Monday, February 27, 2012

Devilish Delights at Deville Dinerbar.



After a sleuth of midterms, my friend and I decided that we really needed a night to completely let loose and just splurge...
...Oooon sugar!
Yeah, unlike normal young adults, who would choose to spend all their money on alcohol, we decided to spend all our money on C6H12O6. Thus is the life of a foodie and food blogger. And since one of our friends had posted on facebook a delectable-looking chocolate cake from Deville Dinerbar, we decided to check this place out.


Deville Dinerbar, a fairly new and popular addition to the downtown eatery scene, is like a sleeker and classier version of an American diner. While it still retains some elements of a classic diner, such as the metallic decors, plush booths, neon lights and classic diner foods, it brings a modern twist both to the ambiance and the food.

Accessibility - Grade: A+
The dinerbar is located on Stanley street, and is located almost right next to Peel metro. We're talking downtown to the core, here. You can't get any more accessible than that.

Service - Grade: B+
The service was quick and polite. When we left, there was what felt like a row of waitresses lining our path to the exit, each sporting a bright smile and each wishing us a pleasant evening. Our waiter was nice, if a bit on the shy and quiet side.

Food - Grade: B
We were quite impressed with the menu, which offered a variety of classic diner foods with a fancy fusion twist. And of course, once we saw their milkshakes, we knew we had to try some. Hey, don't judge us. Engineering midterms are tough and depressing.

Toasted marshmallow milkshake

TOASTED. MARSHMALLOW. MILKSHAKE. It has toasted marshmallows in it. I don't know about you, but that pretty much grabbed our attention from the get-go. Whose inner child doesn't love toasted marshmallows? Not to mention vanilla ice-cream and Nutella, both of which are blended in with the marshmallows into a smooth and creamy shake of hazelnutty goodness?

Chips Ahoy Cookie milkshake

I ordered the Chips Ahoy Cookie shake, which was less impressive, but still quite good. It consisted of thick vanilla ice-cream blended with pieces of chocolate chip cookies and topped with whipped cream.


Louis Lunch Burger

My friend ordered the Louis Lunch Burger, which was a burger with melted swiss and cheddar cheese, coleslaw (in the burger), creamy Russian dressing, iceberg lettuce and tomatoes served between two brioche breads. In comparison to other burger joints in the area, I thought the burger tasted rather average. The coleslaw did bring a nice sweetness to the burger. I wasn't too fond of the brioche breads, since it made the burger taste a bit dry, and messed with its structure; it felt like you were eating more of a club sandwich with a beef patty instead of a burger.

Shepherd's Pot Pie

The Shepherd's pot pie is basically the lovechild of a shepherd's pie and a pot pie. It consists of pulled short ribs, mashed potatoes and various steamed veggies enveloped in crusty pie dome. The highlight of this pie was definitely the pulled short ribs. While not the most tender pulled meat I've had, it was infused with flavour, the most noticeable being the sharp aftertaste of beer. The mashed potato and the veggies were standard enough. The crust of the pie was pleasantly crumbly on top and fluffy beneath. My main complaint about this pie is that it's very dry. Without a salad or sauce to accompany it, it becomes a very heavy meal, but I guess that's to be expected with diner food...


Deville's Food Cake

Aaaaand the star of the evening, the Deville's Food Cake! However large you're picturing the cake to be, in real life, it feels so much bigger. A decadent chocolate cake coated in dark chocolate icing accompanied by a homemade vanilla ice-cream... This is pretty much looked like chocolate heaven.


However, heaven wasn't all it was cracked out to be. On the up-side, being a store-made chocolate cake and not one of those mass-produced factory cakes, the cake itself wasn't too sweet and the dark chocolate icing had a nice bitter edge to it. The icing was smooth and rich, and again, not overly sweet. On the down-side, the cake wasn't as moist as we had expected. The inside of the dessert was just a solid block of cake with no icing in between, so it felt a little dry. However, it went very well with the ice-cream; it's just unfortunate that the ice-cream-to-cake ratio is so little.



Price - $$$
Aaaaand cue the freak-out. I haven't spent this much on one meal since... I can't even remember. The menu price (before tax) for the items are as follows: Toasted marsmallow milkshake - $9, Chips Ahoy Cookie milkshake - $8, Louis Lunch Burger - $16-18 (can't remember), Shepherd's Pot Pie - $20, Deville's Food Cake - $13. I know we agreed to just let go and spend tonight, but the blow in the metaphorical gut always comes when the bill does. We split the cake two-ways, so my bill came up to $40 after tax, so with tip, it's around $45. Most menu items are $20-$30.

Final Grade: B
Deville Dinerbar definitely has some very creative menu items, and for the most part, they do deliver quite well. There were some moments when I felt that the food was a bit dry and heavy, but the style is American diner cooking, after all. And beware: you'll definitely leave the restaurant feeling like the Michelin Tire man, because that's how they roll in American diners.

*snort*


Deville Dinerbar
1425 Stanley, Montreal
(514) 281-6556
http://www.devilledinerbar.com/
Deville Dinerbar on Urbanspoon

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