Best Vacation Bites - Montreal

This June I took my good friends up on the chance to visit the beautiful city of Montreal. The guys were planning to attend the Montreal Grand Prix so my girlfriend and I were eager to hit the streets, pretend not to be tourists, and see what Montreal had to offer.

Now for those of you who haven't been to Montreal, it is usually referred to as the Paris of North America - largely for it's francophone population and Parisian influence. I would largely agree with that generalization, but emphasize that Montreal is definitely an AMERICAN city. Yes, everyone speaks Francais, but they also speak PERFECT English, drive around in Fords, and wear American Apparel. While parts of the city, like Old Montreal felt distinctly Parisian, student filled areas like Rue St. Denis near UQAM's campus felt distinctly more like Baltimore.

Our amazing home in Montreal!

Right off the bat, I realized that our plan to blend in as locals was shot to hell. Every morning we started strong, stepping out of our beautiful flat onto the bustling Rue Sherbrooke in our trendy-casual threads and bright colored Toms without hesitation. After careful planning, courteusy of the wi-fi connection in our rented rooms, we knew which way to go - NO LOOKING LOST FOR US! 


But, the minute we walked into a shop and responded to the first bonjour, the jig was up. No matter how hard we tried to say bohn-jur! or allo! like a local, we were pegged for English speaking tourists. Surprisingly, this wasn't such a bad thing. Unlike it snooty France (I've never been) the fact that we didn't speak French was not the end of the world and people didn't even assume we were from the U.S.! In one trendy shop a very cool girl asked, "So you are from Toronto, yeah?" - a question that we assumed meant 1) Toronto is a cool city and 2) We're cool too!

Each of my three full days in Montreal was wonderful. With no real obligations we spent the day doing the kinds of things that for me equal a dream holiday - wandering, shopping, people watching, sitting in parks, and of course eating. Like most cities worth visiting,  Montreal's cuisine not just about one signature style or flavor profile - it's about the wide variety of tastes brought over by its numerous immigrant communities. While founded by the French, and largely influenced by it's British/Canadian history, Montreal is home to large numbers of immigrants from all over Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

CHINATOWN (Photo courtesy of Dan Proudfoot)

One of the best places to see this wealth of cultural cuisine is Montreal's small Chinatown, equipped with authentic Chinese gates and all of the tchotchke shops and yummy restaurants your heart could desire. It also has a great location - walking distance for us and close to Old Montreal and the Place des Arts - home to regular festivals and concerts (and to the Francofolies Festival while we were there). While in Chinatown, we visited Restaurant Beijing, a street stand for Dragon Beard Candy, and Patisserie Harmonie for Chinese pastries to enjoy the next day (Pork Buns for breakfast - Yum!). 
While "Restaurant Beijing" was no different from the American style Chinese restaurants in DC, it was fun to see the specials posted in French as well as Chinese and English. In an attempt to be somewhat adventurous in our order (no poulet orange, si vous plait!) we learned that chow mein are crispy pan fried noodles and "Beijing style" means with a white sauce and chocked full of every kind of seafood imaginable. While maybe not what we expected, it was still good and ridiculously filling as always. As for the candy, if you every get the chance to have Dragonbeard candy - go for it! It has the texture of a super light shredded weight and an ridiculously sweet nutty flavor. Messy and delicious.

I think my two favorite food moments while in Montreal were surprisingly courteously of chain restaurants (gasp!). The moment we discovered Au Pain Dore, with its window full of fresh French pastries and bread, I knew we'd be back before I trip was through (I returned two more times). Among the variety of choices of chocolate and fruit filled confections, I wanted nothing but the simple and crunchy palmiers. Also known as "elephant ears", these treats are so crunchy, one can only image the amount of butter in them. I ate mine as slow as I could, and immediately yearned for more. My other favorite moment was standing in the street on Rue St. Denis, the four of us sharing a decadent BBQ pork Poutine from Frite Alors. Frite Alors is the kind of place I would kill for in DC - a simple burger and fries spot, but with poutine to die for. Who knew that cheese curd and gravy could make life so wonderful!

Poutine - mon dieu!

So I think it goes without saying that I really liked Montreal! It's a beautiful city, not too far away that feels like a vacation, but not culture shock invoking enough to scare the faint-of-heart. It has great food, cool people, and everyone's friendly and willing to help. I highly recommend it and I'm looking forward to my next trip! Here are a few other places I loved:

Photo from of myneworleans.com

1. Jean Talon Market - the best place to spend a Sunday afternoon. Sample fruits, cheese, and charcuterie, stay for lunch and enjoy the people, smells and sunshine!

2. St-Viateur Bagels - a must for anyone visiting Montreal, this bagel shop sells what I think are now my all-time favorite bagels. They're thin so it's like having a scooped out bagel - all toasted-crunchy outside and less of the doughy filling. Get a sandwich and side salad and you have a meal you won't forget.

Photo from midnightpoutine.ca

3. Le Saint-Elisabeth - order a couple beers and enjoy the sights and sounds in the prettiest terrace/beer garden I've ever seen. You can even bring in your own food (poutine, duh!)

