY beautiful (and I hardly EVER say that word) girl names Julie. She was great, very informative and had the hottest French-English accent. I miss you! Anyway, the food, yes, the food. We saw an item that said "Horseman Breakfast." Horse Flank was the main item with the inclusion of what was mentioned above. We'd never had horse, so naturally, it had to be ordered. It was cooked medium rare, had a perfect (and I mean PERFECT) charring on the outside that gave a complex grill taste on the first bite. The texture was reminiscent of venison, but had a VERY strong gamey finish.The second plate is perfectly cooked over easy eggs (which I am a stickler for!) perfectly seasoned potatoes- not to much salt, not to much pepper, perfect. The sausage wasn't the type of breakfast sausage you'd expect. It was very mild, with no fennel seed. Instead, it had a hint of sage and mild pork- a warmly welcomed change from the norm. The toast, OH the toast. It HAD to have been homemade (or at least local) bread. It had a hint of fresh yeast and the texture of Texas Toast (the frozen kind). To top it off, it was grilled with the same carbon crust as the horse. I've never had such complex bread! It is customary to spread the beans on the bread- which I tried to do, but wasn't very satisfied. I ate them separately and added fresh salted sweet cream butter to my toast. Something about me- I grew up in rural FL near farms and such. I know what fresh vegies, meat, milk, and butter taste like; and this butter was as close to fresh that I'd been in a while.
The last meal I had before we left was Poutine, or Poutille. I can't spell it, I can only say it. "PoOt-en." The locals love this dish, but it hasn't grown on me and probably never will. The dish is french fries smothered with chicken gravy and cheese curd. Not exactly refined French food. Either way, I guess the point is that everything gets soggy? I'm not sure, but it wasn't all that wonderful in my opinion. I might have eaten 6 fries out of that dish just to be sure I didn't care for it.
That concludes my Canada Food Travels. I'm headed to Vegas in August where I'll review various buffets and In and Out hamburgers. Anything of value inbetween there will be posted too. Enjoy, comment away.
