J'aime Montréal
Aug 8th, 2003, 07:05 PM
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J'aime Montréal
It's all about the Food!
My Yankee husband and I decided that we were in dire need of a break from life at home (which is for sale, btw) and Pup needed some time playing at his friends house.
So where to go that was close but a nice change from here (NYC) ,with good restaurants, a good hotel and maybe perhaps, if one is really asking for a Lot! Good weather!
So we drove to Montreal last Sunday. The drive took about 6 hours, it would have been less, but the line at the Border was loooong and slow. But the drive is so easy and fast, especially if you have a Yankee driving.
We stayed at the Hotel Le Germain, for the third time. We asked for a King room with a tub (they have Queen or King, Queens only have showers...which are the size of most bathrooms and lovely, but I wanted to soak in those deep deep tubs of theirs after a day of sightseeing.)
All of the restaurants that we went to on this trip were gotten off of this board, with special thanks to Louis, zootsie, Mitchdesj, Daniel, Pattysuericia, kjkbooks, AllAboutTravel
Sunday night we arrived early at Il Cortile.
What a surprise when we found that there was no actual room Inside, only outside and it was threatening to rain. But we were game if they were, so we sat down at a corner table and prepared to enjoy our first night/dinner in Montreal this year.
Just as we were tucking into our entrees, swordfish and a seafood stew, the skies opened up and it started thundering and lightening ! The waiters hurried over to the wall and cranked out a canopy that covered us, carrying umbrellas, they served everyone and not a diner was damp, although the waiters needed a little wringing out.
I have never eaten in a thunderstorm (and I do mean IN), served by a dripping wet waiter, mostly in the dark, but the food was good and it was actually quite fun. I only suggest they get candles.
Monday we walked all over town, stopping for drinks, when too tired or hot, just enjoying the crowded and entertaining city. This was the morning of my first Montreal Celebrity Sighting!! I was walking along beside/behind Judy Davis!! she went in to a tobacco shop and bought cigarettes then sauntered up to Sherbrook! Imagine that! I heard Angelina Jolie and Olivier Martinez were there also, but Judy Davis was enough for me (of course, they heard that I was in town too and I am sure they were just as disappointed to not have seen me)
We loved Chapters bookstore on St Catherine, there should be bookstores like that everywhere!
Lunch was at Bistro Detente, we shopped along St Catherine Street, then back to the hotel for a soak in the tub.
Dinner at Cafe Ferriera. We have eaten here every year for the past 6 years, and we have not had a bad meal yet. It was not too busy and noisy this time either which made it even better. I highly recommend going here .. it is on rue Peel. Portugese seafood, never had better!
Tuesday we went to the Museum of Fine Art. What a pleasure this museum is! Just the right size, quite manageable, pretty and they never fail to have a lovely exhibit when we are there. This time was Eduard Vuillard..I think there were 300 of his works, it was very enjoyable.
After browsing in the gift shop and buying postcards, we were off to Holt Renfrew for a look at their sales. This is some department store! I do wish I lived in Montreal, so I could shop there more often ~sigh~
I did manage to find a lovely bag on sale and that Yankee of mine bought me perfume. Both a little less dear thanks to the sales plus the Dollar difference.
Tuesday night, Au Petit Extra...on the corner of Ontario and Papineau. We tried this restaurant last fall and fell in love with it. This time was no different, the service is great, the atmosphere is wonderful, the food is good, what more could you ask for? So we changed our reservations around and went once more before we came home.
Wenesday we had lunch at Cafe Cherrier on the side terrace, again just as a large thunderstorm hit, we had lunch and watched the pedestrians get rained on..my new pasttime in Montreal!
No trip to Montreal is perfect until you have done the required shopping at Lush. If you are like my husband, go when you have a cold and your nose is stuffed up or practice holding your breath for a really long time, the place smells so strongly sometimes you need to step outside and just take a few big gulps of clean air before continuing to shop. It was difficult but I managed. Now armed with a shopping bag full of things that smell very good, taxi drivers loved me and I was able to get back to the hotel for another soak before going to Toque.
Now some people are not thrilled with the way Toque presents their food. We like it. Everything about this restaurant is pretty. Even the waiters But for the first time, we both realized that while the food was perfect and so was the service, we really enjoyed eating at Petite Extra more!
The rest of our time in Montreal was spent walking and going to the cinema. We wandered around Outremont, where I think I would be happy to live. We had lunch at Souvenir and people watched.
Then sadly, it was time to go home. While I do like my home, there is nothing like staying in a really nice luxury hotel and eating out every meal and forgetting the "real" world for a short while. And Montreal is the perfect place to do that.
My Yankee husband and I decided that we were in dire need of a break from life at home (which is for sale, btw) and Pup needed some time playing at his friends house.
So where to go that was close but a nice change from here (NYC) ,with good restaurants, a good hotel and maybe perhaps, if one is really asking for a Lot! Good weather!
