OT: visiting montreal

[thegunner]

mainly wanted to hit up the forum mindtrust for stuff to do, things to eat (non-cycling please!). you guys haven't steered me wrong yet :)

[NHAero]

4085 rue st Denis
Yum!!!

[ctcyclistbob]

Visit Old Montreal, it's like being in Europe. Find a restaurant/cafe with an outdoor patio and soak it in.

[DarkStar]

Old Montreal for sure, very charming, European atmosphere. Schwartz's, a must for smoked meat, http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/.
A walk along Chemin Olmsted to the top of Mont Royal park, plenty more to do but I've run out of time.
Later

[ultraman6970]

st catherine.

Chinese food.

Hot chicks everywhere.

[phcollard]

Hot chicks everywhere.

Ain't that the truth! :D

There were a couple recent threads with ideas on what to do in Montreal :
http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=122350

Another one was started by Fixed some time ago but I cannot find it.

Feel free to PM me with your interests and I'll help you have some good time here!

[harryschwartzma]

St. Joseph's Oratorio - see the heart of brother Andre
Schwartz's - a must
L'Express - great classic French Bistro
Fairmount Bagels

[thegunner]

Ain't that the truth! :D

There were a couple recent threads with ideas on what to do in Montreal :
http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=122350

Another one was started by Fixed some time ago but I cannot find it.

Feel free to PM me with your interests and I'll help you have some good time here!

Lol phillipe, I'll hit you up on pm when I get settled

[summilux]

From May onwards, Parc Mont Royal hosts a pickup drum festival called Tam Tam every Sunday starting at about 11am. It's informal, bring a drum if you have one. Otherwise, sit and listen or join the dancing. VERY fun. Being Montreal, there is a very relaxed attitude towards open alcohol and other intoxicating substances, which adds to the fun.

The Plateau is IMO, the coolest part on Montreal. It's the part of Montreal, north of the Old Port, bounded by Sherbrooke to the south, Parc to the West, St-Denis to the East and Laurier to the north.

Bar Balatou on St-Laurent and Marie-Anne (3 blocks north of Schwatrz's) is a small bar that features an eclectic mix of cool bands.

Dieu du Ciel (on Laurier) is a fantastic brewpub.

Au Kouign-Amann is a bakery on Mont Royal just west of St-Denis where you will find an outrageously delicious Breton pastry (Kouign-Amann) that you will not find anywhere else in North America. Its made only from flour, sugar, butter and salt but it is utterly amazing.

Cafe Olimico on St Viateur is an Italian-style cafe where old men go to argue about soccer. Fantastic espresso and one block away from the best bagels on the planet (St Viateur).

Mamie Clafouti on St Denis makes great artisinal breads.

La Prunelle on Duluth has very reasonably priced French food. You must bring your own wine.

[echelon_john]

Stay at a Hotel de L'Institut on St Denis. Run by the provincial culinary/hotelier school, it's got terrific food, a great location to walk to everything, and is very reasonable.

Au Pied de Cochon is over the top, but a great place to get your foie gras on.

Inspecteur L'Epingle is a great neighborhood bar where you could sit and have a beer in the afternoon with kids/no issues. Gets busy/more grown up later at night.

Khyber's pretty good for Afghani food.

Try to hit the indoor markets.

And buy Amora mustard...harder to find here in the U.S.

[thegunner]

Au Kouign-Amann is a bakery on Mont Royal just west of St-Denis where you will find an outrageously delicious Breton pastry (Kouign-Amann) that you will not find anywhere else in North America. Its made only from flour, sugar, butter and salt but it is utterly amazing.

i think dominique ansel brought it to NYC :) although their shop is also shut down now... so i think the montreal version is worth trying!

i should clarify, i'm here on business to attend a conference, so i don't necessarily have the choice of location that makes it easy to get around, but it sounds like old city is a must (i'll try to hit up all these places though - i only have 3 days!)

[DarkStar]

St. Joseph's Oratorio - see the heart of brother Andre
Schwartz's - a must
L'Express - great classic French Bistro
Fairmount Bagels
Big plus on L'Express, my fav bistro in Montreal:banana:

[1X10]

If you are a hockey fan then you just hit he mother load of 'villes'...

Habs are on 'tres chaud' streak and look to be matching up against the TB Lightning 'dans' first round...

Lots of other GREAT advice given above, but do enjoy our national obsession...

Allez Canadiens!!

[thegunner]

If you are a hockey fan then you just hit he mother load of 'villes'...

Habs are on 'tres chaud' streak and look to be matching up against the TB Lightning 'dans' first round...

Lots of other GREAT advice given above, but do enjoy our national obsession...

Allez Canadiens!!

i am indeed :) although a very saddened sens fan.

[alessandro]

Go to one of the big public food markets, either Jean-Talon or Atwater.
Near Jean-Talon, check out Quincaillerie Dante, on Rue Dante: Half gun shop, half kitchen supplies.

I tend to not want to go to Vieux Montreal, because it's touristy, and there's other more places to go that are more interesting to me. But if it's your first time, go walk around. And if you are down that way, definitely hit up Olive et Gourmando, a great breakfast/lunch place. Go early.

You could just walk up St. Denis to the Plateau neighborhood (north of Sherbrooke) and see what strikes your fancy--endless choices there.

Stay at a Hotel de L'Institut on St Denis. Run by the provincial culinary/hotelier school, it's got terrific food, a great location to walk to everything, and is very reasonable.

I stayed there! Cool place.

Really, my best resource for food in MTL is An Endless Banquet, a blog run by a young anglophone couple who do a great job and have excellent taste. Here's a link to their A-Z guide, in two parts (it even has maps), and don't be put off by the date--they update it all the time:
http://endlessbanquet.blogspot.com/2005/05/list-pt-1-m.html

[alessandro]

St. Joseph's Oratorio - see the heart of brother Andre
Schwartz's - a must
L'Express - great classic French Bistro
Fairmount Bagels

St. Viateur > Fairmount, but only by a schmear.

Philippe?

[echelon_john]

Foodie Date Night is another great Montreal food blog...

[foon]

I don't have recommendation for food, but their bike sharing program was wonderful when I visited last summer. Lots of stations, lots of bikes. A great way to get around the city.

[thegunner]

I see the docks, but I don't see any bikes...

[deechee]

Yeah Bixi isn't in service yet. The docks only recently came out. Lazy bums. Its no wonder they're in serious debt. They still managed to send me a reminder my pass will expire in May.

I'll take a guess you're at Palais de congrès @PyCon? Kyobar is around the corner and my favourite Japanese resto in town. http://kyobar.com/fr/

Haven't been here yet, but looking forward to going: http://orangerouge.ca/

I don't think he's worth the hype, but Garde Manger is solid: http://crownsalts.com/gardemanger/

There's Holder too: http://restaurantholder.com/en

And if you want to experience French Quebec partying: http://2pierrots.com/

[thegunner]

haha, good call - if any of you are also tech nerds, send me a PM - my booth needs some love :)

[foon]

Yeah Bixi isn't in service yet. The docks only recently came out. Lazy bums. Its no wonder they're in serious debt. They still managed to send me a reminder my pass will expire in May.


huh? That's too bad. Looks like it went bankrupt. When I visited lots of people were using it.