OT Trip to Montreal July 20-24

[GonaSovereign]

Originally Posted by pdonk

Notice I did not suggest bagels. Not as good as Toronto bagels. They are thin, not very leavened with a sweet dough.

This could be a thread unto itself, each region/city arguing why its bagels are best.

Thread drift time.
As a 416er myself, I can attest to 514 bagels being the best. NY bagels are very good...but Montreal's are the perfect chewy delicious.

Back on topic - great reccos so far. You could probably stay in Plateau the entire time and be totally happy.

[DarkStar]

[QUOTE=jemdet;2393216]Off the top of my head:

- L'Express
- Musee des Beaux-Artes
- Parc la Fontaine for picnicking and outdoor drinking
- That bagel place if you are into an inferior style of bagel
- Marche Atwater (or any of the public markets)
- The poutine place at the corner of Saint Laurent / Rachel (if you aren't aware that poutine is overrated.)
- Coffee, everywhere

L'Express is a long time fav of mine.

[deechee]

I'm going to throw some different choices than the usual Schwartz/Bagels stuff; which is fine but honestly, as a local I never go to those places. I lived in the plateau next to Lafontaine so here are some choices nearby, especially since traffic is a giant mess with our highways.

Pamika Proper Thai food, some misses, but if you want good spicy, my wife and I always loved getting their take out.
Axe throwing Nothing more to say.
Santropol Roulant market A great local organization that provides meals. They also sell their fresh farm goods on Thursdays(from a farm on the west end of the island) and also have some great canned goods a few friends of mine make.
Dance classes/ . Smack in front of Mt Royal metro, great location for classes or renting rooms to practice your dance moves.
Spanish Tapas Pintxo was one of my favourite restaurants before they had a fire. Great food and service.
Japanese tea shop . This is a small hole in the wall but the very knowledgeable owner serves a variety of proper Japanese and Chinese teas and some small snacks including shaved ice (Japanese style). This is as "authentic" as it gets. Most of the "Japanese" restaurants in the city are owned by Chinese or Vietnamese and serve you crap tea.
Free outdoor pool . On the far end of Laurier park, this pool is a free outdoor break any time of the day.
The best cakes in town After your swim, grab some great sweets at the cake shop, or some meals at her old location on Lanaudiere.
Pottery shop If you want some local souvenirs (Rhubarbe uses their stuff) you can walk in anytime to pick up some beautiful pottery.

[schwa86]

If you want to splurge a little, my son and I ate here (great tasting menu) pretty near you: http://bouillonbilk.com/

We also spent a super relaxing afternoon at the spa scandiave near the old city -- all kinds of water spaces, massages, etc.

This bar in your neighborhood was quite stylish, with a Japanese twist http://montreall.com/big-in-japan-ba...e-secret-door/

[NHAero]

Thanks for all the suggestions!
My wife loves small plates restaurants - tapas, but not necessarily just Spanish. Any recommendations?
And should we be planning local rides, say in the 20-30 mile round trip, to any cool destinations?

[deechee]

From the plateau, the only relaxing ride would be over the Jacques Cartier bridge to the F1 track and l'Estacade. But the track will only be open until the 22nd.

Aside from that, picnic type rides along lachine canal I guess. You can ride the lachine canal bike path to Dollard (and continue if you want) and back for probably 50k. It's a flat pancake run except if you go into Senneville where you have one little hump.

As for tapas, I'd say most restos here can accomodate you sharing. My wife and I often can share just appetizers. Probably would help if you narrowed down what you liked/didn't like from people's suggestions. ChuChai is great to share, and their fake meats are amazing. Their fake duck is great if you're not hungry; otherwise get the real thing from MonNan. No need to look at the menu. Just ask for a whole duck. Mmmm.

[mikemowbz]

Dieu du ciel, already mentioned, has some of the best beer north of the 49th parallel, let alone the city. Cheval Blanc, on Ontario near the central Berri-UQAM metro station, is a win for atmosphere and beer both (and would have to be the oldest brewpub in the city, I reckon). I spent more than my fair share of time at each in the six or so years I lived in the city, and return to each promptly when I'm in town.

