Au Pied de Cochon (APDC) was my # 1 choice on my dining agenda for Montreal. Although I was equally focussed on getting a reservation for Joe Beef/Liverpool House, APDC has sat on my  ”restaurants I really want to go to” list  for longer. Funny enough, as much as I love foie gras, whenever I’ve seen Martin Picard on tv, his enthusiasm and energy has scared me a bit. The episode of No Reservations where he seems to take extreme pleasure in stuffing Anthony Bourdain full of rich foods almost made me ill just watching it. In the hours leading up to our reservation, I had flashbacks of  those scenes which almost made me cancel our reservation that I worked so hard to get. But I knew I’d regret it if we didn’t go…

Speaking of that reservation, I emailed the restaurant as soon as I confirmed I was going to Montreal. I was happy when I received an email back the next day with a confirmation. I had let the restaurant know that I’ve been eagerly anticipating this meal for years and that I was so excited to finally be going. I made a very specific request to sit at the bar in front of the kitchen. I’d heard these were the best seats in the house. Their reply, “sure that is possible, we’ve made the change to your reservation to reflect that”.

We arrived at the busy restaurant and were told by the hostess our seats would be available “in a few minutes”. We decided to stand outside rather than wait in the crowded narrow doorway. A few minutes turned into over 30 minutes, with no acknowledgement from the hostess. I saw others who arrived after us with the same reservation time get seated before us, but remained calm as I knew we had made a special request to sit at the bar. When we were finally called, there was no apology for our wait but I couldn’t believe my shock that we were seated at a table behind the bar. Not AT the bar. The hostess disappeared before we could clarify our request so we took our seats and I tried my best not to let these mis-steps ruin my meal.

Our drink order was taken right away and our server came by our table to let us know that he knew we were there, but needed to tend to two other tables before coming to us. Ben and I had a long conversation about how we appreciated that the server would acknowledge us in that way and although he was busy, we were more willing to be patient, just with that simple effort. I say it was a long conversation because we started recounting many of our good vs bad service experiences and got back all the way to our honeymoon over 10 years ago, only to realize our drinks had not arrived yet. When our server did come back to our table, he had a very long list of specials for the evening and although we had already made our choices for dinner, he left us to sit to think about the specials before he’d take our order. I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on him at that point as I think he went to find out where our drinks were.

We finally had our drinks and we were able to place our order. It was almost an hour after our reservation time, so I was hungry and getting excited because all of the food being delivered around us looked so delicious.

Foie Gras Cromesquis – fried nuggets of molten foie gras.

This dish was placed in front of us without warning but I’m glad I had read somewhere that they come out HOT. I’d heard to wait a minute before popping them in your mouth. I waited for over a minute, but still scorched my mouth badly. Had it not been so decadently delicious, I would have spit the thing out because my tongue was burnt. Truth be told, I’m writing this post 2 weeks after this dinner and my tongue is still raw from being burnt.

I chose the next 2 dishes because I thought they were on the “lighter” side but happy that they still delivered on the flavour scale.

Bison temaki – it looked a bit like a tuna temaki and the bison was similarly tender. The quail egg drizzled on top added a nice succulence and contrast to the crispy rice.

Duck carpaccio – egg yolk to be broken and pulled over top of thin slices of mushrooms and parmesan.

I felt almost shameful that we came to Au Pied de Cochon and ordered such lightweight dishes. I say almost because both raw preparations were amazing and delicious. When the next dish hit the table, I felt like I was joining “the club”.

Foie gras poutine – obscenely rich but absolutely delicious. The duck fat fries were perfectly crisp under the foie gras sauce, duck fat gravy, cheese curds and big slabs of foie gras.

I’ve never eaten a dish so rich before. I was in fatty heaven but I did look around the restaurant at this point to see if there was an AED on the wall anywhere. I was also happy I wore elastic waistband pants because it wasn’t like we ordered a salad and vegetables to round out this meal.

Melting pot – Pork belly, pork loin, boudin noir and sausage sitting on top of a creamy concoction of cheesy mashed potatoes in a pool of pan gravy. All of the bites of plentiful pork products were so wonderful, but even an already bloated belly couldn’t stop me from eating all of the mashed potatoes.

Dinner was done and even though I was at maximum capacity, I really wanted to try some desserts. We were able to flag down the server to get a menu and I was able to narrow my choice down to 3 and was going to get a suggestion on the 2 best to order. But again, we ended up waiting over 15 minutes for someone to come back to take our order. By that time my feeling of being full had convinced me that 1 dessert would suffice.

Lemon tart – not too sweet, not too tart = perfect ending

After we finished dessert, we waited another 10 minutes for someone to clear our plates and give us the bill. When our server finally showed up with the handheld card reader to our table, I was so aggravated with the lack of service that I wanted to give him a tiny tip. But there’s something very awkward with leaving a small tip to someone, when that someone is standing over you waiting for you to enter your information into the machine.

We were given a small opening to offer feedback though when our server asked us (in the moment he was forced to stand beside me while I was using the machine), “how our dinner was”. Where to start? We told him everything I’ve mentioned in this post, to which he said sorry for. But it was “sorry, but we were very busy tonight” – aren’t they busy every night? And they have more than enough staff to compensate for their business. “Sorry your food was so slow in coming out, but we have so many specials, it slows things down” – is that my fault that they put too many complicated specials on their menu? “Sorry no one took the time to explain the food to you, but again, we were very busy” – seriously, it was a Sunday night, yes they were packed, but there were no big groups and a few tables sat empty here and there late in into the evening. Truth be told, at that point in the evening there wasn’t much our server could have said to make up for how weak the service was.

