On Old Montreal Restaurant Le Local Chef Deck says:

If I was homeless in the city of Montreal I would chose to sleep under the bridge on University corner of William Street. Why you ask? Well for one, there are lots of rich business people to beg from, two I could eat at Cluny’s Restaurant every day for lunch, three I can cleanse in the river, four I could pursue my dream of being an artist at the Darling Foundry, five I could steel the new biki government bikes on William street for transport, and six I could jack people’s meals on the terrace of Restaurant Le Local for dinner! So yes I am a fan of this fine Old Montreal restaurant designed by architects Lemay Michaud. On this particular night we started with escargot and homemade gnocchi which were great, and a beet salad with crispy bacon, breaded poached egg and truffle oil that I crave every night. For the mains we had decent ravioli with duck confit, and a baby calves liver that was thick like a fillet mignon and delicious. Also a fun little tidbit is that the former chef of Leméac Charles-Emmanuel Pariseau has been hired by chef/owner Louis-François Marcotte, and their old chef Alexandre Gosselin is now at the new Bar et Boeuf. So if your ever robbed while enjoying your meal on the terrasse by a fat man, don’t worry because it is just I Chef Deck trying to fill my belly!

Tastiness: 8.44234349/10
Stars you can stock: we ran into the great Mosé Persico, local G-d/10
Price: $5-$20 apps and $19-$31 mains/10

Le Local Montreal Information

40 William. Old Montréal
Payment: Major Credit Cards, Interac
Metro: Square Victoria
Phone: 514 397 7737
Hours: (kitchen open): Mon – Fri, 11:30 am – midnight, Sat 5:30 pm – midnight, Sun 5:30 pm – 11:30 pm
Cuisine Type: Tapas, French, Bistro
Meal Type: Lunch, Dinner
Website: resto-lelocal.com

Yoyo is definitely the appropriate name for this once great Montreal BYOB because it always has had its ups and downs. The problem these days is that the only person playing with the Yoyo is Corky. The menu and food have gone down in terms of quality, originality, and all around tastiness to such a degree that I’m embarrassed by the fact that I’ve recommended it to so many people over the years. On this particular night we started with escargot in an overpowering smoked bacon and beef jus I think, and a goat cheese filled tart (the tart was so store bought) covered in shitake and oyster mushrooms. Both dishes were sub par and overpowered by their sauces to the point that you really couldn’t even taste the ingredients. For the mains we ate a chicken breast (not even gonna describe it because it was overcooked and poopy), and a filet mignon with a béarnaise sauce (sauce was good) that was of the lowest quality meat (kinda like a flank steak that hadn’t been marinated). I was so appalled by the food that we didn’t even get dessert. Yoyo what happened to the ravioli, your great deer medallions, the venison? Are you that cheap now that you can’t buy good ingredients or just that greedy? There is an old folk song called Abby Yoyo and I wish with all my heart that he would show up and swallow your restaurant whole!

Tastiness: About as tasty as Enrique Iglesias’ mole on a platter/10
Service: Still top shelf/10
Price: Overpriced for the quality/10

Chef Deck signing out!

Yoyo Restaurant Information

4720, rue Marquette, (corner Gilford), Plateau, Montréal
Telephone: 514-524-4187
Website: http://www.restoyoyo.com/
Hours: 5:30 pm – 10:00 pm daily
Payment: Visa, MC, Diners Club, American Express, Interac, Cash
Features: Bring Your Own Wine (BYOB)

My sister choose the restaurant this time and she chose restaurant Le Valois, in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood. (If you want to look cool, just say HoMa.) I love to try restaurants that aren’t downtown, they know that they have to do their best for you to come back… they aren’t full of chicks in stilettos and businessmen who look very, very, busy talking on their Blackberries … the kind of place you feel bad if you’re not dressed up because Ken and Barbie are sitting next to you. Anyway, I went to Le Valois with my family and was pleasantly surprised by this Montreal restaurant. The space is very cozy, full of wood and coloured glass (reminded me of a church). Outside there is a beautiful large terrace in the summer just besides Place Valois, (where there is a William J. Walter Saucissier location…sorry, can’t help it, I love the William Suisse sausages …I even bought some after my meal). The list of wine is quite extensive (2 pages!), and the service is great (cute guy and my sister is single), discreet but always right.

