Today’s challenge is:Favorite Food Program I love food shows. I love reality food shows.I am a big fan of the program Chopped like the rest of the foodie world but my all time favorite food program is :
This reality program is on the Food Network station but I mostly watch episodes through HULU.I like this show so much because the contestants are small restaurant owners or even teams of people who are looking to start restaurants that do not have the money to either start a restaurant or buy a food truck. The contestants are given food trucks at the beginning of the competition with their logos and full stocked kitchens.On each episode they are given a food challenge which includes: getting specific ingredients based on the challenge, a certain amount of money to make said themed dish and they have to drive to specific locations and sell food to locals usually competing directly next to other food truck teams.It's a thrill to watch. I highly recommend watching it if you have the Food Network or HULU.This show gives the contestants great exposure and a online fan following.As we've seen from the success of the Big Gay IceCream Truck here in New York City, building an online following is huge and can make a restaurant flourish.Plus I really like food trucks, I've gone to a few different food truck events in the city and they are a blast. You get to try so many different types of "street food" on the go. I love it.
The photo on the left is from an actual restaurant in Manhattan on 3rd Avenue called Korilla BBQ. I was meeting a friend for lunch after going to an art gallery and figured we should go there and try it out. I'd eaten at the truck the guys serviced around Manhattan but never went into the actual restaurant. I mostly wanted to see if the food was different after the Korilla BBQ guys were contestants on The Great Food Truck Race.The food was the same. The guys have a winning recipe of Korean bbq street food and it works. It was still exciting to see New Yorkers on the show representing for our great state!Here's a list of some of my other favorite food based shows:Man vs Food (Seasons 1 - 4)Cupcake Wars (The Halloween Wars are the best of this show)The Next Iron Chef Bizarre Foods
The pop up restaurant/parking lot was located downtown Manhattan at 
While waiting to get in everyone took photos with the staff members, the infamous man in a chicken costume, and we watched the official trailer a few times. In the trailer I noticed Gus says "come in and try our curly fries". I didn't think anything of it until one of the staff members announced there was no chicken being sold nor given out. My heart sunk. ?
I want to mention that I ALWAYS research every restaurant, event, pop up shop, grand opening, etc I attend. I search the internet for details and because of my "need to know" personality I always like to be prepared and know what to expect. But this time, because I saw so many tweets about it being so "cool" at SXSW I did not dive into finding out what to expect and wanted to be surprised. With that said, I was unaware that chicken would not actually get served at the pop up restaurant.The one time I do not research a pop up event this happens. I would not have gotten there so early if I knew this. On a positive note, they did however provide us with curly fries (and the fries were actually tasty). For free. 
I will say this was more of a pop up museum of the Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant rather than a standard pop up restaurant. I can't front, I'm sad I did not get to try some chicken but it was kinda astounding seeing the replica of the set. It was like we were actually in the southwest and in this extremely nice and wholesome chicken joint that was really a front for drug money. It was pretty freaking awesome to have experienced it.
Here's what we had at 
The drive from Queens to Montreal was a long one so we called it a night (after dinner) and got a goodnights sleep. The next day, we woke up early to get some bagels. Before I headed to Montreal there was talk in my office of me trying "amazing" bagels on my trip. When I heard this from a co-worker I was a little taken aback by this statement because I'm a New Yorker. Born and raised in Brooklyn and in my opinion New York City produces the best bagels hands down. I know my previous statement is controversial but I did not expect to hear that bagels are one of the "must tries" foods in Montreal. And, because I love a challenge and I love to prove people wrong I woke up extra early (as instructed) and headed down to 
My first thoughts were (as I approached the store) "oh this is small". I was under the impression this is a sit down diner like how in New York City, you can grab a bagel, sit and have a cup of coffee. Nope. This place was a legit hand rolled bagel shop. It was spectacular to see this happening before my eyes. I had to let a few locals go ahead of me before I could decide on which bagels I wanted to try. But I ended up getting 4 different bagels and I will admit they were pretty good. Very warm, soft, not airy, not too chewy and not too crunchy but sort of the perfect bagel consistency. If you are reading this and plan on heading to Montreal I highly recommend stopping at St-Viateur Bagel shop and at the least watch the bagel making process, it's pretty great to see first hand. Luckily we did not live too far from here so we grabbed the 4 bagels and headed back to our flat to make coffee and enjoy our bagels.
After we stuffed our faces with yummy bagels we bundled up (because it was about 17degrees at the time) and headed to 
We also took some time to visit the 
As many of you travelers know, lots of walking, visiting shops, and site-seeing can make a person hungry.And oh boy did I continue to eat on this trip.Here are a few of my favorite food stops leading up to my big 5-course birthday dinner (more on that later).
We stopped for cappuccino's before heading to China Town. I will have to say it seems like any coffee shop you go to in Montreal, the people are friendly and the cappuccinos are divine.
We called it a night after an eventful day. Had a bit of whiskey and these unique dill pickle chips only sold in Canada by the fireplace.
The next day breakfast was a bit American at a cute boutique diner named 
Since this was now my actual birthday I got a chance to relax, and do a bit of shopping in our part of town. The supermarkets in Montreal and stocked very similar to what we have in the US but I feel like they cater to the healthier side of products more than the chemical based products. I also absolutely loved the fact that ducks and duck meat were readily available as you would see chicken or beer here in the US. I hardly see duck sold in a local Whole Foods or a Gristedes.Speaking of duck, I will now explain my birthday dinner. A dear co-worker who lives and works in Montreal was a huge help when I told her I would be spending time in Montreal. I asked her for a restaurant that would feed my foodie hunger but not break the bank. My co-worker recommended a wonderful restaurant that offered a 5-course dinner for around $54-55. When I looked up reviews on this place it became an absolute must! The restaurant is named 
I could not have asked for a better 30th birthday! I loved every single bite of my meal. Every single course :)The next day was one of our last days in Montreal and on the way out of this majestic city we stopped at 
After lunch we made our way to 
Thank you reader for joining me and taking a look back at one of the best foodie trips I've had to date.Leave a comment below if you have any questions about the dishes or locations mentioned above.
To my surprise, there were no detailed education sections or history lessons on ice cream. Instead of walking around reading or listening to a guide, your 5 senses were intrigued. You were given sweet treats in every room you entered, and the whole place was decked out in hip ice-cream themed art work. Which is quite refreshing. It's out of the norm when one thinks of a traditional museum visit.Ticket prices were about $18USD per person and the full experience lasts about 30-40 minutes. You are usually grouped in with several people and are instantly greeted with the flavor of the day ice cream. The two attractions that stood to me the most were "The Edible Balloons" and "The Sprinkles Pool".If you follow food trends, you'll know that this one of them. There are several Youtube of people enjoying edible balloons at dinner tables (mainly in Chicago) so when I saw them being made here I got really excited because this was one thing I could scratch off of my food bucket list. Unfortunately, this still remains on my list because I failed at eating the balloon. I tried twice and ended up with sticky glasses and sticky hands. One day I'll succeed, but it was fun watching and hearing everyone eat their balloons and talk to each other with the funny helium voice.
