Tag Archives: dining out

La Banquise

I was visiting Montreal so I couldn’t just pass through without trying out some poutine! So I decided to check out La Banquise as it had good reviews and a huge selections on the variety of poutine.

I was ready to line up as I heard it was super popular, but I was super lucky and got a seat right away inside. There was a line up for take out though. The place was lively with an energetic atmosphere and colourful decor. The music was loud and the voices of the customers were loud. If you’ve been following my blog, you’d know that I’m not a fan of loud restaurants, especially if I’m chatting with other people. I didn’t have anyone to talk to, as I was doing a solo backpacking trip across the East, but still, I like my peace and quiet while I eat.

I ordered the La Classique regular size – that’s it, but it took along time for it to come out. 22 min is a long time to sit around with no one to talk to, nor have any reception on my phone.

Yes, it’s definitely not healthy. It was super salty, the fries were brown (like it was fried in bad oil), so it was crispy. I expected the cheese curds to be melted more. It was meh. But people just keep coming in!! Before I even got half way through, I was so full! After 5 min of eating, I was ready to leave. There was no AC, so it got pretty hot in the middle of summer and with so many people. Maybe sitting out in the patio would have been better.

By the time I left there was a huge lineup. So great timing for me!

The service was friendly, but the food didn’t wow me, or even come to a ‘good’ level. Not sure what the hype is… maybe the wide selection?

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Hiro Sushi

With so many sushi restaurants in town, and after trying years of different sushi, and slowly moving up for better quality than quantity, I stopped going to lower-end, cheap sushi places. Not only did I want quality, I have had several bounds of food poisoning, or simply not feeling well after some fishy sushi. It’s just wasn’t worth it.

From the outside, I could tell by the bold red and yellow signage that this wasn’t an expensive place. But Sheepie was up to it.

When we entered, there were no Asians dining. Oh oh… and it was less than half empty. The walls were covered in murals of Spanish or Greek like scenery… must have been some European restaurant before. They kept it as it is, and now had Japanese decor hanging in places. I ordered the 3 items with miso soup combo for $10.95. With 88 items to choose from, there’s something for everyone to order. Brown rice is available with extra charge.

The miso soup came out right after we ordered. It was super quick!

I chose Yakitori from the Appetizer list. It was covered in panko, and was grilled flat. Unusual, but tasted ok. However, it wouldn’t be something I order again.

Gyoza of 5 pieces were good.

Salmon Avocado roll had really large pieces, making it a bit hard to it, but otherwise, it was decent.

Sheepie had the Hiro House Combo $11.95 (14 pieces) of Hiro House roll, Salmon roll and 3 pieces of salmon. The roll pieces were huge. The salmon nigiri was pretty good.

The service and food was satisfactory, but wouldn’t be on the top list of go-to sushi places.

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Sushi Aria

Sheepie and I came for dinner at this Korean-run sushi restaurant. The interior was slick, modern and clean. Nice ambience and spacious between the tables.

I ordered the Negitoro roll $2.95 (of course!). Disappointingly, the rice was a bit dry. The roll was bigger than the usual maki size, but having more of the dry rice wasn’t a better thing.

I also had the Salmon Oshi Sushi $10.25. Again, there were lots of rice, so it was filling. The taste however was not quite as rich as the one from Miku/Minami that I love so much. Also, the green accent were green peppers, not jalapeno.

Sheepie ordered the Assorted Sushi Combo $12.95. It was the first time that I had seen the combo with a deep fried prawn head. Sheepie wasn’t a fan of that as he isn’t too thrilled with heads on plates, but I thought it was very Asian, and added a exquisite touch to the plate. It certainly looked good for the price. I had the Salmon nigiri but the salmon was too thick and chewy, not to mention again – bulky rice.

At the end, for complimentary service, we got a cup of pink cotton candy! I felt like a kid again! It definitely left an impression on me.

Back for Lunch

Despite the rice issue last time, we decided to host our Sushi Meetup at the restaurant. We had about 30 people join, and having only 3 booths was quite tight! It’s not the restaurant’s fault. They were told it was going to be 20, and only notified of the extra customers the morning of.

Each table got a complimentary salad to start our lunch.

I ordered the Negitoro $2.95 again to give it another chance. This time, it was the regular small, skinny rolls. It was pretty good.

I also had the Tuna Tataki $6.25 (6 pieces), which was presented very beautifully. The tuna was soft and melted in my mouth. The shaved red beets, greens and just enough ponzu sauce was excellent. I would definitely order this again.

The person across ordered the Fantastic Crunch Roll. Yup, there’s definitely going to be some crunching there.

My friend ordered the Assorted Sushi $12.75 which came very last. He was getting impatient, but when it arrived, he was pretty satisfied.

At the end, we were once again surprised by some complimentary ice cream with white mochi!! They were sprinkled with kinako, (roasted soybean flour) and syrup. Wow. It was amazing! The crispy-on-the-outside, yet chewy-on-the-inside mochi were still quite warm which was a great contrast to the cold, smooth ice cream.

The service from time to time was a bit slow, or weird (like not giving us the right number of spoons for the dessert), and when we asked for more, they wanted to give us forks, and then brought huge spoons instead.

Will love to return again!

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