Now, about the FOOD, the cold vichyssoise and the cream of green vegetable was just o.k, the tomatoes were not really “confites” in the puff pastry on confit tomatoes they were just broiled. The herring tartar with green apples was too salty for my taste, and tasted like a dill pickle ( my father loved it). The goat cheese with honey and thyme was good but oily. I also did not like the fact that it was in a phyllo pastry and they put a whole stem of thyme (I had to perform an operation to get it out). Overall, I was not extremely impressed by the appetizers, but my palate liked it, so it couldn’t have been too bad. For the mains, the beef “bavette” was good and the fries came with a homemade mayonnaise. The chicken with mango salsa was good but gave me a sense of déjà vu. The confit duck leg was succulent and I personally liked it the most; it was served on a bed of hot slices of green apples and an outstanding aragula salad. For dessert, I suggest you try the pound cake served with a shot of Bailey’s, the cake was very scrumptious, (I normally hate cake but I do like alcohol).

WHAT’S HOT:
The restaurant is an intimate and fun to place be in. They made an effort on the presentation (decor, food, everything), and it was worth it. A definite plus, parking meters are free on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays! The bathrooms are clean (although downstairs and a long walk).

WHAT’S NOT:
Everything is good, but not great. There is no sparkle, nothing special … they could do a little bit better. I think I am going to try it 2 or 3 times before I can really say if I like it or not. But, on the whole, it’s okay, and like I said, the waiter was cute … so I don’t mind going back!

HOW MUCH?
For two: 50$-60$, wine and tax included, tip not.

WHEN?
7 days a week, 8 am to 11 pm.

WHERE?
25 Place Simon-Valois (near 3809 Ontario)
Phone: 514.528.0202
Email: levalois@gmail.com

On Montréal Restaurant Au Pied de Cochon Chef Deck says :

If I was goose in a box, being force fed yummy grains all day and night until my liver was about to explode, I would hope to one day end up in a Au Pied de Cochon Fois Gras poutine. Yes loyal readers, this means that I Chef Deck, am a huge fan of the one restaurant in the city that prides itself on promoting our old Canadian $100 bill mascot (the great Canada goose). Montreal Restaurant Au Pied de Cochon has a beautiful menu featuring upscale, quebecois dishes with a twist from the great mind of chef/owner Martin Picard (an array of game meats, pork, meat, fois gras every way, and constantly changing specials). This particular evening we ate a phenomenal moose carpaccio with artic char and quail eggs, seal, fois gras poutine, duck in a can, and the mother of all pork chops, all of which were originally presented and delicious. If you’re looking for a meal that will not disappoint in a fun atmosphere, and you’re not a hippy or a vegetarian, this Montreal pioneer will always satisfy your every desire!

Tastiness: 9.234232/10
Wine: perfect list and highly knowledgeable staff/10
Clientèle: not so halal/10

Chef Deck signing out!

Restaurant Au Pied de Cochon

536 Duluth Est, Montréal (Québec)
Metro: Mont-Royal
Tel: 514-281-1114
Email: aupieddecochon@qc.aira.com
Website: restaurantaupieddecochon.ca
Hours: Tues – Sun 5 pm-12 am
Payment: AMEX, MC, Visa, Interac
Cuisine: French, Terroir, Québécois

On Joe Beef Restaurant, Montreal Chef Deck says:

Joe Beef reminds me of a fat man by the name Frank Portly whose eating addiction made his bed his toilet, his toilet his bed, and he only believed in wet naps not showers. Ya I know you’re all thinking that this does not sound very appetizing, but au contraire mon frere, what could be more appetizing then food that’s so good, it fully negates your brain functions related to being full. Oh yes this is our great Joe Beef! The original restaurant opened by Allison Cunningham, Frédéric Morin and David McMillan that spawned a Montreal, Notre Dame street empire (Restaurant Liverpool House, Restaurant McKiernan Luncheonette and Wine Bar). This particular time we started with about 30 oysters (some wankers ordered to many so we got the spoils of their over zealous eyes), then had the most amazing Fois Gras parfait served with fried toast and cinnamon sugar apples, and for the last app a charcutarie plate with a variety of yummy animals (pâté de Campagne, sausage, roast pork, jambon de bayon). For the main we all shared a mixed grill with duck breast, seared fois gras, two types of sausage, and hanger steak all accompanied by decent fries and the fattest asparagus you’ve ever seen. For dessert we had a peach polenta ice cream covered thing, that was the perfect end to an almost perfect meal. So you all know that game about what would you do for a million dollars? Well I’m switching it to what would you do for a meal at Joe Beef?…and I would do Frank Portly!

