Cacao 70

Hello everybody,

So what's the best place to have a get together with a friend that you haven't seen for a while? Obviously, around chocolate (between girls, it's our péché mignon but which solved and comforted us so many times :P). Moreover, my friend LOVES when i say she loves, I really mean it : She LOVES chocolate! I think it will be difficult for her to chose between chocolate and her husband (just kidding). We choose Cacao 70 for the meeting place.

We both wanted to give a try to this new place, especially after hearing people said that it was better than Juliette & Chocolat. We didn't hold ourself for the order, we wanted to have sample of their various items on the menu, so we picked : «sharing sharing» (for two). Basically, it consists of «1/4 of triple chocolate pizza, banana split waffle, chocolate snacks, warm chocolate sauce, chocolate covered ice cream, strawberries, chocolate hazelnut wafers and milk chocolate fondue served with your own personal grill to roast the marshmallows» (28.95$+tx). I should have checked the description before ordering. It was a lot, a lot and a lot of chocolate, you have to love sweet in order to be able to finish that monster. 

Sincerely, we first received a sample of their chocolate in 2 glasses, it was thick and very chocolaty (milk chocolate). Appreciated but not impressive.

Then, come the chocolate snacks, warm chocolate sauce, chocolate covered ice cream, strawberries, chocolate hazelnut wafers and milk chocolate fondue served with our own personal grill to roast the marshmallows. The small balls in the center are crispy inside like puff rice covered with chocolate, nice texture change of texture.

Here is a closer look of the personal grill which I find it really cute and fun to roast our own marshmallow.

                                        

Sincerely, it was just good for two. But the waiter came with another huge plate with again a lot of chocolate. I thought I was going to have an heart attack with that much sweet (that's why I mentioned earlier that I should have checked the complete description...). However, my friend was super happy, so what do I have to say, let's enjoy it :)

Second plate and last one (fortunately for me) : 1/4 triple chocolate pizza, banana split waffle (the bananas were caramelized before being covered with chocolate, so it added a special touch),  warm chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream.

Comment : The waffle was just okay, not enough crispy according to me but tasted just fine. My friend loved the chocolate pizza which I found quite boring : just a basic dough covered with chocolate... bofff! There was too much chocolate, it all tasted the same at the end :(

Overall, for people loving chocolate, it is a place to go. Better than Juliette & Chocolat? not sure, they both are quite the same in my opinion, but simply offer different ways of serving the chocolate. Debate still on for fans of chocolate, let me know if you have a preference and why.

Note : I found it a bit pricey for the quality and for what we got.

Rate :
Food : 4/5
Service : 3.5/5
Price/quality : 3.5/5
Overall : 11/15

Cacao 70

2087 Ste. Catherine West

Montreal, QC H3H 1M6

http://cacao70.ca/

(Menu available)

~V.Cat~

Universel Restaurant

Hello everybody,

We were a big group (22 people) going for an anniversary to «Universel». The service was good, they didn't charge us extra fee for being a group. They told us that we needed to pay 1$ per person for slicing the birthday cake, but at the end they didn't charge us :)

Some people took a calamari appetizer. The tomato sauce was tangy and sour. It paired well with those fried seafood. I found them good, crispy on the outside.

Another choice of appetizer was the broccoli and clam cream soup. The clam flavour was strong but didn't overwhelm the soup.

 Salad cesar

Fillet mignon brochette -- The dish came with a pepper sauce which was good but tasted like those you buy from the grocery store. My friend asked for medium, but it was well cooked and the meat was dry. The meat already has pepper on it. I expected that the fillet mignon was tender and didn't have pepper on it letting us to taste the true meat flavour.

 Teryaki chicken fillet -- The poultry was tender, not dry at all. It was covered with a thick and sweet sauce. Not too sweet. It would have been tastier if the marinated the chicken. Although the sauce seems to be industrial, the dish was still good.

Seafood fettuccini -- The dish was rich even if there aren't any cream in the sauce. The sauce tasted okay. There were a lot of mussels (as you can see on the picture).

Salmon pennini

Seafood pizza

Linguine Vongole -- clams, shallots and cream sauce.

British burger -- mushroom and swiss cheese. Charcoal grilled meat... it was so dry. I couldn't taste the swiss cheese and the mushroom had no flavour.

Rib steak -- The first one was burnt and we had to ask to replace it.

 Dessert included in the table d'hôte
3 layers of 3 different chocolate -- too sweet according to my friend.

 Pacane tart

Note : Thanks for my friends being so patient even if they were really hungry, they waited for me finish taking the pictures before eating. THANK YOU!

Rate :

Food : 3.5/5

Service : 3.5/5

Price/quality : 3.5/5

Overall : 10.5/15

Universel Déjeuners et Grillades

2055 rue Peel

Montreal, QC, H3A 1V4

514-840-7136

http://www.restomontreal.ca/fr/4051/Universel-Dejeuners-et-Grillades (menu available)

~V.Cat~

Pizza Napoletana

Hi everybody,
I meet up one of my long time no see friend from my Bachelor degree (at least 5 years we didn't see each other). Fortunately, she insisted so much about not reporting again and again this meeting, we had a good time trying a new restaurant and keeping each other up dated about our respective lives.
Here we go, we choose Pizza Napoletana which is known for being the first traditional Italian pizza of little Italy since 1948. My friend Marmotte said that during her trip to Italy, it was at Naples right in front of her hotel that she ate the most amazing pizza. So we wanted to give a try to this one.

We shared an appetizer called «Polpette di Angelina» which is basically meatballs (around 8$). They were average. Nothing special about them, the tomato sauce doesn't have any special flavour. They were moist and melted in your mouth, but enough solid to stay together when cut.

