They started us off with an amuse of sweetbread nuggets.  This was my first time having sweetbread, but since the sweetbread nuggets were deep fried, I felt that I didn’t get a true enough taste of what sweetbread should taste like.  The texture was harder than foie gras, but of course anything deep fried tastes good…

Next dish was grilled octopus and ostrich tartar.  The octopus was good but the ostrich I found to be a little bland.

My favourite course was the fish dish, which was a black cod marinated in miso with a butter yuzu sauce.  I didn’t taste much yuzu in there, but the fish was done perfectly.  The fish sat on a bed of zucchini spaghetti which was also very yummy.

The main course was a lamb shoulder stuffed with chorizo.  The meat was so tender that it broke off my fork and fell onto my lap.  Thank goodness for this dish and napkins.

For dessert, we had chocolate mousse cake with cherry ice-cream.  The combination was perfect because the tangy taste of the cherry ice-cream balances out the rich chocolate mousse.

I think we got great value and quality for the price that we paid.  Again, Montreal proves to have great food everywhere you go!

First stop was Inniskillin.  They have a beautiful estate up at Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Great for taking a wine tour, having lunch (they serve food with wine pairings), and just taking pictures.

Inniskillin is famous for their icewine but we’re not big icewine drinkers, so we tasted some of their Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc instead.  The tastings were only $1 each, so after about 6 tastings we decided to go with the 2008 Montague Vineyard Chardonnay ($18.95).  Yup, already broke into that one…starts off pretty sweet and fruity, but tastes more complex after you let it breathe.

Next stop was Lailey.  This is a fairly small and new winery, only 10 years old.

Picture from Lailey website.

We decided to go in and give their wines a try since we’ve never heard of them.  We tasted one of their Rieslings and their Rose.  We were taken aback by the quality of their wine glasses which were really worn out and scratched.  This obstructed the view of the colour of their wine, but since I really liked the taste of their Rose, we got a bottle of the 2009 ($18.75).

We headed back to our hotel first to drop off our stuff and get ready for dinner at the Peller Estates.  We stayed one night at the Sheraton on the Falls and they gave us a room with a beautiful view of the Falls.

Peller Estates is a beautiful winery and their restaurant is pretty highly reviewed as well so we decided to try their 5-course tasting menu with wine pairings.

Our waitress was very attentive and friendly.  The chef also takes into account any food allergies or preferences as well, so make sure you let them know when you are ordering.  Now for the food.  They started us off with an amuse of tomato gazpacho.

For appetizer, we were served with a smoked salmon, arugula and goat cheese salad.  2hung doesn’t like goat cheese, so they prepared his without.  This was paired with a nice sparkling rose.  Even though we only ordered a single wine pairing, the waitress gave us a very full pour, and even poured me a half glass by accident!

For our next course, we were served with an asparagus puree soup.  This was paired with a Chardonnay.  It was strange to have a wine pairing for a soup course, haha.

Next came the seared scallop with sweet corn.  This was probably the best dish besides dessert.  It was also paired with a Chardonnay.

Even the palette cleanser sherbet was made with Cabernet Sauvignon.

For our main, we were served bison rib eye with wild mushrooms.  Love wild mushrooms and the bison was very tender.  This was paired with a Cabernet Franc.

We even got an amuse dessert of panna cota with peaches.

And for the real dessert, maple walnut ice-cream sandwich served with figs and paired with icewine.  Our generous waitress gave me a separate pour of icewine as well!

Getting tasting menus with a single wine pairing is the greatest idea ever because at least one of us will need to drive home after dinner!

Night view of the falls.  The lights were not that impressive.  I think they need to spend more money on that to attract more tourists.

We were able to visit two more wineries the next day before heading back into town.  First stop was Strewn.  Strewn Winery was not that impressive at all and we didn’t particularly like any of their wines, so we just had a few tastings and left.  Their estate was nothing special compared to the other wineries.

Picture from Trip Advisor.

Last stop was Southbrook Vineyards.  This is probably the most contemporary looking winery you’ll find at Niagara-on-the-Lake.  The building’s design is so modern inside and out.  No wonder they charge a bit more for their wines…

The best Chardonnay that we had on this trip was Southbrook’s 2000 Triomphe Chardonnay ($33).

