A Day in Montréal + Visit to Café Chat l'Heureux — Happy Cat Café

The cat-loving person that I am couldn't miss the chance to pay a little visit to Café Chat l'Heureux which is a new cat café that recently opened in Montréal. If you're not familiar with what a cat café is, it’s basically a regular coffee shop with cats roaming and lazying about across the room. Infact, cat cafes are really popular in Japan. There are already a couple more of them in Montréal. But Kevin and I had not been to any of them yet.

La Panthère Verte | Vegan Eats in Montréal

For our first Summer in Montreal last year, the two hungry vegans that we are, Kevin and I, strolled around the streets of Montreal to check out some nice vegan eat outs. We were pleased by our previous visits to Chuchai and Aux Vivres. Although, it is always with slight trepidation that we enter an eatery where we have never been before. Both Kevin and I look for bold or intricate flavours in our food without necessarily being spicy or hot although, the pungent factor is most welcomed!

C is for ChuChai

Aside the celebrations, birthdays serve as an irreplicable reminder of the fleet-footedness of yet another year gone by. While I am not one for new year nor birthday resolutions, cuddling up in my thoughts recapping on the past year is as unavoidable as it is replenishing, giving me ground to refocus and reflect on how far I've come. The future is left to its own devise; most of the time, I allow myself to be lulled by the gentle waves of life where decisions seem to take care of themselves as long as I keep myself centered and grounded.

So much has transpired during the past years with changes that have all turned out for the better for Boyfriendlovlie and I, despite the stirring ups and less exciting downs that goes along with immigration procedures. Eighteen months since we first touched the land of the maple leaf have flown by like a breeze. Last month we celebrated both our birthdays, which are just a couple of days apart. So, we tend to celebrate some time in the middle or just push it to the closest weekend. As it so happenned, we planned our little celebration for the second weekend in May. The plan was to spend the mid-afternoon just the two of us strolling about in Montréal's underground city followed by a classic evening with vegan fine dining and a movie to finish the day off.

Montreal's famous underground city has been one of the many places that was on my list to visit. The peculiarity of it, first thing is that you may well be inside it already or standing at the front of an entrance and still be looking for it! Well, that was pretty much what happened to us - Google map indicated we were there but there were no signs that specifically said underground city. A little common sense told us to just not get out of the metro station and instead find an alley that leads deeper inside. And there, from McGill metro, a vast gallery of shops, food court leading to a cinema theatre opened up to us spanned on a 32-kilometre area. In fact, many parts of the "underground city" are above ground, weaving through office buildings, cultural centres, universities and civic institutions. While this is somewhat a tourist attraction, the real concept behind it was undoubtedly to serve as a convenient way of getting from one place to another on those brutal winter days when the temperature plummets horribly below -20 degrees Celsius. Since we do not live on the metro network or close enough, we only got to visit the underground city in Spring. Otherwise, I would have much appreciated the convenience of it many times during the winter season.

Here's a few photos I captured above ground around the Place des Arts metro on our way towards ChuChai Fine Dining Restaurant for dinner.







Finally close to the restaurant, we could not miss the huge C signpost, making it so easy to find.



We were greeted by a very amiable friendly waiter who was so full of life, literally the kind of person whom you cannot but have a light heart by just being around them. The beautiful mid-Spring day called us for seating on the patio as we enjoyed the gentle light breeze while perusing through the menu.



ChuChai exults in a solely Thai vegan menu. The restaurant's chef, Lily Sirikittikul, strives to recreate the shapes, textures and flavours of beef, chicken, shrimp and fish from soy, seitan and other plant-based products with a good selection of gluten-free dishes in the best, freshest exoticness that Thailand has to offer.

From our previous experience of ordering too much food, we decided we were only going for a main course each and one salad to share; besides we only had one hour before our movie would start.

Boyfriendlovlie ordered a Fried "Chicken" Noodle dish which I cannot remember the exact name of; ChuChai does not have their menu available online and I never took notes of what we ordered that day. Unlike me, Boyfriendlovlie does not mind faux meat. The noodle dish was an instant hit! Bursting with an amalgam of so many indistinguishable exotic flavours, this dish sure made it admirably hard to decipher each one. Boyfriendlovlie said he felt envious that he would not actually be able to reproduce this dish by himself. Attempting to reproduce restaurant dishes has almost become one of our restaurant review motto.



For my part, as I tend to steer clear of the faux meats, I figured out the vegan "shrimp" may be an interesting one to try since seafood is something I could probably still eat. "Shrimp" in a Coconut Milk sauce was my choice. And again, this is not the name of the actual dish as per the menu.



