Long Weekend in Montreal

[Kerry Beal]

The hubby and I are spending the weekend in Montreal sans rug rat.

I was able to get a reservation for Au Pied on Saturday, sadly no luck with Joe Beef. We decided to try the Liverpool House tomorrow night - one of the Joe Beef group of restaurants, just down the street from it.

Decided not to make a reservation for tonight - and have been researching old eG threads to see what I could find that was close by our hotel. Found a suggestion for a restaurant Barroco which we saw when we were out to find milk for my tea. Looks like it should fit the bill for tonight.

So far the food today has not been terribly exciting - I suppose we were lucky to have been fed on the plane.

A turkey, cheese and lettuce sandwich, some roasted almonds and a bar of milk chocolate. I've had worse meals on a plane.

This was a bit of a surprise - I only brought my sandals - at least I've got socks!

When we got back from our milk run - we discovered they had dropped a nice bottle of non alcoholic cider and some brownies for us. A nice hotel!

My hubby was a little surprised to discover that non alcoholic cider corks can pop as violently as a champagne cork. Hence about half the bottle missing by the time it was opened.

[Anna N]

How did you like the cider? And please don't bring any of that white stuff back to Ontario!

[Steamtrain]

Bagels!

Also Le Lab makes some interesting cocktails.

[lstrelau]

Hi Kerry,

We just spent a wonderful week in Montreal in mid October. We enjoyed two of Jerome Ferrer's restaurants: Beaver Hall(casual bistro) and Europea (much fancier, Relais a Chateau place). Had tasting menu lunch at Europea and it was great. Bought his cookbook too but only in French so I will need to do some translating before I cook much. The Scallops a la Neige (or something like that) were very tasty, one of the amuse was soft goat cheese sandwiched between two parmesan crisps (frico) on a lollipop stick - clever and good.

Another old established classic bistro, L'Express - well prepared food, attentive service. (I had a starter of marrow bones AND then something with foie gras too!!)

A highlight was Kitchen Gallerie which is on Jean-Talon a couple of blocks from Marche Jean-Talon (which I assume you have visited). The menu is market driven, no waiters, the chefs are also the waiters. Open kitchen, 30 seater so maybe hard to get a reservation on short notice but worth trying. Food was innovative, fresh and tasty. The entertainment value of the kitchen was good too.

The same owners (one partner in each) runs Kitchen Gallerie Poisson which is in Old Montreal which also sounded good but ran out of time.

Nice brunch at Cherier (don't remember if it was Cafe Cherier or something like that). Poached eggs served in/on a hollowed out tomato stuffed with ham etc, topped with hollandaise. Oeuf au Faux Coq I believe it was called.

Couldn't get to Pied or some of the other well known places on this trip but look forward to a return visit.

Have fun.

[lstrelau]

Kerry, the cider from Michel Jodoin is fantastic. They make a full range of styles from very lightly alcoholic to a "strong' cider and my favourite was a sparkling rose cider made from the Geneva variety,which is an unusual red-fleshed apple. We are lucky, there is an agent for Jodoin's ciders here in Alberta. Met Michel at a tasting a couple of years ago.

[Tri2Cook]

And please don't bring any of that white stuff back to Ontario!

It's already in Ontario... a couple thousand km northwest of you.

Sounds nice Kerry. I've been saying for a while that I'm going to do a food trip to Quebec (as close to a food trip to France as I'll probably ever get) one of these days but I keep not doing it. Work and procrastination are bad for travel ideas.

[Kerry Beal]

How did you like the cider? And please don't bring any of that white stuff back to Ontario!

It was a bit lacking in punch I thought. I'll endeavour to leave the snow here for sure!

[Kerry Beal]

Dinner at Barroco - please forgive the photography - I don't use flash in restaurants at night as I don't like to disturb other diners - and it was pretty dark. I tried to move the candle around to get the most light but a couple of pictures were too out of focus to post.

I started with a maple old fashioned

Hubby with a Pimm's Cup -

Charcuterie plate - bresola, westphalian ham and one more I forget!

Paella for me -

Hubbies steak was just too out of focus to post. He opted for a second cocktail - this was a 'Flip yer Lip' - appletons's reserve, benedictine, simple, egg white and angostura.

[rotuts]

I wondnt mind seeing that blurry steak. I love seeing 'food on the plate'

its inspiring.

i of course would have gone to Schwartz deli some how:

http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/index2.html

cant figure out why "smoked meat" is really only abvailabe in montreal.

[Kerry Beal]

For lunch between visits to Design and Realization this am and Chocolat-chocolat this afternoon we popped back to downtown to check out eG'er 'howsmatt's' new lunch place "Cafe Pave". Pave is cobblestone for the non francophones in the audience.

Matt makes his own sausage patties and pulled pork in house. We had an excellent meal and were well pleased with our choice.

