May 18-21, 2024 - Montreal
Montreal struck me as a city that was both American and European. The wide streets, big cars, architecture, and general landscape felt American, but the culture seemed more European. For instance, the boulangeries and boucheries interspersed amongst supermarkets, the laid back cafes as you walked down the street, the bikes and reliable underground metro system. Everyone speaks French, but no one was snarky about speaking English.
While there is not as much to do as in NYC, Montreal is still very vibrant, more so than Boston. It influenced by immigrants from all around- the Arabic, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Jewish, Italian, Cantonese. There is street art / murals everywhere and cool cars zooming by every so often. Things are cheaper than in the US (though wages are also lower), making Montreal seem like a pleasant place to live.
MAY 18
After the 6-hour drive from Boston (of which I drove the last 2 hours) and settling down in the Airbnb, we headed to Chinatown for some food. Based on a local's recommendation, we dined at Maison Guangzhou - a solid Cantonese restaurant. We had stir-fried flat noodles with beef, water spinach, sweet & sour eggplant with egg tofu, salt-baked chicken, and shrimp and egg. The silky texture of the egg in the shrimp and egg was my favorite! Overall not too salty or oily, though some things were a little over or undercooked.
I also tried dragon's beard candy for the first time. Basically a nougat of peanuts, coconut, and sesame is wrapped in sugar threads. Fun texture though the nougat did stick to my teeth a bit.
The others got drinks from Shuyi Tealicious which were pretty flavorful. Bonus is the default is low sugar and no ice.
We walked off our full stomachs in the Old Port which had nice waterfront vibes alongside cute railroad tracks and monumental buildings. Unfortunately, there were a lot of insects flying around.
MAY 19
First stop of the day was Mile End neighborhood. Hof Kelston claims have to the best croissants in the city - a bold claim in a French-speaking city. The plain croissant was quite good - very buttery flavor, chewy but still flaky, and a little crispy on the outside. The almond croissant was also tasty, as the filling was not very sweet at all.
Next stop was Fairmount Bagels for Montreal-style bagels. They are chewier and denser on the inside than NY bagels and a crunchier outside closer to bread. Interestingly, the dough was a bit sweet.
Personally, I love to visit markets to whatever city I travel to. At Jean Talon Market, there were food stalls alongside produce, flowers, and maple syrup vendors. Interestingly, all the produce were sold in bins, even if originally packaged in plastic. Somehow, this made the produce look fresher even though it is the same quality in reality.
The maple tart from La Fournee des Sucreries de L'erable was more maple-y than I expected. I was expecting a custard flavored with maple but instead the filling was thick and syrupy - like a maple-y pecan pie filling but more syrupy. It was pretty sweet but very flavorful.
Just outside Jean Talon is an Arabic grocery store with meat, dairy sweets, and spices sections. I got some Msammen bread - semolina flatbread with alternating layers of olive oil and dough. It appears to be unleavened so a bit chewy. Very flavorful with the semolina, olive oil, and salt.
Next neighborhoods was Le Plateau-Mont-Royal at the Base of Mont Royal.
After waiting in a bit of a line, we acquired some tasty Portuguese style roast chicken at Ma Poule Mouillee. We dined and hung out in La Fontaine Park. The chicken had a bit of tang, heat, and wine-like aroma. Very moist as well. We ordered some poutine topped with cheese, sausage, chicken, and gravy too - tasty but a bit heavy / too stick-to-your-ribs for the hot weather.
Funny part about the park was a course where kids could practice their bike traffic laws.
Then we cooled off with ice cream from not one, but two shops - Ca Lem and Cremerie Meu Meu. Cremerie Meu Meu had pretty cool flavors - they're honey lavender was creamy and not overwhelmingly floral.
Next stop was Mont Royal itself. The original plan was to hike up the little mountain but it was too hot for this. We took the bus over to the other side of the mountain where St. Joseph's Oratory stands. It is an impressive shrine with many floors, a garden for reflection, and a surprisingly modern basilica.
After a quick stop for dinner and long wait for the bus, we made it to the top of the mountain. At the Kondiaronk Belvedere, we admired Montreal's night cityscape before heading back after a long day.
MAY 20
Hoping to take advantage of the cooler morning, we started off the day walking around Olympic Park which was built for the 1976 Summer Olympics.
The Olympic Park also includes other facilities, including the Botanical Garden.
Afterwards, we needed to spend so much needed time indoors. Montreal has a network of underground shops and tunnels for days when you don't want to be outside (especially in the winter). On of these shopping centers is Centre Eaton de Montreal which is connected directly to the McGill metro station.
In the Centre Eaton de Montreal, we dined at Time Out Market which has decent food and a nice classy vibe.
Then we explored the mall and underground tunnel system, stopping at Decathlon, a dollar store, and Tim Horton's (basically Canada's Dunkin).
The tunnels didn't seem as extensive as I had imagined - we couldn't reach the next mall Complex Desjardins via tunnel. But we also don't know the reputed 20 mile system that well.
We passed by the Quartier des Spectacles - the equivalent of NYC's Lincoln Center filled with arts and public space.
The next destination was St. Viateur's Bagels which we had skipped the day before because we didn't have cash. Turns out there was an ATM inside the shop. The bagel was fresh out of the oven, less sweet than Fairmount's bagels, equally chewy but overall tastier.
As you might be able to tell, it was hot. Which warrants ice cream again. The flavors at Ripple Ice Cream were bold, though I can't say whether I liked it. The strawberry cheesecake ice cream tasted artificial to me, but the other flavors might have been good. Teaches me a lesson to not be afraid of asking for more samples.
Though it was hot, we needed a walk to burn off that ice cream. We passed by some more street art and some cute pets.
Pho Ho Tay wrapped up our food-packed day. In the past couple days, we spotted pho restaurants in every neighborhood so we figured there's bound to be good pho. The pho here is Northern style - wider noodles and simpler broth. I ordered the chicken pho which had a chicken-based broth and toppings of chicken, liver, and thinly sliced beef. Cool to try a different style of pho!
MAY 21
We saved the closest landmark for last - the Biodome! Right near the metro station that we frequented, the Biodome is part conservatory, part zoo. You walk through the environments of different reconstructed ecosystems, but unlike a conservatory the animals are the highlight.
Schwartz's Deli is a Jewish delicatessen known for their smoked meat. The smoked meat is similar to pastrami. Schwartz's smoked meat is less fatty and slightly less spiced than Katz's deli. The mustard is also less pungent here and the sandwich did not have rye bread. Still, I enjoyed the sandwich - simple and done well. The coleslaw was the biggest hit for me as it was vinegar based and helped to cut the saltiness and fattiness.
Right across the street from Schwartz's is Petit Poisson Dumpling with many varieties of soup dumpling. We tried the chicken and mushroom. The wrapper was a bit thicker than normal soup dumplings but tasty and juicy overall. I learned that the soup is not fat from the meat, but rather broth with collagen.
Overall, Montreal is a fun city to explore and pleasant to live in. Next time, I might try some Mexican or Italian food as well. And go back to Shuyi Tealicious.
Bonus: Can you tell which photos were taken with DSLR and which with phone?
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