Orange Julep Gibeau - Montreal *.

Orange Julep Gibeau is a must-go place in Montreal! My friends from McGill highly recommended this place as a "chill spot" - usually more packed at night. 

Despite the roads here being confusing (one-way etc.), it was worth the confusion haha. We arrived at this location late afternoon, even though that wasn't during prime-time, there were line-ups already O_o;

Highlights:

* Poutine
So much yummy gravy for a sauce-boss right here!

* Hot dogs 
How do you make them so good..? Keep in mind that the hot dog is smaller than your usual hot dog stand sizes; I think those who are "hangry" can actually consume 2-3 hot dogs from here haha

* Orange juice 
Duh! It's really delicious - it's creamy and kind of milky? I'm making it sound weird but it tastes so delicious. I bought a few jars back home :D

Orange Julep Gibeau

$  Canadian (New), Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt

7700 Decarie Boulevard
Montréal, QC H4P 2H4

Reuben’s Deli & Steaks - Montreal *.

We came to Reuben's Deli & Steaks for breakfast. 

This place is so nice and cozy when it was really chilly outside. 
The decor has a retro-70s theme with jukeboxes near the bar. 

Service was excellent - very friendly :)

DRINKS:

Hot chocolate with whipped cream
Orange juice
Coffee

GRILLED CHEESE (4/5)
(A single-decker sandwich loaded with melted cheddar cheese.)

This was so yummy - cheesy heaven! Came with crispy potato wedges on the side.

THE R.D. SKILLET (4/5)
(Sautéed onions, sauerkraut, melted Swiss cheese and slices of Montreal Smoked Meat.)

The smoked meat was very tasty :P 
The portions are huge, more like a dinner during breakfast time for us.. You will be stuffed!!

Reuben’s Deli & Steaks

$$  Delis, Sandwiches, Steakhouses

1116 Rue Sainte-Catherine W
Montréal, QC H3B 1H4

Le Club Chasse et Pêche - Montreal *.

For our "official" anniversary dinner, we had dinner at Le Club Chasse et Pêche. 

Regarder ma main!! *waves*

Service was excellent - the servers were very knowledgeable about their menu and answered our questions about the menu very well. Et oui, en français ;) 

The atmosphere is romantic and dim-lit. Very classy :) 
Thanks Pbb ❤

DRINKS:

weingut Robert Weil, Rheingau, riesling trocken 2013 
(pour moi - not passing a chance at seafood & vin blanc!)

celler Hidalgo Albert, Priorat ''1270 a Vuit'' 2008 
(pour mon copain)

THE MAINS:

TRUFFLE PASTA (5/5)

This was the special of the day and I highly recommend this! I hope they continue making this dish as a regular. The truffle flavour tasted amazing - a very nice combination with the creamy pasta. Loved this!

BRAISED PIGLET RISOTTO (3/5)
(with foie gras shavings)

I got to admit, first bite was AMAZING! But the more I ate this, the saltier it got. 
The foie gras shavings were perfect though (but keep in mind, I'm biased about FGs, I love them! haha) P was like "omg so good * nom nom nom * then, "blehh too saltay" - like. I. said. from. the. START! >:)!

OCEAN DELIVERY (4/5)
(Cod fish, black rice, turnips, russula)

This was so delicious. The cod fish was soft and the side dishes paired well with it. I needed something on the lighter end as my dinner from the night before was too fatty haha.

VENISON (4/5)
(hubbard squash, gnocchi, girolle, Louis d'or)

The meat was delicious and tender. I liked the purée portion of the dish - adds so much flavour to the dish!

P clearly had better lighting on his end of the table :P.. haha happy anniversary bb!

Le Club Chasse et Pêche

$$$$  French, Canadian (New)

423 rue Saint-Claude
Montréal, QC H2Y 3B6

Scandinave Spa, Mont-Tremblant *.

As part of our #anniversarycelebration, we went to Mont Tremblant for a spa day. ❤

I had such a lovely and relaxing time at the Scandinave Spa, Mont-Tremblant. 

I like how it is more exclusive and secluded than other spa places I've been to before. I gave this place a 4/5 on Yelp because a 5/5 is for the one I went to in Iceland - Blue Lagoon. It's THE best one ever. Nothing tops it so far, I would revisit just for the spa and lounge :P anyways, back to Mont-Tremblant -

My favourite features were the hot baths and the steam room. 