So we drove to Montreal last Sunday. The drive took about 6 hours, it would have been less, but the line at the Border was loooong and slow. But the drive is so easy and fast, especially if you have a Yankee driving.
We stayed at the Hotel Le Germain, for the third time. We asked for a King room with a tub (they have Queen or King, Queens only have showers...which are the size of most bathrooms and lovely, but I wanted to soak in those deep deep tubs of theirs after a day of sightseeing.)
All of the restaurants that we went to on this trip were gotten off of this board, with special thanks to Louis, zootsie, Mitchdesj, Daniel, Pattysuericia, kjkbooks, AllAboutTravel
Sunday night we arrived early at Il Cortile.
What a surprise when we found that there was no actual room Inside, only outside and it was threatening to rain. But we were game if they were, so we sat down at a corner table and prepared to enjoy our first night/dinner in Montreal this year.
Just as we were tucking into our entrees, swordfish and a seafood stew, the skies opened up and it started thundering and lightening ! The waiters hurried over to the wall and cranked out a canopy that covered us, carrying umbrellas, they served everyone and not a diner was damp, although the waiters needed a little wringing out.
I have never eaten in a thunderstorm (and I do mean IN), served by a dripping wet waiter, mostly in the dark, but the food was good and it was actually quite fun. I only suggest they get candles.
Monday we walked all over town, stopping for drinks, when too tired or hot, just enjoying the crowded and entertaining city. This was the morning of my first Montreal Celebrity Sighting!! I was walking along beside/behind Judy Davis!! she went in to a tobacco shop and bought cigarettes then sauntered up to Sherbrook! Imagine that! I heard Angelina Jolie and Olivier Martinez were there also, but Judy Davis was enough for me
(of course, they heard that I was in town too and I am sure they were just as disappointed to not have seen me)We loved Chapters bookstore on St Catherine, there should be bookstores like that everywhere!
Lunch was at Bistro Detente, we shopped along St Catherine Street, then back to the hotel for a soak in the tub.
Dinner at Cafe Ferriera. We have eaten here every year for the past 6 years, and we have not had a bad meal yet. It was not too busy and noisy this time either which made it even better. I highly recommend going here .. it is on rue Peel. Portugese seafood, never had better!
Tuesday we went to the Museum of Fine Art. What a pleasure this museum is! Just the right size, quite manageable, pretty and they never fail to have a lovely exhibit when we are there. This time was Eduard Vuillard..I think there were 300 of his works, it was very enjoyable.
After browsing in the gift shop and buying postcards, we were off to Holt Renfrew for a look at their sales. This is some department store! I do wish I lived in Montreal, so I could shop there more often ~sigh~
I did manage to find a lovely bag on sale and that Yankee of mine bought me perfume. Both a little less dear thanks to the sales plus the Dollar difference.
Tuesday night, Au Petit Extra...on the corner of Ontario and Papineau. We tried this restaurant last fall and fell in love with it. This time was no different, the service is great, the atmosphere is wonderful, the food is good, what more could you ask for? So we changed our reservations around and went once more before we came home.
Wenesday we had lunch at Cafe Cherrier on the side terrace, again just as a large thunderstorm hit, we had lunch and watched the pedestrians get rained on..my new pasttime in Montreal!
No trip to Montreal is perfect until you have done the required shopping at Lush. If you are like my husband, go when you have a cold and your nose is stuffed up or practice holding your breath for a really long time, the place smells so strongly sometimes you need to step outside and just take a few big gulps of clean air before continuing to shop. It was difficult but I managed. Now armed with a shopping bag full of things that smell very good, taxi drivers loved me and I was able to get back to the hotel for another soak before going to Toque.
Now some people are not thrilled with the way Toque presents their food. We like it. Everything about this restaurant is pretty. Even the waiters
But for the first time, we both realized that while the food was perfect and so was the service, we really enjoyed eating at Petite Extra more! The rest of our time in Montreal was spent walking and going to the cinema. We wandered around Outremont, where I think I would be happy to live. We had lunch at Souvenir and people watched.
Then sadly, it was time to go home. While I do like my home, there is nothing like staying in a really nice luxury hotel and eating out every meal and forgetting the "real" world for a short while. And Montreal is the perfect place to do that.
Aug 9th, 2003, 01:16 PM
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I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I've actually never been to Cafe Ferreira, Il Cortile or Au Petit Extra...I'm glad you enjoyed them. Who knows, maybe I saw you at Chapter's...I go in there from time to time! I too enjoy just walking around Outremont...I really enjoy some of the parks and ogling the homes. T'es la bienvenue ici toujours!
Aug 9th, 2003, 03:19 PM
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Thank you Mitch!
And Daniel, we were very impressed with the number of computers Chapters has for use in their cafe, hardly any internet cafes have so many and in such nice surroundings.