Picture from voir.ca.

I arrived at the restaurant just before 7pm and was seated at the bar.  I was surprised to find that the restaurant was not busy, yet it would’ve been impossible to reserve a table for more than 4 people on OpenTable.  The restaurant has a very rustic charm to it, and of course chalkboard menus are what I like.  The menu was all in French, but I was able to decipher that there is a scallop dish served with eggplant.  It turned out to be seared scallops with fresh yellow and red cherry tomatoes on a bed of eggplant paste similar to baba ganoush.  The combination was awesome and the tomatoes so fresh.

For dessert, I decided to indulge and got the mille feuille with lemon custard and raspberries.  The pasty was so flaky and the custard was nice a tart to my taste.

Overall, Liverpool House offers a great culinary experience and the service was friendly and attentive.  Hopefully, I’ll return soon to Montreal to try out their other two restaurants Joe Beef and McKiernan Luncheonette!

There was a male host that brought us to our table.  We had originally made a reservation for 6, but only 5 of us ended up going, so the host decided to remove one of the 2-seater tables and we were made to seat 5 of us in a table meant for 4.  Good thing another hostess walked by when our 5th guest showed up and she decided to give us back the extra 2-seater table to make the seating more roomy…was kind of an awkward situation at first but turned out to be ok.

Our waiter was very friendly and gave us a good explanation of the menu items.  We started off with a large charcuterie plate and fried cheese.  The charcuterie plate came with a sauce made with vinegar, honey and dijon, which I don’t find you get at other places that serve charcuterie.  And, how can you go wrong with fried cheese?

For my main, I ordered the Coquille St Jaques, which was a shell with scallops, spinach and mushrooms baked in a cream sauce with a side of salad.

My meal was delicious.  My coworker had the hamburger which was highly recommended by the waiter, so I think I will have to get it next time I go there because it seemed really good!

For dessert, we had the tiramisu dessert special.  It was so creamy and tastes different than the typical tiramisu that you would expect from an Italian restaurant.  I think I prefer this one more!

Thursday Night

We arrived late Thursday night at the W New York on Lexington, so we decided to grab some New York style pizza.  Joe’s Pizza is a popular spot for piping hot thin-crust, New York style pizza.

I devoured my pepperoni slice pretty quickly and enjoyed it thoroughly, as did all these people enjoying their slices on the park benches across from the pizzeria.

There was a store that sold gelato on a stick next door called Popbar, so I tried their mango sorbetto on a stick because it was way too hot for a creamy dessert.  I really needed something fruity and refreshing.

Friday

Friday’s meals weren’t half as exciting as Thursday’s.  My objective for Friday was to have lunch at the new Shake Shack in the Theater District.  The Shake Shack has some cool looking burgers, shakes and frozen custard.  However, the lineup was super long and the heat that day was so unbearable that we decided to find lunch elsewhere.

(Picture from Serious Eats)

We ended up going to Le Pain Quotidien and had ourselves some nice tartines.

Saturday

We had dinner at Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill on Saturday.  Their sushi and other dishes were good but kind of pricey.  The restaurant was quite loud and dark, so it was hard to take pictures of the food…

Soft shell crab appetizer

Grilled Mahi Mahi

Soba with duck meat balls

Sunday

Sunday’s meals were quite exciting.  We started off with a Roman brunch at Maialino.  All their breakfast items are Italian inspired.

A nice latte and cream filled donuts to start.

Roasted Pork on Ciabatta

Prosciutto with buffalo mozarella

Pancakes with ricotta and cherry compote

After a round of shopping in Soho, we stopped by Boqueria for a Spanish afternoon tea.  Their tapas are great and they also offer a brunch menu.

Margaritas are great for a summer afternoon.

Patatas Bravas – crispy potatoes with garlic sauce and salsa – potatoes are yum!

Salteado de Setas – Sauteed wild mushrooms with pork guanciale and Manchego cheese

To end the trip, we visited Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant at The London Hotel.  Maze’s menu consists of a bunch of small dishes and a separate tasting menu.  We decided to build our own tasting menu by picking from the list of small dishes.  We were impressed with the quality and presentation of each dish.  Gordon Ramsay is not all about the F word after all.

