Eating Drinking and being merry in MTL part deux

The second half of my ladies trip to Montreal starts off Saturday morning with the search for delicious greasy breakfasty goodness. It was a beautifully warm summer day, actually more like scorching hot almost to the point of unbearable and we decided to go on the wild goose chase to find the perfect place to eat. We first started out at The Sparrow which I read was a great brunch spot. The menu sounds awsome and the restaurant is super cute, but my fellow foodies just weren't feeling a prix fix menu for breaky that morning so we moved on.

I suggested we check to what the line up at L'avenue  was like. Not having been in MTL for a few years I had completely forgotten how far the resto was from were we currently were. My friends were all very patient with the promise of fluffy 4 egg omelets and herb de provence drenched yummy roasted potatoes and fresh buttery baked baguette. So we all happily trekked on for another 30 mins until we got to L'avenue only to see that the line up was about 40 people long. Much to long to wait after our death walk in the blistering heat. We decided to try the cute place across the street, I wish I could remember the name of the place. They had a pretty big menu only brunch thought. Everything on my shmorgishborg breakfast was delicious! especially the maple smoked beans and the crispy potatoes. We honestly weren't expecting much, we just wanted to eat, and have some cold water and shelter from the sun. Everyone enjoyed their meal, and now I can report if you are ever stuck in line at L'avenue and starving you have a cute little place with great service and yummy food a hop skip and jump away.

After lunch we decided to go back to the hotel and enjoy the weather by the pool only this time there were no sun loungers or sunny spots to sit. The pool was over run with families some weird old ladies in skimpy thong bikinis and a group of guys who were staring at us all afternoon, but never had the guts to say hello. Getting back to the weird old ladies in skimpy thong bikinis it was one of the strangest things i've seen at a hotel pool.  I was both shocked and impressed with their confidence. On one hand I was totally grossed out by their saggy ass's wobbling about, but  on the other hand I was like "you go girl". If want to let your old wabbly asses jiggling about in front of everyone to see then go for it!

Saturday night tappas at Santos restaurant. Yes we look happy very hungry but happy. Note the empty plates. My advice is you should totally go to this MTL sexy spot if you're not too hungry because they won't put very much food on your plate. When we arrived the waitress escorted us to a long bar table in the middle of the restaurant as if we were all on display. That didn't really bother me since MTL is all about seeing and being seen, but what was super annoying where the extremely uncomfortable bar chairs/ table height combination. Ok so i'm short and my legs weren't long enough to sit comfortably at this awkward display table. I would have much rather preferred a booth.  The vibe was very chic, cool music and funky decor. There are mirrors lining the ceiling which makes it easy to slyly scope out other people in the room without being too obvious. After asking what were the best dishes for sharing the waitress advised us that everything on the menu was designed for sharing. Obviously this woman doesn't really like to eat, or has no bloody clue what a sufficient amount of food is for dinner. No wonder she was so skinny. We decided to each order our own app then share a few dishes as well - the following  were ordered:
Mini Tuna burgers
Rice Pilaf
Tuna Tartar
Salmon Tartar
Cherry tomatoes ricotta cheese and grilled asparagus
Beef carpaccio with arugula and manchego
Popcorn shrimp salad
Fried calamari with saffron aoli
Beef short ribs with mashed potato
Lamb chops with pea puree and mint
Everything was pretty delicious. The popcorn shrimp was nothing special. I really enjoyed my salmon tartar which was pretty much the only dish I thought was suitable for sharing, and ironically those tar tars are what we ordered for ourselves.
The short rib(s) were almost comical for sharing as the was literally one rib. The asparagus was the size of my pinky finger and the lamb may have been the tiny tiniest chop I have seen in my life, but was absolutely delicious. The carpaccio was also the size of a mini post it - definitely not enough for 5 people to share. The service was very slow it took 30 mins for them to bring our dessert. We ordered the chocolate churros and the coconut balls with chocolate ice cream. Still being so hungry we attacked those desserts like vultures. Having just come back from Mexico the churros did nothing for me, but the coconut balls were unbelievable. If you do decide to try this place out do not listen to the skinny waitresses. Per person I would say 3 or 4 dishes would be enough. If you do decide to share bring 1 friend and order to the point were you think you are going to electric chair.