Best Eats of Montreal

 

 

To my mind, vacation means seeing the sights, taking in the scenery, and feasting on local eats. Naturally, when we took a weeklong vacation to Montreal, one of my initial goals was to scour blogs for advice on the best food to be had in the city. In composing our list of must-eats, we tried to strike a balance between affordability and amazing food. This is pretty standard for us, as that money tree has not yet sprang up in our backyard.

Between yelp reviews and Pinterest searching for eat-happy blog postings, here is the list of restaurants we chose to visit:

  

Resto du Village. Located just off famous St Catherine Street in The Village, this 24-hour café serves all the classic eats of a Canadian diner. There’s Paté Chinois (Shepherd’s Pie), for one. Of course they also serve poutine, the unofficial national food of Canada. In all my searches, nearly every food blog mentioned that poutine is a must-eat when visiting the great white north. We obeyed this advice, ordering a classic poutine (fries, brown gravy, and unbreaded cheese curds) and an “all dressed” version, which was basically the classic but with every imaginable meat and vegetable sprinkled on top. We devoured the works with zeal and left full and happy. Poutine is great fuel for all the walking involved in exploring the city. Cost pre-tip: 23 CAD.



Resto du Village

Mountains of poutine

Tim Hortons. This we chose because it’s an icon of Canadian food. It is to Canada what Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme is to the USA. We ordered a half dozen donuts and tried to make them last most of the week. By “tried,” I mean they were devoured within 24 hours of purchasing. Half dozen donuts: 6 CAD.

 



      Schwartz's Montreal smoked sandwich and cherry soda.     

Schwartz’s. This was on the top five of several blogs, and after eating there, the reason is clear. Montreal smoked meat is to die for, and Schwartz’s does an excellent job of piling up the thin layers of meat into a tantalizing sandwich. Pair it with poutine to share, a big dill pickle, and cherry sodas. This was the recommendation of our energetic server, and dang was he right. My oh my…! Cost pre-tip: 34 CAD.




Hoegaarden beer

Terasse sur L’Auberge. Eating on a rooftop is hard to beat, and this particular rooftop eatery has views of surrounding Old Montreal. The atmosphere is mellow chic and the place has friendly servers, good food, and pleasing beverages. My hubby recommends pairing lobster tails with a glass of Hoegaarden beer. I chose the Duck Confit Grilled Cheese because I love anytime people take liberties with the eternally versatile grilled cheese. While that was good, I was disappointed in my 12 dollar mojito, which was mostly ice and fruit with maybe 2 oz of beverage. Tasty, yes, but not 12 dollar’s worth. However, I still recommend the restaurant and would love to return for appetizers and a different cocktail at some future time. Overall, this was a small vacation splurge but enjoyable. Cost pre-tip: about 75 CAD.



Lobster tails on a bed of greens

The Green Spot. This is called “G-Spot” by locals, for whom this restaurant apparently hits THE spot. The interior has a North-American diner feel, with red vinyl cushioned booths and a wooden bar with stools. We got poutine, which we had fallen in love with by this point, and enjoyed the casual atmosphere while downing the beautiful fries with luscious deep brown gravy and melty curds. I got a poutine called “Avalanche,” which had big strips of bacon laying on top the epic heap of fries. Hubby got the “Italienne,” which was fries with pasta sauce in place of the gravy, along with pepperoni. It was good, but he wished he’d gotten one with the classic gravy. Our server was very helpful – she even got us the 4:00 beer special about 15 minutes before it began, for which Hubby was impressed. He likes beer, what can I say? Cost pre-tip: 29 CAD.

 

St-Viateur Bagel. The best bagels we have ever had. We stopped in and picked up enough bagels for breakfast for the entire week. Hubby got his “Everything” or “All Dressed” bagels (“tout garnie” in French), and I got some cinnamon-raisin. The one surprise we had there was that the tea Hubby ordered was made from a tea bag. We had figured that being out of America meant tea would be done from loose-leaf and not from dust-tea in a bag. It was still good, just perhaps unexpected. That being said, it was still one of the best stops we made the whole trip, as we enjoyed those bagels all week, every morning with our coffee and tea on our rental home’s patio. One dozen bagels, one coffee, and one tea: 7 CAD.


Jardin Nelson. We sat out front with a view of Place Jacques Cartier, the pedestrian tourist market that runs through the center of Old Montreal. It was chilly outside, but the heaters on the patio kept everything at a comfortable temperature. Then there was the glorious mushroom crepe, which was heaven itself. Granted, I’m a mushroom lover, so anything that involves those fungi caramelized in butter makes me feel like I’ve just been smooched. Note that while the salmon platter is good, it is not recommended to anyone with a hearty appetite. They had good beer and hard cider, too. If we went back, I’d go to the courtyard in the back and sit for hours listening to the live music and drinking my way through a pitcher or two of sangria. Only downside to enjoying this region of Montreal is the tourist pricing. Cost pre-tip: 69 CAD.


Corneli’s. This classy Italian restaurant is located in the heart of Little Italy. We arrived at 2 pm, so it was quiet and we got a seat by the window and attentive service. We each enjoyed a glass of wine, complementary focaccia bread with peppers and oil, and shared an excellent pizza canadienne It was affordable enough that the bill was reasonable, but the interior was so classy that my hubby even ate his pizza with a fork. Cost pre-tip: 39 CAD.

 

Focaccia bread and peppers in oil

 

The view of Boulevard Saint-Laurent in Little Italy

 

Pizza Canadienne
 

Chipotle et Jalapeño. We had intended to go to O’Thym’s in The Village(which features BYOB), but it was packed, so we wandered around the corner and discovered this little place. The Aztec soup was a great starter. Hubby had some Mexican beer and quesadillas, and I got lost in the flavors of a chicken mole enchilada. The atmosphere is relaxed and it appears they sell Hispanic groceries there as well, if you’re looking for authentic ingredients. Probably the most impressive part was the waiter speaking French at one table, Spanish at another, and English at yet another. He switched so easily between the three that we were astounded. The interior is all-white, with white walls, chairs, and tables. There’s occasional splashes of color from art on the walls and from the wall of Hispanic groceries. Between the excellent food, uncluttered atmosphere, and friendly service, we highly recommend the experience. Cost pre-tip: 38 CAD.

 



Chicken mole enchilada

 

 

We were in Montreal for a total of one week, so we only scratched the surface of the good eats available there. Have you had some Montreal food adventures? Where and what do you recommend eating?