I feel a bit guilty for being critical of Au Pied de Cochon’s service. I don’t like to be negative about my experiences and if you’ve read my posts, you know that I try to be positive about every meal I eat. I was upset after eating at Au Pied de Cochon, but sat on my feelings for a few weeks thinking maybe I could look at the experience more objectively with time. But even looking back now, I realize that the service we had was THAT BAD. I do hope that what we experienced was out of the norm and that if you go, it will be better for you because the food, was THAT GOOD!

Au Pied de Cochon: 536 Duluth Est, Montréal

I knew about Wilensky’s from David Chang & Anthony Bourdain’s shows and was mildly curious about their bologna sandwich. I didn’t think I could convince Ben to go out of his way for a bologna sandwich, so I didn’t add it to my itinerary. But then we were told of Wilensky’s delicious homemade cherry cola. When I heard about that, I really wanted to go, unfortunately I didn’t look up the hours beforehand to see it was closed on Sundays.

My disappointment didn’t last long because we continued down the block to Fairmont Bagels.  A warm bagel to start the morning seemed just right.

It wasn’t long before we entered the shop and I was engulfed by the heat from the oven which distracted me from getting a good look at the worker-bees pumping out the fresh bagels. Luckily, the line went so quickly that before I knew it, we reemerged onto the street with a bag of bagels and a tub of cream cheese in hand. We quickly made our way to a nearby park to devour our bagels.

Still warm from the oven I loved the crispy bite that led to the sweet, chewy middle.

I know that doing the side by side taste test of Fairmont bagels vs St Viateur is the thing to do. But I couldn’t rationalize the amount of carbs that would be consumed by doing such a test only to come up with the probable result that they were very comparable. Besides, I knew we had plenty of calories left to consume in the day as we continued on the journey to our next destination.

A food lover’s visit to Montreal wouldn’t be complete if Schwartz’s wasn’t on the list  Going to Schwartz’s for a smoked meat sandwich was the most recommended thing from all of the suggestions I received. But as we walked towards it, I knew I wasn’t going to wait in the outrageous line to get in. Luckily the line on the take-out side seemed more manageable. After a half an hour wait, we had our sandwiches in hand and our plan was to go back to the hotel to eat them. Halfway there, I couldn’t stand waiting any longer, so we sat down on a bench and ripped the bag open.

We ordered one medium and one fatty sandwich. Much to my surprise, I thought the medium one was more tender and delicious.

Katz’s pastrami (NYC) vs Schwartz’s smoked meat? Well unlike the bagels, I can put my 2 cents in, (or at least do so from my food memory) and I say Katz’s. While the meat at Schwartz’s may be  more flavourful, I enjoy the texture and taste of the pastrami at Katz’s and their bread, mustard and pickles are head and shoulders above. And I’m sorry, but Cott Black Cherry Cola is gross compared to Dr Brown’s. Some may complain and say I’m comparing apples to oranges because pastrami is not the same as smoked meat. But seeing as they’re both forms of smoked meat, I’d say it’s more like comparing a Red Delicious to a Gala Apple. Both are good, but in a side by side test, I’m picking the Gala every time. So while I can profess that I had a delicious smoked meat sandwich from Schwartz’s that I’d go out of my way for, when I’m in New York, I’m running to Katz’s every time.

I feel a bit of shame, writing this post about Schwartz’s and not bring any smoked meat home for my dad. I did think about it at the time, but wasn’t sure I’d be allowed to take the somewhat liquid-y shrink-wrapped pack in my carry-on. Actually looking back now, I would have made a lot of people happy if I returned home with a side of meat from Schwartz’s. Maybe the next time someone is coming from Montreal to Vancouver, you can pick some up for me?

Fairmont Bakery: 74 Fairmont West, Montreal

Schwartz’s: 3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard · Montréal, Québec

]]> http://callmeafoodlover.com/2013/06/03/a-couple-montreal-musts/feed/ 0 Montreal Schwartz's smoked meat callmeafoodlover "Montreal Wilensky" "Fairmont Montreal bagel" "Fairmont Montreal sesame bagel" "Schwartz's Montreal" "Montreal Schwartz's smoked meat" http://callmeafoodlover.com/2013/05/31/taco-time-at-grumman-78/ http://callmeafoodlover.com/2013/05/31/taco-time-at-grumman-78/#comments Fri, 31 May 2013 14:27:21 +0000 Call me a food lover... http://callmeafoodlover.com/?p=7103 Continue reading »]]> When I booked Montreal with little time to plan, I sought the help of friends to guide me to great spots in Montreal. Ben reached out to his friend Joe, who emailed back a great list. Actually, his suggestions were for some of the same places that were already on my list, but I thought it was great because it helped verify that I’d chosen well. I appreciated that there were also a few unknowns(to me) which gave me more options to choose from when deciding my itinerary.  Ben mentioned that he’d try to arrange a dinner with Joe, and after seeing his recommendations, I was more than happy to let him choose a spot for 1 of our 3 dinners in Montreal.

When we arrived in Montreal, Ben received confirmation that we had reservations at Grumman ’78. I’d read about Grumman ’78, seen it on Anthony Bourdain’s Layover and from what I knew, I was cautiously optimistic about our evening. I knew Grumman ’78 for being a food truck that can’t serve food on the street because Montreal’s laws prohibit them from doing so. But Montreal’s laws are changing so it will probably be soon seen more than at various events and  outside specific venues. I’d never read anything about a restaurant based out of their headquarters, which is where we had our reservations, so I was intrigued.

