ottawa foodies

I am planning a trip to Montreal this fall. I grew up in Montreal but haven't been back in years since I no longer have family there. I am getting a little nostalgic however so I have decided to head down for my university homecoming. So my most pressing question is where to stay. Could anyone recommend hotels in the Sherbrooke/McGill College area? I realize the neighbourhood could be a little pricey. I am willing to negotiate but would prefer somewhere that is downtown-ish.

As for meals out does anyone have favourite breakfast places? Preferably downtown-ish as well. When I travel I usually prefer somewhere fairly close to the hotel I am staying in since I can't wait for breakfast-;)

As for dinners I have a few places I would like to visit. Purely for nostalgic reasons I have on my list: Magnan's, Da Giovanni, Mister Steer, and Le Paris. (Assuming any of these places are still open...)

Some new places to try are: Au Pied de Cochon, Garde Manger, Joe Beef, Direct Triple Crown, and Mondavie. Have I missed anywhere? Any other places you would recommend?

If time permits I may also squeeze in a visit to the Jean Talon market or Atwater market. Are there any other foodie shops you would recommend?

Jean Talon market is amazing. My bro and his wife live just a few steps away from there and I am most jealous.

Two places that impressed my wife and me this past fall:

oliveetgourmando.com/ (Perfect for lunch and/or coffee)
comptoircharcuteriesetvins.ca/ (Great small plates and charcuterie)

We often stay at the Holiday Inn Select Montreal Centre-Ville (99 Av Viger O). Not in the McGill/Concordia area but in Chinatown across from the Convention Center (Palais des Congrès). Old Montreal is close and so is Rue St-Laurent and St-Denis. Cost is about $100-$125/night all in and often includes breakfast. Breakfast is nothing much for a foodies but standard hotel breakfast and the lobby/lounge area is cute with a fish "pond" running through it with koy swimming. Also - if you are hungry (especially at an odd time) you can get something to eat around the corner in chinatown. Not a big chinatown but has the essentials.

If you have an interest in BBQ, I've tasted competition meat from Blackstrap BBQ, and their brisket was the best I've every had the pleasure to try. The restaurtant won't/can't be the same, but these guys know their BBQ. Its in Verdun, which is a bit away from downtown, but easy to get to by subway. The details are:
Blackstrap BBQ, 4436 Wellington St Verdun, QC H4G 1W5, Canada
+1 514-507-6772

Breakfast places I've looked into or tried are:
Griffintown, Brasserie Reservoir, The Sparrow. Griffintown was nice, but not close to where you'll be.

For hotels, there are good deals on hotwire and other websites. We had a nice stay at:
www.lestmartinmontreal.com/
Its close to where you want to be and a very nice hotel. Have fun.

Fresh Foodie Thanks! Both restos look good so I will have to add them to my list! And I've been hearing so many good things about the Jean Talon market I will really have to go some time.

Flexie Thanks for the hotel recommendation. Even though it's a bit of a hike from the university (I'm a Concordia alumnus BTW) it's still close enough to everything and, as you pointed out, there are lots of restos in Chinatown nearby. Good to know about the breakfast option - I'm not fussy about breakfast so this might interest me.

sourdough I love bbq (well I love all foods, really) and didn't know about this bbq place. Funny my Dad grew up in Verdun and went on many a field trip there - I may look into tying in a visit. The hotel looks nice and centrally located - something else to look into. And thanks for the breakfast recommendations I will keep them in mind.

You can try priceline for hotels
www.priceline.com

I've also stayed at & enjoyed the B&B network. Can walk to McGill:
www.bbmontreal.qc.ca/home.html

If it is a nice day, I highly recommend Café Santropol www.santropol.com

While it has been several years since I have been there, the back garden for café au lait and pastries or a salad could not be beat on a sunny afternoon.

I bet you would get a great rate from the Chateau Versailles on Sherbrooke. They give discounts to Concordia students and I bet they give them to alums too!

