Three days in Montreal - help me plan!

Regional Dining Discussions Quebec, Maritimes, Prairies
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Bonjour, hi! Mr. Bionda and I are heading to Montreal in early September for a 15th anniversary getaway - and I’m already overwhelmed with all the amazing restaurant options. We’re driving, so no restrictions on location. I have the Omni on Sherbrooke booked currently (thanks @Phoenikia for the tip) but I’m open to other options if there’s a compelling reason to stay elsewhere. Here’s a loose overview of our itinerary:

Weds: Arrive early afternoon, check into hotel. Early dinner followed by an evening at Bota Bota Spa.
Thurs: Indoor (fine arts museum, Notre Dame, St. Joseph, underground mall, etc.) or outdoor (Mount Royal, botanical gardens, etc.) activities depending on weather
Fri: Whichever things we missed on Thurs
Sat: Early-ish breakfast or brunch and shopping at Marche Atwater or Jean Talon for food souvenirs (we’ll have a cooler for perishables), followed by Alouettes game at 1pm. Drive home.

As you can see, we are pretty flexible! We’re not big breakfast eaters so I’m primarily looking for lunch and dinner spots, outside of Saturday. Here’s my short list (based on the many threads I’ve already perused here):

Dinner:
Cabaret L’enfer
Beba
Damas
Lemeac
Toque
Juliette Plaza
Bar Vivar
Helicoptere
Casavant
Le Violon

Lunch/more casual:
Snowdon for smoked meat
St. Viateur for bagels
Lulu Epicerie
Nouilles de Lan Zhou
Kouign Amann
Ma Poule Mouillee

Lunches we’ll probably play by ear a bit, depending on where we’re located during lunchtime. Dinners I’m leaning toward Cabaret L’enfer, Juliette Plaza and Damas, but Beba looks extremely intriguing as well. You’ll notice Au Pied de Cochon didn’t make the list - Mr. Bionda is not a foie gras fan, and we have M. Wells (or we did, and will again soon - apparently it’s reopening in Brooklyn) here in NYC if I feel I need the experience. I’m willing to be convinced if it’s truly a must in Montreal, though. Any others I should consider?

For Saturday, I’m leaning toward the breakfast buffet at the Ritz or Brasseurs du Monde so that we can have a hearty pre-game meal and not need to eat at the stadium beyond a beer or snack. We might grab some type of fast food or something else portable to eat in the car on the way out of town - any recs near the stadium or along our route (we’ll be heading over to 15 and then straight south)? 87 through NY is notoriously devoid of easy on, easy off places with decent food, so I’d rather be prepared before we leave.

Thanks in advance for your help!

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For your NY portion of the drive, if you are using the Taconic (which is picturesque but windy)… I highly recommend a stop at Cooper’s Daughter. Their cocktail garden is great and we absolutely love their cocktails. They usually have food trucks. We also have stopped at and enjoyed Fiesta Cafe in Chatham. We go up to Lake Placid several times a year and always look forward to Cooper’s Daughter on the way there or back.

My Montreal recs are too out of date to be much use, but we loved Damas and St Viateur off your list.

Enjoy!

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I had a fantastic meal there a couple of years ago, highly recommend. I also really enjoyed Foxy and Nora Grey. I’ve heard great things about Le Violin as well, but I’m sure you’ll have delicious meals judging from your list.
Have fun!

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We’re actually going to be coming from the east side of Lake George, so no need to stop on the way to Montreal as it’s only about 2.5 hours. And we’ll take 87 to LG and then home from Montreal. Mr. Bionda hates the Taconic so we avoid it when possible, but we do get up to Hudson/Catskill occasionally so I’ll be sure to keep Cooper’s Daughter in mind for future trips!

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We remain huge fans of Toqué. Can be $$$ if you go all in. Consider Olive et Gourmando as a breakfast/lunch less formal option.

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This looks adorable - nice one to have in our back pocket if we want something while we’re exploring the old city. Thanks!

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I checked out both of these and thought they looked good, but the menus seemed a bit limited - do they bulk them out with specials? I notice quite a few restaurants in Montreal have short menus or only “representative” menus on their websites as their food is highly seasonal, so perhaps that’s part of it?

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While I really like staying at the Omni, for its large rooms and location, the breakfast in their breakfast room is not good. Even when it’s included in my room rate, I usually choose to eat breakfast elsewhere. Well intentioned service. I’m not sure why their breakfast buffet isn’t better than it is. Underripe melon, uninspired eggs in a chafing dish, etc.

If you like a view, I recommend requesting a room that’s on a higher floor, facing the Mountain, to the North. ( You could tell the front desk a loyal guest recommended that :wink: )

Definitely head out elsewhere for breakfast, or for a coffee and a pastry nearby.

Nearby, I have enjoyed the Vasco da Gama coffee shop on Peel, which is a small Portuguese coffee shop open during the day, and owned by the chef who owns Café Ferrara, a high end Portuguese restaurant, also on Peel.

For a decent but not amazing diner breakfast, L’ Universel has a location half a block south of the Omni.

I like Beauty’s Luncheonette for breakfast, which apparently has slipped a bit since 2019, but I’ll still return. I get the blintzes. Beauty’s is roughly a half hour walk northeast of the Omni.

