So last night, upon recommendation, we headed out to find a certain restaurant. Something new for us both, something we hadn't experienced, something new to blog about. After getting lost no less than 3 times, and rechecking directions on our phones a dozen times, we found it! And it was closed. Which left us half lost, down town, and hungry. Fear not! This restaurant will make it to the blog as soon as we can get there!
After batting around idea's and trying to remember what name was attached to what kind of food we finally decided on Chez Sophie, a small bistro in the heart of St.Boniface. Just down the street from the beautiful Cathedral, hiding amongst houses and apartment buildings. The dining room had a total of eight tables, most of which couldn't seat more then four people. It was close quarters, and somehow it didn't feel cramped. Alex commented that it felt like a family dinner, everyone cramming into a small dining room, trying to eat without knocking elbows.
The dining room itself was adorable. It was quaint, and had a very sweet country feel. The 'French Bistro' music playing loud enough to muffle conversations, but not make it difficult to hear your date, and was very soothing. All instrumental, all very calming. All in all, it was a terrifically romantic setting that had both of us grinning like fools the whole night.
The bistro is fully bi-lingual, we were greeted in french, the specials were written on the chalkboards in french, and the menu itself was in both french and english. For those who don't speak French, worry not! While the menu is primarily written in French, nearly everything is followed by the English description. It can at times leave it a tad bit confusing, but overall, not enough to subtract from the meal. It is important to note that this is not an Applebee's, you are coming into someone's house to eat. It's all hand done, a simple menu thrown in duo-tang, and every changing specials written in chalk on the board.
The food was delicious. It felt like we had made it at home, like mom taught us how, or like it was one of grandma's favorite recipes. It came out hot from the oven, cheese still bubbling, served in a small casserole dish on a wooden paddle. Adorable!! The best part was seeing the chef poke his head out, and smile when he saw that the guests were enjoying his food. It was good to see that he cares.
Jess's dish was Penne au Poulet. Exactly as it sounds, Penne pasta with chicken. But not just any chicken, no no, chicken fingers. Along with the chicken fingers, there were fresh veggies like green bell peppers, tomato, and onion. All of this was smothered in a cream sauce (not alfredo, just cream) with a little basil mixed in. The dish was baked with cheese on top, and served with a side of super crispy garlic toast (real french bread guys, delish!). It was clear that all of these things were made fresh to order, and it came through in the presentation and taste.
Alex had the Tartiflette with house salad, which he pointed to on the menu, not wanting to butcher the pronunciation. The house salad was probably one of the most attractive salad's he's seen. Again it was nothing fancy, just simple house dressing, not your standard vinaigrette, had more flavour than just sour, but the plating just showed how much they cared about. The tartiflette is basically this big gooey amazing mess of ham, bacon, onion and potato, with this cheesy creamy saucing tying it all together, and yes, it was as amazing as it sounded. Served same as the Penne au Poulet was, baked dish, little wooden panel, crispy cheesy goodness crispy ontop and running down the side. It is definitely a new candidate for comfort food.
Alex: Okay, I'm not supposed to break character, Jessi and I are writing this together, but I really want to add this in. The feeling in this place is incredible. It's soft, dimly lit. It's not like going out to a busy restaurant, where every third word is "what?". It's warm, it's quite. The music gives this fantastic white noise. You're three feet away from the other tables, and you feel private. Guys, if you want to impress a girl, bring them here. It's not pompous, or trying to be anything it's not. When you're there, it feels real, and genuine.
All in all it was a great meal and experience, we will definitely be back!
Thursday 17 November 2011
Friday 11 November 2011
Back to the Beginning: Taste of Sri 'Llanka
Anyone who has been following our blog know how we were inspired to start it. Long story short: Taste of Sri Lanka at the forks. More specifically the veggie rolls.
