Portovino Ristorante (Brossard)

Portovino Ristorante (Brossard)

I went to Portovino Ristorante for my birthday dinner with a couple of friends. 

Click here to see all their dinner menu. Most of us ordered "Manicotti Farciti Con Formaggio Ricotta E Spinaci" It was okay. I wasn't able to finish it.

One of my friends got Grilled Double Chicken Breast. She found it a little dry and asked the waiter to bring her some sauce.

My favorite part were desserts. We got: crème brûlée banana-nutella, crème brûlée and chocolate mousse. All of the desserts were delicious (click here for their dessert menu). My friends wanted to bring in a cake, but the restaurant didn't allow it.

Overall, I had a good time but I didn't really enjoy my food. The desserts made up for it though. However, I'm most likely not going back. I might try their other locations in future but not anytime soon.

Ritz-Carlton Afternoon Tea

Ritz-Carlton Afternoon Tea

My sister and I had few things to do in downtown early, so we decided to go for afternoon tea at Ritz-Cartlon. When we walked in, we told the receptionist about our reservation and we were seated in the lobby. We waited there for few minutes and then we were finally lead to our table next to the Garden. We were the only ones there for tea but on there were many people having lunch on the terrace. The weather was nice (sunny but there was nice breeze), so we were really happy.

You can view the Afternoon tea menu here. We told them not to bring us the chicken sandwich, they replaced with egg salad sandwich. I got jasmin tea (my favorite). 

Top tier consisted of scones: Cranberry and plain scones (they were soft and tasted great)

Middle tier consisted of sandwiches

• Cucumber and cream cheese
• Smoked salmon and cream cheese (my favorite)
• Egg salad sandwich (replacing the chicken sandwich)
• Tomatoes and watercress

Bottom tier had a selection of desserts, which were okay.. nothing special. I liked the chocolate cake and the mille-feuille was okay too. 

We got cream and sugar for our tea. As for the scones, we got Devonshire style cream, rose jam and orange marmalade. 

Overall, we really enjoyed! We had a beautiful view of the garden, sandwiches (especially cucumber and cream cheese) were good and scones were so soft and tasted great. Although I wasn't impressed with the desserts, I still enjoyed. Oh and how can I forget the tea.. I absolutely enjoyed my tea! We paid $85 with tips for both of us (we didn't take the glass of Champagne). 

Zyara

Restaurant Zyara

We celebrated my best friend's birthday at Zyara. We were about 12 people. We went on a Saturday night and it was quite busy.

MENU

They have a variety of appetizers and main dishes. You can view their à la carte menu on their website. 

They offer tasting menu, which includes a number of cold and hot mezzas, coffee/tea, dessert. It's a great option if you want to try a bit of everything. 

Halal: Our waiter confirmed with the kitchen that some of the menu items were halal, so it's always best to ask them before ordering.

Food is served...

Half of us opted for the tasting menu, while the others (myself included) ordered from their à la carte menu.  

I got fattouche salad and kafta. The salad was really good! The crispy bread on it tastes amazing! I love it! As for the kafta, it was good but nothing special.

As for the people who chose tasting menu, they were overwhelmed with all the food. They really enjoyed it but they couldn't finish it! So much good food all at once!  

Service

Our waiter was very nice! He really helped us out with the menu and answered all of our questions. It did take some time to get our food but we were a large group, so it's reasonable. 

Lounge (shisha and tea)

After dinner, we shifted to the terrace where we smoked shisha. The lounge is beautifully decorated and it's so cozy.

***UPDATE: May 19th 2014

I went back to Zyara recently and reserved the private room for dinner.

Few things have changed: 

• Shisha: They don't have the regular shishas anymore. Instead they have "electronic shishas" that don't have nicotine. I still haven't tried it but I'm planning to do so in the summer.

• Halal: Now, everything except lamb chops are halal. I'm so happy about this!

Here are some recent pictures of the restaurant itself, private room and lounge:

Main Dining Area

Private room

Lounge

Europea

Restaurant Europea

Collage by Anjali

My sister always wanted to try Europea, so we went there for her birthday dinner. When we called in to reserve, we were told that the table can be set for a maximum of 8 people per table but we called in to request for 9. Although they were hesitant at first, they still agreed to do so. Another of our friends also decided to join us last minute and we had once again asked them to find a spot for her and surprisingly, they did.  

Once the seating issue was resolved, we finally ordered! Many of us (including me) ordered "Étude sur le champignon," while others ordered "Poulet au foin" and "Bison".  Click here to view the menu. Some of us didn't eat all the items (pork chiThe food was presented in a creative manner. They brought cheese sticks in a cigar box; an appetizer in a book-like box, which you open and smoke comes out.. What a wonderful experience! 

Collage by Amber

Overall, the food was okay but we still had a great time. It's definitely a restaurant to go to for the experience. Lucky for all of us, it was our first time there, so it was all new to us and we were eager to see what they will bring next. It cost me about $60 with tips.