Montreal?
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Charles Weiss
Charles Weiss
I've eaten at Joe Beef once and found it to be quite ordinary. Main drawing card seeems to be large cocktails.
Montreal is a great opportunity to BYOB with lots of good small chef-owned bistro-type places. Two I'd recommend highly would be Yoyo and Le P'tit Plateau.
However, I live in Boston, and those who frequent Montreal more would certainly have more cred.
Charles
It's been a few too many years for my recs to be current, but BU (www.bu-mtl.com) was a great wine bar and good (inexpensive, as well) lunch spot; haven't been there for dinner. lExpress (3927 St-Denis) has been around forever, and I still like it for both the food (classic French) and wine.
The food at Caf Ferreira (1446 Peel, www.ferreiracafe.com) is just OK, but the list of Ports is truly unbelievable, if you're into that sort of thing.
People continue to rave about Schwarz's Deli for the smoked meat sandwich, but honestly I don't see the appeal, and certainly not given the line one must stand in. Maybe it's better elsewhere. There's a taste-off somewhere in the bowels of the eGullet archives where a bunch of locals concluded that another place was better; I'm sure you could find it yourself.
Is Toqu! still what it used to be?
I loved the old incarnation of Brunoise (http://www.brunoise.ca/), but haven't been to the new, downscaled brasserie version.
The food at Caf Ferreira (1446 Peel, www.ferreiracafe.com) is just OK, but the list of Ports is truly unbelievable, if you're into that sort of thing.
People continue to rave about Schwarz's Deli for the smoked meat sandwich, but honestly I don't see the appeal, and certainly not given the line one must stand in. Maybe it's better elsewhere. There's a taste-off somewhere in the bowels of the eGullet archives where a bunch of locals concluded that another place was better; I'm sure you could find it yourself.
Is Toqu! still what it used to be?
I loved the old incarnation of Brunoise (http://www.brunoise.ca/), but haven't been to the new, downscaled brasserie version.
Charles Weiss
Charles Weiss
LOL. It's the closest place to Boston for good French food and BYOB!
I've eaten at Toque before (twice and after (once) they moved from St. Laurent. The food is very good, the current digs very modern and dazzling, the cost more painful than when $1 Canadian was 70 cents US.
I like Schwarz' Deli, and have never been to Montreal without going there for lunch. The smoked meat (really good corned beef) is delicious, they have a neat coal griddle/stove from decades ago, the line moves very quickly. And of course, I'm much more of a yahoo than Thor is.
And if you have a chance and are driving, go to Marche Jean Talon if you like produce.
I really like Yoyo for BYOB. I think I mentioned that.
Charles
Charles Weiss
Charles Weiss
how can you not love a place signed "Charcuterie Hebraica?"
Joe Dressner
Joe Dressner
I go to Montral three or four times a year. My kids are both medical students at McGill. Or something like that.
Toqu is the reference place and worth the visit. It is perhaps too studied, but some of it can be quite delicious and it was certainly the pacesetter in Qubec.
I had a wonderful meal at Chez L'picier and have only heard good things about La Chronique. I was disappointed at Club Chasse et Pche the one time I dined there though.
I ate at Joe Beef but my meal was ruined by the overdose of tarragon on my plate. I have a violent allergic reaction to tarragon and the server didn't believe me and didn't really want to serve me something else. My children were mortified and the entire scene was embarassing. I left the restaurant and stood outside in the pouring rain until my daughter came out and insisted I march right back into the restaurant and enjoy myself. The incident was later turned into a Larry David episode. Denyse and my kids loved the meal, but I fumed all evening.
Bu is a very nice wine bar in Mile End and worth visiting.
In general, I worship at the feet of Martin Picard's Au Pied de Cochon in the Plateau. Order every dish you are afraid will give you a heart attack and you will be happy. If you can, go there in the last spring/early summer and eat his raw shellfish dishes.
I'm not crazy about the Montral bagels, but you ought to try some at the Fairmont and Saint-Viateur. They are the pride of the locals.
I do love Schwartz's, which is as much about the experience as the smoked meat. But my favorite Jewish eating spot is Wilenskys Light Lunch on Fairmont. This is a shrine to everything I hold dear in life and is not to be missed. In fact, you could avoid all the places above and just eat there and your trip to Montral will have been worth the money.
