Dinner: Cafeteria
3581 St-Laurent Blvd. (514) 849-3855
I went out with an old friend from high school for an early dinner. Now, originally we were going to eat at Shedd Café. Let me just say Shedd Café, thanks, but no thanks. Shedd Café DOES NOT HAVE A NON-SMOKING SECTION. Laughably, they tried to say that they are a bar and not a restaurant and thus they do not have to provide a non-smoking environment. Yeah, right. You have more restaurant seating allotted to eating than most of the "BARS" on St-Laurent Street. Shedd Café, expect a visit from the authorities 'cause I'm going to report you. Hope you topped up your bribery fund recently.
Now, Cafeteria. Since we chose to take our dollars elsewhere, we simply walked up the street to the usually very busy Cafeteria. Or maybe Cafeteria was busy 10 years ago. Whatever, it wasn't busy when we walked in. But, then again, it was only 6pm. I like peace and quiet, so it worked for me. Thankfully, Cafeteria has a non-smoking section even though they can make a very good argument for being a bar - a better argument than Shedd can make.
Since we basically had our pick of seats, we got to sit by the window. It took them a little bit too long to notice that we were waiting to be seated, but once we started to seat ourselves, they rushed over. From then on, the service was great. I think that at first the waitresses were in the back lamenting their most unfortunate waitressing uniforms. They looked like big pink bumblebees mixed with my 4th grade jazz dance outfit. I lamented that choice, I felt their pain, so I let that initial blip on their service records go.
Cafeteria offers a mostly Italian menu. For whatever reason, this is the first time that I noticed the substantial mussels menu. They had many different versions of mussels in sauce. When I sat down I had fully intended to order some version of steak frites. By the time the waitress arrived (which was quickly) I had settled on the "mussels in white wine and fine herbs." So did my friend.
Our dishes came in a reasonable amount of time. People. The mussels were FANTASTIC. So much so that I actually tried to duplicate them the next day. Seriously, I woke up craving mussels. The white wine sauce was perfect - chopped garlic, butter, scallions and wine. Not too buttery, and the aftertaste didn't have that overpowering tinge of alcohol. You know I'm not a drinker. I've already fessed up to that. My friend had a couple of glasses of the house white at $6.25 per glass. She said to tell you that it was good wine. So...that's what I'm telling you.
The mussels came with fries, which were pretty good too. Maybe they were a tad "buttery" but they suited me just fine. When we asked for more ketchup, the very friendly jazz-dancing bumblebee brought them in 30 seconds. Really, great service. I felt so sorry about the outfits.
I'm going to give this meal 4 stars, but the restaurant 3 1/2 stars, just because I know that it gets too noisy to have a good meal later into the night.
Hugs and kisses!
Laurelle
3581 St-Laurent Blvd. (514) 849-3855
I went out with an old friend from high school for an early dinner. Now, originally we were going to eat at Shedd Café. Let me just say Shedd Café, thanks, but no thanks. Shedd Café DOES NOT HAVE A NON-SMOKING SECTION. Laughably, they tried to say that they are a bar and not a restaurant and thus they do not have to provide a non-smoking environment. Yeah, right. You have more restaurant seating allotted to eating than most of the "BARS" on St-Laurent Street. Shedd Café, expect a visit from the authorities 'cause I'm going to report you. Hope you topped up your bribery fund recently.
Now, Cafeteria. Since we chose to take our dollars elsewhere, we simply walked up the street to the usually very busy Cafeteria. Or maybe Cafeteria was busy 10 years ago. Whatever, it wasn't busy when we walked in. But, then again, it was only 6pm. I like peace and quiet, so it worked for me. Thankfully, Cafeteria has a non-smoking section even though they can make a very good argument for being a bar - a better argument than Shedd can make.
Since we basically had our pick of seats, we got to sit by the window. It took them a little bit too long to notice that we were waiting to be seated, but once we started to seat ourselves, they rushed over. From then on, the service was great. I think that at first the waitresses were in the back lamenting their most unfortunate waitressing uniforms. They looked like big pink bumblebees mixed with my 4th grade jazz dance outfit. I lamented that choice, I felt their pain, so I let that initial blip on their service records go.
Cafeteria offers a mostly Italian menu. For whatever reason, this is the first time that I noticed the substantial mussels menu. They had many different versions of mussels in sauce. When I sat down I had fully intended to order some version of steak frites. By the time the waitress arrived (which was quickly) I had settled on the "mussels in white wine and fine herbs." So did my friend.
Our dishes came in a reasonable amount of time. People. The mussels were FANTASTIC. So much so that I actually tried to duplicate them the next day. Seriously, I woke up craving mussels. The white wine sauce was perfect - chopped garlic, butter, scallions and wine. Not too buttery, and the aftertaste didn't have that overpowering tinge of alcohol. You know I'm not a drinker. I've already fessed up to that. My friend had a couple of glasses of the house white at $6.25 per glass. She said to tell you that it was good wine. So...that's what I'm telling you.
The mussels came with fries, which were pretty good too. Maybe they were a tad "buttery" but they suited me just fine. When we asked for more ketchup, the very friendly jazz-dancing bumblebee brought them in 30 seconds. Really, great service. I felt so sorry about the outfits.
I'm going to give this meal 4 stars, but the restaurant 3 1/2 stars, just because I know that it gets too noisy to have a good meal later into the night.
Hugs and kisses!
Laurelle
posted by Laurelle St. Laurent at 11:38 PM
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