Canada
In need of some food to soak up the booze of the night before, we found ourselves at Les 3 Brasseurs in downtown Montreal. Of course, in English this translates to The 3 Brewers, so it seemed like a good place to get our fill before leaving the lovely city of Montreal. Because it seemed necessary, we started with a couple orders of poutine for the table – including one non-traditional that had pulled pork and bacon.
The Jewish influence on Montreal’s food scene goes beyond the bagels and into the realms of meat. Specifically smoked meat and there is no better-known place to get the smoked meat than at Schwartz’s, which has been making the stuff since 1928. Today Celine Dion weirdly has some sort of ownership in the place, but I went hoping this had little to do with the popularity.
We know this truth to be self-evident: Not all bagels are created equally. This has been briefly touched upon on this blog in the past, but my recent trip to Montreal made that sentiment all the more powerful. You see, I had eaten a Montreal-style bagel before, but only after picking up a half dozen on the way out of town and consuming them upon returning to LA. This time, I made sure to get one fresh off the line at Fairmount Bagel in Mile End, which has been pushing bagels since 1919.
Where were you when you ate the greatest meal of your life? Until I went to Liverpool House in Montreal I wasn’t quite sure. You see, Liverpool House is the sister restaurant to Joe Beef, which is often considered one of the best restaurants in the world. Yet, after paying a visit to Liverpool House I can’t imagine how Joe Beef could be any better.
A long, long time ago I visited Montreal for my friends’ wedding and was introduced to real poutine for the first time. I say real, because the stuff they serve at Wendy’s in Ontario is…well…Wendy’s. My friends took me to La Belle Province and I suppose you never really forget your first love, because upon my return to Montreal it was all I wanted.
Since Niagara-on-the-Lake is a wine region, it comes as no surprise that there is a restaurant called the Old Winery. It may, however, come as a surprise that this spot features blues music on Saturday nights. It also features a pretty good selection of beer, pasta and grill items. Although I am typically a man of the grill, the pasta called my name because it went by the name of Gnocchi.
Back in Niagara-on-the-Lake one more time again, we corrected the mistake of the previous visit and actually took a recommendation on where to eat. We started out with The Irish Harp, a pub with just the kind of food you would expect a pub to have. There were burgers, sandwiches, and for some reason pesky salads.
While visiting Niagara Falls we found ourselves at a place called Elements on the Falls. It’s kind of a fancy joint in a great location (like a great view of the falls), so I expected high prices and subpar food. The prices were certainly high, but considering the dishes were pretty fancy, they didn’t actually seem overly high. The only problem was actually ordering, because we had a pretty difficult time flagging down a waiter or waitress to take our order.
The Chipotle model has been followed by many other fast casual Mexican spots since its inception. And why not? It’s nice to customize burritos and even nicer when you get to mix things up here and there. That’s where Asada Mexican Grill in Wynchwood, Toronto comes in. Like Chipotle, it has all the customization you’d want, with extra options like al pastor, refried beans, and a salsa bar. I was excited about the prospects and picked out my order.
No trip to Canada is complete without at least one stop for poutine. Yes, even outside of the French side of Canada. The internet told me that Poutini’s in West Queen Street West had some of the best in town and I was eager to see if they could live up to the lofty expectations. Like other poutineriess, it had a few different options, but I was most intrigued by their Layered Poutine. This included an extra layer of cheese in the middle, and as much as I like bacon and other such things, this seemed best.