Phillips Square Montréal

Phillips Square is a historic public square located in Downtown Montréal, Québec, Canada. Established in 1842, The Square was a gift from Alfred Phillips to the city of Montreal in what was then a wealthy residential area in the city. The first downtown stores were actually located around this Square including the famous Birks jewelry store and The Bay department store that still exist until today. 

Nestled in the middle of tall buildings, you can find greeneries and dry deck fountain at this charming square making it a nice area to walk or sit around at. I was there during early fall on a Thursday around noon and spotted a lot of people enjoying their lunch breaks at the Square. (There are a couple of restaurants around the area including Pizza Il Focolaio where I had the best pizza in recent times and probably one of the best food I had during my Montréal trip). There are plenty of seatings and a couple of tables with umbrellas that are spread out around the area which serve as an encouragement for people to spend more time at the Square. This is the perfect place to go when you want to walk around, get some fresh air or sunbathe for a bit, especially on a nice weather day.

“The square features a bronze monument of King Edward VII, who ruled from 1901 to 1910. He visited Montreal in 1860, while he was still the Prince of Wales, and opened the Victoria Bridge. The statue was designed by Louis-Philippe Hébert and was erected in 1914. The four allegorical figures at the base of the monument represent Peace, the Four Founding Nations, Abundance, and Liberty.” — Wikipedia

 

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Hongs Zzuggumi Hongdae • 홍스쭈꾸미 홍대본점

Hongs Zzuggumi Hongdae (홍스쭈꾸미 홍대본점) is a restaurant in Hongdae that specializes in spicy stir-fried webfoot/baby octopus or jjukkumi how the Koreans say it. Their special red sauce is made out of natural ingredients with over 20 kinds of seasonings. The restaurant is actually pretty popular among Asian tourists and at some point was pretty hyped up among Indonesians as one of the must visit restaurants in Seoul as well. 

Although I’ve been hearing a lot of good reviews about the place from my friends who already went, it actually took me this long to finally visit the place. Mainly because I don’t eat spicy food well so I kind of need somebody who does and likes baby octopus to go with to help me finish my food just in case I can’t handle the spiciness. The time finally came last fall when my cousin was visiting Seoul. She’s a big fan of octopus, can eat spicy food better than I do and actually had Hongs Zzuggumi on her want-to-try-restaurants list. 

So we went with a couple of friends who were on the trip with her. It was a Saturday night and we arrived at the restaurant around 8:15 pm. There was a line, not a long one but there seemed to be 2-3 groups ahead of us. We waited about 20 minutes before our name was called and got seated right after.

There are only 4 items on the menu and it all feature their signature Spicy Stir-Fried Jjukkumi (쭈꾸미). We ordered the one with the pork belly and requested less spicy for the spiciness level.

Service was pretty quick at this restaurant because not too long after we placed our order, the pan filled with thinly sliced pork belly, rice cakes, green onions, cabbage and the jjukkumi in the middle was served on our table along with four different kinds of banchan. After the pan was starting to get hot and the red sauce was bubbling, the server came back to mixed everything for us until it was all nicely cooked. 

Stir-Fried Webfoot Octopus + Pork Belly (쭈삼겹 + 볶음밥 ) ₩32,000 | 9/10

*Portion in picture is 2 servings for 2 people. Each portion costs ₩16,000 and comes with the Armani fried rice.

After tasting my first jjukkumi, I get what the hype is all about. It is gooood. The size of the baby octopus wasn’t too big or too small, a perfect size for a nice bite. The meat was tender and springy. And their special spicy gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste) sauce was super good. It’s spicy and salty with a hint of sweetness in the sauce. The flavor was pretty bold and it’s really nice having it with warm rice. The pork belly (samgyeopsal) was also really good. I think the fat of the pork belly also added another layer of flavor to the jjukkumi and the sauce. Such a great combo. 

The less spicy version was actually still a little spicy for me. Even so, the spiciness was manageable and I could eat it without feeling that I’m being tortured by the heat of the sauce. But I did do my usual work around for eating spicy food though which is to wait until the food is not too hot before taking a bite and eat it with rice. I found that it helps me to enjoy spicy food a little better.

One other special menu that Hongs Zzuggumi has is their Armani Fried Rice. They had signs outside and inside the restaurant with writings like ‘If you order jjukkumi, you’ll have a free Armani Fried Rice’ and ‘Jjukkumi Armani Service’. For English speakers, the meaning of these sentences may be a little confusing. At least I was confused when I first read it and it took me a minute to understand what they mean. The ‘service’ they wrote doesn’t mean the usual action of helping or doing work for someone. But instead, in Korea, when you get something on the house, they usually call it ‘service’. So I guess what they’re trying to say is you get Armani Fried Rice on the house if you order jjukkumi. 

