I Don't Blame You

I have finished the third season of "House of Cards". I liked it better than the second season. I found the second season a bit hard to follow, what with all the deals with China going around. In the third season, Russia is the bad guy: a classic conflict which is easier to understand. My complaint about "House of Cards" is the same season after season: I feel cheated because they make it look like Frank Underwood has a master plan, when in fact the show is really about showing him getting around, improvising and using his political skills. It still makes for a pretty good show, though. F and I were both leaning closer to the screen when we watched the episode with the debate, as if we were watching a real political debate. I still find Doug Stamper to be one of the most interesting characters, even though some people don't like his storyline that much. The end of the season inevitably leaves us wanting more. I have to say, however, that "House of Cards" is not a subtle show the way "Mad Men" or "The Wire" are subtle shows. "House of Cards" and "Game of Thrones" are more "in-your-face" kind of shows.

Love Me Again

I watched Jack Reacher, because as I have said before, I still love Tom Cruise. In this movie, he plays a badass detective. It is kind of funny to see his name on the credits as a producer and then you see his character being swooned over by any woman he meets. Perhaps the character is that way in the book. I have the impression that the book might be better than the movie, but it still is a pretty good movie. Rosamund Pike's American accent is a bit distracting, though. The movie includes one of the most awesome/ridiculous fight scenes I have ever seen. I wouldn't mind going to the theater to see a sequel of this movie.

Le Tourbillon

I watched Jules et Jim. I have only seen one other movie by François Truffaut, Les 400 coups, which I have not enjoyed that much, but there are a lot of other films by Truffaut that I want to see: Baisers volés, La nuit américaine, Le dernier métro... Jules et Jim is a movie that keeps you thinking for a long time after you have seen it. The characters in the movie seem to live a completely carefree life. Jeanne Moreau is incredible in this film. The three main characters try to live life differently from what is usually expected, and things don't turn out the way they thought they would. The end of the movie is a memorable scene. Throughout the movie, I liked the way the director decided to narrate some scenes, as the things that are described can only be perceived through the screen with difficulty.

Les étoiles filantes

The day after we went to Chez Victor, F and I were supposed to head out to Montreal for a birthday brunch. After a while on the road, we had to turn back because it was simply snowing too much. Since our brunch plans had fallen out, we decided to try brunch at a place we had been to a few times. The restaurant is called Chez Madame Charlotte. They have been serving brunch for a bit more than a month. The restaurant has been around for quite a few years, but it has only recently been taken up by some acquaintances of F and I. The new owners have vowed not to change things around too much. Brunch, though, is a welcome addition to the restaurant. F and I both had the same thing: it was a dish with eggs, cheese, sausage, bacon and spinach, all cooked up together. It was a delicious and comforting dish to have on a snowstorm. We also had a small fruit salad at the beginning of our meal. A fruit salad normally wouldn't be worth mentioning, but this one was covered with tropcial juice, which made it way better than other fruit salads. It was nice to take the time to have breakfast on a weekend morning, which is not something F and I often do. We talked a lot with the owner, because he loves politics as much as we do. A lot of the owner's political acquaintances often show up at his restaurant.

F and I went there for dinner twice. The first time, I had a lasagna, and the second time,  I had a typical Quebec dish, meatball stew. The two dishes were nothing fancy, but that is pretty much the point at Chez Mme Charlotte: to serve comforting food which could have been made by some Quebec grandmother. It is a nice place to go to from time to time and now, with the addition of brunch, we have even more occasions to do so.

Sail to the Moon

A few weeks ago, F and I went to a friend's birthday at Chez Victor, on rue Saint-Jean. Chez Victor is a chain of burger restaurants spread throughout Quebec City. I have tried a few of their burgers and have enjoyed them all. My usual order is the Brazil nuts and spinach burger. I love a good vegetarian burger. On rue Saint-Jean, I took a burger that is only made there, with deer, Brie and red wine and rosemary pears. I usually have my burger with two sides, fries and salad. I have the maple syrup mayonnaise for my fries and the lemon dressing for my salad. I love that their salad has sunflower seeds in it. The only thing I dislike about Chez Victor is that they always forget to leave out the mustard, which is something I always ask.

Age of Ice

One of the last things F and I did on that break week at the beginning March was try a restaurant called Toast! with my parents, who were in Quebec City for a visit. My mom had been wanting to try it for a long time. It is a very small restaurant, with very few seats. For my appetizer, I had foie gras. I don't remember my dish much. I know I am writing this post a long time after the fact, but my dish must not have been very memorable. I do, however, remember my entrée. I had tenderloin and braised steak. The tenderloin was very good. Unfortunately, I forgot that I had ordered beef two ways, and I ended up eating the whole tenderloin before starting on the braised steak. I would have preferred to alternate between the two. For dessert, I had a Quebec cheese plate.

F and I had a good evening with my parents. The food was good, but not spectacular. The place itself, though, felt intimate and cozy.

