Not too long ago, all Biftheque chains closed down…until recently, one of them re-opened. They completed revamped their decor. It is oh-so chic now! It feels almost weird…
The night I went was very crowded; most people were celebrating mother’s day. The service was kept strong even when it was so busy! But the food was not up to par.
Stuffed Trout
I know…I am asking for it. Why would I order Trout when their specialty is steak…I wasn’t hungry that night and I ate steaks a few times already that week at home…so I thought the Stuffed Trout sounded interesting and wouldn’t be too heavy.
Oh, how I regret…I should have just ordered a salad instead…
The Stuffed trout was completely different what I imagined it to be…I was imagining juicy scallops, bouncy crab meats and fat shrimps stuffed in the nicely grilled trout, with crisp skin.
LOOK AT THE PICTURE! It was a mess. I felt I was eating food served in Cuba’s resorts. It was that terrible. The trout was flavorless and mushy dry. The stuffings were even more sad. The scallops were tiny…so were the shrimps. The crabs were like…those fake crab meats. This should not be served at a restaurant at all!
Rib Steak
Most people from our table seemed pretty satisfied with their steaks, but that wasn’t the case for Mr.Butter. He was displeased that the steak was cooked medium when he asked for medium rare. Sure, he could have complained about it, but that wasn’t an option when he was starving.
Not amazed. A steakhouse that doesn’t know how to cook their steak perfectly.
I rather spent my money at Keg…or just buy my own steaks and cook it 2x better!
Macaron frenzy the last few weeks! Here are some pictures to illustrate that…
Fraise et basilic
I’m actually sort of embarrassed to post this picture…my nails were horrible. My apology that you have to see that. I thought that the macaron would be cute enough to block away everything else in the picture.
That day, it was so hot that it wasn’t the greatest condition to eat macarons because they were melting! So this picture was quickly snapped and soon enough, all the cute macarons, that did not make it to the photograph, were devoured happily!
I could gladly confirm that La maison du macaron has the safest choice of flavors! Any macaron you pick, you’ll end up loving them 95% of the times, whereas in Point G, it’s 50%.
However, La maison du macaron’s little cute cookies are much more moist in the interior, creating a less crunchy effect once you bite it. Point G’s are in the opposite, which I think it’s a great way to differentiate itself so everyone can be satisfied! You no likey too soft macaron, go to Point G. You no likey too crunchy macaron, go to La maison du macaron. Everybody goes home happy!
At one of my visit, I decided to buy the other pastries, which are basically macarons but BIGGER.
Elixir
In the background, you can see an another macaron, which was totally destroyed while travelling back to home…It was very sour due to the raspberries. I think they did not refine their almond meal enough as the shell looked very grainy, although the grainy appearance did not really affect the texture when I ate it. I like to believe the grainy effect is because they put real raspberry when baking the shell, which is something totally hard to do, because it affects the humidity of the macaron, which is crucial for perfect texture. But that is only what I like to believe…because I couldn’t actually taste the bits of the raspberry in the shell.
And in the front, we have the Elixir. Super pretty to look at, but not very good to eat. It was a bit too sweet for our taste. And that pretty meringue all around the macaron didn’t do it for me…
If I can remake my choice again, I would definitely go for the normal macarons!
Nuance
Same concept as Elixir but different flavor. This one is even sweeter than Elixir.
Normal macarons please! I just like the shell too much. The filling in the bigger ones are taking too much space, defeating the purpose of simple macarons, where it’s supposed to be light and sweet!
Tri Express is fairly well known (so no need for any introduction…) and my first visit was back in 2010 where my food journey was next to none, so I did not overthink about my experience in there. Recently, a few of my colleagues went there which reminded that I need to go back to have a proper review of this place.
Little note: I have to thank Mr.Butter for being very considerate that evening. <3
Once entered, I quickly remembered how I loved the decoration of the restaurant. The restaurant is not spacious, but is mismatched with all kinds of nice artsy pieces. I immediately fell in love with the environment and couldn’t stop looking around me during my entire seating.
The food did not take long to come and we were able to enjoy our first dish which is also my favorite of the evening.
TRI’S L’ EXQUISE CEVICHE SALAD
This salad was everything I wanted this evening: refreshing!
It has mango, grapefruit, cucumber, avocado, carrot, papaya and seafood.
The pieces of scallop (or squid…sorry they went into so tiny pieces it was difficult to tell…) were exquisite! It was smooth and fresh, not to mention with the pairing of mango and grapefruit, it was just phenomenal. Purely simple ingredients but sooo refreshing!