Food: 9.12133612361212/10
Service: Sexy/10
Décor: flee market chick/10

Chef Deck signing out!

2491 Notre Dame Street W, Montreal
Metro: Lionel-Groulx
Phone: 514-935-6504
www.joebeef.ca/
Hours: Tues – Sun, 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Pay: VISA, MC

On Saint Agathe Restaurant Crêperie La Quimperlaise Chef Deck Says:

Esti, Tabernac, crêperie La Tournsol was closed again so I had to go to Quimperlaise. Not that I don’t like this French damsel or anything, but she’s just one of those filles that is good from far but far from good. I know that this seems like some harsh criticism but it’s just because i was really dying for the Tournsol experience. All and all, Crêperie La Quimperlaise is consistently good as long as you stick to the basics. Their onion soup aux gratin is fantastic (most cheese in the north), they have a good Cesar salad, traditional crepes, fondue, a good steak with mustard sauce, and a bad ass steak sandwich. The best thing about Quimperlaise though is the picture of the old French Canadian woman on the wall smokin her peace pipe.

Food: 7.12121121111/10
Ambiance: country 1984/10
Service: waitstaff are kept in line be the big owner sippin on his mug of je ne c’est quoi at the forbidden corner table/10

Chef Deck signing out!

Restaurant Crêperie Quimperlaise Info

11 Ch Du Tour-Du-Lac
Sainte Agathe Des Monts, QC, J8C 1A6
Phone: 819-326-1776

On Montreal Restaurant Les Délices de l’ile Maurice Chef Deck Says:

WARNING: For all of you discriminating snobby eaters read no more.

You are about to experience a look into one of the most entertaining, deliciously different, Mauritius cuisine (mix of Creole, Asian, French, and Portuguese), type eateries in our grand city of Montreal. Sylvester is the definition of la joie de vie, he is a man who wakes up in the morning with a cold bottle and believes that there ain’t nothin better then a ridin the rail (or spending 5 weeks a year in Cuba with his “sisters”). Every meal starts with an amuse bouche of fried cabbage, with onions and peppers, accompanied by four sauces being spicy, coriander vinegar, I forget but good, and I forget but better. You then move on to a choice of appetizers, Creole chicken, shrimp salad, or smoked salmon salad all of which are phenomenally tasty. Next you get the soup of the day that’s great. For the main course you have a choice of shrimp, scallops, squid, sea base, salmon, some other seafood stuff, chicken, beef, lamb or ox tail, in your choice of curry, Creole, saffron, tomato, garlic butter, or honey sauce. All of the meals are amazing but not for the closed minded, health conscious, or pretty bird type eater. This is the perfect place to kick you in the balls, smack you across the face, and help you remember what’s really important in life (living free and peace of mind).

Atmosphere: Sylvesterish feng shwayish/10
Food: Sylvesterish amazingness/10
Price: absolutely absurd that you can eat so much and spend 10 buck a person/10
After 10pm: Just go on a Friday or Saturday G-D dang it and find out for yourself/10

Chef Deck signing out!

Les Délices de l’ile Maurice, Restaurant Information

Address: 272 Hickson, Verdun, Montreal
Metro: De l’Église
Phone: 514-768-6023
Hours: Closed Sun & Mon 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Payment: Cash Only
Bring Your Own Wine, Apportez votre vin (BYOB)

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Excellent BYOB French restaurant. They specialize in seafood… would ya think. Can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. About $50-$80 a couple.

1201, Rachel East; 514-522-4876
Hours: 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm, closed on Monday
Pay: Amex, VISA, MC, Interac
BYOB