Montreal has so much to offer...Blackstrap is new and serves solid BBQ, might be the best in MTL. The restaurants you mentioned are all very popular so make sure to reserve approx 2 weeks before going.

You should choose 1 market (Atwater or MJT) for my part, i grew up around JT but i rather like Atwater for the laidback vibe and satay brothers...they serve really good pork buns and lobster roll from I forgot the name.

Honestly, Olive & Gourmando is overpriced because of its location (vieux port) so I would skip it however Le Comptoir is very good, one of my best right now for Charcuterie.

Kouing-Amann is a must for croissant on Mont-Royal, the quiche is very good also.

There is so much, maybe tell us more about the type of food you like, budget etc..

I second the priceline recommendation. If you've never used it before let me know and I'll post some tips. We used it to secure a hotel back in February. As it was last minute we didn't employ all our best priceline strategies but still ended up getting a reservation at the Omni for $100 a night. It's smack dab in the middle of Sherbrooke/McGill.

I stayed in Montreal earlier this year, at the same hotel Flexie stayed at. I do have a parking tip - apparently, weekend parking at the lot underneath the mall just up the block (don't know street names, sorry) was only $8, and I was there from late Friday until late Saturday.

The hotel breakfast is indeed nothing much to write home about, but does include what must be some Asian breakfast basics - I can't say I've seen congee included with a hotel breakfast before...

re "Some new places to try are: Au Pied de Cochon, Garde Manger, Joe Beef, Direct Triple Crown, and Mondavie. Have I missed anywhere? Any other places you would recommend?" - it's 'Dinette' Triple Crown, but otherwise i think that if you nail all of those you're laughing. And full.

For brunch i would add

www.danslabouche.ca (check what days they do brunch) and
www.bageletc.ca

AirBNB for accommodation - for any city.

That Holiday Inn in Chinatown is great. Some rooms have private patios, which is a nice touch for a downtown hotel.

When we go to MTL we always stay at the Holiday Inn Chinatown. It is inexpensive and wonderfully located for the things we like to do. Now I will guess that Foufs may not be your cups of tea, but the snack shopping the day after the night before will have you perfectly situated for a run up St. Laurent on the way to Jean Talon Market and up to the 40 for the ride home. Bring a cooler. But, before you go, and I cannot recommend this place more highly, try:

Mai Xiang Yuan

1084 Boul Saint-Laurent
Montréal, QC H2Z 1J5

Cheap dumplings to die for!

Throw in Slovenia, skip Schwartz's, Coco Rico or Romados, Little Italy, Park Ex, and a side trip to Smoked Meat Pete's and you will be a happy camper.

I only know some of these places by going and not names but PM me if you need more info. I was shown many years ago and I would love to share the info.

I really enjoyed my dinner at Lawrence, at St. Laurent and Fairmount (lawrencerestaurant.com/). Afterwards you can walking it off by strolling down a couple blocks for bagels at Fairmount bagel :) Also love the croissants at Mamie Clafoutis; did a mini croissant quest a little while back (went to Mamie Clafoutis, Kouign Amann and Mr. Pinchot) and we declared Mamie Clafoutis the winner.

As a proud Montrealer and having been raised on bagels, don't bother with bagels from Fairmount, go to St. Viateur.

Kazu (Japanese izakaya) is still an amazing restaurant, but they don't take reservations and the lineups are always excessive. If you want to go there, go early. Try the shrimp burger and see how much willpower it takes not to order a second one.

Park (on Victoria in Westmount) is close enough to downtown and is worth the trip. If you have the budget for it, I would absolutely recommend the omakase (tasting menu) - a bit pricey at $65 per person, but some of the best fish you will ever try.

I agree with EMSam that St Viateur is *significantly* better than Fairmount (at least when I compared their bagels), but I also understand that this is a divisive topic and there are many who hold the exact opposite opinion. :-)

FF - you are treading dangerous waters with those claims! I used to be in that camp, but now realize that the Fairmount everything bagel is a truly divine creation. Each have their strengths.

