Montreal Restaurant Recommendations

[Snackhappy]

You are very much mistaken, Campofiorin. St-Viateur Bagel, as the name would imply, is on St-Viateur street, one block north of Fairmount. It's not very far, though.

[Campofiorin]

My bad ;-)

[coughy]

My husband and I will be in Montreal for only one night. We are staying at the Ritz Carlton but we will have a car. Any suggestions? Price is not an issue.

Thanks

[roger desmond]

My husband and I will be in Montreal for only one night.  We are staying at the Ritz Carlton but we will have a car.  Any suggestions?  Price is not an issue.

Thanks

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Yes-Go to Au Pied De Cochon-

see website: http://www.restaurantaupieddecochon.ca/#

Whether you love seafood, shellfish, or foie gras, this is one of the finest restaurants in the hemispehere!

[rcianci]

Au Pied de Cochon is very fine indeed and a real experience.

Other top restaurants are Toqué! on Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Le Club Chasse & Peche on Rue St-Claude in Old Montreal, and La Chronique on Ave. Laurier in Mile End. Nearer your hotel is Bronte on Rue Sherbroooke.

Edited June 28, 2007 by rcianci (log)

[Lesley C]

Laloux

[Lenski]

Au Pied de Cochon is very fine indeed and a real experience.

Other top restaurants are Toqué! on Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Le Club Chasse & Peche on Rue St-Claude in Old Montreal, and La Chronique on Ave. Laurier in Mile End. Nearer your hotel is Bronte on Rue Sherbroooke.

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Last weekend we had dinner at Toqué! The meal started well, and some of the dishes were good (scallop with ink), but if you have only one night in Montreal there must be better ways to spend your money. The service, although amiable, was very poor.

[rcianci]

Au Pied de Cochon is very fine indeed and a real experience.

Other top restaurants are Toqué! on Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Le Club Chasse & Peche on Rue St-Claude in Old Montreal, and La Chronique on Ave. Laurier in Mile End. Nearer your hotel is Bronte on Rue Sherbroooke.

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Last weekend we had dinner at Toqué! The meal started well, and some of the dishes were good (scallop with ink), but if you have only one night in Montreal there must be better ways to spend your money. The service, although amiable, was very poor.

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Can you elaborate on the poor service?

[Lenski]

Au Pied de Cochon is very fine indeed and a real experience.

Other top restaurants are Toqué! on Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Le Club Chasse & Peche on Rue St-Claude in Old Montreal, and La Chronique on Ave. Laurier in Mile End. Nearer your hotel is Bronte on Rue Sherbroooke.

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Last weekend we had dinner at Toqué! The meal started well, and some of the dishes were good (scallop with ink), but if you have only one night in Montreal there must be better ways to spend your money. The service, although amiable, was very poor.

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Can you elaborate on the poor service?

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Sure. It was Saturday Evening and the place was 60-70% full at its busiest. The number of waiters is significant and they are all very nice. Sometimes, however, they all managed to disappear at the same time. The rhythm was off, water glasses were not filled (I ended up doing it myself), dishes and wine glasses were not removed when empty, you never knew who your waiter was...We thought some of the problems had to do with the kitchen but as one of my friends said "it is only half full, imagine if they were fully committed."

Very nice staff but I was expecting a lot more given the reviews. Maybe it was a night off, I would go back though. And the food was fine.

[Lesley C]

I'm shocked to hear the service at Toque! wasn't good. Shocked.

Joe Beef is another excellent option.

[jfl91]

I had this kinda of service problem at Toqué in the past.

It can be awesome or really poor, you just never know.

[fchrisgrimm]

Toqué! is fabulous (IMHO), but not unlike many "best place in town" kind of contemporary yet formal restaurants. I prefer (amongst comparable places) Vancouver's Lumiere, for instance.

APDC is certainly a definitive local dining experience. Hard to recommend anything else, if you are looking for a place to have one meal in Montreal.

We're returning to Montreal very shortly, and have our three dinner reservations at Bazaar Anise, APDC, and Joe Beef, for what it's worth.

Edited July 1, 2007 by fchrisgrimm (log)

[ArtistSeries]

I'm shocked to hear the service at Toque! wasn't good. Shocked.

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I hate to chime in this way, but I've also had some bad experiences at Toque with the service, this is usually with larger groups of friends. Some nights are like that I guess.

[coughy]

Upon a recommendation from a friend we chose to dine at Ariel on rue Drummond. We were a little put off that the restaurant was empty when we got there but we sat down and were treated royally by an adorable waitress. Our food was all fresh and delicious, wine was great and reasonable. It seems they do a big lunch business so dinner time is slow.

The owner came to chat and was charming. Give them a try - it is definitely worth it.

[Michael M]

Notice I put wine first?