Closer to old Montreal, I have had breakfast at Le Cartet several times. It’s a store with local products, and a Café.

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My family and I just came back from a week-long food crawl of Montreal and Quebec City.

Residing in Toronto and having eaten 8 of the Top 10 , Canada 100 Best Restaurant list during the past year including Pearl Morissette, Alo, Edulis, 20 Victoria, Quertzal, Anna Lena…etc, I strongly urge you to add a dinner at ’ Bouillon Bilk ’ to your list! Food can easily rub shoulders with some of the aforementioned Michelin star stalwarts! You will not regret it! Great value, creative menu loaded with taste bombs, excellent service…etc. A few dishes like the umami packed and intense 'Lobster Chawamushi ’ was out-of-this-world and mesmerizingly gooooood!
Way more enjoyable than our subsequent Michelin 1* meal at Legende in Quebec City!

For a more casual fare, we really enjoyed our roaming around ’ Time-Out Market ’ inside downtown’s Eaton Centre. The Tonkotsu Ramen at the Japanese stall was unexpectedly authentic and flavourful…the broth?!..WOW!! One of the best bowls of noodle I had in North America!!

We also ate at BEBA , with a menu specially curated for our party of 6 by chef/owner Ari Schor. Mains are mostly of a rustic nature. I would love to hear your feedback, assuming you can get a place and eat there. Most of our party found the food intriguing but the taste profile was just OK and lacking in wow factor except an isolate components here and there. eg., the Foie of the drunken Guinea Fowl marinated in Sherry. Kind of disappointed for a #7 candidate.

Lastly, if you folks are raw seafood/bi-valves fans. The oyster place inside Jean-Talon market is a must visit!! So pristine fresh, so many choices and all triple checked! The Cherry stone clams are simply amazing!! Crunchy, chewy, plump and sweet!

If you have time, do check out some of my recent postings pertaining to the above captioned experience.

Lastly, based on my previous experiences, I find the chicken at ’ Ma Poule Mouillee ’ overwhelming in size but underwhelming in taste! Nothing to write home about!

Good luck and have fun!!

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Yep, both restaurants had specials. Quality over quantity I guess.

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I have read them all! :grin: But I appreciate the extra tips above as well. And I’ll check out Bouillon Bilk now!

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Thanks Phoenikia! We aren’t really big breakfast eaters so I’m guessing whatever they offer at the Omni will be fine (if it’s included in our room rate - need to check) - but it’s good to have a few recs just in case. Have you ever done the breakfast buffet at the Ritz? Their prix fixe brunch looks nice too, but timing-wise I think the breakfast buffet may work better for us on Saturday.

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I haven’t done the breakfast buffet at the Ritz. I can recommend the à la carte brunch at the Madison Boulud that is also located inside the Ritz. It has a beautiful courtyard patio. (Maybe Maison Boulud is where the breakfast / brunch buffet is these days?)

If you’re concerned about timing but like the prix fixe options, I would just let the host and server know you’re in hurry and would like the meal asap. Those hotels are used to business clientele. They can speed it up. :wink:

The Sofitel’s Renoir restaurant used to have a nice upscale à la carte breakfast.

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https://beautys-luncheonette.restaurants-world.com/
It’s been a few decades, but Beauty’s was good.

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Yes, I think so. I’ll probably run both options by Mr. Bionda and see what he prefers. He may also be interested in Beauty’s - the man loves a diner! Thanks to you and @PedroPero for that rec.

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Welcome to Montreal! Just a couple of suggestions:

If you visit Old Montreal, Chinatown is just up the street within walking distance so it would be a short walk to Nouilles de Lan Zhou on your list. I could also recommend Dobe and Andy, Restaurant Kim Fung and Sammi and Soupe Dumplings also in the area. (Sammi and Soupe Dumpling’s flagship resto is on Ste. Catherine but they have a resto in Chinatown too. The only online menu I could find was for the one on Ste. Catherine but both locations have the same menu items.) There are also some lovely restaurants in Old Montreal but I haven’t eaten there in decades so I can’t help :slight_smile: And if you are in Old Montreal I could highly recommend the World Press Photo Exhibition in the Bonsecours Market. It’s on from August 27th to October 13th if you decide to go. I saw the exhibition in Ottawa before covid then in Montreal last year and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

One more restaurant recommendation is Kazu, a Japanese restaurant on Ste. Catherine near St. Matthieu.

If you are looking for somewhere for breakfast or lunch I could recommend Café Aunja on Sherbrooke near the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. They serve Persian food and the food is delicious.

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We will definitely visit Old Montreal and this exhibition looks wonderful - thank you! Also Chinese food is ALWAYS right up my alley, so thanks for those recs as well.

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I tend to eat at more budget friendly restaurants so I posted links to menus so you can see what they have. Dobe and Andy doesn’t have an online menu but I’ve eaten there as recently as last year and I can attest they are good. If you feel like doing MORE walking you could theoretically walk down de la Gauchetiere (the street Chinatown is on) and randomly pick anywhere. Chinatown is probably one of my favourite places in Montreal. It’s always full of life and I just love taking in the sights and smells :heart: Now I’m getting homesick :frowning:

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Not breakfast, but “high tea” there last September

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