4/30/2014

Love for the Locals: Le Petit Coin Latin

10 years ago, my family made a trip to Montreal and Quebec City, back during the times when I reliably got sick on every trip we went on. My memories of Quebec were vague, but with some vivid images that I never forgot. There was one cafe in Vieux-Quebec that we went into on a miserably rainy day when I had come down with a bad fever, and my mom had to carry me. All I remembered was a red, wooden window frame with pouring rain running down the glass, yellow painted walls on the inside, and a brown ramekin of French onion soup that my dad was eating. 10 years later, we've returned, and I've finally gotten to enjoy the Quebec City I missed out on!

My family and I had brunch at Le Petit Coin Latin (8 1/2 Saint-Ursule, Quebec City, QC), the very cafe I remembered.

They have a picture of a giant fork on the inside of their door.

Le Petit Coin Latin! It's on a slanted road, as most roads are in Old Quebec :P

I like to think that part of the reason why the menus are so interestingly shaped is because of the slanted road, but I'm not 100% sure because it's actually slanted the other way... Still a cute touch!

The very booth that my family sat at 10 years ago, while I laid on my mom's lap passed out with a fever. All I could remember of Old Quebec from that time were slanted roads, a lot of rain, and a window frame painted red on the outside, and yellow on the inside.

I had my lunch with tea, of course!

The French Onion Soup I longed for... the broth is light, but flavourful. Delicious.

My smoked salmon salad! Shredded beet and carrot, slices of zucchini, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and capers were hidden beneath the generous slices of salmon lox. 

My brother chose the croissant with vegetables. The cheese melted all over it really made it look 10 times tastier than it already did!

My dad opted for the eggs benedict. Smoked salmon eggs benedict, that is.
Of the meals that you could get in touristy districts like Old Quebec, this was very reasonably priced. The French Onion Soup was $6, and the small Smoked Salmon salad was $9. And, it was all very very much worth the wait.

The waitress told me that their staff are usually travelling employees, so the turnover is rather high. New employees hang out in Quebec for a couple of years, and move on to another destination! I found it quite surprising considering how great their service is. My dad used to have business trips to Quebec, and always stopped by, noting that they've been remarkably consistent!

After finally tasting the tastes I missed out on 10 years ago, I ought to return! See you again in 10 years, Le Petit Coin Latin?

-M

Le Petit Coin Latin on Urbanspoon

Love for the Locals: Juliette et Chocolat

After completing the first 2/3's of my Master's, my family took me on a roadtrip in Eastern Canada for a week and a half. The stop I had been looking forward to for the past few months is Montreal, Quebec. P has been to Montreal a few times, so he recommended some places to me that he thought I would enjoy. I trusted his judgement considering over half of the things we do together involve food (and he's picked up on my likes and dislikes over the past year and a bit).
For my last dinner in Montreal (on this trip, because I am definitely coming back) we had some lighter fare at a quaint little place on the western end of Rue Saint-Catherine called Juliette et Chocolat (1626 Rue Saint-Catherine Ouest, Montreal, QC), also recommended to me by P, and further endorsed by friends. Rue Saint-Catherine stretches from west to east through downtown Montreal and is known to be the area for the city's nightlife.

Juliette et Chocolat offers a lighter and more cheerful vibe than the various nightclubs and trendy diners and retailers for the several blocks to follow. It has got to be one of the most adorable places I've ever been to. Everything is adorable! The little chocolate boutique, the restaurant...the red berets that all of the employees wear! Juliette et Chocolat is also probably more of a place for desserts given its chocolate bar and extensive sweets menu, but they do offer some savoury goods that seem just as delightful.

Juliette et Chocolat!
The shop counter where they sell various chocolate goods and desserts! The restaurant area is located to the right of it where I was sitting.
My Juliette et Chocolat salad. It had mixed greens, sliced pears and strawberries, creamy goat cheese, a dark chocolate vinaigrette and a spiderweb-like buckwheat crepe to top it all off! The dark chocolate vinaigrette was definitely different - it had the tart taste of a nice balsamic vinaigrette with a dampened dark chocolate after taste, so that the chocolate was the last flavour left on your tongue.

I also decided to get a small chai latte. Mmm... I used to not like chai very much, but it has really grown on me!
My brother opted for a savoury crepe, "The Spinach Complete" which came with egg, a choice of ham or turkey (he picked turkey), cheese, and spinach.



My family decided to share a "Chocolate Fondue Duo" where you could select two types of chocolate, and they provided you with a wide variety of fruit - apples, kiwis, pears, bananas, pineapples, and strawberries! We picked dark chocolate and white chocolate, because when you mix the two, you get milk chocolate, so really we had three ;)

I have a love for jars. They had various desserts in jars including tiramisu!
I would have liked to try one of their sweets after seeing the magnificent dishes past by me towering with whipped cream, but one thing about all of this French food is that it is very rich, which I am not used to.

I am sure that there are other lovely eateries and markets and shops and cafes that I hadn't covered in the 2-3 days I was here for. Montreal is such a vibrant place with a wonderful food and art scene! I vow to return (when I can afford that)! And when I do, I am definitely going back to Juliette et Chocolat~

-M

Juliette et Chocolat on Urbanspoon