1862 Sainte-Catherine O.
Montreal, Quebec
Metro: Guy-Concordia, Atwater
Bus: STM 15, 24, 57, 63, 66, 90, 104, 108, 138, 144, 165, 166, 427, 435
Visit: February 21, 2013
http://kazumontreal.com
In Montreal, there is a list of the essential go-to spots that you have to check off of your list to officially call yourself a resident of this city. They vary from different kinds of cuisine, budget criteria, and just sheer levels of awesomeness. One of the places that I’ve been itching to go to in the last few years is called Kazu. You can ask just about anyone in Montreal and they’ll tell you that this is the place to go.
43 de la Gauchetiere E.
Montreal, Quebec
Metro: Place d’Armes
Bus: STM 55, 80, 129, 150, 410, 427, 430, 435, 747
Visit: July 12, 2012
http://www.restaurantmonnan.com/
My half-Chinese heritage demands that I scour the island for each and every restaurant that does my native cuisine justice. My purpose for my visit to Mon Nan is not to show what everybody already knows, but to shed light on another aspect that doesn’t get too much play. There are some pretty decent, well-known restaurants in Montreal where you can get lunch for well under 10 dollars and Mon Nan is one of them.
LOCATION CLOSED
405 Sherbrooke Est
Montreal, Quebec
Metro: Sherbrooke
Bus: STM 24, 30, 144, 427
Visit: June 19, 2011
My father’s side of the family has a tradition on each and every Father’s day. Usually, we’d go to a very specific restaurant for the last 40 years. So, when I heard we were going to this relative unknown, my interest was somewhat peaked. This restaurant is so new (in my opinion), that it can’t even be found on any internet directory. The service seemed very tentative. You could tell by the way they carried out the soup to the various tables. The fact that there were 2 separate entrances made the greeting process quite awkward. The restaurant was about 3/4s full by the time we left.
For the majority of the dishes, I’ll try my best to identify them. When I go to a Chinese restaurant, I go under a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. That’s mostly because I don’t want to find out what I’m putting in my mouth.
Tea
Soup
This tasted a lot like a chicken soup. I didn’t really like the consistency.
Bowl of Rice
Lobster
Up until today, I have never seen lobster this big. Also, the portions were quite huge, not only for this dish, but for a lot of the others. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much taste, as the iconic lobster sauce was nowhere in sight.
Lobster Piece
Just for a reference point.
General Tao Chicken
Though the pieces look big and you’re given a lot of it, I found the dish to lack in taste. Once you get over the heat, there isn’t much to it, compared to other similar dishes I’ve tried.
Frog Legs
This is a regular dish that the family orders. I didn’t touch it today and I will never touch it ever. I don’t like the idea of eating or touching frog.
“Fish Pot”
This dish contains your various fish and shrimp in what looks like an edible bowl. The fish was very acceptable and the shrimp was quite large. The items surrounding the “bowl” are scallop pieces. I do not like scallop, therefore I do not touch.
“Mystery Dish”
I’m calling this the mystery dish because I was told one thing and it tasted like something else. I will not argue with the taste whatsoever, because I was one of the better dishes. But, when you tell me this is chicken and it tastes like fish, something has got to give.
Pork Chops
This dish was one of the decent ones. Though, I didn’t exactly like having to work around the bones. Then again, when you eat this, bones are a given.
Tofu
This dish really frustrated me. It wasn’t because of taste, but because the tofu pieces just kept on falling apart. As the pieces got smaller, they because so much harder to pick up with chop sticks. Therefore, any appreciation for the dish was completely lost in the multiple attempts in trying to pick them up.
Beef and Greens
This dish is as simple as it looks. The beef taste quite good and the greens were just like anything you could get in any restaurant.
Dessert
I don’t know what this is. This is the second time in three days that I have seen this unfortunate soup dessert. I was told that it was made with beans and it was supposed to be sweet. I managed two sips before giving up. I usually finish everything put in front of me. For this, I knew better.
Aftermath
2774 Salaberry
Galeries Normandie
Montreal, Quebec
Bus: STM 164, 180
Train: Du Ruisseau
Visit: June 15, 2011
Being only half-Chinese, I do have some stock when it comes to Chinese food. One of my colleagues asked me to come with them to this restaurant, so I obliged, only because the meal was going to be paid for. I found the service to be quite cold. There were 2 servers who were more concerned about the rush than anything else. I also really despise eating in an open mall setting like this.
Won Ton Soup
Tried: June 15, 2011
This is the same won ton soup you can get at any Tiki Ming in Montreal. This is not the best Won Ton soup you’ll ever get either. What this dish looks like is exactly 6 won ton pieces in water, with some onions as decoration. The pieces had no taste and I regretted doing this to myself. So, no change in the best won ton in Montreal choice here.
Shrimp Noodles
Tried: June 15, 2011
This dish contains a cornucopia of various ingredients, mainly featuring shrimp. First of all, I was surprised by the amount of food on this dish. I was doubting whether or not I could finish it. Even though I did finish, I wasn’t blown away or anything. The shrimp weren’t really of high quality. The taste was fine, but nothing spectacular.
Rice w/Shrimp, Chicken and Cashews
