Take-out at Maneki

Last week we had an unexpected glimpse of summer weather; everyone and their extended families came out to bask in the sunshine! Because of the exceptional weather, I made plans to hangout and roam around the city with some friends. And these plans always involve food. On Thursday, Adri and I checked out Maneki: they are a very hip Asian take-out spot that borrows flavors from many different Asian cuisines. Adri and I ordered a chicken Thai fried rice with salt and pepper fried tofu. Both dishes were less than $10 and the portions were just right. What makes this spot special is that they have all the typical Asian American dishes but without the dingy Chinatown diner decor. I'm already looking forward to go back and try their General Tao chicken :)

A Takoyaki kinda night

 What's going on? Am I seeing right? *rubs eyes* two blog posts in two days? Yesh guys, I'm off for 2.5 days this Christmas and I'm enjoying every second of it WOOOT WOOOT! How glorious does it feel to wake up naturally without the pressing sound of the alarm? I would've stayed in bed all day long if I had not made plans to catch up with Adri and Lily. We visited a cat cafe and played with their feisty cats, we bought matching thick tights from Urban Outfitters (they were such a steal, 2 pairs for 12$!) and decided to go for some deliciously deep fried Japanese comfort food at Kinoya Izakaya.

We decided to go all out since it was our last meal together before the New Year so we ordered all the appetizers on the happy hour menu :D We scarved down our food so quickly that our brains did not have the time to process what was going on. By the time it finally got a clue, it was already too late: 10 plates had been licked clean. Izakayas have been sprouting up all over town this year. Out of all the ones I'ved visited, I enjoyed Kinoya's atmosphere the most. When I think of an izakaya, I think about a casual pub that's warm and inviting, that's exactly how Kinoya felt to me. The wooden walls jotted out from their usual spatial arrangement as if they wanted to eat,drink and be merry with the guests. Kinoya was empty when we arrived at 5pm but quickly began to fill up as time went by. The takoyaki was particularly delicious: the perfect mix of crunchy on the outside and creamy/doughy on the inside. We were so delighted that we ordered a second serving. It took a bit of time for our second order to arrive but it was worth every bite -nom noms-! 

La Lumiere du Mile End

Picking a good brunch spot on a Saturday morning always makes me break out in a sweat. The most popular brunch places always have a long line-up and waiting to eat is like attending a symphony starring my grumbling belly. That's why I asked Miss Adri to meet me as soon as La Lumiere du Mile End opened so that we did not have to wait.

La Lumiere du Mile End is a vegan restaurant and its ambiance reminds me of the inside of a cute artsy aunt's dining room. I especially liked the colorful paper cut outs dangling in the air. I ordered an avocado sandwich and Adri got a burrito and both dishes came with a handful tortilla chips as sides. I was feeling plain that day since I had eaten a ton of junk over the week so I liked my sandwich. I'm not quite sure if the dish was worth the price, perhaps if we had a side of salad instead of tortilla chips. If you're looking for a place where you can enjoy your brunch without being stared down by 10 hungry eyes waiting in line, then I would suggest you to try La Lumiere du Mile End.

I'm leaving for Portugal and Spain in 4 days with Miss Adri! This will be my first adult world vacation. I can't believe that I have been working straight since last summer. I used to skip class so often to sleep in (even though I lived on campus). Up until now, I have only missed one day of work. Time moves so quickly when you are working full time that I feel like a drone going through the same routine. I'm grateful for this little break to reflect on some important things and to enjoy a new environment. I'm very excited to write a guide for Spain and Portugal once I come back :-) Please look forward to it!

Temptations at Arts Cafe

Arts Cafe

Mon-Fri: 9:00am-9:00pm

Sat-Sun: 10:00am-5:00pm

While describing my cafe hopping in my activity log for a school assignment, I remembered that I still didn't blog about our voracious experience at Arts Cafe last Sunday! We entered the cafe with a mindset of: "I'm-a-broke-student-so-I'll-just-take-a-coffee/tea" and left the cafe with filled bellies : X I'm telling you, I have almost no self control when it comes to food : C

This place was packed! For the 2 hours we were there (waiting time + eating time), there was not a single vacant spot in sight! Monkey and I tried to eat here the week before and we got there around 3:30pm and there was a line-up. I'm telling you, that's their strategy to entice you to order more: you're standing in line, it's cold, you see and smell the delicious foods pass by you one by one and your hunger stimulating hormones go whack! 

Thank you Lily for the pictures! 

Adrienne's cute Totoro Ipod case that she made herself! 

