Eggspectation - Montreal, Canada

 My family and I always enjoy Egggspectation in Maryland. We found out on our recent trip to Montreal that it's the birthplace of the franchise. Some menu items were the same as in the U.S, while others were pleasantly different. There were several restaurant locations in Montreal to choose from.  

Charles ordered the Eggspectation Bagel Breakfast Sandwich - decked out with a fried egg, bacon strips, tomatoes, raw onions, Swiss cheese and lettuce. This sandwich combines breakfast and lunch to form the ultimate sandwich. It's a huge sandwich and it's even bigger taste.

I selected the Western Wake-Up. The omelette was thick and filled with assortments of ham, sautéed peppers, and onions. I am completely enamored with their seasoned Lyonnaise-style potatoes ( Charles' dish also had these potatoes). Who can resist their thick, well seasoned taste and an insanely soft bite. I think these potatoes are one of the best potatoes I have ever tasted!

 My mother chose the French Toast Flambé which was made with thick bread slices that kept the bread firm and tender. Topped with fresh strawberries, bananas and walnut laced with an incredible pure Canadian syrup sauce, it was the bomb. What a difference the real deal syrup makes!

 

Charles ordered a fruit shake which was available in a variety of flavors. While it looked great when it was brought to our table, it wasn't very sweet.  Maybe we are just used to more sweet shakes in the U.S.  He wouldn't order this again, but it was worth trying.  

-Thomas

La Maree Restaurant - Montreal, Quebec

 La Maree restaurant is located near the port in the heart of old town Montreal. We sat in the outside patio area covered by a blue awning overlooking a town square that was alive with street performers and vendors.

La Maree serves French foods and is known for its  seafood, steak and grills.








My brother and my mom both ordered the Filet de Saumon, servi avec riz et legumes - a grilled salmon fillet served with rice and vegetables. The top had a slight crisp but was moist and tender inside covered  with an alluring light cream sauce with peppercorn and fresh parsley flakes. Paired with the side of rice and vegetables, it was amazing.

I ordered the Chicken Sante Fe composed of tender grilled chicken topped with thick and creamy goat cheese, succulent zucchini and roasted peppers with a side of a vegetables and rice. It was amazing.

My dad ordered the Tortellini Au Fromage Ricotta, Sauce Rosee - pasta stuffed with thick ricotta cheese in a tantalizing red rosee sauce. It was tasty but after seeing our grilled salmon and chicken dishes he wished he had orded the same.








With its unique location on the corner of the famous Place Jacques Cartier in old town and its awesome grilled seafood and meats,  La Maree is certainly worth the visit. Plus, the service was quick and friendly. We'd go back in a heartbeat.

Place Jacques Cartier in old town Montreal

-Charles

Bistro Blanc - Glenelg

 Bistro Blanc is a restaurant and wine bar located in the Glenelg area of Howard County. The restaurant specializes in Modern American cuisine served "tapas" style. 

All of their dishes are rooted in local and seasonal farm fresh ingredients. 

It has a very cozy atmosphere with dim lights and comfortable chairs

Although our parents been several times to Bistro Blanc, this was our first visit. So, we went on a Wednesday night  - half priced burger night (beef or lamb).  

honey bay leaf butter, fig mustard dip, and
olive oil & balsamic vinegar dip

Artisanal Bread basket 

 We started by ordering the bread plate - a basket of warm homemade artisanal breads accompanied by three dips. 

 My brother and I both ordered the T. L.V. Farm’s Beef Burger with homemade rosemary parmigiano garlic frites. These garlic fries just blew me away. They were crisp, soft, delectable and had just the right amount of garlic.

 The beef, from Glenelg's Triadelphia Lake View Farm, was tender, flavorful
juicy meat cooked just right. The burger was topped with caramelized onions, melted gruyère cheese encased in a homemade brioche bun with a smear of peppercorn aioli sauce.

Bistro Blanc definitely lived up to its reputation about using local, farm fresh ingredients.  Everything we tasted was pure delicious - felt homemade for sure

- Charles

hocofood @@@ 

Celebrating our birthdays

Charles's homemade strawberry shortcake birthday cake

Charles and I are now 14 and 16 years old. We celebrated our birthdays in two different, but fun food-filled ways.

Charles recently had a sleepover birthday party this month. He invited his friends out to Tokyo Seafood Buffet for dinner. Afterwords, Charles and his friends ate strawberry shortcake at our house courtesy of my Grandma, who always makes great cakes for our birthdays. My brother said that Grandma's home-made cake was fantastic, and the best part was that the 3-layer cake was huge! Even in the morning, his friends were still trying to finish off the gargantuan cake.

Grandma's Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Coincidentally, my 14th birthday fell upon the same date as my Cousin Olivia's First Holy Communion. So I decided to celebrate my birthday by going up North to see her First Holy Communion with my family.












After the Communion ceremony, my Cousin's parents held a reception back at their house. I had a blast visiting my New York family and eating great tasting food! Who could ask for anything more?

 Cousin Olivia at her 1st Holy Communion 

 When they brought out the desserts, I thought it was more food to celebrate Olivia's big day. However, to my surprise, they had a whole cassata cake to commemorate my birthday. They all sang me happy birthday too.

