First of all, this was the first time in a month that us group of friends got together for our semi-traditional Friday-night restaurant outing. We usually do this every week - find a nice BYOW (bring your own wine) place, buy a nice bottle of wine each, get smashed and enjoy our food.
This restaurant was kind of a mistake in the sense that I'm always early and clueless, which in this particular case led me to end up across the street from the intended destination. As I trusted my intuition, I chose the more packed Vietnamese neighbor ("Always trust the crowd," my parents tell me), which was also South East Asian. Seeing my confused face, the waiter didn't hesitate at all to rush me in at a table as I awaited my friends.
They too were surprised, but "To hell with it!" we cried, an adventure was up in the air. A bit of a disappointing one, I have to add. We were put in a corner and ignored for about 15 minutes, our uncorked and un-chilled bottles of expensive wine leering at us the whole time. Finally when the waiter came, few descriptions or recommendations were made on the menu (which was literally in Vietnamese). So I proposed that we three order what our Québecois friends gracefully refer to as a "Soupe Chinoise", or essentially a pot of heated broth in which you cook your own meat, and then roll it all up the best you can with your untrained fingers in rice paper. Since they only came in portions for two people (which were actually sufficient for the three of us), I also ordered stir-fried vegetables and deep-fried "house style" frog legs.
The entrées consisted of extremely greasy egg-rolls and a salty sweet crab soup which ended up tasting more like gook than anything else. The frog legs tasted "just like chicken" they were so fried and altered, as did the random vegetables.
The "Soupe Chinoise" was actually a lot of fun, and quite tasty (you can't really go wrong with simple ingredients), the meat was fresh, and though the meal as a whole was messy, it's still a different, cave-mannish experience to cook your own meat in a vat of boiling broth on your table.
We were quite full without even finishing any of our plates - we could easily have skipped the extra orders. We didn't order dessert, just coffee and tea (no expresso either!) to try and sober up a little from our delicious wines.
Oh the wines... I have to admit I forgot which white wine my friend got, it was from somewhere in Tuscany a believe, smooth and mellow. I had brought a more honey-esque, fruity Mont Saint Odile Gewurtztraminer from Alsace. There was barely a touch of acidity to it, and it was very rich, even on the heavy side with such a greasy meal. I think I would recommend it more for a light, summery meal with plenty of vegetables and mellow fish.
As I've clearly talked more about the wine than the food itself, that just shows you a bit the kind of place it was. To sum up:
L'Harmonie D'Asie
65 Duluth O.
Restaurant : $35 per person plus tip
Wine: $20
Service :3/10
Food: 3/10
Atmosphere: 5/10
Drunkenness: 6/10
Overall : Around 4/10
Next up, my best food experience in Montreal yet... LEMEAC!
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