What was supposed to be a fast snack quickly turned into a battle, pitting what some people think Montreal does best: the hot dog.

While spots for best burger, best bagel, best poutine and best smoked meat keep popping up all over the place. I rarely see arguments debating the best hotdog though. For me, it’s either LaFleurs or Belle Province, but even then, the difference is slight. What isn’t slight is the difference between the styles of hotdogs sold at one resto. For this Battle of the Dog, LaFleurs was the vendor of choice.

First up – what to order? LaFleurs sells a variety of dogs, including michigans and one with bacon and cheese. Since I treasure my arteries, we kept it simple, ordering one tofu tog, one steamie and one toastie (why does this sound so much better in French?). The three came all-dressed, and we topped them with ketchup.

It's been quite a hectic last weeks; The Spring kick off has set me off course on my daily activities, which sadly included the stop at my local Dep, to fill a brown paper bag with the sweet juice from our earthly vines. Coinciding with that it also hit on the new weekly I started to share with you all. Thanks for your patience on me getting the second one up. With that, let's get started.

Anatol Spices on St. Laurent is where it’s at. What is it, you ask? It, my friends, is every type of spice, snack, and candy you can think of. Plus a whole lot of stuff that doesn’t fit into any of those categories. Every time I go there expecting to come out with a little on-the-go snack, I emerge with a big bag full of goodies.

Take yesterday, for example. I walked into the store wanting nothing more than some lokoum (aka Turkish delight).

I came out with a tub of all-natural peanut butter, a jar of mole sauce, a container of Jamaican jerk sauce, an enormous bag of wasabi mix, and the Turkish and Lebanese versions of lokoum (how could I not compare, when they were both right there?). When I got home, I had myself a nice little desk picnic (okay, maybe not so little).

A few days ago, someone commented on Kim’s Hot & Spicy post that she should check out Kam Ho on MacKay for some Cantonese food (thanks Jeff!). Seeing as how the place is right in my hood and I’d never heard of it, I recruited a buddy and we set off to investigate.

My friend is from Hong Kong by way of Toronto, so she knows a good Cantonese restaurant when she sees one. She was head-over-heels in love with this place. As for me, my favorite Chinese restaurant (Wing Fa, 3474 Parc) may soon be bumped down to second place.

The menu at Kam Ho is quite long and it wasn’t entirely clear how it was divided up (apart from one page devoted to Szechuan cuisine). The prices, which elicited squeals of delight from my friend and I, range from $7.50 to $10 for generously portioned main dishes and rice.

Friends, last weekend was the pits. The sun was shining, the air was warm, people were smiling on the sidewalk, and I was stuck inside. I spent almost the entire weekend chipping away at a monstrous pile of work that should have been done a month ago. I swear, my backside has been permanently misshapen from having sat at my desk chair for too long.

Around 3 o’clock on Sunday afternoon, I was desperate for a break. And by break, I mean I needed some sugar ASAP. My roommate recommended her favorite high-energy snack: oatmeal with hot chocolate mix and peanut butter (she is literally a genius). But I was also desperate for photons, and I must admit I wanted to waste as much time as possible, so I decided to head out to Pasticeria Alati-Caserta near the Jean-Talon market.

When I got there, the place smelled amazing – like I’d just walked into a giant box of fresh cannoli.

I wouldn’t imagine that anyone walking by Mister Spicee on Victoria would even notice it. If they did happen to see the somewhat dilapidated and makeshift sign, I don’t think they would voluntarily walk in there. And this is where that person would’ve gone terribly astray, because Mister Spicee is quite possibly the best in Caribbean “fast” food Montreal has to offer.

It’s not really a restaurant, as three stools aren’t often considered resto status. Nope, this is the place you go to pick up awesome patties, drool-worthy rotis and possibly one of the only places to get yourself what’s known as the Trinidadian double, as well as an immense selection of Caribbean drinks, including ginger beer. Mister Spicee is takeout that’s worth traveling to!

The days of food delivery are almost behind us! Except for the occasional pizza order, I rarely order food in the warm weather; I have no problem walking around the city on hot, sunny days, hunting out food and enjoying meals on terraces. But on one of the last cold, snowyish, wet days, depression got the best of us, and we decided to have some Chinese food from Hot and Spicy delivered to our home.