Ben and I made our way for pre-dinner drinks at the Burgandy Lion. It was a funny coincidence because we noticed the Lion the night before as the place that Frederic Morin from Joe Beef/Liverpool House tucked into to take a break from his restaurant activities. I was happy to pull up a seat at the bar and meet the man who held my dining destiny for the evening. I was happier to find out Joe and his friend turned out to be fantastic people who made me feel at ease. It’s been a long time since I’ve been out with people who I didn’t have to talk work, dragon boat or kids with. I felt energized and inspired to be hanging out with people who seemed to be living life passionately and creatively. I was also happy that Ben warned them in advance that I’d be documenting the evening, so I didn’t have to feel awkward when I pulled the camera out.

After a couple of drinks, we hopped into a cab and made our way to St-Henri, where Grumman ’78 is located. As we pulled into what felt like a deserted area, I saw some action around the doors of an old garage. As we piled out of the cab, I realized we were at our destination. A huge smile broke out onto my face because I knew we were in for a great experience.

I felt like we had arrived in the land of the “cool kids”.

Our seats weren’t quite ready so we started with a drink at the bar. My spicy lemonade could have been a bit more piquante, but was good nonetheless.

The menu at Grumman ’78 changes frequently so some “favourites” were nowhere to be seen. There were some dietary restrictions around the table, but it didn’t seem to stop us from ordering a good sampling of the menu.

Salade de Roquette au beurre de pistachio – A delicious combination of peppery arugula, spicy radishes and nuttiness from the pistachios.

Salade de tomates et pain de mais – Loved the twist on panzanella by using corn bread which seemed to enhance the sweetness of the tomatoes. Why are the tomatoes in Montreal so delicious?

Pappas G78 – Fried sweet potatos topped with aoli and cheese were very tasty.

Tacos Boeuf Ancho – Moist and tender beef topped with avocado and crema,

Tacos Pimenton Feta – Pimenton braised refried beans are topped with crunchy veg and feta.

Tacos Porc Bahn-Mi – Flavourful shredded pork is sweet and salty and topped with pickled carrots and radishes. My favorite taco of the night.

I admit that when I heard we were going to Grumman ’78, I was somewhat doubtful that I would be able to embrace the experience. I am a taco purest, or at least I like “real Mexican tacos” so much that I don’t understand the need to add fusion and flair to them. People have been singing the praises of the Korean tacos at Kogi truck in LA for years, but I haven’t been able to get over my skepticism to seek them out. But just as I’ve learned to enjoy the Rainbow, Caterpillar and Spicy Cactus rolls at my local sushi restaurant, I knew that I had to embrace the taco in its new world form. I went in with an open mind  and was rewarded. These tacos were good.

After dinner, we continued around town in Montreal where conversation seemed to flow as easily as the beverages we were imbibing. Over the course of the evening, we talked a thousand different topics, some of which I can’t keep straight in my head but I was happy to end the evening with some great parting gifts. The first was a list of recommendations of “off my grid” places to check out the next time I’m in New York and the other was the link to Joe’s recently released EP which is fantastic. The Joe Halston Band, Crackhouse Ballads can be heard here. 

Grumman ’78 Quartier Général: 630 De Courcelle, Montréal, QC

JEAN TALON MARKET:

We arrived at the Jean Talon market late morning and we meandered through the glorious aisles of food. This is an impressive market, and after getting my fill of samples of sweet tomatoes, we decided it was time to have a real snack. I had my eye on one stall, while Ben’s were clearly in a different direction.

Ben couldn’t resist the big cauldron of pulled pork.

The moist pulled pork tacos with refried beans and pickled onions were good, especially topped with their spicy salsa. I had less than my share because I was saving myself for something else.

Oysters! I am a sucker for oyster stands in markets. 3 oysters + 1 sea urchin = my idea of a perfect snack.

Patisserie Au Kouign Amann:

I would never have found this on my own, but this recommendation came enthusiastically from a trustworthy source. I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to find it, but  we happened to walk by, and the buttery aromas drew me in before I realized it was a pinpoint on my map.

The croissants looked amazing, but the Kouign Amann on my list. Underneath the crackly caramelized sugar top were layers of buttery pastry which were excessively rich and a guilty pleasure.

La Banquise

Before my trip, whenever I mentioned to people that I was going to Montreal, they said I had to go for poutine. The consensus was that poutine in Montreal is SO MUCH BETTER than anywhere else. I was skeptical of this statement, but wanted to be convinced of it myself.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a food snob who’s too good to appreciate a dish made of fries. I love fries and my favorite way of eating fries is with gravy. As a child, 2 of my favorite places to eat were at the Woodwards cafeteria and A&W for the fries and gravy. I will admit, that with all of the poutines I’ve had in the past, I’ve been indifferent with the cheese. I have never been woo’d into thinking the squeaky cheese curds adds more deliciousness to the wonderful combination of fries and gravy.

I had to be strategic in my planning, because as much as I love fries, I don’t allow myself to eat them very often. So when I planned for this trip, I knew I’d only stop for poutine once. I put 2 choices on my list, but after walking around the Plateau on a Saturday afternoon, Ben and I decided to try the most famous poutine at La Banquise. It was busy, but we got a seat right away. I looked around in horror at how large the plates were. We were hungry but knew our stomachs couldn’t handle a plate of poutine each. We chose 1 and ordered a salad to share. Yes a salad… We were “those people”.

