Restaurant Sing Sing (Montréal)

2102 rue Sauvé Est
Montréal, Québec
514.388.9602

During my stay in Montréal, my mom's husband H wanted to take us for Cambodian food. Unfortunately, once we got there, we realized that the restaurant was not Cambodian but rather Chinese with some Thai, and even Vietnamese dishes. So we settled in and ordered our usual Chinese dishes. The menu was in four languages: English, French, Vietnamese and Chinese, seemingly catering to a larger demographic.



One of the main issues with mainstream Asian restaurants is that they have no sense of timing. Dishes come out as they are made. So I've posted the dishes in the order they came out.


Beef Chow Mein.

We love our beef chow mein; the beef and gai lan (Chinese broccoli) was well seasoned and tasted good on a bed of crispy chow mein noodles. Next came the seafood bird's nest which was rather under-seasoned, especially next to the chow mein. However, the nest itself, made of fried taro, was freshly made and crunchy. The seafood wasn't bad but I prefer having scallops like many other restaurants often do.


Seafood Bird's Nest.

H had said that the General Tao chicken was good and it was. It was more tangy than usual and did not feel too greasy. My mom could not resist ordering the deep fried soft shell crab (around $17), which had been sliced into smaller pieces. Everyone really enjoyed this dish, especially the very spicy seasoning with a hint of curry.


General Tao Chicken.


Fried Soft Shell Crab.

My sister L loves whole deep fried fish. The very crispy fish (around $20) came hidden under a pile of raw onion, with cucumber slices and fish sauce to dip the fish in. The fish was well fried and was very tasty, dipped in the sauce with the cool slices of cucumber.


Fried Fish platter.

Finally, our complimentary dessert consisted of Vietnamese jelly, coconut and coffee flavoured pieces laid out to make a star pattern. I prefer this to the hot desserts often served at Chinese restaurants, although I do like the orange slices.


Vietnamese Jelly.

This restaurant was pretty good but kind of out of the way (Montréal North area) for Chinese food. For other posts on Chinese food in Montréal (where we ordered the same dishes, because we're boring that way...!):

• Kam Shing Restaurant
• La Maison VIP
• Zao's Restaurant

My Thai Restaurant

21 John St. North (suite 302)
Hamilton, Ontario
905.526.8373
website

My friend T invited me out for dinner. We picked Thai on this cold night. We were thinking of going to Bahn Thai but with the incoming snow, we decided to go to somewhere closer. My Thai is 5 minutes from my place.



T suggested starting with the calamari as an appetizer. The menu boasted it was the best calamari in the city and I might agree. It did not taste like the usual frozen deep fried fare. I especially like the sweet sauce accompanying the calamari.


Golden Calamari, $6.99.

Next up, we shared a pad thai. It was good but I still like Bahn Thai's better. We also shared a curry dish. The spicy shrimp was a generous portion of good sized shrimps with bamboos and green beans. It was not too spicy at all. I actually would have liked it more spicy but not sure if my friend T felt the same way.


Pad Thai, $9.99


Spicy Shrimp, $10.99.

With the addition of a serving of rice, this was too much food for two people, which means T's husband would enjoy leftovers! I like My Thai and it's conveniently close by. Thai food is great for sharing.

Lemon Grass Restaurant

1300 Garth Street Unit #1
Hamilton, Ontario
905.574.3932
website

My friend J dropped me a message on Facebook asking if I was up to painting. I said yes; it was the least I could do after leaving my car in his garage for 7 months! After painting the first layer of primer, we took a break to let it dry and went out for lunch. J suggested Lemon Grass Restaurant, a Thai and Vietnamese restaurant, on Hamilton Mountain. I have often heard about this restaurant and was glad to get the chance to try it.

I recognized a few Vietnamese items in the the Asian-inspired décor.

J suggested starting with meat spring rolls. The plump spring rolls were freshly fried and piping hot.

Thai Crispy Spring Rolls, $4. Crispy rolls stuffed with ground pork, glass noodles, green beans, leek, cabbage, carrots, served with spicy sweet and sour sauce.

Close up of the filling that is heavy on vegetables.

We then ordered from the lunch menu. J got the Crispy Roast Duck with Sweet and Sour Sauce while I got the Thai Chicken Curry. Each combo came with a soup of the day and a side of rice. The soup was very flavourful with pieces of chicken and coconut milk in the broth. J seemed to enjoy his duck dish but initially wasn't sure what to do with the sauce. I really enjoyed the curry though it did not quite taste like a Thai curry or a Vietnamese one. It was very flavourful and maybe even a tad too salty. The vegetables included peppers, carrots, bamboo and a lot of pieces of onion; luckily, I like onion!

Soup of the day.

Crispy Roast Duck with Sweet & Sour Sauce, $9.

Side of sweet and sour sauce.

Thai Chicken Curry, $7.

Lemon Grass Restaurant served good food. I suspect that the owners are Vietnamese since I heard some Vietnamese and recognized Vietnamese paintings. I think for this reason the Thai food is not quite authentic. I prefer Banh Thai Restaurant for Thai food. As for Vietnamese food, I have not tried any but noticed their phở was quite popular. I would go to B & T restaurant for phở near my house, rather than driving to the Mountain. However, it's a great restaurant for Mountain residents!

Bahn Thai Restaurant

4490 Fairview Street
Burlington, Ontario
905.631.8868

I'm not sure how many Thai people there are in Canada but I'm pretty sure there are less than Vietnamese people. This has not stopped the popularity of Thai food though. I like Thai food but I find most Thai restaurants here are on the pricey side. Luckily, Bahn Thai Restaurant has a great set lunch menu.

It's next to McDonald's but I'd rather have Thai food any day!


You'd never guess from the outside... I like the interior that is very Thai inspired.

This is actually where I took my mom to have Thai food for the first time and she really enjoyed it. It is different enough compared to Vietnamese food to feel you are having something new, but not too different that she can't handle it. On this occasion, my mom and I stopped there for lunch after I picked her up from the train station. My mom is in Hamilton for a visit and staying until Thanksgiving.

I think Bahn Thai Restaurant is the best Thai restaurant in these parts. Dinner here can set you back a bit. The lunch combo menu is awesome though; it includes a soup (always hot and sour), a spring roll and a dish of your choice. You can pick among 18 items for $9 (it seems prices have increased at every restaurant!). There are also a few more expensive items for $11 that include shrimps.

I personally love the hot and sour soup but it's very sour and hot. I hope that by bringing my mom here, she can figure out the ingredients and I can replicate the soup. The spring rolls are good, nice and crispy. The filling is a boring mixture of cabbage and carrots. I love the sweet sauce that comes with them though. I am really boring; I always order the pad thai and it never fails me. A lot of the other dishes appeal to me but I don't come frequently enough to not crave pad thai. My mom ordered the squid with basil and she really enjoyed it. The sauce was fragrant because of the basil.

Soup and spring roll (I love the blue and white Thai dishes).

The accompanying sweet and syrup-y sauce.

Pad Thai with Chicken.

Squid with basil, served with rice.

Bahn Thai Restaurant is a great destination for dinner because it has a nice decor. If you go as a group, you can order different dishes and share. For lunch, the combo meals are a great deal. It can get quite busy with the surrounding businesses but it's a pretty big restaurant and can accommodate a lot of people.