It was neither hot or spicy. Not that I can blame them entirely for this. Delivering (for a fee of $3.50) food can be tricky business, especially when it’s coming all the way from Jean-Talon and Decarie. I can handle a bit of lukewarm food. The lack of heat in the dishes is a little less understandable. They asked us how spicy we would like each dish, and even though we explicitly stated, “very spicy!” we were pouring hot sauce over everything as we ate it.

The food had its strong and weak points. The whole bill was $50, which included the tax, tip, delivery fee and a tub of white rice, and it was enough food to fill three people’s bellies, and perhaps even four.

OK it took me forever to get this blog going because I had trouble to determine what day/way best to review. I also wanted to ensure once started I could commit to it. Today I decided, since I drink wine on Sundays naturally the unique weekly review begins today. Let's review the basics to understand why this lighthearted approach is different then most.
1. A dépanneur often shortened to "dep" is a convenience store, usually part of a chain, or an independently-run corner shop, general store in la belle province Quebec.
2. Wine Now grapes have been cultivated in Quebec for centuries, and in the last twenty years local wine production has taken off in a big way. We can buy wine almost anywhere here. Including our Deps. We love wine; it’s a part of our culture and in our daily lives. With bring your own wine restaurants all over the city; it’s a must to know your good picks. Yet good picks are better if they come at good price, and new flavors can be discovered with half the cents you may think you need. That's the idea of this review, a weekly wine survival blog, to keep the Chianti cheap! This week's two bottles in my brown paper bag are a red variety. The first; a "Nicolas Laloux ~ Les Chais 770" from the quaint village of Rougemeont Quebec.

Or, in English, The Montréal Wine and Spirits Show. It started on Thursday, and continues until Sunday, 5pm.

The $15 entrance fee (plus tasting coupons costs) gets you a tasting glass, and you are then allowed to enter the world of fine wine-tasting, a chance to sip on wines you'd never be able to afford, taste flavours you've never experienced, and then stumble home, newly purchased wines in tow. Sounds like my kind of event!

With all the exhibitors and products, I can't think of a better thing to do this weekend.

Salon des vins et spiritueux de Montreal
Palais des congrès de Montréal
1001, place Jean-Paul-Riopelle (De Bleury)

There is a giant bunny rabbit waving to passers by on Mont-Royal and an enclosure full of goats and chickens in Complexe Desjardins. Could it be… is it… Easter weekend?

It’s tough to pick up on the subtle signs, but there’s one way that I know for sure that the time of Peeps and pastels has arrived: my urge to buy enormous chocolate animals is even stronger than usual. And today, I gave in.

When I was walking around the Plateau this afternoon, dodging giant rabbits right and left, I passed Sucrerie du Soleil and wandered in to see if they could meet my chocolate-animal needs.

Jackpot. The candy shop has a veritable menagerie of chocolate animals. Sure, they’ve got the usual bunnies and chickens (adult and baby versions). But they’ve also got fish, frogs, horses, cows, and at least one lion. They don’t even stick to animals; I noticed a delicious looking dark chocolate motorcyclist and a milk chocolate soccer player.

It’s close. Spring is on its way, and what better way to celebrate than sugaring yourself into a comatose state? I’ve been going to the same cabane a sucre for about 22 years now, La Goudrelle in Mont St-Gregoire (which seems to be Sugar Shack District), and it hasn’t changed one bit. I’ve heard rumors that there might be better sugar shacks, particularly, "gourmet" ones. But I’m happy with La Goudrelle’s plentiful all-you-can-eat menu, the strange mountain-goat-humping-a-llama petting zoo, and dance floor filled entirely with 4-year-old kids.

The sun is shining and the thick layer of ice that has blanketed the sidewalks for the past (seems like) eight years is finally melting… it’s walkin’ season again! Last Sunday I got the old sneaks out from under the bed, charged up my ipod and went for the first walk of spring.

Okay, so it wasn’t the prettiest of days. But I wasn’t going to let a few clouds get between me and my destination: Froment et de Sève, a little bakery on Beaubien (d’Iberville metro).

This bakery has something for everyone. Chocolate croissants seemed to be the most popular; as they were almost gone by the time I got there. There were also brownies, carrot cake, mini tarts and pies, and of course an array of breads that are made every morning.

Since the fresh air and exercise had put me in a particularly generous mood, I decided to get a few things and split them with the roomies (this was also my excuse to OD on pastries). On my way home, I munched on a chocolate croissant and tried to do a bit of people watching, but it was a bit awkward since most of the people I passed seemed to be staring longingly at my croissant.