Where's the Pho?

I love pho.

We met in college, at a shady shopping center eatery on University Blvd. The large bowl, filled with bright white noodles, almost raw slices of beef and the most aromatic broth I'd ever smelled made my jaw drop. The abundance of "fixins" confused me, but as I added some lime here and scriacha there, I realized this food had endless potential for diner experimentation, something I learned to appreciate as a child eating Liberian pepper soup.

Smoke and mirrors
Over the years, I've visited a number of pho spots in the Greater Washington area. Some were dressed up, with modern decor and soothing ambient music. Others were stripped down with vinyl covered furnishings and Southeast Asian versions of Celine Dion blaring through the speakers. Personally, I am from the camp that prefers the latter - a well worn mom and pop. The way I see it, Mom and Pop don't have TIME to consider the best flatware or to choose an accent color because they are too busy cooking the food they know and love. They don't need trendy art on the walls, because everyone is actually coming for the food. Plus if all those hideous vinyl seats have butts in them, you can be pretty sure you're in for the time of your life.

This theory has proven correct many times over - by the juicy chicken burrito at El Rinconcito (that is largely responsible for my wide waistline) or the INSANE fried fish at Horace & Dickie's (well worth a 10 minute wait surrounded by drunken middle aged men). But when it comes to Pho, I have learned that the ONLY thing that matters is the broth and the best broth in DC happens to come with a sleek decor, great service, and a trendy location.

The Essence of Pho
Pho broth is a complicated affair. Beef bones and marrow are boiled and combined with onions, ginger, star anise and various other aromatics and then left to simmer for hours. I have always pictured a hunched over Vientamese grandmother laboriously stirring a huge pot of this stuff; adding more water or ingredients as needed and never allowing it to quite "die". I don't know if this approach would pass city health inspection, but with such a complicated recipe it seems the only way to maintain consistent flavor.

Pho is amazing because after all the complexity of preparing a good broth, what is presented to the patron is simple perfection. A bowl of thin rice noodles, covered in a health laddle of broth, and then topped with whatever cuts of beef were ordered - chunks of well-done brisket; bible tripe for the adventerous; thinly sliced cuts of raw skirt flank that quickly cook in the piping hot broth. Noodles, broth, meat. That's it. The rest is up to you.

So what is my favorite Pho spot in DC?
Pho 14 on Park Rd in Columbia Heights. Any doubts that were brought up by the modern dining decor were thoroughly vanquished at first sight/smell/sip of their shockingly good Pho broth. That first day I think I ate more than half of the bowl, without even touch the condiments, something I could never do at most places. Bowls at Pho 14 come in regular (7.95) and large (8.95) and are served with a heaping plate of bean sprouts, lime, sliced jalapenos, and a sprig thai basil. Bottles of siracha and hoisin are there as well.

The menu here is huge so there is is actually reason to go even if you're not in the mood for pho (which for me is like, never). One exciting option is "bun" or vermicelli noodle dishes that come with a variety of toppings and are served with fish sauce made in house or a spicy sweet chili sauce. Their banh mi sandwiches - one of the hottest things in DC right now - are only 3.99!

Some other good options in the area are:

Pho DC in Chinatown. It's overpriced and as sleek as they come, but the pho is decent and the service is excellent. Also, they have a liquor license so you can sip while as you slurp.

Noodles on 11 is located at the intersection of 11th Street and New York Ave, NW. It is easy to miss as it is squeezed between a Thai restaurant and sushi bar, but the search is worth it. This place not only serves up a solid pho, but it also does Hong Kong style noodles, a variety of curries, a sweet and tart Tom Yum, and some of the best roast pork I've had in DC. They also serve alcohol and have great happy hour specials.

Do you have a place I need to try? If so, please comment below.

...happy slurping!

The Soup and I

Growing up eating Liberian pepper soup taught me the importance of the perfect bowl of soup. When an aunty invited us over for a mammoth pot of meaty soup, there were decisions to be made. "How will I eat my soup today?"

The choices begin even before the soup is ladled into the large bowls that are only taken down for this purpose. One must determine what starch will go with their soup: rice or fufu. If it's fufu, do you want cassava or plantain fufu. How about dumboy, which is fermented fufu? Not many of the kids choose that one.

Next are the add-ins. Unlike with pho or Asian noodle soups, the condiments and flavorings are usually added to the bowl before the soup. This gives the eater a chance to mash everything together without slopping soup out of the bowl. Exotic ingredients like okra, bitterball, benin seed (mashed sesame seeds), vinegar pepper sauce, and steamed habenero peppers are all laid out for the taking. Along side these are more conventional things like peanut butter and lime that have a very distinctive effect on the flavor of the soup but should never be added together.

This process of adding, mashing, mixing and adding more is how I grew up eating soup and instilled in me the idea that sometimes food has to be doctored to be enjoyed. The fact that no two people's bowls are identical is thrilling.

So in the spirit of winter (you remember winter, when it's supposed to be COLD), I will be focusing on soups and stews that warm the body and the spirit. First up: Pho!