i-Ching Cafe - Montreal, Quebec

RETURN? Yes, but only if I am in the area

This vegetarian Chinese/Vietnamese place was pretty interesting. With its white tablecloths and clean, modern interior, this place was no hole-in-the-wall, but the low prices found on the menu indicated that there was no fine dining to be had. Why were my friend and I here? Because he had purchased an online coupon for a generous discount on the final tab. Neither of us had ever heard of the place, and a google/urbanspoon/yelp search yielded no results. Basically, we were venturing into undiscovered territory. Call us Indiana Jones. No, I'll be Indiana Jones, and my friend can be his hat - personified.

We started our meal with the basic (and pretty obvious) selection of one spring roll, to share, and one egg roll, also to share. First came the spring roll. The roll itself was decent (pretty hard to screw up a non-cooked, roll-only item), but as you can see in the photo, it was way too full of lettuce, such that it was hard to eat. I think I almost dislocated my jaw trying to open for a bite. Annoying? Entirely. Special mention, however, must be given to the peanut sauce. Nutty, sweet, spicy, deep... simply delicious. The only comment I made to my friend was "I want this stuff in a  glass." - So I can drink it! Get it?

Next came the hot egg roll. I just didn't get the chef's interpretation of this dish. The inside was entirely mushy rather than soft but still with a bite. Further, it was swimming in some watered down plum sauce, which made the otherwise crispy outer shell quite soggy. Unfortunate, because my favourite part about an egg roll is the crisp factor, which I dunk into the thick, sweet plum sauce. All in all, I wouldn't order this appetizer again. And WTF is up with that lonely sprig of parsley? You know how I feel about edible garnishes.

Thankfully, the main dishes were the stars (and saviours) of this meal. I had ordered pan-fried noodles with vegetables, and my friend had ordered the spicy soup with dumplings and buckwheat noodles.

First, my noodles. Usually, everyone knows that a fried noodle dish is coated with a nasty layer of grease, which when ordering you forget about, but once the dish arrives you are reminded and go "Uggghh I forgot again!? Dagnabbit!" This dish, however, was the lightest that I have ever had: no oil left over on my plate! The flavours were clean, crisp, and replete with delicious fish sauce. The vegetables were fresh and crispy, and the noodles light and chewy. It was a joy to eat.

I wasn't really able to ask my friend if he liked his dish or not because his senses were so immersed in it that he couldn't tear himself away for a single moment. I take that as a good sign. The sauce was spicy, the broth clear with sharp umami flavours, the dumplings homemade and delicious, and the buckwheat noodles a delightful addition to slurp up.

Here's the thing...while our main dishes were great, they didn't inspire great love. Great like, yes, but no love. Neither of us live particularly close to this restaurant. Is it worth a long venture out? No. If I'm in the area, though, I would definitely consider passing by.


ADDRESS: 4242, Decarie, Montreal, Quebec