Not quite sure what to look for Pierre and I were walking down Ontario street. We spot a greyed out blue building which looked like a rundown antique store. Having trouble with the door i go around the corner to find another door wide open. The place was creepy and cute at the same time. The section we had walked in look like a coffee shop. there was nobody around. i half expected somebody to pop up from somewhere yelling "boo!" or a dead body to fall from the ceiling. To my relief a cute french boy came by and asked us if it was our first visit. we nod our heads and tell him we already know the rules. He informs us that the 2$ unfinished meal charge no longer applies but that it is strongly encouraged to finish your plate. We follow him through the cafe looking area, past a small open kitchen to this little dining room. The decor was eclectic (to say the least). A vast aray of animal print in a variety of colours. Leopard, zebra, aligator. there were xmas decorations hanging from the ceiling as well as those plate covers used to keep bugs away from food while eating outdoors. the wall next to us seemed to have random items glued to it then spray painted over. making it look as though these gadgets were part of the wall. buttons, forks, etc.

 

Our cute waiter came over and told us what our meal was. This isn't a choice. there is a soup, a main course, and a piece of a cake. the only time you have options is when it comes to water (natural or perier?) and the teas. He goes into an explaination of the ingredients of our food. the soup, from what i can remember, is made of rasberries, sweet potatoes, leeks, apple cider, coconut.....and it goes on but i can't remember everything else. the main course is a crepe with beans, green peppers, red potatoes, and again i can't remember the rest. We're both kinda nervous at this point until we see another table being served...mmm smells so good and looks good! He brings over our soup (for only having one cook and one waiter, the service is really fast). We take a spoonfull.... humm interesting... another spoonfull... hey, this is actually good. within seconds the soup is gone and i'm ready to lick the plate. we are told to keep our spoons for the sauce that comes with the main course and once again, within minutes our meal arrives. We take a bite.. "oh wow... this is really good!" the waiter checks up on us and sees our surprise and delight. I finish my plate and again, i'm ready to lick it. (of course i don't though). next comes our chocolate cake made with soy milk, coconut, bananas and rasberries. this cake is sugar free (suddenly memories from my childhood when i would take a bite of those bakers sugar free chocolates strike a gross fear in me). the cake comes, first bite.. bla, nothing special... get to the second and third.... wow, do those rasberries make a cake sweet! Along with our cake Pierre and i decided to try yet another tea.. this one being of an egyptian flavour.... really good. also a little sweat but leaves a good taste in your mouth.

the total bill comes to 32$ each taxes and tip included. a little pricey, but worth the experience.

 

Great concept but definitaly not for everybody. The decor might give me nightmares tonite. 3 out of 5 for the Spirite Lounge (-1 for the decor and -1 for the lack of options. at least having 2 choices would be good)

 

sorry for the bad pics. i didn't have my flash on because i didn't want to bother the other patrons.

 

 

I'm not quite sure when it was, but a couple weeks back i had suggested to Pierre that we should start going to a different resto once a week (at most) which either one of us have never been to. Montreal has so much to offer. So many different cultures and i'd say every 4 blocks brings you to a completely different world. for example, my new appartment is in a brand new building (4 years old), surrounded by new condos, and buildings. if i go up a block, it's the dumps. strip clubs, prostitutes, junkies, etc. it's run down, old and dirty. 2 completely different worlds i tell you.

Anyway, so today being sunday, usually Pierre and i enjoy a 50cent feast at 3 Amigos (really cheesey decor, grumpy waiters... it's great) but today we went to Santropol. It doesn't look like much from the outside. Really small, surrounded by a rundown wooden fence. It's the lower part of a duplex style appartment. we go in and at first it looks like a coffee shop. we turn the corner to find ourselves a seat and it seemed like the place never ended. it was so cozy and eclectic. little trinkets everywhere. we walk to the back where we discover a beautiful terrasse. We're surrounded by trees. further back there's a stone fountain. the rundown fence is a deep yet bright blue. in one little spot there's a little square cut out and brown shutters nailed on either side of the square, looking like a window. the tables are square solid colours but of all diferent colours, blue, yellow, red, brown, etc. A waitress comes to take our order and we take the Killer Tomato sandwhich and the Duluth. we plan to take a half each so we get to taste 2 different sandwhiches. it's not long before they come with our food. then again, it may have taken an hour, we were still in awe of the terrasse. these thick sandwhiches are placed in front of us, we take a half of each and we begin to eat. the Duluth was Brie and Blue cheese, which tomatoes and lettuce..... not too fancy yet soo good. the Killer Tomato had sundried tomatoes as well as plain tomatoes. the sun dried ones seem to have been blended into some sort of mayo. has a bit of a spice to it, very good. they both came with a little salade and fruits. we then decide to try a dessert. seeing as the cakes seem to be pretty common we try of the days special..our waitress informs us that it is a Strawberry Shortcake type. we agree on it and they bring us a piece again in no time along with our herbal tea Orange Caprice. the best way i can describe this cake is like so : ohhhhh.. mmmm..oh god..mmm. even the tea was a delight. and then a cat walked by. this cute little fluffy white cat just came out of nowhere. didn't bother anybody, it just walked around. it didn't seem weird and ppl didn't seem to question it. it was just a cute cat saying hello to some friendly people.

the atmosphere is very cozy and laid back. the terrasse is a must see. you feel as though u're in the country somewhere in a family run restaurant. the prices are good too and it's vegeterian friendly. meat is an add on in most cases. c'mon, how can u not like a place that has a chocolat sandwhich as a meal? the Hazel Brown. if you want to know more, check out the resto yourselves!

unfortunately the battery for my cam was dying so i wasn't able to take many pics. so this is all there is for now.

 

Santropol gets 4/5 stars

 

Check out what Pierre had to say about it.