Thank you, dear Midnight Poutine reader, for the Riz en Folie recommendation! One of our readers sent us glowing praise about this new place, and wary as I was, I decided to check the place out. And wow - am I ever glad I did.

Riz en Folie is a new downtown resident, recently opening its doors on Mackay in late July. At first, I was wary...a resto serving only rice pudding? Sounded like a gimmick to me. But after visiting the place and sampling some of its goods, all hesitation was set aside. Forget ice cream - this is the new (and dare I say better?) snack of summer (and probably fall, winter and spring too).

Ever since devouring the delicious Armenian meat pies from Arouch, I've been looking around for a place closer to home that can deliver the same goods. When Cafe Monaco opened not too long ago on Ste-Croix in Ville St-Laurent, proudly advertising Armenian pizzas, I thought I had it made. Sadly, this place is not of the same caliber, though in a meat-pie-pinch, I think it almost does the job. Almost.

Often voted Best Japanese, Kanda is one of those places I had to try. How can an all-you-can-eat sushi place be the best, especially considering such a previous bad experience? Well, while it isn't the best, it certainly does do the job. The all-you-can-eat menu, especially if you go for the $19.99 menu (Sunday - Thursday), is worth the money, and does give you some pretty tasty sushi. Perhaps too much so.

Kanda will charge you $1.00 for every piece of wasted sushi. I came periously close to paying a fortune because we ordered too much. That's a good sign though - the food was that good!

Photo: "voleuse de brakeless" by Midnight Poutine Flickr pooler LnTee

I have rejoined the ranks of Montreal cyclists and have commenced riding my bike to work. Even though I arrive to work rather sweaty and disheveled, it still feels better than having traveled on the metro for 45 minutes.

Now, cyclists have to share the roads with motorists, pedestrians and other cyclists. I make a very concerted effort to obey the laws of the road and respect my fellow travelers; I wish others would do the same.

So. My top three gripes as a cyclist sharing the road with people who just donâ??t seem to care:

I feel a little silly writing about Al-Taib, as this Lebanese fast food place is a staple among all poor (and rich) students, night owls staggering their way home after the bar and pretty much any person who has ever visited the downtown core.

If you are feeling slightly embarrassed now, itâ??s probably because you havenâ??t yet tried Al-Taibâ??s offering, and so, this post is for you.

In the search for the elusive best poutine in Montreal, I stumbled across Ma-Am-M Bolduc. This restaurant seems to be a popular place among poutine enthusiasts...but with a poutine smothered in hamburger meat and wine sauce, how could it not be? So off I went, after being sure not to eat anything all day, in poutine-preparation.

And am I ever happy that I didn't! I had no idea just how massive the servings there are. While we have had our food orders capped by some restaurants (rightfully so, most times), the staff at Ma-Am-M Bolduc just eyed me strangely and brought the gigantic plates of food right over. The two of us each ordered a small poutine, and then fearing that small might not be enough to satiate our poutine cravings, added a hamburger to share to the order. We left vowing never to eat again.