Premiere Moisson - Montreal

Even after stopping for a while to see some of the sights in Ottawa, we made it to Montreal in time for a late night dinner.
We passed by Première Moisson on our way to dinner and I couldn't resist stopping in to check out the pastries and bread. 

 


Clafouti!
They looked so good, but not really dinner. We thought it might also be a good idea to pick up breakfast in case we didn't get breakfast tomorrow.


The bread options looked amazing.

Next day

Mushroom bread and a raspberry croissant
Both were delicious even the day after - the mushroom bread still had that aromatic bread smell and the juices from the mushrooms were absorbed into the bread. So good! The raspberry croissant was pretty unique too.

Website: https://premieremoisson.com/en

Golden Rooster - Kingston (ON)

We wanted to get away from Toronto for a long-weekend vacation. Therefore, we found the cheapest possible way to do it - which is a Chinese bus tour to Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City. For less than $250, you get transportation to all those places, accommodation and a tour (albeit in Chinese).

The first stop was Kingson, Ontario, where we got to explore a bit of the downtown area by the lake. We walked up Princess street to grab a bite before heading out of town to make it to Ottawa and Montreal by the end of the day.  

 

Cold cuts sandwich $4.25

It's been a while since I've had a cold cuts sandwich, but I was looking for something quick and fast and the variety of deli meats being sold signaled to me that they could probably make a delicious cold cut sandwich - and it was really good! 

Fried egg sandwich

I really liked that they toasted the bread to warm it up since the fried egg was also warm. The bread was delicious too!

Overall: Good quick bite and reasonably priced in Kingston. 

Website: http://www.goldenroosterdeli.com/

JaBistro

I've heard of Oshizushi, but I haven't seen it on a menu until I went to Ja Bistro. 

 Aburicious 

2 ebi (shrimp), 2 saba (mackerel) and 2 salmon and JaBistroll

The pressed sushi was a new novel experience and pretty tasty. I really liked the JaBistroll. 

Sashimi sampler

This sampler plate was really nicely presented and had a wide assortment of fish from tuna to scallops. Everything was really fresh and yummy! 

Website: http://www.jabistro.com/menu/

Est West Cafe

October 4, 2017

I was craving a salad and I didn't want to pay tons of money for one. So I came back to Est West! 

Pasta shells, Korean pickled cucumbers, chapchae, broccoli, spicy Korean noodles. 

Yummy and cheap! This definitely hit the spot and tided me over until I had a late dinner. 

February 1, 2016

Now whenever I feel like eating a slightly healthier lunch, I go to Est West. 

Another small salad with two types of pasta salads (one was a creamy tuna and the other was tomato sauce) and I got some broccoli and some other salads crammed into this small container.  It was yummy as always and such a cheap deal.

November 24, 2015

Tucked away in the corner of the food court in the Ontario Power Building at 700 University is probably one of the cheapest and most filling lunches you can get for under $6. 

Small Salad 

The box was jam packed with all the salads and miscellaneous items they had prepared. 

I had glass noodles, tuna pasta shells, penne pasta, peppers, broccoli and so much more crammed into that tiny container.  And all of this was super filling for less than $6 including taxes. 

Cannoli Queens

Given the terrible service at Zafferano, we went somewhere else for dessert. I looked up cannoli and found a shop called Cannoli Queens (which sounds promising!)

Located in a random strip mall off Highway 7, we drove around in circles before we found it.

Pistachio cannoli and a Sicilian Ricotta filled Cannoli

The pistachio cannoli had a fluffy puff pastry shell rather than the typical Sicilian cannoli hard shell. I didn't really like it - I liked the more traditional cannoli hard shell to really get the flavour of the ricotta and any flavourings. The pistachio filling was a light cream that didn't really pack the pistachio punch I was hoping for. The Sicilian cannoli was better than the pistachio one. 

Lemon raspberry biscotti

The biscotti looked really interesting, but it had this half-soft and half-hard texture that I wasn't really used to. I don't eat a lot of biscotti, so maybe this just isn't my thing. 

Website: http://www.cannoliqueens.com/

Zafferano Ristorante

We originally wanted to go to Desserts Plus for lunch, but it was way too busy. We looked up some other Italian options nearby and found Zafferano. 

It was pretty quiet for a Sunday and it took a while for someone to even come and seat us in the restaurant. The service was really slow our entire experience. 

The food was a little on the expensive side compared to Desserts Plus. 

Fried Stuffed Gnocchi

This was a really fun shareable dish! The gnocchi were slightly crispy on the outside and came with a nice spicy mayo. I didn't really see any spinach in the gnocchi, but I got the cheese. 

Rigatoni Peperonata

The rigatoni was nice and the pesto cream sauce was good. However, this dish felt really heavy (maybe too much cream). It didn't seem like there was a lot of grilled chicken - but it was kind of shredded in the dish rather than cut into strips. 

Rigatoni Peperonata and Pappardelle Zafferano

I loved these wide pappardelle noodles! They were so different and they were great at absorbing the sauce! The cognac and saffron rose sauce was really nice too. I probably could have done without the diced tomatoes and the oyster mushrooms (personal preference only), but I liked it with the shrimp. 

Overall: The pasta dishes here were tasty, but the service was not very good. 

Website: http://www.zafferano.ca/