rmbarr

If you get down to SoHo, Broadway Panhandler on Broome St. (which is two blocks below Houston; the store is between Wooster and Greene, http://www.broadwaypanhandler.com/) is maybe worth checking out. It's overpriced overall, but they do have a few hard-to-find items and their cookbooks are all 20% off. New York Cake and Baking Supply is a lot more useful generally, though. If you're down on Broome, you're down near what remains of Little Italy, but where to go in that area for good Italian pastries is more than I could tell you, unfortunately!

This isn't a "must eat" as such, but here is another suggestion: if you're willing to carry it home, stock up on maple syrup. Just go to the outdoor Bonsecours Market by Hamel, if it isn't too cold, or for that matter to a grocery store, and buy the cans with the cute pictures on them (no chance of breakage as there is with glass; it's probably best to transfer the contents into glass once you broach them, however). Maple syrup is really cheap in Quebec - something like $3-$4 US for a half-liter, last I checked - because the industry is subsidized by the province, and it makes great gifts.

As a native Montrealer now living in New York, I think you should be warned that Montreal bagels are different from New York bagels - they're egg bagels, are often a tiny bit sweet, and are a bit chewier and have bigger holes than the New York breed. I love them with butter and a glass of milk, but I prefer New York bagels for sandwiches. But Montrealers who weren't fed New York-style bagels in their youth, as I was by my American-born parents, tend to prefer the Montreal version. This is a source of ongoing disagreement between proponents of the two types, so don't let me prejudice you, and weigh in when you decide! As for the overall question, Montreal is just generally an excellent place to eat: restaurants as good and probably as plentiful as anywhere in North America, and often less expensive. I second all the suggestions about Montreal bagels, smoked meat sandwiches (a bit like pastrami, but not really; Shwartz's is one of the classic spots), and poutine (which is complete junk food but beloved by all but the lactose intolerant). And about Greek food (there's a big Greek community, mostly still 1st and 2nd generation). Kenk's itinerary sounds pretty good, if you have a stomach about three times the size of mine. If you're historically minded, there is an older Quebecois cuisine that is basically French but with a lot of regional specialties like game dishes, tourtiere (meat pie) and maple sugar-based food like tarte au sucre (this is a bit like a Southern pecan pie without the pecans). Others in this forum may be able to suggest good venues for that sort of cuisine; some of the places you listed may be aming them. Also, French food is done better in Montreal than most places in North America, so consider that, if you like classic French food or pastry. (I had a nice French meal last summer at a restaurant called Guy et Dodo.) I would definitely get croissants, for one thing; on average they're much better than, say, in New York (my family used to frequent the Duc de Lorraine, which is a small chain of patisseries, but there may be better places). And my vague feeling about the Plateau is that it's Chelsea without the huge chain stores, or SoHo 10 years ago with fewer stores (and it will NEVER get like SoHo unless the Montreal economy changes radically). But my information isn't very up to date.