An intricate mix of fresh and dense sensation with the distinctive taste of galangal made this dish amiable for this mild mid-Spring weather. With brown rice as accompaniment, the mingled textures were quite remarkably unique.



The humble cucumber salad that we shared had quite some character of its own with a gorgeous quintessential Thai sweet chili dressing and a hint of tanginess.



Since everything on the menu is vegan, we vowed to ourselves to revisit again. If faux is not your thing, ChuChai does have a nice selection of wholesome vegetable or tofu dishes on the menu. And for those of you living with an omnivore partner, it's the perfect place to go for fine dining and keep everyone happy.

ChuChai

4088, rue St-Denis

Montréal, Québec
H2W 2M5

After our satisfyingly memorable meal, we made our way to the theatres to end this beautiful day watching The Amazing Spider-man 2. Both of us are utter fans of Spider-man. Isn't his wittiness killing cool? This one was utterly much bigger on the action scenes.

Eating Out: Aux Vivres, Resto Vegan - Montréal

In the heart Montréal, Aux Vivres is a restaurant boasting of a solely vegan menu. Could any vegan resist stepping into a restaurant where you can actually order anything from the menu, that is without having to ask for adjustments to be made? The answer is of course not! Upon recommendation from Babette of Vegan à Montreal, Boyfriendlovie and I decided to spend last Saturday evening dining at Aux Vivres.
Upon arrival, which was some time around 7:00pm, the place was packed and there was already a queue. Good sign, although we didn't fancy waiting too long (to be fed!). We were lucky that there was just the two of us, so we quickly got a table before other people that were in larger groups in the queue.
Menu options were so alluring that I found it hard to decide on what to order.

The drink menu is certainly not to be overlooked. The tonic with apple, lemon and ginger was one refreshing cleansing drink with all the goodness of fresh ginger. On a random day, this would have been my breakfast - it was quite filling by itself!



For starter, we ordered a Mezzé Aux Vivres with Chapati. This delightful arrangement of pâtés and creams was the best dish from what we ordered that evening. It consisted of a veggie pâté, veggie lox, tofu cream, hummus and olive tapenade garnished with pickles & capers served with chapatis - all exquisitely prepared to enliven every taste bud!







Struggling to decide between the Dragon Bowl and the Bouddha Bowl, for my main course, I eventually went for the Bouddha Bowl. A mix combination of raw and cooked: lightly steamed broccoli and spinach, raw grated carrots, bean shoots with grilled tempeh on a bed of brown rice, all accompanied by a light and tangy Japanese vinaigrette.



Boyfriendlovlie chose the Tempeh Burger which he quite liked. Although he said he would have liked the tempeh with a little more flavour. That said, after the starter we were both quite full. So we probably were losing a little of our sense of taste! Next time, we'll make sure not to order a starter so that we can really enjoy the main course without stuffing ourselves.





Despite being so full, I just couldn't leave without trying one of the desserts, could I?
"You have enough space for dessert?!" asked Boyfriendlovlie.
"Um, no! But I still want to eat dessert!" I replied.

And so we had the Uncheesecake. This sweet treat was light but did not lack taste. We could only eat half of it though; I guess, even at this stage, my eyes were still bigger than my stomach. We asked to get it wrapped so we could take it home.



When dining out, my only regret is my small appetite! I feel full so quickly. Aux Vivres is definitely a place to revisit (until I've tried everything nut-free on the menu!)

Disclaimer: This review has been written of my own accord. I was neither solicited nor remunerated for it.

Beancurd and Veggie Congee

Congee is something that I've recently had the chance to taste. I had never had it before but after some recommendation (from the same colleague who recommended Dehli-O-Deli) I decided to try it out at Yamamori Oriental Cafe in Dublin. I ordered the Mushroom (oyster mushroom) Congee soup. While it was quite nice and the mushrooms really complemented very well, I didn't like the amount of oil they had put in this soup. In fact, it was the oil in which the mushrooms were fried that was draining into the soup. There was the option for boiled mushrooms; I should have gone for that one instead. I'm sure a lot of people would have liked the fried version but for my taste I would have found it far tastier without the oil. Oil patches floating on soup is quite a turn off for me. But I did like this soup and have been thinking of re-creating it (minus so much oil) at home.

After I googled for a few congee recipes, I found that it was very easy to make at home. Most congee recipes online are not vegan though but this is so easy to veganise, infact I don't think it needs any recipe as it is very versatile. But I've written it down if you wanted to try this.