It took a long time for our greek salad to be delivered. I think they had to go buy the ingredients because I doubt anyone ever orders a salad. To their credit, it was quite good.

We saw crazy variations of poutine but stayed on the safer side because we didn’t want to interfere with the main components of the dish.

The poutine was good, but not necessarily a notch above any other poutine I’ve had outside of Quebec. As we walked back to our hotel, I still felt like I’d like to find the “great poutine of Montreal” that I’ve heard people talk about. That meant that I’d have to put poutine back on my list. When I realized I’d be adding another plate of fries to my dining itinerary, I picked up the pace to a brisk walk hoping to burn additional calories to compensate for the copious amounts I’d be eating this trip.

Jean Talon Market - 7070 Avenue Henri Julien, Montreal, QC

Patisserie Au Kouign Amann - 322 Ave Du Mont-Royal Est, Montreal, QC

La Banquise - 994 Rue Rachel Est  Montreal, QC

I arrived in Montreal with a great attitude and amazing food itinerary. Even though I had less than a few weeks to plan, I was able to secure reservations at some of Montreal’s “musts”. On great advice from Ben’s friend, I chose a cute boutique hotel in Old Montreal for our stay.

We arrived at Le Petit Hotel’s doorstep at 8:30am and they were happy to put us in a room right away. I didn’t know if it was the lack of sleep from taking the red-eye, but I almost cried when I put my bags down in our room. Every time we’ve taken the red-eye to New York, we’ve always requested early check-in, never gotten it and have spent the first morning walking around like zombies in the street.

I loved the charm of the renovated old building and my excitement about being in Montreal started to build for the first time.

One of the reasons I chose Le Petit Hotel was for their free breakfast. I liked the idea that we could roll out of bed and wander down for a croissant and cappuccino. We were invited to eat breakfast that morning, even though we were just checking in. I knew that I’d sleep better if I had food in my tummy so we went to have a bite.

Breakfast was simple, but I’d happily take simply delicious over mediocre variety.

After  a nice nap in a comfy bed, I was ready to eat again. I had marked Olive + Gourmando with a big “STAR” beside it and it was conveniently located a few blocks from our hotel. We arrived at 11:45am and were lucky to get one of the last seats available. If we were 10 minutes later, we would have waited 15-20 minutes. I didn’t know it at the time, but the wait would have been worth it.

Ben’s Cuban chicken sandwich

My ricotta with broccoli rabe, parmesan and pine nuts.

Our lunch was delicious and the diners around us were eating food that looked very tempting. My only regret was that we were too full to think about buying any sweets.  I thought I’d return to try some of their decadent baked goods, but missed out because they’re not open Sunday/Monday. Oh well, next time I guess…

I had an afternoon meet up with some friends and we decided to enjoy the weather on some of Montreal’s fantastic terrasses.

Boris Bistro was lovely and very relaxed. The facade of the building shelters a quiet tree-lined patio behind a busy street. I celebrated my arrival in Montreal with a glass of sparkling rose wine.

My group was wanting a bit more action, so we hopped over to the Place D’Armes hotel.

The terrace had a great view and even better people watching.

I wandered back to the hotel through the cobblestone streets trying to maintain positive thoughts about being in Montreal. I spent a lot of my first day pining for New York and feeling like Montreal just couldn’t compare. But negative thoughts can grow exponentially if you let them and quickly ruin an adventure. As I walked up the stone steps back into the hotel, I reminded myself to embrace what I have and make the most of my weekend in Montreal.

I was hopeful that the dinner I had planned that night would be just the thing to make me appreciate my Montreal experience. If you’ve read any of my Japan posts, you’ll know how enthusiastic I am about David Chang’s Mind of a Chef PBS show. Frédéric Morin and David McMillan of Joe Beef/Liverpool House were featured on that show as well as a few of Anthony Bourdain’s show’s recently. Both Bourdain and Chang seem to love these guys, and from what I’ve seen, I knew I would too. I was too late in planning, to be able to get reservations at Joe Beef, but was able to secure a late reservation at Liverpool House.

When we walked into Liverpool House, I noticed Fred sitting at the end of the bar. I’m always comforted when I go to a restaurant and see one of “THE guys” there. It means there’s still a connection with the face to the food. Our seats weren’t ready, but we were happy to sit at the bar for a cocktail. I was even happier still to sit beside Fred… I’m such a chef dork.

Ben and I were served a couple decent cocktails and were enjoying ourselves so much, we didn’t realize that it was almost an hour past our reservation time. Fred had left the restaurant and come back to see we were still there and comped us one of our cocktails before we were taken to our seats. Thoughtful gestures go a long way to enhancing a dining experience.

I had troubles reading the menu written on the chalkboard at the back of the dark restaurant, but our server offered great assistance. The lighting was also an issue for my photos and although I don’t feel my photos do justice to the fantastic meal that follows, I am posting them nonetheless.

Seafood platter with 2 kinds of East Coast oysters.

When our server told us they had sea urchin, I knew I had to have one.

Matane shrimp from Quebec were sweet and deliciously prepared with a unique combination of peas and potatoes. Also the platter were razor clams, which I haven’t had since Barcelona.

Homemade beer cheese was a selfish choice, because I knew Ben wouldn’t really like it. I felt pangs of guilt as I devoured the plate myself.

Snow crab risotto was intensely flavoured and delicate at the same time.