I just stayed at www.aubergedelafontaine.com/ 2 weekends ago, it was amazing. Great service beautiful rooms, breakfast, free parking and access to a fully stocked kitchenette (cheese, crackers, patés, yogurt etc..) Right across from the beautiful Parc Lafontaine.

We also stayed a second night at www.hotelquartierdesspectacles.com great value, amazing room. Do not be deterred by the location, I highly recommend.

This time we tried L'Express on St-Denis, good solid French food.
A few months ago I truly enjoyed Bistro Florin (BYOW) bistro-florin.com/

Maison Kam Fung on St-Urbain has great Dim Sum.

Nabrasa has the best Sangria, nice patio and delish grilled octopus. www.nabrasa.ca/home.html

Have fun!

Wow! Thanks for all the recommendations. I see I have alot of research (and eating!) to do.

southshoregirl Thanks for the tip on Chateau Versailles. One of our former executive directors like staying there while visiting Montreal but it looked like it might be a little pricey. I just may inquire to see if they will give Concordia alums a discount.

I love Auberge de la Fontaine! It is an amazing boutique hotel. Not cheap, btu the breakfast was fantastic, free milk & cookies at night, help yourself to the cheese & treats in the kitchen. Really, really, really recommend. They don't have parking, but we've never had a problem finding street parking for the weekend near there. Love the place!

Auberge de la Fontaine actually has a few reserved free parking spots in the back of the hotel for guests.

Hands down the best (and now only) spot in the city that we stay in is Le Petit Hotel. It's in the old city, right by Olive et Gourmand. They have a few sister hotels, so I would call them and ask for a reccomendation.

Chimi, I gave you the thumbs down because the everything bagel is an abomination and should be purged from this earth with cleansing flame.

Sesame? Yes.

Poppyseed? Yes.

Both sesame and poppyseed? BURN IN HELL.

Everything? BLAAAAAAAAAGHBLURGGLURGRGRGRGGGGNNNNNHHH

Come into the 21st century Momo.... the bagel has evolved and so should you. :)

Haw! If any part of my bagel is going to evolve, it's the things I put on top of my bagel, not the things that are on top of my bagel!

Now pass me that cretons and cheese spread. It tastes like anti-kosher.

Momo - you clearly don't know the Fairmount everything bagel - caraway, salt, onion, sesame, poppy seeds, garlic... it's a flavour bonanza!!!

Chimichimi - Blasphemy, purists know that a bagel is to be made with sesame seeds or poppy seeds. Anything else is a frill.

Thanks again everyone for the hotel and restaurant recommendations. Homecoming was three weeks ago and I decided to stay at the Chateau Versailles this trip due to its proximity to Concordia. However I am really going to have to stay in/dine in Le Plateau on my next visit. Poutine's recommendation of Auberge de la Fontaine looked really appealing and Flexie's recommendation of the Holiday Inn Select came in a pretty close second due to its proximity to Chinatown and including breakfast.

The Chateau Versailles was lovely. I got a government rate which was nearly half the regular rate, the hotel is quiet, and the staff were really pleasant. (The porter was my new best friend that weekend since I had to haul my suitcase up two flights of stairs when I got there-;) When I reserved my room they mentioned a continental breakfast was included and they had quite a spread. Three types of cereals were included as well as fruit salad, hard boiled eggs, cheeses and cold cuts.

Dinners out ended up being a nostalgic dining tour of Montreal since I seemed to have picked some favourite haunts from my childhood and university years. (Also because I forgot to make a reservation at Joe Beef-;) I dined at Mister Steer, Le Paris, and Bar-B-Barn (which I have now lost interest in). I met up with a friend at a Greek place on Queen Mary (Estiatorio Yia Sou) and the brochettes were delicious.

Thanks again for the recommendations and now I know where to go the next time I am in Montreal!

without a doubt you have to try and get in here....no reso's, I waited 30 min outside to eat here.....so worth it.

kazumontreal.com/

4brrlcarb You are the second one to recommend this place to me! Another resto to add to my list...