Do go to the Jean Talon market and/or the Atwater market.
Have fun!
Toqu is the reference place and worth the visit. It is perhaps too studied, but some of it can be quite delicious and it was certainly the pacesetter in Qubec.
I had a wonderful meal at Chez L'picier and have only heard good things about La Chronique. I was disappointed at Club Chasse et Pche the one time I dined there though.
I ate at Joe Beef but my meal was ruined by the overdose of tarragon on my plate. I have a violent allergic reaction to tarragon and the server didn't believe me and didn't really want to serve me something else. My children were mortified and the entire scene was embarassing. I left the restaurant and stood outside in the pouring rain until my daughter came out and insisted I march right back into the restaurant and enjoy myself. The incident was later turned into a Larry David episode. Denyse and my kids loved the meal, but I fumed all evening.
Bu is a very nice wine bar in Mile End and worth visiting.
In general, I worship at the feet of Martin Picard's Au Pied de Cochon in the Plateau. Order every dish you are afraid will give you a heart attack and you will be happy. If you can, go there in the last spring/early summer and eat his raw shellfish dishes.
I'm not crazy about the Montral bagels, but you ought to try some at the Fairmont and Saint-Viateur. They are the pride of the locals.
I do love Schwartz's, which is as much about the experience as the smoked meat. But my favorite Jewish eating spot is Wilenskys Light Lunch on Fairmont. This is a shrine to everything I hold dear in life and is not to be missed. In fact, you could avoid all the places above and just eat there and your trip to Montral will have been worth the money.
Do go to the Jean Talon market and/or the Atwater market.
Have fun!
Charles Weiss
Charles Weiss
Well, there's the SAQ. And then there's the SAQ.
Fanciest store with the biggest selection is on Ste Catherines. You can check the choices and order online. I'm told that with advance notice they'll get something from anywhere in the Provincial system. But no reason not to bring with you if you have space.
Charles
The SAQ:
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www.saq.com
Joe Dressner
Joe Dressner
You are entitled to two bottles per person when you cross the border. That's it.
Charles Weiss
Charles Weiss
You can take more than two borders per person in either direction, you just have to declare them. I don't believe there's a limit on boarders.
Charles
Joe Dressner
Joe Dressner
I think they recently changed the rules.
SteveTimko
Steve Timko
I visited Montreal in 1995 and I thought Schwarz's deli was excellent. For what it's worth the lead singer of Franz Ferdinand, Alex Kapranos, was a chef before getting his rock and roll gig full time and he wrote a column for a British newspaper about his food experiences while touring with the band. Those columns were collected in a book and one of the places he raves about was Schwarz's deli.
The other place I liked was Cafe Cherrier. It's right by the Sherbrooke subway station.
The other place I liked was Cafe Cherrier. It's right by the Sherbrooke subway station.
U
Unknown
Guest
Any restaurant that serves tripe pizza and bison tongue is worth a shot.
Ive been dying to try a big bowl of poutine.
Joe Dressner
Joe Dressner
Their poutine looks nothing like that. It's a refined poutine.
U
Unknown
Guest
I didnt mean to suggest that the poutine in the photo was the one served at Au Pied de Cochon. Based on the website pictures it doesnt look like they serve in Styrofoam. I was merely musing on far Canadian food in general.
But how is poutine refined? That would seem to defeat the purpose.
But how is poutine refined? That would seem to defeat the purpose.
I had an amazingly pointy-headed geek dinner at a restaurant in Montreal a few years ago. The folks there had gone to the Terroir-SF school of restaurant management, they were heavy duty. They spurned me for the first 2/3 of the meal and then started making me blind taste things. Can't remember the name.
Thanks for that tidbit about FF, Steve. I have a weakness for their music, having spent some of my misspent youth witnessing the birth of New Wave in LA (though FF sounds more like the love child of Joy Division and Culture Club than a true New Wave band).
Mark Lipton
(Part of the New Scottish Gentry)
Sharon Bowman
Sharon Bowman
Love Franz Ferdinand! Makes me think, "Ah, it's good to be young and ugly." Though, Mark, Culture Club? Seriously?