Too full to tackle dessert, but completely satisfied from our experience, I finished the evening happy that Liverpool House was exactly what I’d hoped to experience in Montreal; great food in an unpretentious environment. As we meandered back to our hotel that first evening I was eagerly anticipating my next few days in the city to explore the uniqueness that Montreal has to offer.

Le Petit Hôtel: 168, Saint-Paul street West, Montréal

Olive and Gourmando: 351 Rue Saint Paul Ouest, Montréal

Liverpool House: 2501 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montréal

When I left Tokyo, I had added an additional 7 Michelin stars onto my dining repertoire. With my meal at Kikunoi Honten in Kyoto, I’d add 3 more. Kaiseki, which is most simply described as a traditional multi-course Japanese meal, has never been anything I’ve sought in Japan in my adult life. But when I watched David Chang wax poetic during his kaiseki meal at Kikunoi on a Mind of a Chef episode, I was reminded of a similar peak experience I’d had as a child with my mom in Kyoto.

I remember being taken to a beautifully serene restaurant and sitting in a private dining room with my mom and aunties being served perfectly presented food, almost too picturesque to eat. When I asked my mom about it, she couldn’t tell me the name of the restaurant, but also remembered intricate details of the meal. I decided that if I could get a reservation at Kikunoi, I had to go and it only seemed natural that my mom would be my dining companion again for this highly anticipated meal.

Kaiseki is described by Anthony Bourdain in Mind of a Chef as “a multi-course, ultra-refined, obsessively local and seasonal and very traditional”. David Chang names Kikunoi as “one of the best restaurants in the world, arguably the best kaiseki restaurant in Japan and an extraordinary experience”. Described that way, I was motivated to get a reservation.  Lucky for me, my amazing hotel concierge was able to secure me lunch reservations.

On my last day in Kyoto, as my mom and I walked through Kyoto on our way to Kikunoi, I was bombarded with memories of our many visits together. I realized that many of my fondest memories in Japan included moments in Kyoto with my mom, and the most amazing thing about my mom is that when she commits to an adventure, she’s all in.

As we walked up the path to Kikunoi, I was feeling a bit uneasy that I was under-dressed for my experience. Anywhere else in the world, there’d be no way I’d show up at a 3* restaurant wearing leggings and a Lululemon top. But I knew in Japan, that they’d be too polite to look down their noses at me for my attire. I did remember to pack socks though so I wouldn’t embarrass my mom in with my bare feet when we took off our shoes when we arrived.

From the moment of our arrival, we were treated graciously. After we took off our shoes, we were shown to our private  room which overlooked a garden just starting to show signs of spring blossoming.

We were left with a copy of Chef Murata’s book, Kaiseki which helped to explain to me the different courses of a kaiseki meal and also how the ingredients and dishes were closely tied to each season. At the front of the book, I showed my mom that Ferran Adria had written the forward. My mom got a kick out of that because she remembered the photo that I had with Adria in Barcelona.

Room and view were modelled to simulate the feeling of being on a boat on the Biwako lake.

Chef Murata changes the meal monthly to reflect the seasons. Since we were there at the start of cherry blossom season, our meal would try to evoke “feelings of sitting under cherry blossom trees on a regal crimson carpet, while watching the delicate pink petals flutter elegantly to earth” as described in his book. I read and re-read that passage, wondering how any meal could capture those feelings, but as service began and beautiful vessels holding thoughtfully presented food arrived at our table, I saw the sensitivity of the chef’s words unfolding in front of me.

A splash of sakura sake is served at the start to engage the palate.

Hassun course sets the seasonal theme. Every component has a connection to nature, so the box is sprayed with water to make it look natural.

Salt-pickled “firefly” squid (hotaru ika), sushi with kinome, grilled squid, fava beans, poached egg bearing octopus, mountain yam “butterfly”, lily bulb(yurine) with ikura, skewer of prawn, avocado and tai liver pate.

I’ve eaten food that tries to be art. But this gorgeous piece of sushi was artful without trying to be so.

Sashimi of tai(red sea bream) and young spanish mackerel, ponzu jelly, wasabi and Suizenji jelly.

Sashimi of young maguro (bluefin tuna), mustard, soy marinated gold sauce.

Call me crazy, but amongst all of the stunning food we were served, this egg yolk sauce was my most memorable taste.

Steamed Wakasa tilefish, sticky rice, bamboo shoot, cherry leaf, toasted rice crackers, ginger juice in a gelatinous dashi.

Grilled halibut topped with chopped rapine, sauteed udo stalk

Service at Kikunoi is traditional and our server gracefully entered the room to present each dish. For the fish course above, 2 women entered the room and we were served our pieces of fish from a bigger tray to our plates. I was too busy looking at the gigantic wooden chopsticks used for service that I didn’t notice that our server had changed. Lucky my mother did and struck up a conversation with her. It turns out that in traditional Japanese service, the woman of the house will come to visit the guests and usually serve a course. In our case, we were told that Chef Murata-san’s wife was not present, but the lovely young woman serving us was Murata-san’s daughter. My mom told Murata’s daughter about how I travel all over the world to eat and showed the photo of Adria in her dad’s book to explain how I’d eaten beside Adria at his restaurant, but how his food is so much different from what we were eating. It was at that moment that I realized that my mom pays attention to my posts and all of the eating I’ve been doing over the last few years.

I tried not to let myself feel too embarrassed at my mom’s proud moment and her insistence that I take a photo beside this lovely young woman.