A cassata cake is a traditional Sicilian sweet, found in most Italian bakeries, and used in many Italian family celebrations. Cassata cakes have cannoli cream filling and are frosted with a sweet cream and decorated with sliced almonds. 

-Thomas

hoco @@@

The Food Trucks r coming .....

We just received an email from the Monarch Mills community about a Food Truck Meetup in Columbia this weekend, Saturday, June 1st from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm at the Monarch Mills Community Apartment Complex  7600 Monarch Mills Way (off of Columbia Road). 

Five food trucks will be participating in the HoCo Chow Down - Smokey Meadows Grill, La Pearl Waffles, Savannah’s Jamaican Kitchen, Karlita’s Latin American Food Truck, and Bennett’s Five Star Caribbean Grill.

The trucks are part of a Monarch Mills community Spring celebration that will support the Animal Welfare Soceity of Howard County.  In fact, the organization will be at the event sharing information about its mission and vet services -  and they will bring animals who are looking for homes.  

Monarch Mills representatives will also offer tours during the event to people interested in the new apartments in the community. 

We are definitely checking out the food trucks. If you see us there, say hello and let us know what you think of the food. 

Visit the HoCo Chow Down website here. 

- Charles 
Hoco food @@@ 

Red, Hot and Blue Memphis BBQ - Laurel

Red Hot & Blue is a Memphis style BBQ joint in Laurel, Maryland.



My grandfather loves this place and says it has consistently good food.

For starters we ordered the house nachos - a choice of chili, pulled chicken or pulled pork topped with a crazy amount of jack & cheddar cheeses, green onions, tomatoes and jalapeños. There wasn't a single spot that was not covered in cheese, plus the flour tortilla chips were sturdy and held up nice & crispy under the weigh of the cheese. 

While my grandparents, brother Charles and mom looked over the menu, the restaurant played some pretty cool jazz over the speaker system.

We choose to put three of the toppings on the side instead of adding them to the
nachos cheesy mix. That way each of us could take a little or a lot on each bite. 

The weekday lunch special was the best buy at $6.99 that includes a variety of lunch size sandwiches, salad and soup entrees. However, since Charles and I both wanted to try the pulled pork sandwich and ribs, we ordered the Ribwich Combo  - a choice of any BBQ sandwich (beef, chicken or pork) and two St. Louis -style served wet, sweet, or dry. 

We choose the BBQ pulled pork sandwich and wet ribs with a side of hush puppies. The wet ribs, slathered mile-high in their mojo mild sauce, were fall off the bone delicious. Although the pulled pork was tender and juicy, we added extra sauce from the containers on the table - MoJo Mild just to kick it up a notch. They also had Hard Luck Vinegar flavored sauced, but we didn't try it.

 I'm a pickle guy, so I espcially loved their dill pickle spear.  It's a huge pickle ad I wouldn't have minded two more.

Next time, we'd probably order the french fries as a side instead of hush puppies. They were a bit dry and okay tasting.  

Sauces

My grandma got french fries with her pulled
pork sandwich lunch special.  We all tried some - they were seasoned with something that tasted good. Not spicy just tasty.

My mom ordered the Smokehouse Salad - a chopped mixed greens, cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, roasted corn, beets, black-eyed peas, hard-boiled eggs, red onion and cheddar & jack cheeses for $9.99. It comes with pulled chicken and beef brisket but she was able to substitute grilled chicken. 

She LOVED this salad.  The chicken was tender, moist and had a charcoal fired favor. It tasted great with the honey mustard sauce. It was so large that she couldn't finish it but I made sure nothing went to waste. 

Here's great news - Red, Hot and Blue caters.  We noticed their trucks in the parking lot behind the restaurant.

Also, you can get this amazing BBQ when traveling around the country.  The restaurant has locations in Texas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, and of course in Maryland.

- Thomas

BGR offers $5 all day burgers tomorrow 5/6/13

Happy 5th Birthday

to the Columbia, Maryland store 

Tomorrow, May 6, 2013 several Burger Joint (BGR) stores are turning 5 years old.

To celebrate the momentous occasion, all metro DC locations including the Columbia store are offering customers $5 all day burgers (including beef, turkey and veggie) .

We LOVE BGR!  

Not only do they have awesome big, juicy tasty burgers...

 - an award winning blend of prime, dry-aged, all natural, hormone free, grain-fed beef, in addition to lamb, pork, and veggies variations - 

but each burger is cooked to order and served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun 

that is baked daily. 

Simply put -  it's a custom made burger. Read our BGR blog post here.

Don't forget - BGR has a burger and shake of the month.  For May 2013, the flavors are - 

In Guac We Rock 

(a nod to Cinco de Mayo) 

a burger topped with guacamole, crispy tortilla slivers and a farm fresh beefsteak tomato

Blueberry Shake 

farm fresh blueberries paired with vanilla ice cream

We tried the March burger and shake of the month: The Reuben and The Bailey's Irish Cream  - both were amazing combinations that didn't disappoint.  The shake was creamy, thick and full of malted milk like flavor.  We substituted a slice of ham for the corned beef in the Reuben burger and enjoyed it all the same.  

 

- Charles

hocofood @@@