While I was in Quebec, I had a chance to stop by this little Vegan restaurant down on St Laurent in Montreal. I had actually been there before about five years ago and I couldn't wait to return. Last time I was there, I ordered their (vegan) BLT wrap, which had bacon-flavoured shredded coconut inside! It was pretty amazing, so I couldn't wait to come back. This time, I opted for something different, but unfortunately, with not-so-amazing results.
This is the tempeh burger with a side of potato wedges and coleslaw. The burg gets my thumbs up, but unfortunately the wedges and coleslaw... not so much. FYI to everybody out there, clove spice should NEVER be used on potato fries. NEVER.
This, however, was pretty amazing.
It's some kind of pate made out of carrots, BUT TASTES LIKE LOX!! Pretty decent imitation. I enjoyed it, however, it would have been better if served on a baguette or cracker of some sort, instead of all on its own.
Aside from the food, I have to admit, the service was pretty terrible. I don't remember it being this way my first time there, but we were seated right next to the washrooms (when there were plenty of other tables available) and once our food was served, our waiter was nowhere to be found. It took forever to get water and even longer to get our bills. However, since I have only been there a couple times, I would give them the benefit of the doubt that this type of service isn't the ordinary.
Despite my less-thank-stellar experience this time, I think I would still go back and see what other interesting creations they've got on their menu. They seem to have a knack for fascinating flavour imitation.
Verdict: To Be Continued...
-A
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We also went to Aux Vivres in Montreal on our recent trip there, and I found exactly the same thing about the service. Normally when the service is divided up between hostess, server, busser, etc (as it seemed to be here), then I expect the server to be kickin' around a bit. However, I found very much the same service as you describe. I had to flag down our server to take our food order, bring us our bill, and take our payment, but between those events she was completely absent even from sight. We too were sat in a very weird little spot despite the presence of several more comfortable open tables.
ReplyDeleteThe food was pretty good though. I had some kind of Asian-style bowl, and despite the tofu being pretty bland, the mix of fresh veggies was great. We went back a second time and sat at the bar to have smoothies. The service was much better at the bar, but I found the bartender was working really hard to compensate for the lack of work from her colleagues, so I assume the service issues are not simply isolated to your experience (or to my first one).
If you go back again, the smoothies are pretty sweet.