Macleans magazine rated in the top 50 in Canada

Just a follow up to let everyone know I paid a return visit to Montreal again this fall for homecoming weekend. I bookmarked this thread to refer back to the restaurant recommendations so I thought I'd post another follow up review.

I stayed at the Chateau Versailles again this year and the room included a continental breakfast so that meal was covered. Lunches were largely uninteresting since most days I grabbed something on the run. I found a nice Persian supermarket in the area that sells homemade samosas for $1 each so that was my go-to lunch spot. The exceptions were my day of arrival when I went to Nocochi, a tea room on MacKay, and the one day I went shopping and decided to stop at La Soupière for a proper sit-down lunch.

Despite getting good reviews lunch at Nocochi was horribly disappointing. Since this resto specializes in teas I ordered a chai tea which came with a nocochi (cookie made with chickpea flour and cardamom) both of which were excellent but the good food ended there. I ordered a duck confit sandwich for lunch but the duck meat was quite dry and very salty. The bread was quite thin and wouldn't hold up under the weight of the meat. The sandwich came with a side salad which was quite nice but could have used some dressing.

Dinners included a stop at Kazu (thanks to 4brrlcarb and poutine for the recommendations). I actually got in very quickly since I was dining alone and they managed to squeeze me in at the bar. (The resto is hugely popular and very tiny so wait times can be long. My seatmate that evening is a regular and she told me she has waited up to an hour and a half in the rain just to get in-;) I ordered edamame to start and the tuna salmon bowl as the main and enjoyed every morsel. I plan on adding it to my roster.

I also went so Sammi and Soupe Dumplings on one visit which I pronounced excellent but this was my first dumpling experience so take it for what it's worth. (I will be going to Toronto at the end of November and look forward to trying Mother's dumplings while I am there.)

I went to Maison Kam Fong in Chinatown one night (thanks to EMSam and poutine for the recommendations) and got some dumplings to start and wasn't sold on them. The filling was really good but the dumpling part was more like egg roll wrappers than dumplings. I ordered the beef thai curry as a main and it was delicious but HUGE. Note to self: go with a friend next time so I can share-;)

My two remaining meals were tied into homecoming events so nothing to report on that front.

I hope to hit some of the bagel shops on my next visit so I can contribute to the Great Bagel Debate! (Although I firmly believe that all Montreal bagels are awesome-;)

Hubs and I went to Liverpool House (owned by the owners of Joe Beef www.joebeef.ca) for date night a year or so ago and had a great meal (ambience, service, food and wine list). The food is French inspired with rich buttery sauces. I had a beef flank covered in a yummy mushroom sauce. It was gigantic but melt in your mouth at the same time. Hubs had the lobster alfredo linguine. It was amazing too! We were completely stuffed but wanted to order a dessert and had an excellent crème brulée. Again, service was attentive and the wine and beer lists were solid.

In Chinatown, I would recommend Beijing Restaurant. It's a plain looking spot but they make tasty Chinese food and it is fairly cheap. They make a nice and unique stir fried spicy eggplant shanghai noodles. Many of their noodles and rice dishes are good so I usually just try something different every time. They also have seasonal specials listed on the posters on the walls.

I am getting all excited thinking of food in Montreal... a great value for money place is a little known spot on St-Viateur (just across the street from the bagel shoppe): Barros Luco www.montrealgazette.com Cheap, authentic chilean food. It's been a while I have gone in but it's really good. There is also a panini place in the same block as St-Viateur bagels that has a great selection of paninis and makes a nice cappuccino. Hubs got some 'tude when he asked for filter coffee, LOL!

For juicy Portuguese roast chicken served with fries and salad for $8: Ramados www.followmefoodie.com Locals love it and walk miles to pick some up.

Qing Hua by Concordia University has amazing juicy steamed dumplings. I heard new dumpling places have opened in Chinatown but haven't had the chance to check them out yet.

RiceLover Glad to hear you enjoyed your meal at the Liverpool House. I have recently bumped it to the top of my list even above Joe Beef. Now I will have to plan another foodie trip to Montreal - soon!