Montreal Favorites

View from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Parc Lafontaine

When I get asked what to do and where to eat in Montreal I pretty much always say the same stuff, my favourites.

To Eat:

There are 8 million great restaurants in Montreal. These are the last few I went to. My favourite restaurant, maybe in the world, is Pied de Cochon. It is the only restaurant food that I truly crave, and it is not possible to replicate it in one's own kitchen. The foie de gras burger, endive salad, and PDC mashed potatoes are to die. (Reservations necessary, or go early and try to sit at the bar). Pied de Cochon

Dominion Square Tavern - beautiful space, good food and great old timey cocktails. http://www.tavernedominion.com/en/

Vegetarian food:

Crudessence http://www.crudessence.com/ (Partial to the vege sushi and the smoothies)

and Aux Vivres https://auxvivres.com/en/ (the chapati BLT and the chapati faux lox and cream cheese- how to choose?)

A Drink: 

Depends what you're looking for. Classy coctails: Whisky Cafe http://www.whiskycafe.com/en_home.html

Wine and oysters: Pullman http://pullman-mtl.com/en/

A beer at a nice place NYKS http://nyks.ca/?lang=en

Sparrow 5322 Boul St-Laurent, Montréal, QC H2T 1A5 (514) 507-1642 (no link).

Divey places that I go to, that I just like for whatever reason: Laika http://laikamontreal.com/
and Elsie's 156 Rue Roy East, Montréal, QC H2W 1M2 (514) 286-6689 (no link)

To Brunch

Avenue Cafe- get there early. 922 Avenue du Mont Royal E Montréal, H2J 1X1 (514) 523-8780

Cafe Souvenir http://bistrocafesouvenir.com/

Coffee: Olympico http://www.cafeolimpico.com/

To Shop:

Clothing boutiques with amazing Montreal designers: In general St. Laurent in Mile End and Laurier Street are great. I love Boutique Unicorn http://www.boutiqueunicorn.com/

High end department stores that I love:

Ogilvy - they have everything clothes, luggage, lingerie, makeup and whatnot, and even a lovely top floor furniture store AND an adorable cafe in the basement to get away from the fray to have a cup of coffee and a little pastry when needed https://ogilvycanada.com/en/

And of course Holts http://www.holtrenfrew.com/shop/en/holt/storedetail/stores-montreal

Awesome cute home decor at V de V http://www.vdevmaison.com/?lang=en

Also Beige http://www.beigestyle.com/ (it's where I got that weird industrial light in my kitchen).

Bagels: a MUST

Fairmount http://www.fairmountbagel.com/

St. Viateur https://www.stviateurbagel.com/

And with this, Arachova Tzatziki is soooo good (they sell it at both places just ask).

To Do

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is a favourite of mine, I go about 2-3 times per year. The permanent collection is free and it's gorgeous. They also have great featured shows, and a wonderful cafe.
https://www.mbam.qc.ca/en/

A walk well worth it:

The hike up Mount Royal to the lookout. Head to the Mount Royal Park (on Parc Avenue at Rachel) pass to the left of the statue (see photo) and follow the path up the hill, then continue straight up the stairs, when this ends (you hit the T), take a left, and keep walking until you see a staircase on your right. Walk up about 6 flights and voila, the most gorgeous view of Montreal ever. Takes about 30 minutes. You can walk the long way past the stairs and keep winding up the path to the top as well.

And I do love going to St. Josephs Oratory and just walking to the top, and taking in the view. https://www.saint-joseph.org/en

Turkey Update

So the turkey is still alive, getting tougher by the minute no doubt. It is a male, and I believe it has been eyeing the dog with a certain amount of bird affection. At one point though, Chloe just had it "up to here" with the bird chasing her around, and here is the 10 second upshot.

No news on the geese. We found feathers and stuff in the field, and a couple of raccoons had been lurking around (until they succumbed to lead poisoning, if you catch my drift).

Old Photo