When we’re almost done with our jjukkumi, we asked the staff for the fried rice. They took away the pan and came back with the fried rice already covering the whole pan. Once I saw the fried rice, I get why they call it Armani. The word Armani itself was a little bit random (for me) and doesn’t sound like a Korean word (it reminded me of the famous Italian brand though). But (cmiiw) I think it’s a play on words between ‘al’ (알) which means egg in Korean and ‘mani’ (많이) which means many/a lot. Because living up to its name, the fried rice was covered with copious amount of (fish) eggs. 

Armani Fried Rice is essentially fried rice covered with Hongs Zzuggumi’s special red sauce, seaweed and fish eggs. And it was gooood. One of my favorite thing was feeling the crunch of the fish eggs popping in my mouth in every spoonful of fried rice, making me go back for more every single time even though I’m already full. 

One tip, since the staff usually waited until you (almost) finished everything on the pan before serving the fried rice, if you want to eat the fried rice with the jjukkumi and samgyeopsal, set them aside on your plate to empty the pan so you can ask for the fried rice right away. I did that on my second visit and it was so good eating them with the fried rice. 

Another thing worth mentioning is on my previous visits during dinner rush, there seemed to always be a line for a table and most of the tables in the restaurant are for smaller groups (3-4 people). So if you want to avoid waiting for too long, I’d suggest to come a little earlier, split into smaller groups if you’re traveling with a big group or maybe try coming during lunch time where they serve Lunch Specials from 11:30-16:00. 

After my first visit, Hongs Zzuggumi has been one of the restaurants I’d recommend to my friends when they ask me where to eat when they’re in Seoul. If you haven’t tried this place already, now I’m recommending it to you too.

 

Hongs Zzuggumi Hongdae • 홍스쭈꾸미 홍대본점

Address: 서울 마포구 어울마당로 146
Telephone: 0507-1407-7943
Hours: Everyday 11:00 - 02:00

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Addictea • 에딕티

Addictea (에딕티) is a bubble tea franchise known for its variety of milk and fruit teas. They have their own unique flavoring, roasting and blending techniques for their tea leaves which help to retain the aroma of the tea leaves longer, giving a more fragrant tea as a result. They also one of the few bubble tea spot in Seoul that brew their tea to order, making the flavor of their tea more vibrant with a pleasant aroma. 

The brand (which then operated under a different name) is originally from Fujian, China but expanded their business overseas to Brisbane, Australia in 2016. Two years later, Addictea was officially established in Queensland, Australia. In 2019, they did Addictea’s overseas expansion with the opening of their first store in Seoul and later in Wuhan, China in 2022.

Addictea is one of my new find last fall that has become one of my favorite bubble tea spot in Seoul. Believe it or not, finding a good bubble tea spot in Seoul was actually pretty hard for me in the past. Not that I eat boba a lot (I usually don’t even order the boba), but usually bubble tea places have different type of milk teas that I like compared to the ones that are served in cafes in Seoul. 

I’ve drunk a lot of milk teas in many, many cafes in Seoul but the choice of the milk tea is usually very limited since majority of them are focused more on the coffee menu. Most cafes usually only have the choice of (black) milk tea or green tea latte. Some places will have earl grey milk tea, green milk tea or Assam milk tea. On rare occasions, I’d find places that sell black sesame latte. But that’s pretty much it. 

Not until these past couple of years I started seeing some asian bubble tea brands opening shops in Seoul and I can’t even tell you how happy I am that it’s slightly easier for me now to find boba places in the city. 

Addictea is actually one that I really like. They have a couple of milk tea options like Genmaicha, Roasted Green Tea, Ostmathus and Jasmine Green Milk Tea that I usually find back home (or back in South East Asia). My favorite menu is their Genmaicha with Milk (현미 밀크티). Their tea is really fragrant (the brew-to-order tea does make a difference imho) and overall it’s not too sweet (I usually order 75% sugar and the sweetness is just right for me). One time, I took a couple of my friends to this place and we ordered a couple of different ones. After tasting what we ordered, we all agree that the milk teas are good but the Genmaicha is the best one. So I definitely recommend you to try the Genmaicha with Milk if you come to this place. 

Addictea Hongdae (에딕티 홍대점) is one of the location that I’ve been to before. This location is pretty big with seatings available in the store. It’s located next to Halal Guys and below BHC Chicken in Hongdae. A little bit of disclaimer, these pictures of the shop were taken when I went to visit back in May 2024. Today I tried to search their name on Naver Map and it didn’t show up so I’m not sure if the place is still open or if they already moved somewhere else. But on their Instagram bio, Hongdae is still listed as one of the locations (maybe they just closed recently, I’m not sure). So, there’s that. 

