Friday, July 12, 2013

You spin my chicken right round, right round - Romado's


In celebration of Romado's grand reopening, here's a post featuring Montreal's favourite Portuguese chicken! If you've spent any amount of time in the Montreal food scene, then you'll probably know about 1) Schwartz's 2) poutine and 3) Romados. Well, okay, maybe not, but Romados is pretty renowned in Montreal for having the best roasted chicken in town. And after years of having included it on my to-try list, I finally got my hands on some yummy Portuguese roasted chicken.


Accessibility - Grade: B
The rotisserie is a little out of the way, which is why I've been putting off going for so long. It's about a 10 minute walk from Mont Royal metro, and not along an altogether straightforward path. If you're not familiar with the area, make sure you have a map on hand.

Service - Grade: B+
The restaurant isn't a sit-down, dine-in restaurant, so the service you deal with is mainly at the counters. You order the food at one counter, and pay at the other. Even so, I found the service to be friendly and efficient. The guy serving us food gave us an extremely generous portion of fries.


Food - Grade: B+
Oh Romado's, how you've been missed... Anyone who is familiar with Romados will immediately think of rows of glistening slow-cooked chicken turning over an open fire. You can order the chickens whole or in halves, and as a combo (with fries and salad) or as is. They usually cut up the chicken for you, so you don't have to go through the trouble of carving it yourself.

You know, when my friend first told me about how amazing she thought Romado's chicken was, I had thought to myself: "Just how good can roast chicken be?" Well, apparently, pretty damn good.

Please excuse the very average-looking pictures
If given the choice, I usually avoid eating chicken, unless I feel like eating healthy. I find chicken meat to be dry and boring, and the spices on a roasted chicken usually only coat the surface, leaving the inner meat (especially the breast) a little tasteless. So it was a pleasant surprise when I found Romados chicken to be juicy and tender, and with the flavour from the spices somehow seeping into the meat. Guh... just thinking about it is making my mouth water.



Even the fries are seasoned beyond the usual salt. I usually have to have ketchup with my fries, but these particular fries are mildly spicy, crisp and extremely tasty, and can be eaten without ketchup. But the combination of chicken and fries can be pretty heavy, so luckily, they give you a nice, light salad as an accompaniment. 



And to top it all off, Portuguese egg tarts! I loooooove Portuguese egg tarts, even more so than Chinese egg tarts. These particular egg tarts were among the best I've had, with a sweet, custardy filling and a nice caramalized top, and a flakey, doughy crust. If you ever stop by Romados, make sure you pick up a half dozen (or hey, why not go for a dozen if you're feeling particularly indulgent) of these bad boys.

Price - $
Okay, let me start off by saying that the portions here are HUGE. I'm pretty sure that one half-chicken combo is enough to feed two people, and it's only a little under $8. I don't remember how much the egg tarts costed, but prices here are definitely affordable. If it weren't for the fact that this place is a bit out of the way (we had a spillage mishap in the metro while taking our fare home), I'd probably be taking out here every other week. 

Overall - Grade: B+
Great food, great prices, do I really have to say more? If you haven't done so already, go check out Romados!



Rotisserie Romados
115 Rue Rache Est, Montreal
(514) 849-1803
Rotisserie Romados on Urbanspoon

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