Tea for each, chamomile for the hubby, chai for moi.

I started with a nice bowl of chowder - thick, rich and perfectly seasoned.

Hubby opted for salad - he's eaten a little more over the last day or two than he's accustomed to.

I had the Roma - sausage, peppers, onion and the house aioli on wonderfully fresh ciabatta.

[patrickamory]

I'll second L'Express.

And second Schwartz's Deli - you HAVE to go there!

[Kerry Beal]

Liverpool House this evening. Again not a lot of lighting.

Started with what they were calling a 'special' manhattan. Bourbon, cider, lemon and simple.

I opted for the sweetbreads as a starter - fried with an asian sauce and pickles vegetables.

I chose the duck breast with quince and spatzle.

Hubby chose arctic char - was a bit surprised by it's crown of mussels - he's not a big mussel eater.

Hit one of the SAQ liquor stores on the way back to the hotel, picked up a bottle of Barbancourt rum (sadly not the 5 star) and a bottle of Citadelle gin. Notice they carried the Dolin Blanc vermouth but neglected to realize it was on my list of bottles to pick up from the US - tomorrow!

[Kerry Beal]

Breakfast at a touristy little spot not far from our hotel called Marche de la Villette.

Hubby opted for the eggs - sort of a baked scramble, served with a nice chunk of pate and brie (sadly hubby is not a cheese fan - so I got that).

For me a Croque Monsieur - somehow I've always pictured that more as a grilled cheese - not to say there was anything wrong with what I got.

In our travels this morning I came across a little shop selling macarons called PointG- grabbed a couple to try - the dark red/purple is cherise/griotte (cherry cherry), the lighter red fleur de coquelicot (poppy flower).

I also grabbed a cannelle - never been happy with the ones I've produced and wanted to see if the texture was any different.

Wanted to show you my haul of booze - sadly the first store we hit this morning was supposed to have a bottle of lillet rouge - but didn't. When I got to the liquor store I couldn't recall if it was the sweet Dolin blanc that I was after or the Dolin dry - so had to get both.

[Kerry Beal]

Au Pied de Cochon. A bit more light this time - but still not my best photos ever.

Manhattan for the hubby.

Negroni for me.

Cod fritters as a starter.

Hubby decided to get the Berkshire pork chop special - didn't realize it was going to be a dino bone.

Plogue a champlain for me - buckwheat pancake, bacon lardons, potato, cheese, foie and a big slug of maple syrup.

[Kerry Beal]

Think it's time I got a new pair of cheater glasses with a bit more magnification - the screen on my camera is too small to be sure things are in focus (well that's my story and I'm sticking too it).

Breakfast today at the hotel - I usually try to avoid eating at hotels as the food is generally very overpriced and not so good. When we headed out yesterday we thought the food we could see on peoples plates in the hotel looked pretty darn good - so we decided to risk it. It was pricy (about in line with breakfast out in a touristy area yesterday though), but it was excellent food.

I opted for the eggs benedict - perfectly poached eggs, the white was cooked completely and the yolk just burst out of the egg when you cut into it.

Hubby had pastries the hotel brings in from Premier Moisson, a boulangerie here in Montreal that I have heard nothing but great things about for years. He was stunned - too many years of crappy danish and croissants at university meetings and conferences - we headed out to see if we could find an open franchise so he could take some home!

Excuse the blur.

[Tri2Cook]

Nice booze score Kerry! Don't know if it's of as much interest to you as it would be to me but, just in case, according to the SAQ site they have some decent absinthes available (compared to the LCBO anyway... I see Vieux Pontarlier, La Clandestine and Kubler listed along with the two the LCBO carry and a few less favorably reviewed bottles).

Edit: I see they have the Havana Club Maximo as well... just in case $2000 is burning a hole in your pocket!

Edited November 27, 2011 by Tri2Cook (log)

[blue_dolphin]

What a lovely weekend!

Did you need to make any packing preparations for hauling that grand stash of booze back home? I checked a box of 12 bottles of wine on my flight last week (my contribution to the Thanksgiving festivities at my brother's in Texas) and happily, all arrived unscathed. Hope you and your bottles do as well.

Reading this reminds me that I really must plan a stop in Montreal next time I visit my Mom. She lives only about an hour away in Northern NYS and I often fly into YUL but usually just rent a car and head for the border. Clearly, I am missing out.

Thanks for taking us along!

[ElsieD]

if you are still in Montreal today, there is a Premier Moisson at the Jean Talon market.

[Kerry Beal]

if you are still in Montreal today, there is a Premier Moisson at the Jean Talon market.

Sadly - home now. Hubby will just have to do without!

[Kerry Beal]

Apparently Air Canada only feels it has to compete with Porter airlines outgoing from the Island Airport in Toronto, hence the bag lunch we got on the outbound flight.

Coming home they offered one of a bag of chips, a chocolate bar or almonds.