The location that I went to the first time was actually Addictea Myeongdong (에딕티 명동점). The store is smaller than the Hongdae location but there are limited seatings inside for about nine people, mostly small tables for two. I usually do take-outs from this location since the place is pretty small. This place is definitely still open and appears on Naver map.

They also have another location Addictea Hoegi (에딕티 경희대점) near Hoegi Station (회기역) in Dongdaemun (동대문구) area if you’re around that neighborhood.

*Photos below are from Addictea Myeongdong (에딕티 명동점).

 

Addictea Hongdae • 에딕티 홍대점

Address: 서울 마포구 홍익로6길 10
Hours: 13:00-22:00 (Last Order 21:55)

 

Addictea Myeongdong • 에딕티 명동점

Address: 서울 중구 명동4길 15 1층
Telephone: 0507-1393-6699
Hours: Everyday 12:00-21:30

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Cibo Wine Bar King West

Cibo Wine Bar is one of Toronto’s popular Italian restaurant. Their menu focuses on old-school rustic Italian dishes featuring traditional and modern staples along with a vast variety of wine that are displayed in their glass cellar in the middle the room. The modern and casual atmosphere of the place has made it one of Toronto’s popular nightlife spot. 

Grilled Octopus CA$24 | 8.5/10

Mixed Greens, Raddichio, Purple Potato, Green Beans, Fried Capers, Lemon Juice.

The octopus was nicely cooked with firm texture but still soft and tender. The meat was very easy to cut and chew and has that hint of smokiness from the grill. The seasoning was also nicely done with the flavors blending together quite well. For the veggies, the purple potato and green beans were also well cooked and seasoned. The highlight of the dish for me was the fried capers. The crispy, salty and vinegary capers gave a really refreshing kick to the dish.

Pizza Americana CA$22

Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella, Pepperoni, Mushroom, Green Peppers.

My friend ordered this pizza and I didn’t get to try it. But he finished the whole pan so I’m guessing it’s probably good.

Seafood Linguine with Tomato Sauce CA$30 | 7.5/10

Fresh Clams, Mussels, Calamari, Tiger Shrimp, Light Tomato Sauce.

The pasta was al dente, the seafood was fresh, and the sauce was light and not too heavy.

Seafood Linguine with White Wine Sauce CA$30 | 7.5/10

Fresh Clams, Mussels, Calamari, Tiger Shrimp, Light White Wine Sauce.

The pasta was al dente, the seafood was fresh, and the sauce was light and not too heavy. The pasta portion was pretty generous too. I ended up having some leftovers pasta because I was so full. 

Service was pretty great at this place with the food being served not long after our order was placed. Our server was friendly, periodically checking in with us if we need anything. The place is a bit loud though with music blaring in the background (it’s a bar after all), but the ambience of the place is pretty nice with plenty of seatings available around the restaurant.

 

Cibo Wine Bar King West

Address: 522 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1L7, Canada
Telephone: +1 416-504-3939
Hours: Mon-Wed 11:30am-12:00am | Thu-Fri 11:30am-02:00am | Sat 11:00am-02:00am | Sun 11:00am-12:00 am

Instagram: @cibo_winebar
Menu

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Indigo at The Well

Indigo at The Well aimed to be the go-to spot for every book-lovers in downtown Toronto with the 40,000 curated books that are on display on the library shelvings that are in and around the 16,000² ft space. Not only they sell an extensive collection of books, they also sell lifestyle products, home décor, toys, stationery, music, audio equipments and gifts. Indigo is Canada’s only major English-language national bookstore chain with now over 200 superstores and small formats stores all around Canada.

“The store’s innovative design, crafted by the UK-based brand innovation studio Dalziel & Pow, promises to be a visual delight. It will revolve around a curated selection of Indigo’s books, with a newfound emphasis on lifestyle products and immersive in-store experiences,” shared the brand. —retail-insider.com

The massive store is designed with different sections and seating areas that are well spread out through out the space. The layout is very pleasing with ample rooms in between each shelves, making browsing the store a delightful experience. One of the coolest area of this store is their all-red manga section which they self-proclaimed as “The coolest manga shop in the city with a manga-inspired lighting installation”.

There’s also Propeller Coffee Co., a Toronto-based gourmet coffee roaster that sells beverages, pastries, and snacks that you can enjoy inside the store.

With the copious amount of books and lifestyle products that they sell in store, Indigo at The Well makes it a perfect place for visitors—book-lovers and non-book-lovers alike—to do some retail therapy or window shopping.

 

Indigo at The Well

Address: The Well Upper Ground UG04 | 486 Front St W, Toronto, ON M5V 0V2, Canada
Telephone: +1 647-254-2169
Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-8pm | Sun 10am-7pm

Instagram: @indigo.thewell
Directory: Indigo at The Well

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