We sat and watched it rain and sort of watched the poor exhausted student at the table nearby, falling asleep over a book
Pup will come home tomorrow-he was having such fun, he wanted to stay one more night ((&
) I wish we could have stayed a little longer also, I am already missing Montreal 
And Daniel, we were very impressed with the number of computers Chapters has for use in their cafe, hardly any internet cafes have so many and in such nice surroundings.
We sat and watched it rain and sort of watched the poor exhausted student at the table nearby, falling asleep over a book
Pup will come home tomorrow-he was having such fun, he wanted to stay one more night ((&
) I wish we could have stayed a little longer also, I am already missing Montreal
Aug 10th, 2003, 03:50 AM
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I was in Chapters yesterday to grap a cappucino on my way to my daughter's condo, and I remembered that they renovated the chapters last year and I noticed how neat the internet café is.....
then I started to wonder if a lot of the people there were fodorites, how funny !!!
then I started to wonder if a lot of the people there were fodorites, how funny !!!
Aug 11th, 2003, 06:35 AM
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Did I forget to mention we had lunch at L'Express and Boy! was it good !
It was its usual noisy but not smokey, the crowd was most pleasant and so was the wait staff.
I want to go back there today for lunch
It was its usual noisy but not smokey, the crowd was most pleasant and so was the wait staff.
I want to go back there today for lunch
Jul 1st, 2004, 05:25 PM
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degas, glad you enjoyed it. You don't really have to wait for a thunderstorm to go there, it is nice in good weather also
I cannot access hotmail for some reason, I will send you more soon~
I cannot access hotmail for some reason, I will send you more soon~
Jul 2nd, 2004, 02:59 AM
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Scarlett, what a pleasure to see this post resurrected !! Ferreira has improved their decor; they also opened a cafe 2 doors up on Peel close to de Maisonneuve, Vasquo de Gamas, for grilled sannies and such, very nice. North on Peel, going towards Sherbrooke is Cavalli, which has become the hip dinner place, the food is excellent and it has great atmosphere.
DD moved to the Plateau area in the fall and I am spending more time there;
DD moved to the Plateau area in the fall and I am spending more time there;
Jul 2nd, 2004, 05:29 AM
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mitchdesj-
See what happens when I am gone from Montreal for a few months?!
I must come back soon, I need those grilled calamari from Cafe Ferriera, and I must try the new places.
I bet the weather is good too, no?
I hear Toque has moved and is not on the Most Wonderful Restaurant list anymore
cheers~
See what happens when I am gone from Montreal for a few months?!
I must come back soon, I need those grilled calamari from Cafe Ferriera, and I must try the new places.
I bet the weather is good too, no?
I hear Toque has moved and is not on the Most Wonderful Restaurant list anymore
cheers~
Jul 2nd, 2004, 06:52 AM
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hello scarlett, mtl misses you !! I have friends who have been to the new Toque and loved it; the room is huge and white and cold, very chic, but the service , wine list and food are still top notch.
I've never been there myself; I tend to return to my favorites time after time but I guess I'll eventually go. I also hate sitting more than 2 hours for a meal ( ideally 90 minutes for my lower back) so I've pretty much identified the places where I can do that.
I am going to start carrying a small note book with me at all times to note the small restaurants I like on the plateau; there is one called Anubis on Mt Royal, the owner is the chef and he does it all himself, a sort of fusion cuisine, quebec style- he even has his own burgers and home fries on the menu as well as modified thai dishes, it's too cute for words, I've been there for 2 dinners and a lunch and each meal was delectable. I like to return to places like that and encourage small businesses.
In order to post the names and adresses of these places, I'll have to jot them down, or else I get senior moments.......
I've never been there myself; I tend to return to my favorites time after time but I guess I'll eventually go. I also hate sitting more than 2 hours for a meal ( ideally 90 minutes for my lower back) so I've pretty much identified the places where I can do that.
I am going to start carrying a small note book with me at all times to note the small restaurants I like on the plateau; there is one called Anubis on Mt Royal, the owner is the chef and he does it all himself, a sort of fusion cuisine, quebec style- he even has his own burgers and home fries on the menu as well as modified thai dishes, it's too cute for words, I've been there for 2 dinners and a lunch and each meal was delectable. I like to return to places like that and encourage small businesses.
In order to post the names and adresses of these places, I'll have to jot them down, or else I get senior moments.......
Jul 2nd, 2004, 06:54 AM
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forgot to mention Savannah, another new fave of mine, on St. Laurent & Mt Royal;
wonderful room and food, they've added a terrace for the summer- the owners are also owners of 2 bookstores in Montreal and apparently the author Maeve Binchy was there recently.....
wonderful room and food, they've added a terrace for the summer- the owners are also owners of 2 bookstores in Montreal and apparently the author Maeve Binchy was there recently.....
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