eating montreal

This post is only eight months late.  Better late than never, am I right?

After taking the bar, I languished around the house for a week, my soul having been drained of all happiness and light.  Rob waited until the worst of it was over and then made his big reveal: two tickets to Osheaga, a Montreal music festival with just about every act I had wanted to see for the last year AND a customized meal itinerary created through countless hours of research.  I've never been prouder.

Rob wanted to live at Dieu du Ciel microbrewery.  We went a total of three times over the weekend, and because we could never get the hours straight, we were always waiting outside the front door for it to open.  Rob loved his beers, and I was happy to watch him drink so long as those nachos were in front of me.  

Dieu du Ciel Microbrewery

259 rue de Villemure
St-Jérôme, Qc, J7Z 5J4

Open Monday to Thursday from 11:30 AM - 2:00 PM.

Friday and Saturday from 2:00 PM - 3:00 AM.

Sunday from 2 PM - 1:00 AM

I compare every bagel I eat to the ones at Ess-A-Bagel, my favorite Sunday morning haunt in New York. I'll ruin the surprise for you - they always fall far, far, short.  Montreal bagels are a different breed altogether - a tad sweeter, smaller in size, and less chewy.  We ate our everything bagels at a picnic table on a sunny morning, and forgot to draw any comparisons at all.

Fairmount Bagel

74, avenue Fairmount Ouest
Montreal, QC H2T 2M2

What kind of couple are we?  The kind that leaves in the middle of Snoop Dog's first performance as "Snoop Lion" to go eat veal sweetbreads and duck heart tartar with foie gras shavings.  The entire menu is in French, but our awesome waiter translated every menu item with such warmth and excitement that we felt warm and fuzzy inside.  (Excuse those pictures - it was dark and romantic in there!)

Au Cinquieme Peche

4475 Rue St-Denis

Montreal, QC H2J 2L2

I never order chicken when I'm out at a restaurant, but secretly I have an undying love for rotisserie chickens always.  They beckon to me under their glaring heat lamps at the even the crappiest of grocery stores.  The Portuguese roast chicken at Romado's is a must - juicy, garlicky, and perfect with a mountain of fries that beg to be dipped in the chicken grease.

Rotisserie Romados

115 Rue Rachel E

Montreal, QC H2W 1C8

Do you ever feel like a restaurant just gets you to your very core?  That is how I feel about Au Pied de Cochon, a place that feels no shame about piling on slabs of foie gras and every other gluttonous fatty meat under the sun on a flakey, buttery crust or cooking a fat-slicked duck in a can with more foie and dumping it onto a plate at your table.  More foie for everyone!

Or creating this obscene sandwich of battered soft-shelled crabs with soft goat cheese, fresh zucchini, and drizzled with maple syrup.  How can something that sounds so wrong be so right?

Au Pied de Cochon

536 Avenue Duluth E
Montréal, QC H2L 1A9

Covered in mud, sweat, and general music festival funk at 11:30pm, we took a cab to Schwartz's deli for these smoked meat sandwiches.  Thankfully, the night time crowd was weird-looking enough that we fit right in.  Bonus points for not having to wait in line!  Pure bliss. 

Schwartz's Deli
3895 St-Laurent Boulevard
Montreal, QC H2W 1X9

Pâtisserie Rhubarbe is a bit out of the way in a residential neighborhood, but our long trek through the wind and rain was beyond worth it.  The caramel mille feuilles and the apricot-pistachio layered cake blew our minds.  Each flavor was thoughtfully captured and the execution was impeccable.  Best pastries I've had in Montreal by a long shot.

Pâtisserie Rhubarbe
5091 De Lanaudière
Montréal, QC H2J 3P9

       

                   

Oh Lallouz - if you only knew how many failed attempts we made to eat your food before finally getting a taste.  If there's one piece of advice I can give you about planning a meal in Montreal, it is to check whether or not it is open - especially in the summer!  On our third trip to Lallouz, we were handsomely rewarded with the $12 per person lunch deal, which included a a kebab each, unfettered access to delicious vegetable salads, pita, and mint lemonade.  

Lallouz Café & Kebaberie
4561 Boul.St-Laurent

or

1327 Rue St-Catherine Est

I should mention that, in addition to criss-crossing the city to eat all of this, we listened to some life-changing music, felt way too old to be there, and danced away all those calories.

As a final parting gift, we treated ourselves to a hand-picked selection of twenty macarons from the Point G stand at the Jean-Talon market.  They were gone by the time we pulled into our driveway.

                             

P.S. My close friend and fellow inner fat girl has started a food Instagram account - follow her at foodtographer!!