L’Express St Zotique

«Tatar? oui, j’aime bien le poisson» once said by Gaston Therrien. and I love tartare too. OK, he didn’t really say that but it’s definitely something he could say too while mixing hockey players with food.
seriously though, L’Express St-​Zotique went through a rebrand from being a convenience store to a full blown fresh juice bar and food restaurant. having passed by numerous times when in the neighborhood, I’ve never thought about stepping in until earlier today when an instagrammer posted what looked like one hell of a great looking and tasty sandwich. can you say sandwich porn?!? looking at the geo, turned out it wasn’t far from me so I did the only sensible thing as my stomach was grumbling loudly, ran right over there. great idea to run over there as they were on the verge to closing down for the day (7pm) and weekend. they are closed on Sunday. didn’t ran, just took the metro. I was relieved to be their last customer :)
looking quickly through their menu just for the heck of it as I already knew that I wanted the salmon tartare sandwich. went with the big size, on a baguette and mildly spicy (should have went with very spicy). anyway, service was fast enough. I even looked at the cook slicing up fresh avocado. can’t ask for fresher.
so that sandwich, it was one very good sandwich. tasty, fresh, creamy, peppery, slightly spicy. very good salmon tartare. could have use a bit more citrus but nonetheless, I was very satisfied. as for the baguette, that’s where things weren’t as good. simply too hard making difficult to chew or bite into it. something that fresh deserves better bread. next time, I’ll get the pita instead or maybe the salad.
besides sandwiches and salads, they have soups, coffee as well as fresh juice. they have chocolate and the likes too but I’d stay away from it as it was quite dusty.
while I was eating on their terrace, the cook went out to give us, a couple of people on the terrace, some coconut cookies as like he said, they were closing down and had some leftovers. I must say that that cookie was soft, chewy, slightly sweet and full on coconut flavor. free obviously tastes good but it’s one cookie I’d buy again and again.
they have daily special on their sandwiches which you get a trio for the price of the 12 inch sandwich. the tartare is a Thursday special I believe. if you don’t like fish, they have meat too. if you don’t want meat, they have vegetarian options too.
in summary, I’m very happy to have discovered such a hidden gem despite being right next to a bus stop and being big enough that you can’t miss it but apparently, people don’t go in. but you should definitely go in!

Amazing and VERY TASTY food, big portions, very good service, I really loved the place, it is NOT TO BE MISSED!

La selection de produits est plus proche de l’epicerie fine que du dépanneur typique. On y trouve aussi une sélection de charcuterie et de fromage.
Mais l’attraction principale, c’est le bar à sandwiches et salades à emporter ou consommer sur place — il y a quelques tables confortables installées dans l’angle le plus lumineux du magasin.
Le sandwich demi-​baguette à la salade de thon est un délice très copieux. L’agneau est également un incontournable, me dit-​on, et je le crois volontiers.
Le personnel est amical et de bonne humeur, les lieux sont propres. Bonne vibration. Je recommande sans réserve pour le lunch.