Adrienne's simple house classic that consisted of 2 eggs, baked beans, hash brown, grilled bread, jam. Filling enough : )

My super delicious breakfast sandwich that I chowed down in record time! It was simple but packed all the right flavors! The bagel was extremely chewy and fresh, I bet they get it from St-Viateur bagel that's a few blocks down. Oh goodness, I really want to eat this bagel now. Food blogging sure can be a pain in the stomach sometimes! 

Now that the weather is dipping lower, my appetite is getting higher. I wish I could just eat all day and nap all night *____* -wishful thinking-  Now, excuse me while I go back to my paper about obesity and environment...FOOOOOOOOD!  

Cafe Titanic

I'm a big fan of Titanic and it's one of my favorite movies because of Leonardo's dreamy looks and incredible acting skills! Every time I watch it, I hope that Jack can survive this time around but he doesn't so I always burst in tears (enough to drown the Titanic hihihi), anyways I digress... So when I found out about Cafe Titanic, I was instantly curious. Although it has nothing to do with Leo, it does have something to do with another love of my life: FOOOOOOD!

445 Rue Saint-Pierre

Montreal, QC H2Y 2M8

I visited Cafe Titanic with Phoebe shortly before leaving for Cuba. We were browsing brunch photos late at night and I remembered that I wanted to visit this place because I read raving reviews on Yelp. Because it was late at night, I accidentally remembered the wrong address so when we got to Old Port, we were very lost : P Since none of us have a data plan, we stumbled around looking for leaked spots of Wifi (too cheap to buy a drink at Van Houtte and abuse their wifi)! We magically found a random spot in the middle of the street that had wifi connection so we googled its real address. 

Cafe Titanic is located underground on one of those side streets that aren't too interesting looking and you wouldn't have noticed it if you passed by. 

Cafe Titanic is actually a cafeteria with a laid back mood. We got there a bit before lunchtime to avoid the crowds. It was completely empty when we walked in but the food was fresh outta the oven!

*looks around* No Jack in the vicinity : C

Phoebe got a Mac n Cheese that was fresh and hot, it was the most delicious mac'n cheese my mouth has ever met! I'm drooling just thinking about its cheesy flavors <3 The plate was pretty big too! I'm definitely coming back for it!

I got an overflowing veggie pesto sandwich. The first few bites were pretty good but there was a weird taste half way through so I don't know what to think of it. It was so big that I couldn't even finish half! I was so full and packed the rest for home.

Even though the cafeteria is in a basement, it is brightly lit : ) *photographer's pet peeve when there isn't enough light for my shot >: B*

I know Olive & Gourmando is a very popular sandwich shop in the Old Port but people have got to come to Titanic because they also offer delicious sandwiches (according to Yelp) and THE MAC AND CHEESE IS GODLY! The service was super friendly too : ) 

Sparrow

YAY I just finished putting together my stage paper and powerpoint for my presentation : ) Finally, I can breathe a little bit!  Continuing from last post, Miss Adri and I met up to eat brunch at Sparrow. This place has been receiving a lot of hype online so we wanted to check it out, to see if it lives up to its hype! When we got there, the place was full so the hostess asked us to come back in 30 minutes. No problem, since it's right next to some really cute stores. 

 When we came back 30 minutes later, we had to wait another 15 minutes before we got properly seated. With such long wait times, you'd expect the food to be amazing right? Well... it sure looked amazing but the two dishes Miss Adri and I got were very plain. 

Their menu isn't that extensive although the choices are pretty unique (chicken and waffles?) and the prices are a bit steeper than your usual brunch places. 

Miss Adri looking pretty in her new hairdo : ) Everyone's going short, I feel like chopping my hair too!!! Anyways, I digress

I got pulled pork and Adrienne got huevos rancheros with a melon juice. 

You can tell who's the more adventurous one outta us two HEHE! The only thing I liked about my plate was the small hashbrown balls because the english muffin was way too hard and the pulled pork didn't taste special. Adrienne's huevos rancheros looked like a plate of goo combined with a piece of really really REALLYYYY hard pita bread. There was no texture or consistency (apart from the hardass pita) to Adrienne's plate so I didn't like it very much. It felt like eating soup on a plate with a fork : / 

It seems like I'm being more critical than usual :P I'm not dismissing Sparrow and I'd definitely give it another go (once my wallet is replenished) but I didn't enjoy the plates we picked. At least the service was really good : )  

Thought that the bathroom looked really cool with its slanted ceiling!

Since I work in restauration, I know that there are some bad days (when your food isn't that fresh) and some good days (when your food is super fresh) so maybe we came on a bad day? It was quite crowded. Although I think huevos rancheros just aren't my thing, I would like to try the other items on the menu!