Campofiorin

No offense but Buona Notte and Globe and good food really don't belong in the same sentence. These are places for seen and be seen and the food is ok at best as overpriced as it is and would never recommend it to our NYC friend considering the list provided. Au Pied de Cochon is a good bet so is Le Club Chasse et Pêche. Joe Beef and Liverpool House get lots of good reviews. Toqué is arguably the city's top resto. Garde Manger is hip and food is good. Also in the Old City, there's Aszu as well as Le Local and Chez l'Épicier and Graziella (one of the best italian). For more of a wine bar feel Les Trois Petits Bouchons, Comptoir à vin Bouchonné and Bü are your top choices.

thanks, riboflavinjoe. i had my suspicions about the underground city but wanted to double check. i'll brave the cold and use taxis and public transportation as needed in order to get to the best grub. ← Think Manhattan Mall, only larger. If you've done JTM already, you might enjoy Atwater which is not very far from a subway stop. You could also have poutine at la Banquise on Rachel and enjoy the sights of the Platea Mont-Royal, the part of town in which it's located. Sorta like the Village down in the Apple. Man, I miss Murray's and and Joe's smoked Mozzarella.

By mext weekend do you mean this coming weekend on St-Patrick's weekend? If the former, be aware that we're expecting about 8-9 inches of snow sat. Weatherwise, it's not as warm as NYC but not that cold at this time of the year and by no means warrant wasting your time in the mall inferno that is the underground city. You should go to Jean-Talon market where you'll fin plenty of specialty shops, cheesemongers and the likes.

You could head to Atwater market. The nuts vendor that is usually at JTM is located there for the winter and their pistachios are simply amazing. They're salted with sea salt though. ANy type of nuts they sell os good.

My bad ;-)

Actually, both shops are on the same street and almost face each other. If I'm not mistaking, there are 2 St-Viateur shop on Fairmount plus the café on Mont-Royal and another shop in the Esposito grocery on St-Michel.

Actually, if he's driving on highway 20 from Montreal he doesn't have to cross the Pierre-Laporte bridge, he'll already be on the south shore. Also, I really don't get all the admiration that Quebec City's people have for Ashton, a chain average at best poutine. Might as well stop at Jucep on the main strip in Drummondville where the thing was supposedly invented. Or better yet, take the Cartier exit when in Rivière-du-Loup and turn right and drive on Cartier to Snack-Bar d'Amours, now we're talking poutine.

Actually, you could take the plane to Ottawa. Stay there the first day then drive 2 hours to Montreal and spend a 2-3 days there and then drive down to Toronto (about 6 hours) for a couple more days and head to Niagara wine country (about an hour and a half from TO depending on traffic) for a day or 2 and head back to Ottawa. That way, you could get to try great restaurants in each cities and get to taste some of the better wines produced in Canada.

This part of town is in the midst of a major turnover as many old buildings are being turned into condos and lofts. I really don't want this to sound mean, but it seems as though it'll be hard to find something in our fair town that will satisfy you, too much of this, not enough of that et al. Don't take this the wrong way thoug, it's just an impression.

Have you tried JTM in the summer or even in the spring when the walls come down nd the market starts bustling? If you don't see yourself just strolling around and enjoying the sights and sounds I don't what will make you enjoy Montreal from a foodie standpoint. I've been to Byward and although I think it's really fine and lively I can't help but also see it as a tourist trap though I really miss going to Sugar Mountain.

If you love to cook and are into finding good ingredients near your foorsteps, I'd suggest Little Italy around Jean-Talon market. Some new condos are being built in that area . You could also explore Plateau Mont-Royal either close to Mont-Royal avenue itself or closer to boulevard St-Laurent. Another location you might want to look at is Mile End on Parc avenue ou Laurier West where there are good restaurants, a great SAQ store and many specialty shops. These are some ideas but Little Italy would be my top choice because you have access to a lot of great food in a 10 minutes radius. Plus, there are some good cookware stores like Quincaillerie Dante on Dante corner of St-Dominique as well as Custom on St-Laurent between Bellechasse and Beaubien which carries to restuarants bu is open to public and has good prices.

Here in Quebec we have poutine, french fries topped with cheddar cheese cruds and gravy. Many various toppings can be added to this trio such as bacon, pepperoni, green pepper, mushrooms, onions, ground beef, sliced franks, chicken and many more. It can also be done the "italian way" by replacing the gravy with bolognese sauce.

Depending on the part of town you live in, you'll find many nice stores. Ares has been mentioned. I also like Quincaillerie Dante in Little Italy on the corner of Sante and St-Dominique. The only place where you'll be able to find Peugeot pepper mill and shotguns for hunting. Fair prices and friendly service. The owner, Helena Faita also runs an intalien cooking school (Mezza Luna) that is very popular. On Laurier ouest there's also Les Touilleurs of which I've heard good things though I've never visited.

I absolutely second this recco. Went there for Earl Grey I needed for chocolate Crème brûlée and went back for many teas. If you go to Marché Jean-Talon, there's a shop right accross the street from Shamrock fish market.

The cheese that won many awards is probably not named Divers au poids as it litteraly means various by the weight meaning that the name of the cheese was not in the computer's system and was tagged various.

I don' t think that any of the two is opened for lunch especially on the weekend.

Hey Daniel, the place you're referring to for foie gras poutine is Au Pied de Cochon on Duluth true québécois cuisine with a definite flare. For you regular poutine search no more, La Banquise is the place, it's located on Rachel street between St-Hubert and Christophe-Colomb. As for your sat. dinner, you might be interested in Joe Beef in St-Henri that dies really well with local products and also excels at fish and seafood. I'm also very keen on Jolifou on Beaubien (corner of Cartier) where the food is french with a definite mexican twist. Prices are good. Also, I don't know if you've ever been but Marché Jean-Talon is IMHO a notch above Atwater but it depends what you're looking for. Many butcher shops a couple of good local cheese shops, Marché des saveurs where you'll find Québec "terroir" products as well as local wine, honey wine, beer and ice cider, some italian shops, a saussage shop, a polish baker and so on.

I really don't mean to nitpick but it's Au pied DE cochon not DU cochon...

Marché Jean-Talon is quieter during the week and tend to be overcrowded on the weekend, especially at this time of the year when all the veggies are fresh and aplenty. As for chocolates, Geneviève de Grandbois on St-Viateur(I think) is a no brainer.

I'd go crazy over an Ontario white peach sherbet.

I know that La COlombe on Duluth has 2 floors, that could be an option.

Off the top of my head, I'D say Christophe. It's BYOB and they have a private room, don't know if it's large enough though and the price range might be a little higher. But definitely quiet and great.

May I recommend Au Petit Extra on Ontario East, just west of Papineau?

They're available at various merchants at JTM or along St-Lautent in Little Italy, at Maison du Rôti, Fouvrac and many more places including many supermarkets.

I can hardly imagine someone busting thir budget on the director's sale considering the amount of uninteresting stuff I've seen through visits at various locations.