Carlos & Pepes

My blog is making my friends fat. And broke.

Said Savvy when, after Le Fuchsia, we ended up at Carlos & Pepes.

Carlos & Pepes is a two-floor mexican extravaganza on Peel street. It competes with 3 Amigos in many ways, and I kept pointing out those differences throughout the night. The chips were warm and the salsa particularly sweet. The drinks were good, but not any different from the 3 Amigos ones. What I especially liked was the chimichanga. I had flautas, which came with a red and green house sauce (both very spicy), sour cream and guacamole. Savvy's quesadillas were big and really filling. On a whole, the experience was great but the atmosphere, the prices and the food is better at 3 Amigos. Do you agree?

mango peach margarita

lime margarita

quesadillas

chimichanga

flautas

Le Fuchsia

For more than two years I've been studying in the same building yet until today I've never set foot in the basement-level student-run restaurant Le Fuchsia. Two words: I've been blown away.

Not only is the service fantastic, but the food... When you're seated, you're given a menu with something like this: entrées (lobster bisque, tuna tartar, terrine of grilled vegetables, amongst other things of the same grandeur), then main meals (fish curry, pan fired sole, some other type of fish, duck à l'orange, lamb shank, beef in Roquefort, veal in garlic sauce, fettuccine with prosciutto, mascarpone and arugula and I think I covered it all. Dessert is tiramisu, chocolate cake, millefeuille, creme brulée...
The catch? This is only this week's menu. Beware: next week's could be better.
And here's the thing: the price is (wait for it!) at most 10.95$.
For the three course meal.
Coffee or tea included.

 tuna tartar with avocado and mango

 lobster bisque

 veal in garlic sauce with linguine

 beef in Roquefort sauce with potato puree, asparagus and vegetable ragu

 tiramisu

field berry millefeuille

My tuna entrée was exciting. Even my friend who doesn't (ever) do seafood tried it with success. I tasted her bisque and it was very salty (she didn't finish it, of course. It's seafood). When my main came, I took a bite of the veal and was instantly transported to a foreign land. A place where my mother made me ragu when I was a child, and it was juicy and chewy and it simply melted at the touch of my tongue. When I came back to myself I thought, my Monsieur will definitely like this place.

My friend's beef was as good if not better than my veal. Well cooked but still juicy, with a smooth hint of Roquefort, with heavenly warm vegetable ragu and creamy potato puree. Her tiramisu was what a tiramisu is supposed to be, unlike the dessert we pass as "tiramisu" most of the time. It tasted of fresh mascarpone cheese and was not too sweet, just perfect. My millefeuille was hard to cut (I'm slowly starting to accept that all millefeuilles are a pain to cut) but provided me spoonfulls of joy.

I think I found the best bargain in town, and all this time it was under my nose.

Mont Tremblant Weekend

This weekend, I was very fortunate to be invited to a stay at Mont Tremblant. In those short two days, I slept (and ate) more than in the previous couple of months. Anya, my beautiful partner in crime, reminded me how blissful it is to...

do AB-solutely nothing. To be cheerful, and hyper, and young.
All in all, it was a very relaxing weekend, one I will be nostalgic about in the stressful weeks to come.
Have a great end of week-end everyone!

Reuben's Deli

Victory. At last, I left some space for their famous cheesecake. Or should I just admit that I was thaaat hungry.

Reuben's, ze Montreal classic par excellence (well there is always ze other classic, Schwartz's)(I'll let you know when I go). It's located in the heart of downtown, and it makes a perfect business lunch or pre-hockey game spot. You come here for the smoked meat, for the cheesecake, for how crowded it is at peak business lunch/supper hours. I once came here with a friend, so randomly yet spontaneously, and we took their Famous Super Sandwich, to share, because, of course, the portions are voluminous. It was so good. And an hour into our supper, we ordered the Reuben's sandwich... to share.

This Tuesday though, at last, I left some space for their famous cheesecake, and ...

 Their famous super sandwich

 The Reuben's sandwich

 Turkey Melt

It was too cottage cheesy for my taste. (I'm not on the cottage cheese (or anything too cheese) team). But we ate it all anyway.

Reuben's is a carnivorous treat where you feel very Montrealish and proud to be. 

triple-skulled ring

Halloween is approaching. Just take a look at this ring...

 It's a BCBG three finger ring that my friend Savvy bought two weeks ago. I'm so fascinated by two/three/four (is that possible?) finger rings that I couldn't help but wonder, will there ever be multiple finger... wedding rings?

What do you think?

Bold jewelry is definitely the one I enjoy the most.

Boy meets Girl

So far, this week-end has been very very lazy. Between seeing friends and attacking a pile of endless homework, I took matters in my own hands... and did a photo shoot. I was feeling very masculine/ feminine, a clash that sees no end in the world of fashion. I also though it's about time I showed you one of my best recent buys: yellow pointy kitten heels with bows (so PRADA this season!). But here's the deal: they're size 7 (which fits my sister)... and I'm a 9! Does anyone have secret techniques for stretching out shoes? A girl can't have it all, right? Maybe? No, really??????

Ogilvy shirt, vintage leather skirt, Le Chateau thrifted heels 

Ogilvy shirt, Zara pants, Andrew Geller boots

thrifted shirt, Zara pants, AMI earrings

Happy Thanksgiving!