In my last meet-up with food bloggers, while exchanging opinions, Mr.Lew  crowned Uniburger for best burgers. Being a burger lover, Mr.Butter jumped at any chance he had.  And luckily, we were around the corners (ok not really…), Mr.Butter used this occasion to set his own opinion on Uniburger.

I was surprised to see the square footage of the fast food. It was small but efficient. You just go in, order, eat and go. I, of course, had to order the signature Uniburger burger.

First thing I noticed was how perfect the shape of the bun was! It was super inflated and full. But then I saw the waxed paper starting to overflow with grease. The first thought of this burger was juiciness. Indeed, the patty lacked no juiciness nor texture. But,  I don’t know for what reason, I found the taste was still lacking. Each and every bite, I couldn’t stop myself comparing it with Burger de Ville and how much I preferred Burger de Ville over this burger.

Then for the fries, they were crispy but a bit too crispy for my liking – barely had any content inside deep fried layer.

Overall, I can see the appeal of Uniburger. It is easy access, close to Cegep Vieux Montreal and UQAM. But Uniburger failed to replace Burger de Ville’s best burger in my own books.

Zuuchini

Searching for a brunch place that I’ve never tried before with a all time long friend, I found sparrow as one of the highly regarded option. With that title, I wasn’t surprised that there was a bit of a waiting line on a Saturday at 1pm.

While I waited, I noticed quickly how charming Sparrow is. The wallpaper, the tables, the chair, the couch…. Sparrow really has its own personality. And I guess one of its personality trait is giving mediocre service…the service was so slow and it took more time than needed to settle our payments.

Anyway, how was the food though?

My friend A had Shakshuka. As per the menu, it has 2 poached eggs, in a Morrocan spiced tomato sauce, sourdough toast. Or can be plainly described as 2 eggs put on top of tomato sauce. That was what it tasted like. It was original but not something I was looking for in a brunch menu.

I had House-smoked Trout, served on spinach and green onion pancake with soft boiled eggs and beet salad. The smoked trout was delicious. But the rest of the dish could be better. It was lacking some oomph. The spinach and green onion pancake needed some additional spice and the texture was a bit dull. The beet salad was really just some marinated beets. It could definitely have a few leafy greens in there with some sort of cheese (Maybe feta?).  I don’t know. I personally think it was missing many ingredients to make it as a substantial dish.

Sparrow, your looks had me. But the rest had me walking away for somewhere else.

Zuuchini

The day Mr.Butter brought me to KGP, which stands for Kitchen Galerie Poisson, was my first time hearing about them. According to Mr.Butter, there is a Kitchen Galerie near Jean-Talon and Kitch Galerie Poisson, which is in Old Port, specializes in seafood, hence “Poisson” attached to the name.

Once stepped in, I was greeted by this cosy and small area, which was shared by the kitchen and dining area. I loved it. I love when I can see the action from the kitchen! Since tables are scarce, most parties of 2 are seated at the counter. If that is a no no for you, be sure to reserve and have them noted that you want a table. During the whole evening, it was mostly full house. So, reservation is a must.

A large list of oysters were written on a chalkboard. Although I enjoy oysters very much, I am not knowledgeable with them. So, I simply based my selection upon the name appeal: Pink Moon (IPE), Kushi (BC) and Shigoku (WSH).

I was so glad of my choices because it turned out that they were so heavenly! My favorite had to be Pink Moon and my least favorite was Shigoku. Pink Moon has a clean and sweet taste while Shigoku is much meatier, which compromises the clean taste. Pink Moon is the best oyster I have tasted so far.

For appetizers, we had a crab cake with a side salad, and fried calamari. There were actually 2 separate appetizers, but KGP presented those 2 appetizers on the same plate. I actually liked this concept; it promoted sharing! Well obviously, we were going to share,but it just made it much easier and nicer to be all in one giant plate.

Again, the crab cake was the best that I had. It was pure crab goodness, no crabstick! So nicely fried as well. The salad was refreshing and a nice balance with the crabcake. I can actually have the salad everyday without being sick of it.

I wasn’t actually fond of the fried calamari. Undoubtedly, they were fresh and tender, but they were too thin for my liking.

For the main course, we had lobster ravioli and braised pork (that was one) and a rainbow trout (that was the second), both presented on the same plate. I loved how they were able to improvize the presentation according to what we had ordered; it made every dish so unique from other tables.

When I saw the 4 pieces of lobster ravioli, I couldn’t stop but laugh how little we were getting. But then, I realized and remembered that it came with a braised pork as well hiding behind that salad. The ravioli was rich in lobster meat. I wouldn’t say I fell hard for it, but it was nonetheless good. As for the braised pork, it was super tender. The texture was perfection, but I didn’t like how it was marinated. I thought it was rather bland. Not my cup of tea at all.

Oh and the rainbow trout. How could we dare to not to order a fish dish when Kitchen Galerie added Poisson to their name! So we chose rainbow trout – we had the option to choose the fish listed on the blackboard. The fishes were in limited quantity, so as time passed, one by one, the fish disappeared from the option list.

While there were some very original fish options, we wanted to be semi-safe and we never really tasted trout before. We did not regret our choice at all. The trout was wonderful. Its skin was very crisp, like chips. And the meat was just nicely cooked. I never had (cooked) fish this good before.

To end this beautiful meal, we had pistachio tart. Nothing to write home about, but it was satisfying.

Oops – we also had caramel cheesecake, which was smoother than butter. Noted, I am so biased when it comes to cheesecake.

After this visit, I cannot deny that KGP has made its place in my top restaurant list. I wholehearted enjoyed my experience.

I want to thank Mr.Butter making this experience happen!

Zuuchini

When I first started checking urbanspoon, which is about 3 years ago, I noticed that Holder has plenty of good reviews. And I put it in my wishlist and seemed to have gotten lost in there. 3 years forward, here I am, ticking Holder off from my wishlist!

French onion soup,that was what Mr.Butter ordered. I tried it a bit and it was a nice soup, nothing to complain about but nothing worthwhile to compliment either.

Mr.Butter had the grilled hanger steak with shallots. The presentation of the dish was misleading because the steak was extremely tender and tasty. I couldn’t pinpoint a flaw.

And surprise surprise, I had the classic beef tartare. It was exactly how the menu named it, a very classic tartare. The beef was fresh and nicely seasoned.

I sort of regretted not choosing something a bit more substantial, like the braised beef cheek because the tartare, although good, was not a real surprise for my taste buds.

Holder is a solid French bistro. All the food we ordered met the standards, but I found that it was missing some character to be remarkable.

A little note, I recommend that reservation is made in advance, especially for weekends.

Zuuchini