• Montréal Eats | Part 1

    April 15, 2018

    Hi Everyone!

    After years of talking about taking a trip together, my friends and I finally went on a long weekend trip..to Montréal. I’ll admit, it wasn’t very far considering we were originally brainstorming cities like Chicago, New York and even Amsterdam at one point? Eventually, we’ll travel some place we’ll need our passports. It’s weird to think that we’ve been friends for so long, yet we’ve never had a girls weekend away- the most time we’ve spent together was a week at band camp in middle school and that barely counts because we would be with our other cabin mates and then off to lessons with our teachers.

    Like any place we would travel, our main focus was food: poutine, croissants, Montréal bagels, etc.

    We got Fairmount bagels and they were really good (and we just got sesame and poppy seed).

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    For brunch, we went to Restaurant L’avenue, it was pretty good. It reminded me of Fran’s Restaurant. Everyone gets a fruit skewer which I thought was nice. I got the Fruity Breakfast which was bacon, eggs, potatoes, fruit bowl, french toast and maple syrup and a baguette. KN and BM both got Eggs Benedict (pictured is the Coin Coin Bénédictine/Eggs Benedict with Duck).

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    For dinner on one of the days, we went to LOV, a vegan and vegetarian restaurant. We got the Kale mac’n’cheese as a starter and I decided to get a salad for dinner (again, to counteract all the carbs). I got the Greens Salad- mesclun, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, sumac vinaigrette and I decided to add avocado. Even though it didn’t look like a lot, it was actually quite filling with the avocado. Sorry about the pictures being dark- it was dimly lit and I didn’t want to ruin the mood of the couple sitting beside us by using my camera’s flash.

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    We went to La Banquise and got the Classic Poutine. It was huge! Instead of each of us getting the smaller size, we split the larger one. I think you have to get one with meat on it, but we wanted to try the classic to compare it to other poutines. To my surprise, it wasn’t as amazing as I thought it’d be. If I ever go back, I’ll get some type of meat on it.

    Click here for Part 2 featuring croissants!

    Where are your fave spots to eat in Montréal?

    Love,

    jen

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  • scaddabush italian kitchen & bar

    Review | Lunch & Dinner at Scaddabush Italian Kitchen & Bar

    March 20, 2018

    Hi Everyone!

    Ever since I went to Scaddabush for my birthday a few years back, I have been raving about the fresh mozzarella! This weekend, we finally went back so my family could try it. I’ve been to two of the downtown Toronto locations: Yonge & Gerrard and Front & Simcoe. They have six other locations: Oakville, Scarborough, Vaughan, Square One, Sherway Gardens and Richmond Hill. I went to the Yonge & Gerrard one for my birthday and we went at about 10:30 and it was super busy still. For Front & Simcoe, we had a reservation at 6 and it was obviously super busy especially since we went on a Saturday which was also St. Patrick’s Day.

    DINNER

    20160930 peach mango bellini

    Peach Mango Bellini – Sparkling wine, peach schnapps, Cassis, mango purée

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    Fresh Mozzarella (Naked) – Extra-virgin olive oil, San Marzano tomato jam, sea salt, focaccia crostini

    Fresh Mozzarella (Prosciutto) – Fig jam, extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt, focaccia crostini

    Straight Up Meatball (stuffed) – Our signature meatball with focaccia crostini, three-cheese sauce, poor man’s Parmesan, Sunday sauce, fresh basil

    yum

    Mario Pizza – Prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce, baby arugula

    Zucca Ravioli (social) – Butternut squash ravioli, Grana Padano, hazelnut butter cream sauce, fried sage, poor man’s Parmesan

    Fettuccine Capri (large) – Shrimp, scallops, PEI mussels, squid, roasted red peppers, tomato sauce, orange gremolata

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    Zeppole – Deep fried sweet dough, dusted with citrus sugar, served with chocolate hazelnut sauce for dipping

    Favourites: fresh mozzarella (naked & prosciutto), straight-up meatball (stuffed)

    The mozzarella is only available after 5pm each day. So, if you want to try it, you have to go at dinner time, not lunch. Both the naked and the prosciutto are great options.

    I feel like their best dishes are the appetizers and the pastas. Especially since the mozzarella is made fresh and so is the pasta. I think we all got full on the appetizers before the pasta even came and I think we could’ve skipped dessert. For me, I would prefer to get appetizers instead of the desserts.

    The pizza tasted like other flatbread pizzas I’ve had. It was good, but it was your typical flatbread pizza. Maybe one of the other ones with more toppings is better.

    The zucca ravioli was good, but quite sweet. We probably could’ve ordered a large instead of the social. We brought the leftovers home and I ate it the next day by frying it up with a runny egg, it was delicious.

    My dad ordered the fettucine capri. Although I like seafood, I don’t love seafood pasta, but it was good, especially the pasta itself.

    My sister and brother-in-law shared one of the new features: Chocolate Bomba- Sponge cake, mascarpone panna cotta, Nutella mousse, chocolate ganache, toasted hazelnuts, strawberries, citrus sugar. My sister said it was good, but very rich, so I think it could’ve been split between three people or maybe if we hadn’t ordered so many appetizers. I didn’t really like the zeppole because it had a bit too much of an egg taste for my liking.

    Next time I go, I might try the chicken parmesan or get the spaghetti and meatball.

    LUNCH

    I’ve since been back for lunch and here are my thoughts on the new dishes I tried. We went right when they opened and five of us shared one appetizer and three dishes ( sandwich, pasta and pizza).

    Italian Burger – Hand-pressed Certified Angus Beef ground chuck, fresh mozzarella, arugula, bruschetta, balsamic reduction, basil pesto aioli, focaccia bun

    Shrimp Spaghetti – lemon wine cream, garlic butter, roasted garlic, fresh basil, fried capers, piccante sauce, spicy poor man’s Parmesan

    Smoked Bacon & Egg Pizza – Double-smoked bacon, Berkshire sausage, Alfredo sauce, fried russet potatoes, caramelized onions, chilies, chives, two freshly cracked eggs

    I loved the burger and the spaghetti was really good as well. I would order both again. The burger patty sort of tasted like the meatball, but it had a nice char on it and the focaccia bun was nice and soft (but not at all mushy). The pizza was pretty good too, but I probably wouldn’t order again. Although it was interesting having potatoes on my pizza. I would get potatoes on my pizza again. Since I shared the pizza with friends, I don’t think everything was on the two slices I ate. I didn’t have any chilies or caramelized onions.

    Have you tried the fresh mozzarella at Scaddabush?

    Love,

    jen

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