Strawberry-wasabi sorbet – a bit surprised to see sorbet used as a palate cleanser. Is sorbet traditional Japanese?

Salad of vinegared mozuku seaweed, shredded mountain yam, shoot of angelica, ginger

This salad was all about texture, and if you don’t like slimy, this wouldn’t be for you.

Steamed pot of bamboo shoot with wakame seaweed, rapini, tai(snapper), kinome herb – I was happy it was bamboo shoot season. I loathe canned bamboo shoots, but can’t get enough of it when it’s fresh.

Not only was each dish unique, I liked how many had lids, because there’s so much delight in opening each up to see what’s hidden inside.

Bamboo shoot rice with kinome herb, pickled vegetables (behind) – I was full, but I picked at all of the bamboo shoots and ate just enough of the rice with the pickled vegetables.

Green pea soup with shrimp dumpling – I was surprised at how subtle the flavour of the pea soup was despite its vibrant green colour. The subtlety was perfect for letting the sweetness of the prawn dumpling to shine.

Toasted barley ice cream, miso powder, sponge cake pudding.

Warabi mochi dusted with kinako – one of my favourite Japanese sweets.

A cup of matcha was made tableside to end the meal.

All in, our meal was over 3 hours. After the French Laundry, this is the longest meal I’ve ever had. Normally, food alone isn’t enough to keep me engaged through a dinner, but the combination of food, drink, my company and people-watching is what makes the experience for me. At Kikunoi, it was just my mom and I, gazing out into the peaceful garden for our meal. Experiencing a meal at Kikunoi made me feel like I was watching fine theatre, but at the same time being an active participant.  The service was captivating and brought me to a zen-like state that kept me thoroughly engaged throughout the meal. To top everything off, dish after dish, we were served extraordinary food. No tricks, nothing splashy, but it was definitely a five sensory meal.

We were given menus for our meal, but my mom said that the English translations were a bit “poor” in their description. My mom asked Murata’s daughter to sign my menu, which she did in beautiful calligraphy.

On our way out, we were escorted by Murata’s daughter and my mom got to chatting again, only to find out that Murata-san was in the kitchen and that I could go over to peek in. Thanks to my mom, I got this great photo to top off our peak experience at Kikunoi.

I put Ippudo on my list again for this trip to Japan, but it was on my Tokyo map because my Osaka/Kyoto maps were much less detailed. I did less research on the second half of my vacation, knowing that my parents and relatives would have fantastic food suggestions.

But again, in Tokyo my eating card was so full that Ippudo didn’t come close to making it off the list.

When I arrived in Osaka, all craziness with my family ensued and I became a food follower more than a leader. In most situations, this may concern me, but eating in Japan is so good that I didn’t mind just going along with other people’s dining choices.

As the trip went by, my parents were becoming increasingly sensitive to my niece’s food particularities and that awareness to try to find restaurants they’d like also rubbed off on me. And so, on an afternoon where my sister and I took the girls shopping, we ended up on a department store restaurant level wandering around to find something that would satisfy the girls. We settled on a yoshoku (Japanese-style western food) and I was satisfied with my omurice, but then I heard that without us, my parents went to Ippudo in Osaka for lunch and it was amazing. I was so jealous and Ippudo immediately shot to the top of my “must eat” list.

The food gods were with me and on a Sunday morning as I was wandering around the Nishiki market in Kyoto, I noticed there was an Ippudo right around the corner. I was excited because I knew I could convince my brother to come back for lunch that day. What I didn’t count on was that the whole family would be interested and we would try to get into a small noodle joint with 7 of us.

We were lucky because Ippudo was able to accommodate us around their communal table together, even though we were given a bit of a look when we arrived with such a big group.

I hummed and hawed over my choice of going with the more traditional Shiromaru hakata style ramen or try the Akamaru, which adds their special miso paste to the broth. It’s the same debate I have at home when I eat ramen (although the choices are usually shio, shoyu or miso) and in the end I chose, as I always do, the one with the miso in it.

It smelled so good inside the restaurant and I was so excited to be moments away from ticking Ippudo off my list. While I waited, I sampled the ramen accompaniments that were sitting in front of me.

Spicy moyashi (bean sprouts) and takana (pickled mustard greens)

Shoga (pickled ginger) and whole cloves of garlic.For the record, I didn’t sample the raw garlic.

My parents mentioned the gyoza were good, so we ordered a few plates to share. The gyoza weren’t just good, they were great!

Gyoza is a must when I have ramen.These one-bite wonders were the best gyoza I’ve ever had.

My parents ordered a side of steamed vegetables which I stole a bite of. Not anything I’d ever order but it was fresh and simple.

My dad also ordered a rice topped with mentaiko and an onsen tamago. Don’t ask me why, but it’s things like this dish that epitomize my love for food in Japan.

My brother’s Shiomaru ramen was delivered and it smelled so wonderful I regretted not ordering the Shiomaru.

Vince pressing a whole clove of garlic into his bowl.

When my Akamaru ramen hit the table, I was so eager to try it that I forgot to take a photo of it on delivery.

Akamaru ramen – Original silky “tonkotsu” (pork) soup topped with Ippudo’s secret “umami dama” miso paste, pork chashu, cabbage, scallions and fragrant garlic oil. My “must add-on” is the nitatamago (seasoned soft boiled egg) which was perfect.

It was hard to stop eating my bowl to take the photo. The broth was creamy and complex and the miso & black garlic oil added depth of flavour. I loved the thin “Hakata-style” noodles, which reminded me that up to this point, my favourite bowl of ramen I’d had was also Hakata ramen eaten on the street in Fukuoka.

