Restaurant Things (Consumed Since Friday)

Friday 8:00PM -- Bombay Mahal (1001 Jean Talon Ouest)

- Samosa (because obviously)

- Veggie Thali conmprised of an ochre thing, a lentil thing, a carrot thing (note to self: get the gaddang names of the dishes, you lazy turkey) cooked a wonderful butter chicken-esque sauce, garden salad, and rice AND naan (!)

Me and the man have wanted to try Bombay Mahal for a long while. (Full disclosure: Josh had already been, but I hadn't, so I'll pretend we lost our BM flowers together.) However, Jean Talon/Acadie area is FAR when your chauffeur is a bus driver who doesn't care how inconvenient your "closest" stop is from the restaurant. But hurrah! Jdog recently acquired a car of his very own (way to go, you!) and I've been lucky enough to ride shotgun all over the place. (He even picked me up in TMR way early Saturday morning, after I was stood up for training at a children's art studio.) ANYWAY! Where was I? Food, I think. Wait, car -- yes, we had car access, and that car took us to a teeny tiny jam-packed byow (sadly we didn't know & weren't packing). Bombay Mahal is known for serving up the best Indian food in Montreal, so I should admit that my expectations were pretty high. The food was dang good! Favorite in the city? Honestly, it didn't quite edge out my number one (who said Bombay Choupati?), but it's possible that resto unfairly hogs the top spot for sentimental reasons (though I'm skeptical -- their butter chicken thali is crazy delicious). All in all, I think we both were pleased.

Wouldya look at this Slick Rick! :)

Saturday 9:00PM -- Bishop & Bagg (52 St. Viateur Ouest)

- A jerk chicken + jalapeno macaroni and cheese + cole slaw monstrosity
- Beer and more beer

Saturday, I inadvertently crashed a Boys Night. (You know the deal... all the other Significant Others bail & suddenly you're the odd wo/man out. Surely that's happened to other kids, too.) There was beer and hockey and general pub-yness, though nary a mention of boobies or bodily functions because they're gentlemen. Ordering dinner came more out of necessity than any strong desire to eat (overpriced, over-trended) bar food. But eat I did, and it tasted more than fine, so let's call it a win!

Sunday 1:00PM -- Pâtisserie Rhubarb (5091 de Lanaudière)

Fracken everything...
- Pumpkin & cheese focaccia with cream cheese
- "Continental Breakfast" (egg with soldiers, whipped yogurt with granola, vanilla apple sauce, and the yummiest/most buttery ham & cheese muffin thing)
- Crunchy caramel apple pastry thing

Love it or hate it or think it's stupid, BRUNCH HAPPENS SOMETIMES. And if you're gonna brunch, Rhubarb is the place to (over) do it. During the week, Rhubarb is a dainty little café slash pastry shop. Come weekend, they also serve this crazy-ass table d'hôte breakfast made of dreams (and butter, so much butter). Because the food looks so small and pretty, you don't think there's any way to leave full -- wrong. I made that rookie mistake on Sunday. Crammed every dish into my face thinking Imma need McDonald's after this. But by the time dessert rolled around (they just GIVE YOU FANCY DESSERT you guys!!), my stomach was stuffed and fighting hard against the extra grub. (I ate it anyway.)

Truthsicle: Sure, you get tons of tasty things for a fair price. Very cool. Even better, though, is the very scrumptiousness of the food. Great ingredients, interesting combinations, all delicately put together. Every dish is a pretty little present!

Holy crap, right?

Monday 3:30PM -- GaNaDaRa (1862 de Maissoneuve Ouest)

- Veggie bibimbap with tofu (yes, I'm that person)

GaNaDaRa (is the capitalization really necessary?) is straight up packed every time I pass by. So, color me thrilled when I passed its door yesterday afternoon and there wasn't a line! There were empty tables! I zipped right in. The bibimbap was pretty tasty, probably could've benefitted from more seasoning and/or meat. (The only other time I was there, I ordered the chicken katsu and it was off the hook tasty.) No photos of food this time, mostly because I was busy eavesdropping on the table of teenagers beside me. Drama was going DOWN.

Soooo that's that, folks. A certifiable food diary & testament to my deep-set aversion to cooking. The great news? You can eat at any of these places for under twenty bucks. Bon appétit!