If picnicking, and at all inclined toward middle eastern flavours, I'd recommend making the trip out to Notre-Dame-de-Grace (NDG) west of downtown/Westmount to stock up at Akhavan, a sizeable Persian supermarket on Rue Sherbrooke. Gather up some bread, baba ganoush (distinctively smokey), hummus, olives, feta, pistachios, and make a few selections from the epic range of fresh-made baklava for dessert. I used to live a 15-minute walk from there, and miss it.

Lots of other good suggestions here (definitely make a point of strolling up to the top of Mount Royal). On the dining front, I'd add Kitchen Galerie as a personal favourite for a hearty supper (if you can get a reservation at the small resto near the Jean-Talon market, don't hesitate to try their foie gras specialties), and L'Avenue on Mont Royal is a sure hit for breakfast.

Finally, I will note that Fairmount and St Viateur bagels are more or less equally good (and obviously superior to East-Coast or Toronto style bagels). Recommending the bagels may be predictable, sure, but some things are popular for a reason.

[twangston73]

Lots of great suggestions here. We just got back from 5 days in Montreal and would add the following:

Nora Grey is a fantastic spot for Italian food and cocktails in an oddly retro space.

If you can't get into Joe Beef (you likely can't) consider Liverpool House or their wine bar on the same street.

For Poutine and a weirdly small but yummy burger try Patati Patata

If you like street/urban art and murals, there is a mural festival in MTL every year. The festival has a website with a map showing the installations - some really cool stuff.

If you like cocktails El Pequeno is a small spot with a speakeasy downstairs.

The botanical garden is a gem if you like that sort of thing.

You can't go wrong though - the overall standard of food, drink, hospitality is off the charts!

[adrien]

Originally Posted by jemdet

That's might be true, but do either compare to the vaunted Long Island bagel? I think not.

(The folks at St. Viateur are really sweet, no offense to them. Buy a mug or something.)

Montreal has great bagels. Never understood the bread circles New Yorkers get excited about. I'm biased though.

Smoked meat also a must.

[ultraman6970]

Taking notes of this one...

Originally Posted by belopsky

http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/

[ultraman6970]

Any good place where to get a used frame for good price over there in montreal??? Maybe a forumite willing to do a local pick up?? :P

[SuperColnago]

Originally Posted by belopsky

http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/

Must

[NHAero]

Among the great things about visiting Montreal is that we park our car in front of the B&B, pull out the bikes, and the car stays there for the duration. All travel is by bike. The bike roads are great and even when we were on roads without bike roads people were courteous. We rode up Mont Royal twice for the views, the people watching, and to see who played the public outdoor piano.
The highlight of the trip was the Festival Nuits D'Afrique. Outdoors, free, a large stage and a small one, terrific music, interesting vendors, world-class people-watching. We went three out of four nights. On Saturday night there was the International Fireworks Competition (every Weds and Sat. night.)
The Contemporary Art Museum had a major exhibition of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer - much recommended. Fascinating, participatory sculpture/installations using technology and light and a bit of Rube Goldberg. The Beaux Arts Museum has a major exhibition about the African influences on Picasso that not only shows the African works and his, but delves deeply into issues of how artifacts from other cultures may be misinterpreted. There is another exhibition of contemporary black Canadian art that is well worth seeing.
Besides the amazing freshly baked croissants every morning at our B&B, we had four wonderful dinners out. Manana, a Mexican cantina on St. Denis; Singh's for Indian on St. Laurent; Nil Bleu for Ethiopian on St. Denis; and Miso for Japanese and sushi on Saint-Catherine. In between, ice cream at Au Festin de Babette, and pastry at Cheskies.
Thanks for all the pointers in this thread!

[fmradio516]

Heading there this month so looking forward to some of these recommendations!

[zzy]

I was there last month and always love my time in Montreal. One thing that is really great about MTL is it's markets. I like Jean talon the most myself but there are several. Quebec is also the only place in North America that allows raw cheeses so you get get some really good/funky stuff. Deiu de ceil is a must too, and their lil brewpub is great. My favorite restaurant is garde manger but book like a month ahead. But sometimes you can squeeze into their bar if you go early. I also got to pickup some of my favorite apple champagne from Du Minot. The biking really is incredible there but the drivers are out of their damn minds.