Cold bath at the river was a nice nature-y touch - it was freezing! It was a lot of fun though - we played the "who can stay the longest in the freezing-cold water game".. we both lost hahaha

I find it funny how they have a job position called "Silencer" where the person goes around shushing everyone who talks during their bath time. It kept the atmosphere relaxing and quiet. 

The Duo Swedish Massage was excellent in both service and quality. You will definitely feel replenished after the session. 

Completely relaxed after a whole day at the spa! Très bien! :) ❤

Scandinave Spa Mont-Tremblant

$$$  Day Spas

4280 Montée Ryan
Mont-Tremblant, QC J8E 1S3

Au Pied de Cochon *. - Montreal

P and I visited Montreal for our 1.5 year anniversary ❣ :) ❤ 
Thanks P - what a lovely and relaxing getaway! So much in our itinerary - more updates to come :D
First stop is at Au Pied de Cochon, we heard a lot of great reviews for this restaurant. Since I love love love foie gras, it's perfect location for me to devour them haha.

This restaurant was also featured on one of the shows by Anthony Bourdain! 

Service was excellent. They checked on us on the regular and were all very friendly.

Nous avons parlé beaucoup de français - actually, c'est moi. LOL

DRINKS:

Pied de Cochon beer x 2

TERRAINE OF FOIE GRAS (4/5)

Came with jam and bread. So delicious - it's pure foie gras. The taste is very strong and flavourful. A must for foie gras lovers :) I actually enjoyed this dish better without adding the jam on my slice of bread. At first P was like, this dish is too strong - but gradually liked it after eating more bites.

FOIE GRAS POUTINE (5/5)

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! The closer you are to Montreal, the better the poutine gets and this one is a 5-star poutine for sure! Large slices of foie gras and big chunks of cheese.. mm fatty good!

Snap one.

Snap two.

Snap three - Canard en Conserve

DUCK IN A CAN (5/5)
So creative! Everything is cooked within the can which contains foie gras, duck meat and veggies.

It's a mini show when the waiter comes over and open the can in front of us (I recorded it all haha). The duck meat was tender and juicy - delicious. There was actually a huge chunk of duck skin which was extremely fat as part of this meal - so deadly but so good (we couldn't finish all of it).

I would order this again the next time I visit Au Pied de Cochon.

Au Pied de Cochon

$$$  Canadian (New)

536 Avenue Duluth E
Montréal, QC H2L 1A9

Kanpai Snack Bar *.

Kanpai Snack Bar has a Taiwanese street vendor look to its interior - I think it's a cute theme! 

It has an open kitchen concept and customers can seat themselves near the bar or at the side tables. 
Service was excellent.

Came here with the Taiwanese boyfrannn :D #foodofhispeoples 

One thing that boggled our minds was: 
How do people who do not know how to read Chinese identity which one's the girl/guy washroom LOL? 
It only had Chinese writings on it. I didn't see any picture / signs :S
(Good thing I know how to read Chinese... hahaha)

DRINKS:

* Samuel Adams Boston Lager (his)
* Riesling wine (mine - obvi!)

TAIWANESE FRIED CHICKEN (4/5)

This was so delish! The skin was very crispy. Usually fried chicken gets dry closer to the middle but the meat inside was so juicy. Mm!

MC HAMMER 鹽酥雞 (5/5)

I've always liked Taiwanese popcorn chicken. This one topped it. It was delicious because there were that much flour around the popcorn chicken, it's just pure meat with a thin layer of breaded crust. So good - I'd want to order this again.

PIGGIE SMALLS (4/5)
(small chunks of pork belly, deep fried and tossed with secret spices)

This was so fat - but it's a good fat. Loved the dipping sauce!

FU MANCHU (4/5)
(Crispy chunks of fried tofu tossed in a light sweet and a sour sauce)

This dish contains my second favourite dipping sauce from the dishes of the night.

O.G. BAO (3/5)
(original night market sammie with slow-cooked 5-spice pork, taiwanese relish, pickled cabbage, teriyaki shoyu, crushed peanuts)

Being a sauce-boss, I'd like this bao (bun) more if they added more sauce to it.

Kanpai Snack Bar

$$  Taiwanese, Tapas Bars

252 Carlton Street
Toronto, ON M5A 2L3