A last-minute use of air miles has bought us 2 cheap tickets to Montreal for the second weekend in November. It all happened quickly, and I haven't even looked at a map of the city yet, or done my usual extensive pre-vacation food research: where to try the best patisseries/boulangeries, great wine bars, seasonally oriented restaurants, interesting little places.

Browsing here got a few good hits. We don't even have a hotel yet, but perhaps a good area to stay in would be nice. We're from Chicago and lived in N.Y., and when we travel we'd prefer to stay in neighborhood areas (like SoHo or Old Town in Chicago) rather than tourist central (Michigan St. in Chicago or Union Station in NY). Advice here?

Things we love: good wine and servers who love it and know it, too. Good coffee. Great bakeries. All suggestions welcome! Thanks!

[Thesorus]

Notice I put wine first?

Things we love:  good wine and servers who love it and know it, too.  Good coffee.  Great bakeries.  All suggestions welcome!  Thanks!

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For hotels, there you have to look at some nicer hotels in Old Montreal.

for Wine, have a look at BU ( www.bu-mtl.com) or Pullman; both are wine bars (but you have to order food) or two newcomer, Les 3 Petits Bouchons and Justine, those are more restaurants than wine bars, but you can find really fun private import wines.

All of the above a reachable by public transport(safe), walking or taxi and are on fun streets to walk on (except Pullman)

For the rest, I'm no export on bakeries or coffee, except for Caffe Italia in Little Italy; but there are tons of threads on those subjects here.

M.

[rcianci]

I second the recommendation of boutique hotels in Old Montreal. A personal favorite is the Hotel Place d'Armes. You may also wish to consider a B&B on the Plateau Mont Royal as that is a very cool neighborhood with lots of great boutiques, restaurants, cafe's and bars. Agree with Thesorus' suggestions of Bu and Trois Petit Bouchons. Let me add to the list Aszu and Le Club Chasse et Pêche in Old Montreal and La Montee de Lait on the Plateau. Also on the Plateau is Au Pied de Cochon which serves up insanely large portions of exceptionally good food in a lively, convivial atmosphere.

A good Montreal resource is "The List" on A. J. Kinik's and Michael Marek's blog, ...an endless banquet.

The List Pt. 1: A-M

The List, Pt. 2: N-Z

Edited October 9, 2007 by rcianci (log)

[riboflavinjoe]

we'd prefer to stay in neighborhood areas (like SoHo or Old Town in Chicago) rather than tourist central (Michigan St. in Chicago or Union Station in NY).  Advice here?

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do you know about vrbo.com?

[sf&m]

I was just going to say....check out "an endless banquet"....they also have a couple of cute gourmet maps, with everything you need to know.

For Wine, do check out Pullman.... they feature excellent off-the-beaten-track private import wine available by the glass, and their sommeliers know their stuff. And their small plate selection is excellent. Seems more interesting than Bu these days.

Otherwise for relatively new and together restos.... check out Atelier on St Laurent. For a unique Bistro go to Bazare Anise on Laurier. For more straight on bistro - Lemeac is open 7 days a week with amazing high quality consistency. And after 10pm you can get a full menu Table d'Hot bargain for $22.00.

For Sunday brunch - Lemeac again, Cafe de la Posta or Hotel Gault (clean/cool "euro" experience).

[Thesorus]

for brunch, I will suggest "Le Réservoire" on Duluth St.

[erikd]

Girlfriend (now fiancee, more on that later....) and i were just in Montreal this weekend.

We are both restaurant owners/chefs in Portland maine, and decided to take a drive up to eat at PDC. Delicious. We even proposed to each other over the best bowl of tripe I have ever had (see above).

After the meal, we asked Phillipe, the Som, where he eats/drinks. Le trois petit Bouchons was his answer. Simple chalkboard menu, focused wine list. We began with a bottle of Cremant, which was perfect for the pissaladiere, charcuterie and cheese dish.....

Highly reccommended!

and we stayed at Le Saint Sulpice, which was a boutiquey hotel in the old town...the staff was amazing

erik

[Kentan]

After spending last week in Montreal, all I can say is WOW. I'd prepared a list of casual places to dine at while I was in your fair city, but the longer I stayed the longer my list grew due to numerous other recommendations from people. I'm sure everyone knows the places I'm listing, but thought you might be interested in an outsider's opinion. Except for one Thai place, I didn't go out for any Asian food because Vancouver excels in that category.

Breakfast

One thing that hit me was how well Montreal does breakfast. Maybe it's the climate that creates the desire for heartier fare in the morning? Or the mix of North American pancake culture with the French crepe tradition? I don't know the answer, but most places in Vancouver don't yet 'get' how to do breakfast.