ZEN – LAURIER – TRI’S FAVOURITE – TAKO – MAGURO
Here are various orders all served altogether. I would have preferred that it was served one by one…On the other hand, I cannot blame them as they have a policy for limited seating time (1hr30). I really think their presentation can be improved…
I was caught by surprise how the zen came out so nicely. Its filling consists of omelette, avocado, cucumber, lettuce, caviar and sauce of Tri Express. I quite enjoy this, although not amazed.
Laurier was my least favorite roll. I don’t know what it was, it was very underwhelming, I felt like I could have this roll at some buffet sushi…
Tri’s favorite was my most preferred roll out of the 3. The rice paper roll makes the roll more interesting. Again, the taste was rather mediocre. Good but I was expecting more.
Tako, the octopus sushi, was only eaten by Mr.Butter. I skipped it because I never enjoyed octopus sushi as it is too chewy for my taste. And the look of the octopus, it did not look that fresh either, discouraging me even more.
Manguro, tuna sashimi, was the most disappointing items of the evening. The portion given was very skimpy, way too thin, so I wasn’t able to enjoy the texture of the raw fish nor I can admire their knife skills. A total let down.
My overall experience at Tri Express is disappointing. The only thing that kept the evening interesting was the decor. I would think that Tri Express would offer unique rolls, but their so called unique rolls have nothing extraordinary to offer. They are quite generic in terms of taste. Park restaurants rolls are much better.
Yes! The weather permitted me to go to Les Givres!
This time, I noticed that we can order 6 flavors at once! and at a very reasonable price and portion! I’m a real fan of Les Givres’ strawberry sorbet. So of course, one of the 6 flavors is that!
From left to right:
Macha: This is the real thing! Very macha. Not some artificial green tea flavour. I like it very much because they did not try to make it sweet, erasing how macha should taste like.
Republique de banane: Delicious! I love this! It’s basically combining banana bread and ice cream together! If you are a fan of banana cake or bread, you must taste this!
Pomme: This apple sorbet is not outstanding. I felt like I was basically eating those apple puree.
Feu de camp: Although interesting, not my favorite. If you love the concept of marshmallow in your ice cream, this is for you! And their marshmallow is homemade too!
Cassis de Hatley: Really not liking this. I think I just don’t like cassis in general.
Strawberry: This is undeniably tasty! I think the reason behind it is because they are made with Quebec’s strawberry, which are always the best ones! So tiny and sweet!
Les Givres is becoming one of my favorite spot for ice cream!
What do I usually think of when Vietnamese cuisine is mentioned? Pho. But what do they eat other than Pho? Harmonie d”Asie is not the typical Vietnamese restaurant where they served Pho or Nuong. To be honest, I am not so sure how authentic their cuisine is…but what really matters is that I really enjoy their food!
It has been about 4 years since I last visited Harmonie d’Asie. I was hoping the quality remained the same.
Bo Tai Chanh
Raw beef with squashed peanuts, onions and chili pepper.
This used to be my favorite dish. I love raw meat! But it has to be fresh but this time, the meat was not. It was endless chewing… But somehow, I was still able to enjoy it, probably because of the delightful taste!
Ga Bo Tom Nuong
Skewers of chicken, beef and shrimps.
Forget about the beef and shrimps. The chicken skewers were delicious, well marinated in ginger sauce. As for the beef, again, endless chewing… For the shrimps, I wasn’t interested in eating some that night, so I left them for others.
Co Kho To
This cameralized fish is a MUST order! It’s incredibly tasty. I would mix the sauce with my rice and can simply eat 2 bowls if I could! I usually don’t eat rice (in the exception of sushi…) and when I do, there is a really good reason. I really doubt the authenticity of this dish…but whatever, I love it. The sauce just makes the fish incredible.
Canh Chua Ca Bong Lau
Another MUST order. This pot of sour soup has a very unique taste to it. I couldn’t put my finger in it. It has the sourness of tomatoes, but the sweetness of oka, onions, bean spouts and saltiness of fish. This soup is really appetizing. However, it fills you up very quickly because it is a soup!
Ca Chien Nuroc Mam Toi Ot
Look at this perfection! so nicely fried! I really like pomfret fish. They are non expensive fish yet they are so easily and deliciously cooked! The pairing with the spicy fish sauce was great. Making the fish meat slightly less dry and the taste more interesting.
I am so glad that most of the dishes maintained the quality of 4 years ago. However, I have to admit that after the supper, I had the MSG effect… meaning I felt the dryness in my throat… But you know what. I could let this one go just because I sincerely enjoyed the food and unlike Chinese food, I didn’t feel like I drank a lake of oil.
Harmonie d’Asie? I approve!
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