The veggie rolls, are... how do we describe them? Picture the greatest mashed potato's ever. Perfectly smooth, and creamy. Then load them with Indian spices, and throw in a few veggies for crunch. Wrap it all in a crispy, thin, crumbly wrap. If you've ever had a samosa, like that, but smoother, creamier, and about 10x easier to eat. So good in fact, we started a blog. Unfortunately, tonight they were sold out of the veggie rolls.
Tonight's feast cost just over 30 bucks, and landed us two chicken rolls, two east rolls (beef), two veggie samosa's, two beef samosa's, a side order of chickpea curry, and a chicken satay.
The samosa's were decent, if a little dry. The filling is loaded with flavor, and is kept perfectly warm by the thick pastry used to hold it all together. The only real complaint Jess had was that he pastry was so thick that it only added to the dry texture, and made it a little harder to eat.
The rolls, as always, were excellent. The filling in the chicken roll is similar to that of the veggie variety, just with chicken added. The pastry is perfectly cooked, definitely deep fried, and oh, so delicious. The 'east' roll was a beef and bacon filling. What more need be said? Can't go wrong with beef and bacon. And Jess is pretty sure she tasted just a hint of sauerkraut. The Ukrainian in her rejoiced.
The chickpea curry was chickpea curry. Sauce loaded with flavor, chickpea's well cooked. If you don't like chickpea's it probably won't change your mind on them, but it's a welcome deviation from every day food.
The chicken satay was good. Super moist marinated chicken with almost a barbecue sauce over top, all on a wooden skewer. Almost a little like a cross between teriyaki chicken and barbecue chicken. Sounds a little strange, but very good. Alex had already undone the button on his pants, and somehow the left over satay vanished before reaching the fridge.
All in all, we'll definitely be back, if only for the rolls. And chicken satay. And...
The veggie rolls, are... how do we describe them? Picture the greatest mashed potato's ever. Perfectly smooth, and creamy. Then load them with Indian spices, and throw in a few veggies for crunch. Wrap it all in a crispy, thin, crumbly wrap. If you've ever had a samosa, like that, but smoother, creamier, and about 10x easier to eat. So good in fact, we started a blog. Unfortunately, tonight they were sold out of the veggie rolls.
Tonight's feast cost just over 30 bucks, and landed us two chicken rolls, two east rolls (beef), two veggie samosa's, two beef samosa's, a side order of chickpea curry, and a chicken satay.
The samosa's were decent, if a little dry. The filling is loaded with flavor, and is kept perfectly warm by the thick pastry used to hold it all together. The only real complaint Jess had was that he pastry was so thick that it only added to the dry texture, and made it a little harder to eat.
The rolls, as always, were excellent. The filling in the chicken roll is similar to that of the veggie variety, just with chicken added. The pastry is perfectly cooked, definitely deep fried, and oh, so delicious. The 'east' roll was a beef and bacon filling. What more need be said? Can't go wrong with beef and bacon. And Jess is pretty sure she tasted just a hint of sauerkraut. The Ukrainian in her rejoiced.
The chickpea curry was chickpea curry. Sauce loaded with flavor, chickpea's well cooked. If you don't like chickpea's it probably won't change your mind on them, but it's a welcome deviation from every day food.
The chicken satay was good. Super moist marinated chicken with almost a barbecue sauce over top, all on a wooden skewer. Almost a little like a cross between teriyaki chicken and barbecue chicken. Sounds a little strange, but very good. Alex had already undone the button on his pants, and somehow the left over satay vanished before reaching the fridge.
All in all, we'll definitely be back, if only for the rolls. And chicken satay. And...
Monday 7 November 2011
Date Night: Asia City
Hey guys, Alex and Jess here.
About a week back we decided to take date night, grab some food, and have a good old fashioned scary movie marathon. Long story short, the marathon turned into a single movie, and a new found loathing for penny pincher's at Shoppers, but the food did not disappoint.
Admittedly, Asia City has been a favorite for us for a while now, and as such is more than candidate for our next review.