Congee, in many Asian countries, is eaten quite differently. While some eat it like a savoury porridge for breakfast, others have it as a replacement for rice dishes.
We had this for dinner as a soup and it was very satisfying. It was a soothing meal, easy to digest. The only thing is that the first time, I made far too much and we had this 3 days in a row! Rice cooked as a soup yields much more that boiled to be eaten as such. So, initially I've put the same amount of rice as I would have if we were to have this as rice dish with curry. I've adjusted the quantity in the recipe though.

I chose to use beancurd in this recipe. I usually buy beancurd as dried sheets or strips (in the Asian market). Beancurd, also known as tofu skin, is a film that forms on the surface of the liquid while making tofu. It is then collected and dried into yellowish sheets.
I break it into pieces before soaking. Beancurd also is quite nice in curries.




Ingredients (serves 4-6)

8 cups water
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cube Kallo yeast free vegetable stock
2.5 cm (1 inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, grated
3/4 cup oat milk

1/2 cup dried beancurd sheets, broken into pieces
1/2 broccoli head, cut into florets
5-6 shitake mushrooms
1 carrot, diced or sliced
2 bunch pak choi greens, sliced lengthwise
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Soy sauce, when serving (optional)

• To prepare beancurd, soak them in hot water. Set aside until needed.

• Combine first 5 ingredients in a large thick bottom pot, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
• Cover, reduce heat, and cook 45 minutes to 1 hour or until soup has a creamy consistency, stirring occasionally. You can also lightly mash the rice. 
• Stir in the oatmilk. 
• Remove from heat, keep warm.

While rice is cooking, in another pan you can prepare the vegetables.

• Heat 1 teaspoon coconut oil in a non-stick pan, add broccoli and mushrooms, sautée for 3-4 minutes.
• Add carrots, sautée for another 2-3 minutes. Remove, set aside. (I like my veggies crunchy and half cooked, adjust cooking time to your liking).

• Sautée pak choi for 30 seconds in the same pan (add a little oil, if required). Remove, set aside.

• Drain beancurd.
• Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in the same pan, add beancurd and 1/2 teasponn salt and stir fry for about 10 minutes, or until it is soft and less rubbery.

• Mix the beancurd into the rice soup. 
• Add in the vegetables just before serving. (If you are making this for more than 1 meal, I recommend keeping the vegetables seperate to be added into the bowl just before eating.)

• Divide soup evenly among 4 bowls; arrange vegetables and pak choi, drizzle with soy sauce, if desired.

Dehli-O-Deli, A Restaurant Review

Dehli-O-Deli is a vegetarian restaurant (with a good selection of vegan dishes on the menu) which quite recently opened in Moore Street in Dublin.
I had not yet paid a visit until a few weeks ago. Infact, a colleague had recommended the place and as we were passing by the area, Boyfriendlovlie and I decided to go in.
Inside is quite simple and staff are very friendly. The first good thing was the prices which are really cheap for a good size portion.

Since it was our first time there, we didn't quite know what to expect, so we just ordered a starter each and a main course with a drink.

Boyfriendlovlie had a samoosa. There is a samoosa under this, I swear! And it was tasty.




I had some mixed pakoras with chutney and tamarind dipping sauce. These were nice and filling.




However, we didn't like the masala lemonade. Very weird combination of spices with lemonade. That's going to be a big NO next time. I don't know whether there would be someone who would actually like this drink. I am cringing at the thought of it again! My orange-cranberry juice was alright though.




For main, I ordered masala dosa. It was huge! Didn't fit on the plate.




I would have liked a different filling instead of potatoes and I would have liked it to be a touch spicier.




Boyfriendlovlie had black chickpea curry with puffed naan bread. I really liked the naan bread and they went very well with the chickpeas which were nice too.




By the time we finished our starter and main, we were both full. So, I took some jalebis as a take away dessert to have later. They were excellent! Jalebis are my favourite indian sweets so I couldn't miss the chance of getting some since I don't actually make them at home.



In general, all dishes were a bit bland but they did taste nice. I would go back there from time to time as it's a convenient place, friendly staff and a good price for a simple lunch or early dinner.

Granose Meat-Free Products

I mentioned the Granose Chicken Style Roast that we had for Christmas Eve dinner in my previous post. Here's the Burger mix that I had yesterday. I find these quite convenient sometimes; they only require water, shaped them into patties, then bake for 20 minutes or so.
Products available in the Granose range are :

Meat Free Lincolnshire Sausage Mix
Meat Free Burger Fix
Meat Free Nut Roast Mix
Meat Free Chicken Style Roast Mix
Sunflower, Lentil and Vegetable Roast Mix
Meat Free Falafel Mix
Soya Mince

In Dublin, I buy them at Holland and Barrett stores.

