Montreal Dishcrawl
Round two!
If you read my previous Dishcrawl post you already know that I am a huge fan. For those of you who don’t know, a Dishcawl event is a culinary dream wherein a group of people get to sample delicious food from multiple restaurants in a short period of time.
This particular Dishcrawl was all about discovering Montreal’s Downtown Core. Four Restaurants, four hours, and four very different courses.
G and I met up with my friend Kristen at Zenya at 7pm sharp; it was the first stop on the crawl. I really enjoyed the atmosphere in ZENYA, it was very trendy yet cozy and laid back all at the same time. The sushi was fantastic! On the menu was a maki roll with tempura and eel, as well as two pieces of sushi that were made with a crisped rice and nori bottom with a kind of salmon tartar on top.
The second location was a new restaurant around the corner called iBurger. It is a super cool, futuristic experience where customers can order their food and drinks on the touch screen that is embedded in the table. Clearly meant to be like an iPod/Pad, the menu, that could be perused with the push of a finger, consisted of burgers, pizza, and hot dogs as well as drinks and other side orders. We all ordered our drinks via the touch screen and then a while later our predetermined dinner arrived. On the menu was a big plate of french-fries and calamari with dipping sauces, as well as a trio of sliders. Salmon, beef and vegetarian burgers were offered up for our enjoyment (you can read the descriptions below). They were all good, but the vegetarian was my favourite. MMMmmm.
Our third stop was at Decca77. Absolute perfection when it came to ambiance! We were seated at an insanely long table all decked out, it made for a very intimate dinner. On the menu was a BBQ braised veal short rib on top of an ice cider polenta disk that had been topped with foie gras and mushrooms. I enjoyed the polenta/ foiegras mushroom bit but did not enjoy the short rib at all. Over all I was very disappointed and so were my dining companions.
Dessert and our last stop were at Le Newtown, home of the recently crowned number 1 chef in Canada Martin Juneau. Le Newtown looks like it would be an ideal location to meet up for drinks or grab some top Canadian food any day of the week. On the menu were 5 petit desserts ranging from a passion fruit jelly with explosive flavor to something more subtle like a lemon coconut marshmallow. They were all beautiful little creations and the right amount of sweetness to round out the night.
All in all it was a fantastic evening full of new food and new friends. Other than the food, of course, my favourite thing about Dishcrawl is that you get a chance to mix and mingle with a mélange of new and interesting people. The event was exactly how I enjoy spending my evenings out and about; a well balanced combination of culinary delights and conversation.
