Top 3 Picks for Restaurant Day Montreal

It’s once again Montreal Restaurant Day, the day when anyone can open a restaurant and sell whatever the heck they want. It takes around the world (no, we didn’t invent it) but our safe city makes for a great day of wandering from stranger’s house to stranger’s house in search of vegan tamales, Armenian beef stews and Scandinavian hooch, often for just $5 or $10 a plate or meal.

In restaurant days past (it happens four times a year), I’ve randomly run into friends at a mutual stranger’s house in the Mile End, eaten soup in a pumpkin at the Depanneur Cafe, sweated my way to a Verdun ice cream party and scouted mulled wine in the Plateau.

The trick to a successful restaurant day is research and planning.

1. Check out the menus and plan your route with options, so if one place is a bust, you’ve still got bison shawarma to fall back on.
2. Show up on time, since it’s one-day-only, meaning when food runs out, the “restaurant” closes.
3. Either go with reliable friends who will also show up on time or prepare to be chatty. Actually, prepare to be chatty anyway. The whole point is to be social. Even if the cook is swamped, you should always introduce yourself, compliment the food (or the house, if the food is junk – there’s a reason restaurants fail) and tip if you feel that the food is undervalued (another reason restaurants fail. We don’t all have champion knife skills or the ability to properly calculate food costs).
4. Look for pros. Some restaurant day experiences are given by professional chefs or restaurant workers who want to try out a new menu or see what it’s like to have their own place for a day. This is often noted in the event description for a location. Two examples of this are below.

So for this Nov. 21, 2015 Restaurant Day, here are my top three picks, which will hopefully help you in your quest for deliciousness:

1. A Seven-Course Italian Feast in St-Henri – I Pastai – The Pastamakers

276 rue du Square Sir George Étienne Cartier

This is a sit-down lunch, so you can’t just drop in. You need to make a reservation, and it’ll cost more than your average Restaurant Day experience. But it’ll be a whole lot more gourmet for a lot less money than a regular restaurant where you pay tax and tip. The dinner service sold out, so your only time options are 12:30pm and 2:30pm.

“***Now taking reservations. First come, first serve. Very limited spaces.***

Enjoy handmade pasta and hearty Italian fall dishes prepared by professionals. Eat by candlelight with fellow food lovers in a beautiful, rustic dining room, overlooking one of Montreal’s prettiest parks. Food will be served family style and feature local, seasonal ingredients.

Treat yourself to this 7-dish, multi-course menu for only $30. Plus, it’s BYOW! (Bring your own wine!) We will also have Italian specialty cocktails, sparking water and espresso drinks available. See menu below!

RESERVATIONS
To reserve, send us an email at restodaymtl@gmail.com with your party’s size and time preference from the following four seatings:
12:30
14:30

2. Vegan Pizza in Villeray

6536 St-Denis – 2pm-6pm

From the Facebook event:

“All pizzas are made with 32-hour homemade dough.
– Two pizzas will be pulled from the oven each hour (one on the hour, one on the half)
– First come, first serve!

Slice: $3
Drink: $1

Menu:

Mexican (Fresh at 14h and 16h)
– A non-traditional pizza style that has been a hit with everyone I’ve shared it with. A hearty mixture of vegan chorizo, sauteed onions, fried potato, and kale under a generous layer of pepperjack vromage (vegan cheese). Chili flakes or ghost pepper sauce will be made available for an extra kick.

Spanish Coca (Fresh at 14h30 and 16h30)
– A typical Catalan pizza style that is said to have inspired the pizza we all know and love. A thin, crispy crust loaded with grilled zucchini, sundried tomatos, black olives, roasted red pepper, fried potato, and lots of rosemary and crushed garlic

Macaroni and Cheese Pizza (Fresh at 15h and 17h
– Gooey mac baked under a thick layer of daiya and toped with homemade vegan parmesan.

White Pizza with Arugula (Fresh at 15h30 and 17h30)
– Heaps of arugala atop a bed of savory roast garlic and creamy chao cheese. Topped with homemade vegan parmesan

Thirsty? Have a glass of Brioschi* with a tripple-dash of bitters to wash it down!”

*AW: I don’t know what Brioschi is. Google says it’s an antacid. Sounded like booze. What a disappointment that would be.

3. $5 Mexican and Malaysian Street Food in the Plateau

5333 Casgrain, suite 311 – 1pm until sold out

I sort of don’t want to tell anyone about this one, because I’m worry it’ll run out before I get there. Malaysian chef Nantha Kumar, formerly of Cash ‘n’ Curry and pop-up Sundays at Nouveau Palais, Mondays at Kyozon and now perhaps still at Fabergé, is teaming up with caterer extraordinaire Maurin Frellick to bring a tasty mix of filling snacks to La Centrale Culinaire, the shared kitchen workspace on the 3rd floor of the industrial building at 5333 Casgrain. Here’s the menu:

“Maurin Cuisine will be serving:
-Chilaquiles topped with fresh cheese, onion & mexican crème fraîche with a choice of salsa verde or salsa roja.

Nantha Kumar will be serving:
-Nasi Lemak with sambal, peanuts and egg*
-Roti Canai with dhal**

Come check out the amazing space Centrale culinaire, a co-working space for culinary entrepreneurs in the Mile End.”

*This is my favourite Malaysian dish. I went on a hunt in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in search of the best version. You can’t get the same fermented shrimp paste here so it’s never the same, but Kumar does a good version. Soft and mildly sweet coconut sticky rice steamed in banana leaf, salty and crunchy fried anchovies and a sweet and spicy slow-cooked chili paste that’s basically hot sauce on crack. Would that I could live on sambal…

**Roti Canai is a flaky flatbread that’s almost as much fun to watch someone make (think swirling batter like crepes) as it is to eat. You break the crispy pieces and dip them into a savoury, gently spiced lentil stew. In Malaysia, it’s breakfast, as is Nasi Lemak. And just like those cheese Chilaquiles, it’s pure comfort.