Reviews for Brasserie T!, Le Taj, Flavours of India

Lesley Chesterman is ambivalent about Norman Laprise's casual restaurant in the Quartier des Spectacles no more. On Brasserie T!: "On the fence no longer, I am now a fan of Brasserie T!. With the holiday season soon upon us, this modern brasserie would be a terrific choice for a pre- or post-spectacle meal. I'd also go with a gang of friends or a single loved one." [Gazette]

Jean-Philippe Tastet pays Le Taj, a venerable Downtown standby, a visit and gets swept away by the subcontinental vibe: "Le Taj invite au voyage culinaire en Inde depuis plus d'un quart de siècle avec beaucoup de talent." [Le Devoir]

Another Indian restaurant gets a review this week, courtesy of Sarah Musgrave, who dines at Flavours of India and finds a standout dish: "One item that really impressed was the ginger chicken with chunks of juicy white meat, braised to tenderness in the sauce to make a pungent stew, like a cacciatore al indiano. Heightened with thin-sliced onion and fresh ginger, this was absolutely delicious — and even again the next day at lunch, I appreciated how the meat and sauce were one cohesive entity, not always the case at this level of Indian restaurant." [Gazette]

Over at La Presse, Marie-Claude Lortie is the first to file her best of 2013. The critic's coups de coeurs include street food, BarBounya, Le Vin Papillon, Impasto and Micro Resto La Famille. [La Presse]

Gildas Meneu reviews popular bistro Les Coudes sur la Table for Voir and has few quibbles: "Plus qu'un bistro, ce restaurant au nom fort sympathique offre une cuisine très séduisante. Produits si possible locaux et de saison, présentations soignées, finition impeccable." [Voir]

Cardinal, Sparrow's new tea room is "perfect", writes Gemma Horowitz: "Sunday was a soft opening — and seemed mostly filled with acquaintances of the people involved with the place — but the service was fast and friendly, and everything seemed to be in order. Just in time for the season in which we need it most." [CultMTL]
[Photo: Brasserie T!]