- Restaurant L'Avenue (Mont-Royal E) - Breakfast heaven. This could be the best place I've ever been for breakfast. I went twice and could easily have gone for breakfast every day of my stay. One time it was the huevos rancheros with an amazing smoothie and the other was a calorie-laden feast of beans, sausages, bacon, eggs, pancake, roast potatoes, fruit, and cretons. Yeah, the waiters have a bit of an attitude, but they could greet me with a hail of insults and laugh at my fashion sense, and I'd still keep coming back for food like this. Even saw Roch Voisine while I was there.

- Chez Jose (Duluth E) - Tiny place with a lovely breakfast. Had the tasty Spanish omelette on the waitress' recommendation. Staff were very friendly and didn't rush us even though the place was packed.

- Bagel Etc (St Laurent) - It's been around forever but it still does breakfast right. The Pain D'ore was just right with not too much egg. Waitresses were very attentive and engaging. Coffee cup was never less than 3/4 full. I was there at 10 on a Sunday but it really started filling up at 11. Montreal time is a bit different than Vancouver time!

Pastry

So much to eat, so little time. My favourite was Kouign Aman, the Breton bakery on Mont-Royal E. Their croissants aux amandes were insane. For pasteis de nata it was a toss-up between Notre Dame on Rachel E and the place on St Laurent near Vieille Europa. Picked up some very good paczki from Wawel Polish bakery (is ponki the brand name or the name in French?)

Coffee

Caffe Artjava (Universite @ Kennedy) kicked everyone's ass in this category. Maybe I was unlucky, but I didn't find much really great coffee in town. Cafe Lattes are popular, but americanos don't exist for some reason. Allongés were a good substitute. Any recommendations would be welcome.

Lunch/Dinner

La Chilenita (Marie-Anne O) - One word: empanadas. Visited twice, the second time to pick up some for the flight home. Staff were hilarious and the sheer variety of empanadas was mind-boggling.

La Croissanterie Figaro (Hutchison near Laurier O) - Very good bistro food, but I wasn't concentrating on it too much because the atmosphere was so cool. It felt very much like a Parisian bistro, without the smoke and the high prices.

Los Planes (Belanger E) - Their pupusas were sublime. Stuffed myself for $7. You know the place is good when the only language you hear being spoken is Spanish.

Chao Phraya (Laurier O) - Bustling place with an elegant look but reasonable prices. I'd rate the food as solid, but not amazing. Where would be better in Montreal?

Jardin du Cari (St-Viateur O) - Like going over to your Guyanese friend's place for dinner. Zero pretension, casual in the extreme, very friendly and great, simple food. The rotis were to die for.

Afrodiziac (Jean-Talon O) - I hadn't tried Ghanian food before so I wanted to experience it while I was in town. What an experience! It was just the owner/cook working that night, as her daughter was studying for exams, and the place had the look of a dance hall with a big tv in the corner. A large group had arrived before we did, so food came out very slowly. But it was all really good. Brochettes of beef and mushrooms, turkey curry, strawberry salad, a big plate of three different kinds of rice, and fried plantains. With drinks it came to $20 apiece and we took enough home for lunch the next day. I'd preorder next time to save the wait.

Pushap La Faim Du Monde (St Denis) - A friend wanted to try this vegetarian place next to Chu Chai. The miso onion soup was tangy, huge and pretty close to perfect. Samosas were great. The veg burger I had was good, but could have used a bit more spice or sauce or something. It tasted a bit too "healthy" somehow, whereas the ones at Sejuiced on W 4th in Vancouver could almost make you give up beef burgers entirely.

Avesta (Ste-Catherine O) - Tasty Turkish place with freshly made lavash bread. Dips were fantastic, only the dolmas were a letdown. They tasted like they'd been sitting around for a few days.

Schwartz's (St Laurent) - Beyond obvious, but still the best of the bunch for smoked meat. Waiters were a lot of fun too. Is is true that the place across the street serves meat from Schwartz's?

Fameux Charcuterie Restaurant (St Denis @ Mont-Royal E) - Poutine, baby, poutine. Yes, there are fancier places, but I think this is the place for the no nonsense version. Arteries...clogging....

All in all, the food was authentic and cheap, the service was friendly, and the variety was outstanding. Hope to be back soon!

[Hwertheim]

I'm so glad you found Au Kouig Aman - they make the best croissants in Montreal, and better than many I've had in France. We'll use your very helpful list for our daytrip to Montreal this weekend.

[Swankalicious]

My husband and I are adventurous eatings but without a lot of disposable income. We're looking for authentic, delicious food, but not at enormous prices. Anything distinctly "Montreal" is a plus. Any suggestions? Neither of us have been there before. Thanks!

[wallchef]

Au Pied de Cochon

It fulfills about every requirement you stated.