My wife and I are coming up to Montreal for the F1 race next week and I'm looking for suggestions of things to do. We're arriving June 1st (just missing the Montreal Beer Festival) and are at the racetrack all day Friday, Saturday & Sunday so we'll be looking for things Sunday night the 1st through Thursday 5th.

We love art and architecture and she's a fashion fanatic. Oh yeah, food. We like food.

We're staying in the Latin Quarter and are not renting a car.

So let's hear it!

 

awesome!... UHmmm any suggestions people??

 

-Maybe the Montreal Casino ?

-Biodome/insectarium is cool also.

-Is "la Ronde" opened yet?

There is so much to do in MTL, it's a nice city If weather permits, go and walk down the old Montreal (at the port).

Get ready for the humongous Potholes

 

Here you go buddy...check this site out http://www.tourisme-montreal.org

For beers, get on St-Denis and hit Les Trois Brasseurs and Bieres & Compagnie

I highly recommend checking out the Casino, the Old Port of Montreal.

Fashion? Montreals scattered with little boutiques...get on St. Catherine boulevard and keep walking east, you'll hit the big names. Here's a list of shopping centers. For boutiques, you can check out St Laurent boul and St Denis boul.

Enjoy your stay! and stay safe! It could get a little nutso during F1 weekend. If you have a chance, get on the corner of Cresent boul. and St Catherine they usually have some shows going on. And if you're interested, you could check out Little Italy for a nice Ferrari show

 

Great advice and I thought I'd add a non-native Montreal perspective...

First and foremost you'll probably be using the Metro/Subway system a lot so buy the multi-day pass and you'll save money as well as the ease of not buying tix every time you ride. You'll understand that completely once you try to leave the race circuit and return to Montreal the first time. To get to the circuit you will need to get to the Berri/UQAM station to catch the yellow line to the island...if you're staying in the St Denis area you are already there at Berri/UQAM.

We have frequented four different areas on past F1 weekends and they all offer great restaurants, bars and some F1 gatherings...

The rue Ste. Catherine area encompasses the shopping, the nightlife, and the Honda F1 gathering on rue Crescent. Rue Crescent has the Hard Rock Cafe and Winston Churchill Pub. BMW used to close off rue Peel in that area for MINIs on Friday night and BMWs and Sauber F1 on Saturday evenings but it's become a multi-marque car exhibition the last several years...I've heard that BMW is somewhere else but someone else will have to chime in about that, we've never found it. Some good restaurants around Ste Catherine include Reubens, the Bar-B-Barn on rue Guy, and Alexandre's on rue Peel.

http://www.reubensdeli.com/large/indexB.html
http://www.chezalexandre.com/

The Old Port / Jacques Cartier area also has an abundant selection of restaurants and bars, I can personally recommend Restaurant du Vieux Port and Galiano's Pasta & Bar. There are a lot of shops, carriage rides, and you can walk down to the parks and piers on the waterfront from there...with any luck you can catch the fireworks at La Ronde from there on Saturday night.

http://www.restaurantduvieuxport.com/index_en.php
http://www.restaurantgalianos.com/site_en.html

If your staying near the Latin Quarter, I assume you mean the rue St Denis area which again has a huge selection of good eats and drink. We also stay in that area and frequent the La Brioche Lyonnaise for breakfast and we can also recommend Trois Brasseurs for lunch or dinner or just beer. There are plenty of Italian restaurants there and we have been regulars at Chez Paesano for many years.

http://www.labriochelyonnaise.com/index.html
http://www.les3brasseurs.ca/eng/st_denis.php

This is our 18th GP weekend in Montreal, so if you would like any advice from American travelers in Montreal, just PM me...cheers!

 

...i figured you were going to chime in Nice write up C...OOPER(awk)ation, ahahaha!

 

What night are you preparing dinner for us, GC?

...and are you sending a car for us?

 

Great, now i gotta cook...i know i missed out last year but cmon! give a brother a break here!

A car? The MINI?

 

If your looking for some special beer, you can always go to this place.

Dieu du Ciel: http://www.dieuduciel.com/en/home.php

and you can always watch this episode of Anthony Bourdain "No Reservations" on youtube where he speaks VERY highly of Au Pied Du Cochon
in the old port of Montreal.
http://www.restaurantaupieddecochon.ca/index_eng.html#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjFzX9qZD_s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV6Ju...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT-2e...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5tRY...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH89r...eature=related

This site is also useful, you can search by cuisine or neighbourhood.

http://english.montrealplus.ca/bars_restaurants


Top 5 Restaurants in Montreal

1 Toqué Old Montréal Québécois
2 Ferreira Downtown Portuguese
3 Gibby's Old Montréal Seafood, Steakhouse
4 Express (L') Plateau Mont-Royal French (Bistro)
5 Chez L'Epicier Old Montréal Eclectic / Int'l


When you are in town, you might want to try some of our famous Bagels

http://www.fairmountbagel.com/eng/index.htm
or
http://www.stviateurbagel.com

Also, we are very well known for our smokemeat and this is the best place to get some

http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/


Obviously you cant forget about our Poutines
La Banquise (also mentioned in Anthony Bourdaine`s video)
http://www.restolabanquise.com/index...ines&langue=an

I hope that helps a bit more.