Je Veux Tout

My last blog post was about a getaway F and I had at the beginning of a one-week break of his. Since then, things have been pretty busy, because of the break and because of the following work week. I will be attempting to catch up on blog posts about things I have done during those weeks.

During the break week, A, F, a friend of A's and I went to Chez L'Autre, a restaurant that was opened a while ago in expectation of a new theater that was supposed to open nearby. The theater is no longer set in stone, however, and Chez L'Autre might be closing at the end of the month. That is why we all decided to have dinner there. A and I had drinks there before a show a few months back, and we had enjoyed our strong drinks. I had also previously dined there with F, but that was a few years ago. As for Le St-Laurent, I had some good memories from my previous visits, but this time, things did not turn out so good.

We started off with some drinks, which were as strong as I remembered. My second drink later that evening was also strong, but it also gave me the impression that I was drinking lemonade. It was a good thing taste-wise, but I am not so sure that it is a good thing for alcohol intake.

My companions and I all agreed on the same thing: our apetizers were far from stellar. A's friend and F had foie gras, and both of them did not like their dish, which is rare for a foie gras order. A and I had sweetbreads that were drowned in a sauce that tasted too much of wine. I guess they have a thing with alcohol at Chez L'Autre.

The main courses, however, were better. I had lamb chops that were fine, but not that exciting. A had seafood pasta that was generally good, put perhaps a bit too al dente. A's friend and F had standard bistro dishes: tartare and duck confit.

Dessert seemed like it would be a good course at first, but then also managed to disappoint. The first bite from my tarte tatin was delicious, but I realized later that I liked that first bite mainly because it was warm. My other bites came off as too sweet.

We all had an okay night, nevertheless. We enjoyed the restaurant's decoration, although black-and-white is not my favorite style. There was also a jazz singer that night. She was very talented, but I tend to get distracted when I have difficulty hearing the conversation at my table. The servce, however, wasn't very professional: things like pepper of parmesan always came a bit too late.

I think we would have regretted not going to Chez L'Autre before its closing, but now, having had a recent night there, I don't think we will be missing it that much. It is, perhaps, a place better suited for drinks than for dinner.

Come Into My World

A week ago was the start of a one-week break for F, so we decided to have a little getaway. We left Saturday morning at about eleven, and we stopped at Baie-Saint-Paul for lunch. We wanted to go to a place we had already been to, but it was closed for lunch, so we went to Chez Pineault. I had a good soup and a huge amount of mussels, and F had a burger, which had a good size. We then hung out in the town for a little while and bought some local products.

After that, we made our way to a hotel in La Malbaie, which is near a casino. We rested from the drive a bit and walked around the casino for the few hours we had before our reservation at Le Saint-Laurent. We had eaten there previously and I had some good memories from the restaurant. This time, I also had a good evening, but it wasn't really because of the food. For my appetizer, I had foie gras mi-cuit. The foie gras was okay, but I wouldn't really have called it "mi-cuit". There was a good amount of it, but I was given too much bread for the amount there was. I then had duck breast with truffle gnocchis. The duck was good and once more, the portion was satisfying. I was a bit anxious about the gnocchis, because I usually don't like truffles. In the end, they didn't taste too much like truffles, but I wouldn't exactly call that a redeeming quality. The gnocchis simply weren't smooth at all. Things got a bit better at dessert, surprisingly. A restaurant often disappoints at dessert, because restaurants which are known for their chefs often have another person manning the desserts. That evening, I ordered an apple cake, which came with a layer as green as a Granny Smith. The cake tasted a bit like an apple cheesecake and was a great finish to a so-so meal.

We spend most of the rest of our evening in the casino. In the later part of the evening, we listened to a band whose singer had more energy than the last one we listened to. It was the conclusion to our getaway which, albeit short, was a welcome break from our routine.

Wake Me Up

Last weekend F and I went on a random outing. One of our friends has a friend whose dad is part of a band and the band was playing at a recently opened place called Les Maltcommodes. They brew their own beer, but I don't think that their main goal is making good beer. Their beer tastes like any other mainstream beer or tastes slightly worse. I shared a pitcher with F and our friend and I found the beer to be very sweet. It had too much of a caramel taste. It took us a pretty long time to get our beer, even though there weren't that many people. F believes that the place is more of a restaurant than a bar. The crowd was weird too, with a pretty even number of young and of older people. I think the people there are simply people who do not want to go into town to go out, because the bar is in a suburban mall. The decor was okay, even though there were a few creepy elements, like eyes staring at us from the wall. As for the band, first of all, they had a terrible name: Beauty and the Beat. People wanted to see the band because the singer has participated in one of the many singing contests that are on TV. The singer wasn't bad, but she didn't look very comfortable in her strapless dress. One of the guitarists was very weird. Sometimes, he didn't even have his guitar and was simply dancing on stage. When he did have his guitar, he was very enthusiastic about his playing, even when the band was covering a Rihanna song.

Les Maltcommodes could have maybe made its way into my list of restaurants to try, because they brew their own beer. Unfortunately, having been there in other circumstances, I don't think I will ever be going there for a meal.