I have to admit, when everyone decided to go for lunch at Ippudo, I was a bit worried that the girls weren’t going to like the ramen and that the whole experience would be stressful. Looking back, I had nothing to worry about because good food is good food. Or at the very least, everyone loves a great ramen!

Ippudo – various locations throughout Japan and the rest of the world

After our visit, we arrived in Kyoto and my brother and I wandered to the Imperial Palace grounds to see if we could find some blooming cherry blossoms. Inside the park, we were greeted with beautiful blossoms in so many colours. I felt lucky to be witnessing Japan in one of its most beautiful seasons.

I had to get a photo of myself in front the most beautiful tree in the park. *

Feeling totally in love with Japan, I was giddy with excitement about our yakiniku dinner, which happens to be one of my favourite meals in Japan.

Yakiniku is most easily described as Japanese-style Korean barbecue and best eaten in a big group. Lucky for us, my great-uncle Arthur  hosted the 20 of my family members who had made the trip from Canada to Japan for  a pre-reunion dinner at Issunboushi.

Uncle Arthur makes everyone feel at ease with his speech, in English and Japanese, welcoming the Canadian contingency to Kyoto.

I was sitting with my brother and sister, across from my second cousins from Vancouver, (that I never see while I’m at home), and at a table beside my parents, uncle and my dad’s cousins. As the food and drinks started hitting the table, I was happy that this trip to Japan was organized. Family moments like these are rare and I was grateful that it was happening and as an added bonus, the food was delicious!

Assortment of kimchi pickles

Intensely white beef fat used to oil the grill.

Green salad with onion dressing topped with daikon and dried fish.

Thinly sliced beef tongue topped with green onion.

Careful timing is required so the tongue is not overcooked.

Platter of wonderful meats and veggies.

Wonderful meats and veggies on the grill.

Chocolate ice cream dessert tasted very similar to a fudgesicle.

I was full from the meal, but really wanted to take my brother and sister on an adventure to a cool bar I’d read about in the back of a Buddhist temple. Lucky for me, they were up for the adventure and luckier still, my second cousin Kenzo was in as well.

Once I’d read about the Kanga-an Temple’s hidden bar, I knew I had to go have a drink there. Who wouldn’t want to have a drink amidst the zen beauty of a Buddhist temple? I had the address in hand and my brother, sister and I hopped in a cab. The taxi driver looked at us quizzically when we asked to go to the temple as he thought it was closed, but I assured him that it was okay.

Beautifully lit statues outside the Kanga-an Temple. *

In my research of the bar, it never mentioned anything about reservations. So although our arrival was met with a bit of a surprise, the Buddhist priests who run the bar were accommodating nonetheless, (or at least we realized they were being accommodating and not just shoving us into a corner).

Because the 10 seats at the bar were full, a make-shift table was created for us in the entrance way where we were served Yebisu draft beer as we waited for my cousin’s arrival. We learned that Kenzo’s cab driver originally refused to bring him to Kanga-an because he was adamant that it was closed and it took a phone call by the cab driver to the Kanga-an to convince him it was acceptable to drop him off there. Only in Japan…

Rochelle and I in the entrance-way of the bar. We couldn’t stop laughing that I led us to a cool bar and we “almost” got in. *

My cousin Kenzo arrived and a few moments later, seats opened up in the bar area.I couldn’t help but feel zen in the moment looking out at the beautifully lit gardens.

More drinks were consumed and I think we switched to shochu at some point. It was one of those nights where everyone was funny and we laughed the whole night away. Our joviality may not have been on point in our surroundings, but the priests working the bar didn’t seem to mind. In fact, at the end of the night they let us take a wander through the back gardens to take photos. It was a fantastic ending to a great night in Kyoto!

Unfortunately all of my photos came out blurry.

* Thanks for letting me use your photos, Vince!

Issunboushi - ８９ Shichiku Shimomidoricho, KyotoKita Ward, Kyoto

Kanga-an Temple - 〒 603-8146 Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Kita-ku, Kuramaguchi town Teramachi Nishiiri Shingoryoguchi 278

]]> http://callmeafoodlover.com/2013/04/21/family-grilled-meats-drinks-in-a-temple-a-great-night-in-kyoto/feed/ 3 Issunboushi Kyoto Yakiniku beef callmeafoodlover IMG_5926 photo-1 IMG_5973 IMG_5976 64724_10151325376521400_1156132985_n "Issunboushi Kyoto Door" IMG_6846 "Issunboushi Kyoto kimchi pickles" "Issunboushi Kyoto lard" "Issunboushi Kyoto yakiniku grill" "Issunboushi Kyoto salad" "Issunboushi Kyoto yakiniku tongue" Careful timing is required so the tongue is not overcooked. "Issunboushi Kyoto Yakiniku beef" "Issunboushi Kyoto yakiniku beef vegetables" "Issunboushi Kyoto dessert" Beautifully lit statues outside the Kanga-an Temple. 625692_10151324230231400_1919698287_n IMG_5981 482009_10151324232611400_1523222779_n http://callmeafoodlover.com/2013/04/15/eating-sushi-at-japans-other-fish-market/ http://callmeafoodlover.com/2013/04/15/eating-sushi-at-japans-other-fish-market/#comments Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:52:22 +0000 Call me a food lover... http://callmeafoodlover.com/?p=6916 Continue reading »]]> For most food lovers, a trip to Japan includes a visit to the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo ending with a sushi breakfast. Luckily, I crossed that adventure off my list almost 10 years ago. I tried and failed to recapture that moment on this trip after heading to Tsukiji early one morning, only to be turned off by the number of tourists who were lolly gagging around the busy stalls. I must admit that anticipating my extraordinary sushi dinner that night prevented me from having breakfast at Tsukiji, because if it weren’t for that, I would have wandered into one of the “unfound” excellent sushi-ya’s to start my morning off.