Then the main reason we got there came : the pizzas!! :)

We ordered : #15 «Vegetariana» which has mushrooms, mozzarella, tomato sauce, olives, onions and green peppers (cost : 15$). I was quite disappointed, because I expected large grilled flavourful vegetables on top of it and what appeared in front of me was basically small diced vegetables. The taste reflected the picture below : Boff! Really nothing special, the crust was a little dry and crispy.

The other one : #35 «Porcini» which includes mozzarella, porcini, arugula and topped with olive oil (note : porcini is a kind of mushroom) (cost : 17$). It was much better only thanks to the sweet and peppery taste of arugula.

Overall, it was acceptable, nothing special or very particular that will invite me going back there.

NOTE : They only accept cash. There is an ATM inside.

Rate :

Food : 3.5/5

Service : 3/5

Price/quality : 3/5

Overall : 9.5/15

Address : 189, Dante street (corner de Gaspé) 

                514-276-8226 

                http://www.napoletana.com/index.html  (menu disponible)

~V.Cat~

Omma

Hey everybody,
My friend heard of a new Korean restaurant opened in Outremont district. We wanted to give it a try as we both like Korean food. So here we go :

It is not the typical Korean restaurant, it has that «Outremont French» vibe in it. I found that the cook tried to force the thing to fit into the neighborhood mold which can be good...

We were first served with one side dish : black soybean simmered in soy sauce.

Sam Dak Bulgogi -- Spicy barbecued chicken fillet, lettuce wrap, rice and kimchi (18$).

Rice

Lettuce with gochujang

Spicy Salmon -- Grilled salmon fillet with a gochujang sauce and spring onions (18$).

 Enjoy!

Overall, the ingredients used were really fresh. Both the chicken and the salmon were well cooked. But if you are looking for a more «authentic» Korean restaurant, that is not the place for you. Although, for a Korean fusion dish, you can sure give it a try.

Rate :

Food : 3.5/5

Service : 4/5

Price/quality : 3.5/5

Overall : 11/15

Restaurant Omma
177 Rue Bernard Ouest
514-274-1464
https://www.facebook.com/restaurantomma

Juliette & Chocolat

Hello everybody,

What can pump up any girl who seems a bit sad? Yeah, you guess it right -->  chocolate. As me and my friend live close to a «Juliette & Chocolat», we decided for a midnight snack to go there and see if it lives up the hype.

We were not that craving for sweets though, so we simply ordered their «fondue au chocolat» with fruits and an expresso. We definitively have to go back to not only take more picture (they have so much brownies, fudges... with nice presentation), but also to try one of their crazy chocolate ice cream (it looked huge on another table next to ours, we were drooling over but sadly already ordered). 

Overall, I have to admit that this fondue was boring, nothing particular and it sure doesn't represent this restaurant. The expresso was just right, not bad, not especially good. Otherwise, they have savoury crepes, sweet one, brownies, chocolate to drink... they even have a small stand on the front door where they sell them. Just a little mention, as most of the items on the menu are sweet, we need a little more water please. 

The place was very nice to discuss even if it was crowded, we didn't need to speak louder to hear the other one which is a plus. Recommend it for couple or just between girl friends, really pleasant environment. Plus, they have many locations, for instance on St-Denis, Laurier street, etc.

Rate :

Food : 3.5/5

Service : 3/5

Price/quality : 3/5

Overall : 9.5/15

Juliette & Chocolat

3600, St-Laurent blvd (corner Prince-Arthur)

Montreal, Qc, H2X 2V4

(438) 380-1090

http://julietteetchocolat.com/chocolat.php

~V.Cat~

La Maison Bulgogi

Hello,
La Maison Bulgogi is a Korean restaurant located close to Guy-Concordia metro station. We were looking for a place to eat and saw a lot of asian people inside, so we told ourselves that it should be good for quality and price.

The waiter was Korean but we heard the cook and other people working in the kitchen speaking Chinese. We got the usual side dish : potatoes simmered in soy sauce, kimchi cabbage, seaweed and bean sprout (from left to right). The potatoes were really tasty, seasoned and well cooked. The kimchi was average. The bean sprout was bland. But the seaweed seemed to us not really fresh.

We ordered «japchae» which is stir fied sweet potato noodles with vegetables and beef. It is a savoury dish with a hint a sweetness which we found well balanced. It was a non spicy one.

The second dish was soft tofu cooked with vegetables. It was spicy but not too much, just enough to bring some caracter to this otherwise tasteless plate.

Finally, I found both dishes good. Their portion was quite big. They are really fast to serve you. I would recommend this place. We have to go back for their Korean bbq which more looks like their main attractions. All their dishes seem really good. They serve soups, stews, bbq, stir-fried and much more.

Rate :

Food : 4/5

Service : 4/5

Price/quality : 5/5

Overall : 13/15

La Maison Bulgogi
2127, Ste-Catherine W.
Montreal, Qc, H3H 1M6
(514) 935-9820




~V.Cat~

Belgian waffles

Hey everybody,
You want to taste the best Belgian waffles in Montreal? We found the place for that! It is on St-Denis (corner Ontario Street) around number 2007-2011.

It is a little, cosy and friendly store. The dough is handmade by the owner. They can make the waffles either in rectangular shape (traditional shape) or in small balls like those on the picture. You can get them with ice cream, chocolat syrup or fruits. We got the original and more basic one to have a real taste of their dough. APPROVED. Crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. They literally melt in your mouth. Not too sweet which is good.
Warning : They are addictive! You can't stop popping them in your mouth :P


Overall, I definitively recommend this place and introduce it to my friends.

Rate :

Food : 5/5

Service : 5/5

Price/quality : 5/5

Overall : 15/15

~V.Cat~