Mont- Royal and Mochica Restaurant

Resturant Review:Mochica Restaurant

Assalamualaikum!

So this is my first summer in Montreal. This time around last year, I’m already comfortably at home annoying my mum by lazing around the house and stuffing all food down my throat. This year however, I decided to stay for a bit and do 2 summer courses. One thing I’ve realized now is that I can be SUCH A NERD sometimes. Once I caught myself pushing my glasses up my nose in the unclassiest manner! A friend of mine said that I looked happy partying here in Canada.Lemme tell you, the only party we do, are birthday parties of which sometimes we are OBLIGED to go because well…they’re our friends and we love them. Plus now people are graduating, so we have farewell parties too. Bleargh, the word parties have a negative ring to it no?

Anyhoos, Maryam and I went to see people playing Tumtums in Mont-Royal. Me being so naïve not knowing what Tumtums were before. I mean, come on, we call it gendang, everything pun panggil gendang.

I don’t really know where exactly on Mont-Royal do they play Tumtums so we followed our friends instruction which led us to Mont-Royal Metro and a good 10-15 minutes’ walk on Rachel. Guess where that led us to? The park behind McGill gym. Right. =.=’

We could’ve walked there. WALKED THERE! Plus I could have saved myself from encountering with a scary person on the metro.EKK!

It was such a nice day outside, the sun was above our head but it wasn’t too hot either. People were just having fun playing Tumtums, beating on cans and other instruments that I don’t know the names, dancing like there’s not tomorrow, or smoking. There were also vendors selling their artistic goods on the pavement. The air reeked of weed from time to time. (is that why we’re having a good time? Kidding!)

 After sitting under the sun for quite some time, we decided to grab something to eat. I’ve always liked to try something new and try cafés or restaurants that I’ve never tried before. Knowing that Rue St Denis has quite a number of interesting eateries, we decided to walk along that street.

We came across Mochica Restaurant. It is a Peruvian Restaurant.

I know. PERUVIAN. Never been there, never tasted their food.

http://www.ourbis.ca/en/b/QC/Montreal/Restaurant-Mochica/120530.html

The ambiance of the restaurant is very cozy and romantic. The décor! OH BOY IT WAS STUNNNING! With the dark wood paneling, a white fresco at on the walls, small Mochica arts, as well as their candle lit tables.

The restaurant is pretty small and when we went there, there were only a few other people. So, it is most likely that the table next to you would hear you whining about your skin problem or your need to go grocery shopping. So if you plan to have an intimate lunch/dinner with your friends or loved ones, save the juicy conversation for later.(unless you don’t mind people knowing your business)

http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/epicurean-life/montreal-restaurants-taste-peru-at-mochica/

In their menu, they described each and every single dish so that we jakun non-Peruvians know what to expect. However, you might not be familiar with half of the ingredients. There’s Cancha Corn, wheat soup, aji limo, Concho and what not.Yeapp. What’s that?!The waiter was very helpful to answer each and every question and gave us lessons on every seed, fruits and leaves that they put in their dishes. He also recommended a few dishes that he thinks we might like. Such a nice fella! We even talked about the protest for a bit!

After taking the time of my life, I settled for the ARROZ CON MARISCOS, Peruvian seafood risotto cooked in fish stock. To be honest, I’m not 100% sure if this is the exact name for what I ordered, but from the description in the menu, I believed that this it is although I did not recall paying the price stated on the menu. The risotto tasted a bit tumeric-ish. I can’t say how authentic it is and what not since, well…I’ve never tasted their authentic dishes anyways. Anyhoos, I’m definitely not familiar with the spices that they use. Not to say that it’s not delicious, but the taste is foreign to me. It is rich in spices but I’d prefer mine slightly saltier.But again who am I to say, perhaps that is EXCATLY how they liked it!Too much salt is not exactly a good thing Soffy!Still, it’s an enjoyable dish! The seafood was  GUH-REAT!

ARROZ CON MARISCOS

My date, Maryam ordered YUQUITA RELLENA, fried mashed cassava with seafood-stuffings.Cassava is apparently tapioca.The South Americans called the plant cassava.But in India, the roots are called tapioca. It tasted a bit like mashed potatoes!Yum! Tapioca/Cassava is apparently good for you as it boasts benefits for our body. Here is a link for the benefits of tapioca/cassava:
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=174366

YUQUITA RELLENA

Being raise in a culture where our food is RICH in spices, it’s a good experience to try other foods rich in OTHER kinds of spices. I wouldn’t mind going there again and try other dishes that they offer. From what I understood from their website, their menu changes with season. Hurmmm…Hot dishes in the winter season..oboi-oboi!

There will be no more dates with Maryam. She graduated last week and flew back to Morocco and later Paris.Everyone is going places.You will too Sofhan.One day..InsyaAllah!

If you are around Montreal and would like to feast your taste buds on smething new, do try this place out!:)

Website:http://www.restaurantmochica.com/index.php

Wasalam,

Till then,Salut,

Love,

Sofhan Hasni