Indonesia cuisine is rare in Montreal. Mr.Butter has been eyeing on Nonya for quite a while. When Nonya appeared in a coupon deal, I immediately jumped in the occasion.
When I arrived, I couldn’t stop but be mesmerized by the decor. Just the ambiance itself is worthwhile. I felt I was transported into a different country.
The coupon that I purchased was for a tasting menu. The quantity of dishes we tried were phenomenal, but the portion was rather small. Regardless, I don’t think I would have paid the full price for the tasting menu.
The service was incredibly slow. We had to wait about 30 minutes for the first appetizer. After the first appetizer, we waited about an hour and more… That really irked us. However, that was rectified once food was served after our polite notice of the long wait to the waiter.
The food was comfortingly good. Curry and coconut milk are my weakness. Each dish was well balanced, yet none really stood out among others. But at the end of the night, I was satisfied with the meal.
My very first ceviche was years ago, but I can still remember the bitter taste it left behind. Mojito and ceviche weren’t my favorate combination. But coming across Montreal Food Pictures blog post and its wonderful pictures of this restaurant that specialises on ceviches, I couldn’t take my mind off. Maybe I had it all wrong? Maybe ceviche is a wonderful dish? I had to try and see…
That’s my story about how I came to know Ceviches.
Disclaimer: my photograph skills were very poor that specific evening…but important part is that I enjoyed the food too much to care.
Appetizers were:
Tostones – plantain chips: with the sauce, it was like eating salsa with chips
Tequenos – cheese sticks in a shape of a springroll: So cheesey! Reminiscent of Pizza hut cheese stick in a positive way.
Empanadas – dumpling stuffed with fish: As far as I know, best empanadas I have eaten.
Main course, ceviches obviously! The interesting part is that we get to choose the flavor and topping. For me, I had avocado and coconut flavored. The chosen proteins were octopus and fish. Not one single regret. It was beautifully executed. It couldn’t be more fresh. While I was enjoying my dish, I was already thinking who I must bring to try this amazing restaurant.
Ceviches is now a restaurant in my recommend list!
One thing I need to do every summer is to go to Kem Coba and have their ice cream. Kem Coba is only open during summer time and usually has a line up of more than 15 minutes. Last time, I waited about a little bit more than 30 minutes. But the waiting time never bothered me because the ice cream is that amazing – actually, the best in Montreal. They love to play around with different flavors so don’t be surprised that your beloved flavor is gone! Don’t worry their other flavors are equally good!
I finally tried their soft served ice cream which is strawberry cheesecake flavor! The texture is like yogurt but a bit more solid. Just delicious!
And we also tried their pandan and viet coffee flavor. I really love the pandan flavor, it tasted like coconut!
Haven’t tried Kem Coba? You are missing out, my dear friend!
Looking at the last few years, more and more restaurants specializing in dumplings are popping up in Montreal. And standing among the top tier is Mai Xiang Yuan.
Nothing out of the ordinary, Mai Xiang Yuan offers a menu similar to other dumpling restaurants. I guess the only thing that can set it apart from others is the quality of the dumplings.
The chosen dumplings were pan fried pork and cabbage and boiled lamb and coriander. Side dish was jellyfish and cucumber.
The dumplings were so much better than OH!Dumplings. How? They tasted more fresh and less greasier. The complaint that I have is that (similar to most dumpling restaurants I visited in Montreal) is their dough – or should I say how it was fried. The pan fried dumplings were a bit too soft for my taste. They weren’t crispy enough. And the dough just lacked texture…the specific amount of “elasticity” and firmness of the dough were not achieved.
As for the side dish, I bet most people would think there are only cucumbers if I didn’t tell you it was a cucumber and jellyfish dish! The cucumbers were soft and wet – I think they were prepared in advance for a while…the crunchiness of fresh cucumber fluttered away. Nonetheless, still very refreshing on a hot summer day.
How do I rank Mai Xiang Yuan? Probably in the middle.
Zuuchini
While driving by TMR, Mr.Butter and I have noticed this very cute house in TMR that seemed to be serving cafe and ice cream. But at that time, it was closed for Autumn. We said that we would come back in summer.
And summer arrives and coincidentally, we passed by this location again. And this time, it was opened. Dolce Vita is right beside Villa Armando, the main house which is now converted to an Italian restaurant. Dolce Vita was basically a garage converted to a nice ice cream parlour.
There were many selections of gelato in Dolce Vita, many that are unheard of. Like usual, it was very difficult to choose.
In the end, I had orange and fleur de sel caramel. I’ve been very fond of anything with fleur de sel and caramel.
I chose orange simply because I wanted to know how it was different from orange sorbet. To say the least, it wasn’t much different. I should have gone for a more wild flavour.
The fleur de sel caramel was good, exactly what I was expecting.
The price at Dolce Vita is fairly comparable to other gelato places. As for the taste, it was satisfying but I would not go out of my way to get my gelato there. It’s perfect for residents living nearby.
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