Child-friendly restaurants in Montreal and Quebec City?
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Child-friendly restaurants in Montreal and Quebec City?
Hi fellow fodorites,
Could you Quebec experts help me out by sharing some family-friendly restaurant ideas? Preferably non-chain, sit-down ones, but any and all recs would be appreciated.
I'll be visiting at the end of August with my wife and 2.5yr-old son.
Could you Quebec experts help me out by sharing some family-friendly restaurant ideas? Preferably non-chain, sit-down ones, but any and all recs would be appreciated.
I'll be visiting at the end of August with my wife and 2.5yr-old son.
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There are lots of casual, child friendly restaurants, particularly in Montreal. One good choice, especially for lunch, would be Le Commensal, which is a large vegetarian cafeteria. Don't let the vegetarian aspect turn you off - Commensal offers lots of intesting pasta, asian, mexican, desserts, etc, in a spacious, upscale, comfortable environment. They offer a good atmosphere for travel weary families with small children. There several Commensals on Montreal - one on St Catherine near University, one on St. Denis near St. Catherine. There is also at leat one in QC.
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thx zootsi and pavfec for your suggestions
any good ideas for QC? i didn't see much in fodor's or even frommers guidebook, which usually provides "best" family-friendly choices
or how about just good, casual french near typical tourist locales? i know that's a tall order , but i won't have a car to venture out much. btw, i load up on lots of good asian, mexican, lebanese and south american cuisine here in los angeles , so food unique to quebec would be most inviting
any good ideas for QC? i didn't see much in fodor's or even frommers guidebook, which usually provides "best" family-friendly choices
or how about just good, casual french near typical tourist locales? i know that's a tall order , but i won't have a car to venture out much. btw, i load up on lots of good asian, mexican, lebanese and south american cuisine here in los angeles , so food unique to quebec would be most inviting
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"Food unique to Quebec"--as with most places, there is high-end and low-end, and low-end anywhere is more child-friendly. In Montreal and Quebec there is an abundance of fine-dining French restaurants, which means a certain amount of waiting for meals, which means your 2.5 year-old may get fed up, start fussing, and ruin your dinner and everyone else's. If you want fine dining, get a babysitter at your hotel. As far as the lower-end restaurants, there is classic Montreal barbeque chicken, originating with Laurier Bar-B-Que, on the street of the same name, and Chalet Bar-B-Que; these have morphed into chains--Chalet Suisse and St-Hubert--and they are family-friendly, cheap, and unique to Quebec, but I think you probably have something else in mind. In Quebec/Montreal, as in other cities, once you get a bit out of the downtown business/tourist/expense account core, there are many good neighborhood restaurants, which would not mind putting together a little plate for your young one. In Quebec, unlike many south-of-the-border cities, it is really hard to find bad cooking (sorry!). Just look for a crowded place. Also, Quebec is more of a melting pot than you may think, so it may take some searching to get beyond imported cuisines.
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As for QC, just returned a week ago from there with our toddler. In the area outside near Chateau Frontenac there are a number of places with great outdoor seating. This allowed us to try some great fresh seafood and allowed our daughter a bit more flexibility - being outside and all, watching people and the festivities, etc. Another area you might want to try would be a few blocks outside the wall (West) down Rue St. Jean. Our first night there headed that way to find a Laundromat and found a number of places away from the tourist area. We ate at a small place called "Diana's" and had a nice casual meal all three of us enjoyed.
Speaking of cafeteria-style places (as zootsi did), in QC on Rue St. Jean (inside the wall) there is a place called "Paillard" that has great food - even the grilled cheese is terrific with their own bread - good coffee and a huge selection of desserts. Worth a stop.
Also - during the summer there is the farmer's market to visit (walking/stroller distance outside the wall - North - I think off of Rue St. Paul) Great place to pick up a bunch of locally-produced food and to put together a nice picnic lunch.
Speaking of cafeteria-style places (as zootsi did), in QC on Rue St. Jean (inside the wall) there is a place called "Paillard" that has great food - even the grilled cheese is terrific with their own bread - good coffee and a huge selection of desserts. Worth a stop.
Also - during the summer there is the farmer's market to visit (walking/stroller distance outside the wall - North - I think off of Rue St. Paul) Great place to pick up a bunch of locally-produced food and to put together a nice picnic lunch.