But a couple of days after Tokyo, I was in Osaka and looking for another sushi adventure.  Luckily my dad was a willing dining companion, and that the Central Osaka Market was within walking distance from our hotel.

I’d read about Endo Sushi located outside of the market and I was curious to see how the experience would compare to Tsukiji. As we wandered on the outskirts of a giant parking lot leading to the market, trucks sped by us on a mission to deliver freshly obtained seafood and produce. While my dad and I didn’t stray far into the market, I could tell that although the Central Market isn’t nearly the size of Tsukiji, it’s still impressive and seemingly unfound by the touring masses.

Endo sushi has been around for over 100 years and currently the 4th generation of the family is serving at the market in Osaka. It’s become famous its amazing sushi at a very reasonable price. Each omakase plate has 5 pieces of nigiri sushi and is ¥10,50 (around $12).

Walking in, I’ll admit that I was sad to see that the most of the patrons were tourists, but if I found this place online, it’s not shocking that others did as well. Interestingly enough, we weren’t dining beside Western tourists, but those from China and Korea.

We were quickly served tea and asked if we wanted “omakase” and if we wanted some miso shiru. To both we nodded yes.

Anago (sea eel), uni (sea urchin), tai (red snapper), chu toro (fatty tuna) and hamachi (yellowfin)

Knowing that I had just to put one of the best sushi experiences I’ve ever had behind me, and not wanting that experience to spoil all sushi experiences moving forward, I placed myself into the moment and appreciated what I had in front of me for what it was. And it was in fact, very good sushi. It took me a second to get over my surprise that the rice was warm, which intensified its vinegary-ness, but once I understood how this also brought out the flavour of the fish I was smiling at their very unique technique.

Rich and complex miso shiru with tiny clams and mitsuba.

I probably could have finished here, but for the price of each dish, I couldn’t stop at just 1, so we ordered a second plate.

Hotate (scallop), akagai (ark shell clam), awabi (abalone), toro, sayori (halfbeak needle fish)

I shake my head in disbelief that these plates of very premium pieces could be ¥10,50, which I hesitate to call cheap because I am of the belief that real sushi shouldn’t be cheap (nor should you get lots of it). At home, most of the fish we were served would sit in the m.p. (market price) column of the menu, where the prices aren’t even listed. So in light of that, this isn’t just reasonably priced sushi…

I’m of the mentality that if you can have sushi for breakfast, why wouldn’t you? So with that in mind, my dad and I returned to Endo sushi the next morning with my brother to have the same meal. And if it weren’t for the fact I was feeling sick a few days later, I would have gone back again. It’s definitely added to my “must return to” list in Osaka.

Endo Sushi - 1-1-86 Noda Fukushima-ku Osaka City Osaka 

The udon in Japan is so head and shoulders above anything I’ve had outside of Japan. I know in Vancouver, where I live, I can name 3 or 4 places to go for really good ramen but not one for udon. This makes me sad because I think a good bowl of udon is the best comfort food. It’s what my mom offers up when you’re looking tired or cold. A great udon is all about excellence in the noodles and broth. Excellent udon noodles are slurp-able with a bouncy chew  and the broth should be flavourful but not so much so that it overpowers the delicate noodles.Udon is always on my “must eat” list when I go to Japan but I’m happiest when we go to Mimiu because it’s some of the best I’ve had there.

Mimiu’s signature rabbit.

My family’s favourite udon in Osaka is Mimiu and although there are various locations throughout Japan, I feel like if you want the best a restaurant has to offer, you should go to its main location. Mimiu is best-known for its udon-suki (udon hot pot) but we go to Mimiu for its more basic udon dishes. My sister and my “usual” order is tempura udon and my mom, brother and dad order the kitsune udon. My previous visits to Mimiu have always been at lunch, so I thought I’d try something new and order a dinner set which had a few courses before finishing with a smaller tempura udon.

Set meal appetizer – consistency of tofu, but not tofu. I asked my parents to see if they remembered what this was and they have no clue.

Set meal 2nd course – crunchy fresh bamboo shoots (in season!), stewed/steamed veggies/fish, tofu salad and tai(snapper) sashimi.

My mom’s kitsune udon – I never order kitsune udon because I think of it as boring. The pillowy soft aburaage (fried tofu pockets) were so good, it made me realize  that kitsune udon can have a personality.

My nieces ordered the tempura udon (my usual).

My sister was the adventurous one of the night and ordered the duck udon which turned out to be cold with the broth served on the side. Although a bit of a surprise on its delivery, it was delicious nonetheless.

The udon that came with my meal was small but gave me enough of a taste to remember how great Mimiu udon is. The fresh bamboo shoots in the udon were a great addition too.

Set meal dessert – Grape zelly (jelly) with fruits.

Don’t mind my dad in the photo holding the sign awkwardly. The moments following this photo did not result in any intentional damage. Anything that may have happened was a complete ACCIDENT!!!                                                                 ごめんなさい !!!

Mimiu – 4-6-18 Hiranomachi Chuo-ku Osaka