So far I have tried the Burger Mix, Sausage Mix and Chicken Style Roast.



I had some homemade baps that I had made the night before.



Added some salad.



And voilà! Yummy!

Cupcakes for a friend's birthday...

Last Saturday, I met with a friend for a little hike trip to Howth which is a small fishing village north of Dublin. Although I'm not keen on the fishing aspect, it is a nice place to visit nevertheless. We took a nice hike around the hills and cliffs.




At the end of the day, we came back to the village for a nice meal at Ivans restaurant. Of course, being located in a fishing village, Ivans is just an oyster bar and grill; it's not a vegan restaurant but the chef did do a tasty vegan linguini with veggies for me.



Infact, we also met because it was going to be my friend's birthday on the coming Tuesday and as I wasn't going to meet her during the week. So, I made her some cupcakes and a handmade jewellery gift which she got in advance!

I was so pleased to be able to find a nice cupcake holder box in a shop close to my place. It was my first time packing cupcakes for a gift and I was pretty excited!




The handmade jewellery I made for her. She really loved them!


See more photos of our day trip on my other blog - Bijouxlovliethis post.

So, the cupcakes? They turned out great! I made them in two flavours, coconut and lemon.

Here's the recipe below. For the frosting, the quantities below are for 12 cupcakes of each flavour. If you want to make 6 of each, then used the quantity for 1 batch of icing, split in half just before adding the coconut milk or lemon juice. Then add half the amount of the coconut milk to half and lemon juice to the other half of the sugar and margarine mixture.



Vegan Coconut (and/or Lemon) Cupcakes (or Cake) Recipe

Ingredients (12 cupcakes or one 23cm / 9-inch round):
1 1/2 cups all purpose (or plain) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used demerara)
1/3 cup vegan margarine (I used Pure Sunflower Spread, or use vegetable oil)
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (white vinegar is also fine)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
(Variation for lemon cupcake: 1 teaspoon lemon zest if making lemon cupcakes)

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
• In a larger mixing bowl, cream together margarine and granulated sugar with an electric mixer.
• Next, mix in coconut milk, vinegar, and vanilla extract.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
• Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. I find mixing with a spatula quite handy for this.
• Bake for 20 - 25 minutes for cupcakes (or 25 - 30 minutes for cakes).

Vegan Coconut Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1 3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon coconut milk
1 cup coconut flakes

• Using an electric mixer, lightly beat margarine.
• Add in powdered sugar a little at a time while continuing to beat.
• When well mixed, add in coconut milk and beat a little more until smooth.
• Use the prepared mixture and frost the cooled cupcakes or cake. Make sure cupcakes are not warm but well cooled.
• Lightly press coconut flakes onto the frosting. The easiest way to do this is to gently dip and roll the frosted cupcake in a bowl of coconut flakes.

Variation with Lemon Frosting
Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1 3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions are same as for the coconut buttercream. To apply the frosting, I used an icing bag made with parchment paper and a star nozzle. Just apply from the centre and spiral out.

Loving Hut - Hurray for the First Vegan Restaurant in Mauritius!

When I heard about the opening of a vegan restaurant in Mauritius, I was firstly quite inquisitive. Really? A vegan restaurant in Mauritius? Like a 100% vegan place where I can just walk in and have anything from the menu?
That's correct!

Loving Hut is the first 100% vegan restaurant to open in Mauritius in the heart of China town in Port Louis.

I am extremely delighted that we now have a pure vegan restaurant in Mauritius!
I love the feeling of entering a restaurant knowing you can basically order anything from the menu without the need to confirm the ingredients with a waiter/waiteress who, most of the time, doesn't know what vegan is!

I am not in Mauritius at the moment to go and try the food but this is definitely the first thing on my agenda next time I'm there.
In the meantime I can share these pictures with you. (Pictures are kindly supplied by Veronique Reynoird © Loving Hut).















From the photos, the food looks really delicious. And a few feedbacks from facebook friends, have confirmed the food is really tasty indeed. I'm so eager to go and try it!

The restaurant is a buffet style currently very reasonably priced at Rs150 per person (that's about $5.40, £3.30 or less than 4 EUR).

If you're in Mauritius at the moment, do pay them a visit for lunch. Or if you're planning a trip to Mauritius, you now know one place where to find vegan food. They are open Monday to Saturday:
10.30 - 14.30. You can find them on Facebook.

Their address is Loving Hut, Heritage Court, Emmanuel Anquetil Street (in Chinatown, parallel to Arsenal Street), Port Louis, Mauritius.
On googlemap, their location is here.