Seared sea scallop with tomatoes and marjoram velouté

Octopus terrine with crispy potatoes

Tortellini of beef short rib in dashi – I think I liked this one the most!

Crispy belly of pork with kimchi and pickled ginger

Pan fried Tasmanian ocean trout with gnocchi

Carnaroli risotto of parsley preserved lemon and mascarpone

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting walnut praline ice cream – This dessert was awesome!

It was a pleasant evening, so a table in their little patio was a great start to our meal.  The friendly waitress explained the menu to us in English and we all decided to go for the $49 4-course tasting menu since the a la carte would’ve costed more money.  The tasting menu consisted of an amuse bouche, an entree, a main and dessert.

For our amuse, we were served with blood pudding, cured duck breast, and pickeled mushrooms.  I have never tried blood pudding before, it looks just like the Chinese pig’s blood except it is seared.

For my entree, I picked the escargots with wild mushrooms.  It was very yummy.  My coworkers tried the foie gras terrine and it was very very smooth!

For my main, I got the Thazard with risotto.  The fish tastes kind of like tuna or mackerel.

I think the only disappointing part of the meal was the dessert.  I was supposed to get the blueberry and vanilla creme brulee, but they ran out and they gave us jasmine tea creme brulee instead.  It didn’t taste that good because the bitter tea taste was too overpowering, but my coworker got the bread pudding and it was awesome.

Chuck Hughes from Chuck’s Day Off owns this tiny little, unmarked restaurant.  They specialize in seafood and have a fresh menu daily.

I couldn’t say not to the lobster poutine appetizer, but I thought it would be too heavy to get another main, so I decided to go with the tomato salad with avacado and cheddar frit.  (Ok fine, their dishes were kind of pricey, so I decided to go with two appetizers instead!)

The tomato salad was very refreshing and very appetizing for a hot day.

The lobster poutine was less exciting than I expected.  There were a few chunks of lobster which I initially though tasted pretty sweet, but then I realized that it was actually the gravy that tasted sweet.  The fries were good, but the cheese curds were not as squeaky and chewy as I would have liked.  When comparing this poutine to another gourmet poutine like the foie gras poutine from Au Pied de Cochon, this is definitely the loser.

The table across from me ordered the seafood platter.  It was more like a huge toolbox full of seafood and it comes with a hefty price tag too, Small $45, Medium $85, and Large $150.

Three kinds of spreads for our bread, olive tapenade, butternut squash and humus.

Smoked salmon eggs benedict

Lobster mac & cheese

This tea house is very old English style indeed.  I actually think they should update their decor so that it is more classy than old looking.  We started off with a huge menu with over 80 different types of teas to choose from.  They have many different types of black, white and green teas, as well as some African and Asian teas.  I chose my go-to tea English Breakfast.  They served the ladies and gents with different styles of tea cups.  The ladies got floral-patterned tea cups and the gents got a more masculine design.

First came the finger sandwiches.  They tasted ok, but I was expecting some smoked salmon sandwiches but they didn’t have any…

After a long wait, we finally got the scones.  These tasted pretty good, but they were a lot flakier than normal scones which are usually more dense in texture.

Overall, it was a fun experience, but next time we’ll have to try the King Edward Hotel’s afternoon tea!

This is such a cool new restaurant for enjoying a night out with friends and great food.  They have an extensive beer and cocktail menu and the food prices were quire affordable.

I loved my coriander and cucumber gin and tonic very much.

We ordered a bunch of appetizers to share.  BBQed octopus, charcuterie plate, foie gras terrine, and escargots with gnocchi, which I didn’t get a picture of, but they were all delicious.

For my main, I decided to give the BBQ carbonara a try.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the nice crispy piece of pork belly!  The dish also came with tuna, which I thought was kind of weird, but still tasted great overall.

For dessert, we went with the BBQ carrot cake, which came with yummy cream cheese icing, carrot confit and carrot jelly.  Dessert is always the greatest part of the meal!