Down on McPhillips, there is a small building that, best I can tell, resembles an old Wendy's building, kind of unassuming from the outside. Walking in you see an overwhelming menu board featuring Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai food. They have bubble tea, sandwiches and other imported candies as well. Pretty much they own at being delicious.
Usually we both get the PadThai, which you can get with any assortment of meats or veggies. It's spicy-ness is rated on a scale from 1-10, and for us an '8' is pretty good.
This time around, Jess got the Chicken Fried Rice (how cliche). Rather then being like your typical chinese food, the taste is not so overwhelming, and they don't over load the dish with soy sauce before it even reaches your table. The chicken is tender and absorbs the soy just as much as the rice, making it the best chicken fried rice experience you'll ever have. YUM.
Alex tried to test the age old theory that truly good food is just as good the second day, and loaded up with PadThai, Beef Stir Fry, and Spring Rolls. Now Spring Rolls have never been a favorite for him, but these are perfectly crispy, and not greasy, and so delicious they soon disappeared. The PadThai did not disappoint. For those that don't know PadThai, it is basically a delicious mess of noodles and sauce that's tangy, sweet and spicy all at once. Throw in a few veggies and there you have it. The Stir Fried Veg with Beef was good too, carrots, beef, broccoli, with a perfectly savory sauce. And yes, yes my friends, it was even good the second day. Mmm.
We should also point out these guys make it fresh every order. You won't find a big long buffet style display, showing off the pre-made bite sized morsels, ready to be scooped into a plate. Oh no, these guys come piping hot out of the back, as proof and point, one of our Styrofoam containers from our take out actually bowed from the heat. That means you will wait for your food, and quite frankly, that's okay. The time it takes show the care they put into the food, and the flavor definitely shines through.
Over all, this place is always a good food experience, whether you dine in or take out.
About a week back we decided to take date night, grab some food, and have a good old fashioned scary movie marathon. Long story short, the marathon turned into a single movie, and a new found loathing for penny pincher's at Shoppers, but the food did not disappoint.
Admittedly, Asia City has been a favorite for us for a while now, and as such is more than candidate for our next review.
Down on McPhillips, there is a small building that, best I can tell, resembles an old Wendy's building, kind of unassuming from the outside. Walking in you see an overwhelming menu board featuring Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai food. They have bubble tea, sandwiches and other imported candies as well. Pretty much they own at being delicious.
Usually we both get the PadThai, which you can get with any assortment of meats or veggies. It's spicy-ness is rated on a scale from 1-10, and for us an '8' is pretty good.
This time around, Jess got the Chicken Fried Rice (how cliche). Rather then being like your typical chinese food, the taste is not so overwhelming, and they don't over load the dish with soy sauce before it even reaches your table. The chicken is tender and absorbs the soy just as much as the rice, making it the best chicken fried rice experience you'll ever have. YUM.
Alex tried to test the age old theory that truly good food is just as good the second day, and loaded up with PadThai, Beef Stir Fry, and Spring Rolls. Now Spring Rolls have never been a favorite for him, but these are perfectly crispy, and not greasy, and so delicious they soon disappeared. The PadThai did not disappoint. For those that don't know PadThai, it is basically a delicious mess of noodles and sauce that's tangy, sweet and spicy all at once. Throw in a few veggies and there you have it. The Stir Fried Veg with Beef was good too, carrots, beef, broccoli, with a perfectly savory sauce. And yes, yes my friends, it was even good the second day. Mmm.
We should also point out these guys make it fresh every order. You won't find a big long buffet style display, showing off the pre-made bite sized morsels, ready to be scooped into a plate. Oh no, these guys come piping hot out of the back, as proof and point, one of our Styrofoam containers from our take out actually bowed from the heat. That means you will wait for your food, and quite frankly, that's okay. The time it takes show the care they put into the food, and the flavor definitely shines through.
Over all, this place is always a good food experience, whether you dine in or take out.
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