[Mariam]: I hate winter! Well, I think most people hate winter, especially long & cold ones (5 months and an average of -15 in Montreal, ouuff ). [Henry]: Heeeey! I don’t hate winter. [Mariam]: That’s because you’re crazy 😜. Anyways, I hate it so much that I constantly need distraction from it or I may lose my mind. And since I don’t want her to lose her mind, I’m starting to enjoy these distractions as well.

So, in an effort to act like winter is not bothering us, we decided to have a packed weekend on Feb 15, 16, and 17 by discovering warm restaurants that had appetizing food. Let’s go!

 

Friday

Friday after work, we went to meet our very good friends Phil & Lindsay (double date, yay! ♥️ ) at a Tibetan restaurant called Om. Located on the vibrant street of St. Laurent in the Plateau, we were in for a treat. First of all, the staff was very welcoming, the place was warm, and the decor was pleasing to the mind. We felt like we were right where we should be. We ordered tashi-delek for appetizer, which are essentially flavourful momos (aka: dumplings) that have meat, vegetables, and cheese inside (each), then Henry got the sha-baleb and Mariam got the vegetarian then-thuk. The sha-baleb was amazingly flavoured; crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Mariam’s then-thuk was just perfect for winter. A thick, rich, & hearty soup with the right amount of spices. The noodles in it were cooked just perfectly & the veggies were fresh. Can’t have asked for a better meal!

 

Saturday

Saturday is usually our ‘date day’ and what better way to start a date day than with a French pastry & bakery place? Can’t get any more romantic than that, can it? So, Mamie Clafoutis it was. It’s a busy little café-type bakery located on Notre Dame street in St. Henri. The sandwiches are delicious (Mariam: the warm and tasty baguettes took me back to France!) and the pastries exquisite. To be precise: We had an egg sandwich (for Mariam) and a grilled chicken sandwich (for Henry). Both were delicious.

 

The place itself is quite charming and the staff is absolutely friendly. Big smiles all around!

 

 

After eating all that we had to take a walk of course, and since we were close to one of our favourite markets in the city (Atwater Market), we took a stroll towards that direction and spent a few minutes enjoying the view of the Lachine canal and all the vibrant Montrealers buying and selling local goods.

For dinner, we went all the way to St. Leonard to discover a new place to us called Yoko. That’s how dedicated we are to sushi! We’d go anywhere. Plus Yoko had good reviews so we thought it would be nice to explore. When you come in the restaurant you discover that there are two sides, which we found quite unique. The Japanese side is on the left and is decorated with a fancy and modern flair. The Korean side is on the right and has more of a hype pub look. We headed to our table on the Japanese side & devoured so many sushis that we can’t remember how many. The food is decent; not the best sushi we’ve had, but the friendliness of our waitress made up for it. She was just amazing in all its forms. She was serving what looked like 15 tables alone and was doing everything effortlessly with a big smile & good attitude. So all in all, we had a pleasant dinner.

 

Sunday

Then Sunday came, and it was even colder than the previous two days. So we opted to meet our friends Alessandro & Rose, along with their adorable 3-year-old daughter at the British tea room called Cardinal. This place is just gorgeous. It boasts a beautiful Victorian decor and is absolutely endearing.

 

Henry had an iced-tea (to everyone’s surprise: ‘who orders iced-tea in winter?’) and Mariam had a chai. Both were delicious and tasted homemade, but even better. We also had their scones, and wow! They were mouthwatering.

 

Cardinal felt so nice (and warm) that we ended up spending the whole afternoon (instead of the 2 hours we had originally planned for). Basically: Great ambiance, awesome company, nice staff, and delicious madeleines (yes, we ordered cookies & madeleines too eventually). We will definitely be back!

 

 

Last, but definitely not least, we went all the way to Laval for dinner (do you see a pattern here? We go anywhere for some good food) to what we believe had the best Afghan cuisine in Montreal: Riaz Kabab.

 

We met our friends Bassem, Hamid, & Muzhgan who grew up eating Afghan cuisine. So if it’s good enough for them, it’s definitely good for us. Truth be told, we went a bit overboard with how much food we ordered: Mantoo, ashak, baanjaan burani, qabuli, waziri kabab, and shrimp kabab. See for yourself: 

 

Honestly, everything on the menu was exquisite. So much so that we will dedicate a blogpost just about this place in the next few days (stay tuned).

 

With this, we end this post. As you can see, it was a loaded weekend (both literally and figuratively). If we’re not careful, we’ll get sick very soon from all that eating. So, today, Monday, we are ONLY eating soups and salads and shall go for a run (5k at least). Same thing tomorrow! Possibly Wednesday too.

 

How was your weekend? Any place you recommend we try?