I’m tagging @Captcrunch because you seem like the
board guru but I hope others chime in too! I have been wanting to come to Montreal for a while and I finally convinced my husband! We are coming in a couple months.
Here’s what I have planned so far. Please help me with my itinerary! A little about us-- it’s just the two of us traveling, we are in our 30s and love discovering local specialties. My husband lives and dies for beer and I like farm-to-table food, ice cream, cheese, etc. We have been to France several times so we don’t feel that in need of seeking out straight up French restaurants. Though this is first and foremost a food vacation, I would also love non-food suggestions to complement our food stops!
I’ve had revisiting a sugar shack on my brain basically ever since I went on a trip to Quebec City when I was in high school. The timing has never been right and now it is! The Au Pied De Cochon cabane is all booked up so I tried booking at their new cabane (Cabane d’à Côté ) but they are only taking parties of four or greater. I am waiting to hear back from them to see if they can accommodate us but until then I’ve made reservations at both Sucrerie de la Montagne and Sucrerie Des Gallant. For this I am looking more for overall fun experience rather than absolute best food, although of course it would be nice to have both. Any opinions on which to keep and which to cancel?
We have four nights, Friday through Monday, with Monday being a bit of a challenge in terms of what is open. As much as I love rich food, I also know that we need to mix it up a bit with some lighter fare for my stomach’s sake. So far I have dinner reservations at the following…
Friday- Au Pied De Cochon- may change this if we end up going to their new cabane à sucre. Overhyped or must-do for a first time visitor?
Saturday- I cannot decide between Le Virunga and Liverpool House- I could not get a reservation at Joe Beef which is all over the news here so I did LH instead. Tell me the truth, is this restaurant group overrated? Should we skip it and go to Le Virunga, which sounds unlike anything we have near us?
Sunday- this will be our day trip to the sugar shack. Evening I reserved Tiradito late which seems like it would be a nice contrast to the sugar shack.
Monday- I reserved Damas. I love middle eastern food and this looks fantastic- we’ve never had Syrian food. I figured at this point we’d be in the mood for something different.
At other timesof the day we also want to do poutine at La Banquise, bagels at St Viateur and/or Fairmount, Hof Kelsten, the markets, Schwartz’s (open to alternatives for that as I have heard the wait is ridiculous and I am allergic to lines in general). Regarding our dinners, Foxy and Candide are also on my radar-- should we consider either of those instead of what we have already? I’m looking for variety and contrast.
Finally any beer, ice cream shops, bakery, or other points of interest would be much appreciated.
Thanks for any help! I can’t wait!