food panda

Au Pied de Cochon As I conclude my tour around Toronto and Montreal (with a stop at Niagara Falls), what better way to end my meal than a dinner at Au Pied de Cochon? What's so special about Au Pied de Cochon you might ask? Loosely translated as a foot of a pig or pig's feet, there's definitely nothing light about my upcoming meal here. When Chef Martin Picard tried to "kill" Anthony Bourdain with foie gras on the Quebec episode of No Reservations seen below, I quickly made my reservation as my "last" supper in Canada. Cromesquis de foie gras ( Foie Gras Cromesquis) What is this you might ask? How does fried foie gras sound? The foie gras, liquified in the middle and crispy on the outside. It's "obscene, in a good way," to quote Bourdain. This made the perfect mouthful, and was richly delicious we had to order a second order! Gin Martini (Top: w/Olives, Bottom: w/Twist) What better way to wash down the richness of the foie than with some a...

Les Délices de l'Erable It's our last day in Montreal, and the last meal that awaited my buddies and I would be the main reason I had suggested Canadian trip in the first place, Au Pied de Cochon. Since we had to finish the smoked meat plate from Schwartz from the night before for breakfast, none of us were hungry and would rather save our appetite for the foie gras feast that awaited, thus we stopped by this rather lovely gelato and maple syrup shop while we were strolling around the streets of Montreal. Inside Les Délices de l'Erable This was a very clean and neat shop. You were able to not only purchase the various flavors of gelato available, but also maple syrup to take home. I would have to say though, an French speaking Asian girl was pretty hot! Various Flavors of Gelato While it may not be the best gelato I've ever had, it was definitely very good. One of the flavor I chose was maple syrup and I love the flavors in the gelato. Even though the temperature in Mon...

Pinxo After our quick snack earlier at L'Express, we headed to our late night tapas reservation at Pinxo since our earlier walk in attempt was a fail. With the pleasant description on Lonely Planet Montreal and Quebec City we went in with pretty decent expectation of good food. Cava Codorniu Since we were at a Spanish tapas place, we figured it's appropriate to start off with sangria, but to our dismay, we didn't see any sangria options on the menu. After flagging down a server, we were told Pinxo does not serve sangria. "WTF??" I thought, so after going over the wine list, I picked out a bottle of cava. I liked the cava, it's refreshing, as always, but I wanted my damn sangria. Fail. When people ask me, how do you manage to remember meals from a year ago? Usually, looking at the picture will help me remember the taste and my reaction to the dishes. Sadly, this was one of the few times I might have to go with a picture rundown of the meal my friends and I ha...