I hope you have a good time here in Montreal!

Bienvenue! / Welcome!

 

thanks for the info and links, Kirk...I've been jones'n for poutine since I saw that episode on NR. I've seen the smoked meat at neighboring tables at Reubens deli, but what exactly is the smoked meat?

...oh and welcome to NAM!

GC...there will be two plus driver. Have you ever ridden in the back seat of a MINI Cooper?

 

Reubens eh! You know your places in Montreal my friend! Basically smokemeat is beef brisket that has been cured, spiced and smoked. It is then heated in a steamer, so the meat is tender and moist. The cook then slices the brisket against the grain as thin as possible with his knife.



As for welcoming me to the board, thank you! I have not chimmed in yet even though its been 1 year im almost a member. Took me a food thread about montreal to speak up! LOL ( I am an Executive Chef here in Montreal ) Ive been dreaming about a Mini for quite a while now, Ive been reading up on different threads and im slowly getting my questions answered! All the info is there, you just have to search for it and fall upon it eventually.

Back on topic: Montreal is known for its Food, Nightlife, Fashion, Joie de vivre, Architecture, and oh yes.... SEX. We have some of the finest gentlemen nightclubs around! LOL

 

thanks for the smokemeat info...joining in to the conversation is always a good thing and if you need answers don't be shy, just ask away...good luck with the MINI plan.

So plug your resto, where do you work?

 

Oh noooo, you posted a picture of schwartz smokemeat....evil, evil thing to do on a Sunday morning

COOP - I'll be honest with you, i don't have a car with more than 2 comfortable seating arrangements...one's worse than the other...now it all depends on how much you're willing to sacrifice, hahaha!

Kirkz - Thanks for the writeup and ya let us know where you work. Oh and welcome to NAM

 

Well i have stopped working in Hotels and Restaurants due to the fact that its often weekends and at night. Having kids kinda of changes priorities. I now work for a company that does ready to go meals in grocery stores. I am in charge of Food Quality Control and Hygiene and Saftey in all 50 stores. Here are some pictures of what we produce.

http://www.servicecuisinegp.com/photos.html

For people in Québec reading this, these products are offered in IGA and Métro grocery stores.

As for asking the questions... Well 90% of the ppl here are from the states and the most of my questions remaining are with canadian cars. Im leaning towards the Mini Cooper Classic which is not on the Mini USA website. Its a totally naked Mini with 15 inch wheels, no fog lights, etc.. Im also thinking of leasing it also, etc... Anyways, enough hijacking this thread!

 

well, we've been here 24 hours and I'm in love with this city. Our hotel (Hotel Le Relais Lyonnais) is amazing and its perfectly located near tons of shopping, eating and drinking. Its also the perfect location for the GP.

Were on Rue Saint Denis about 1/2 block from the metro station at the corner on Rue Saint Katherine. Hop on and its a short ride to the track. Les Troi Brasseurs is lock or so away too!

 

ahhh, envious, we're not heading up til Thurs.

Try http://www.labriochelyonnaise.com/index.html for breakfast on the right side of St Denis across from the concert hall...fresh squeezed OJ and the omelets and baguettes are superb, we'll probably be there Sat and Sun before heading to the island for the day.

We'll be staying two blocks east on St Hubert on Friday, enjoy!

Kirk, thanks again for the info, we shop at a few grocers on St Hubert but I'm not sure of the names.

 

That cafe is below the hotel we are in and we had breakfast there this morning. I think they are owned by the same people who own the hotel. Since were staying 8 days, they gave us breakfast sans fil gratuit.

This is truely a lovely hotel. Old and traditional on the outside, fresh, modern (yet warm) and stylish inside. There's only 7 rooms and ours in on the top floor and has a balcony looking out onto St. Denis. My wife and I shared a bottle of wine out there this afternoon. I highly recommend it.

http://www.lerelaislyonnais.com/

Let me know if you are going to come here for breakfast. I'd love to meet the infamous COOPERation.

Kirk, where can I get me some of that Smoked Brisket? That looks amazing!

 

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&hl=en...5&ie=UTF8&z=16

Its a 4 Minute Taxi ride, but WELL worth it!

If you do get one, let me know how you enjoyed it!

Kirk.

 

Omg is it ever worth the 4min ride. The last time i went their, I had lunch next to a 70+ year old man, who lives in california but was born in Montreal. He comes up to Montreal almost EVERY YEAR for the past 40+ years of his life and he ALWAYS ends up at Schwartz. Don't miss out...please, don't...or else i'll do it for you

 

Thats a great indorsement! He HAS to go you are right!

 

Kirk, my wife wants to know the best gentleman's club. Anything tasteful?

 

My wife and I have gone to this place.

http://www.chezpareemontreal.com/

and another club that is couple friendly is

Club Super Sex

You can read an article about it here

http://www.jaunted.com/story/2005/5/...ub+In+Montreal

 

OMG! Had Schwartz's today. Amazing. The rest of our group showed up today. I think were going again tomorrow. BTW, had dinner at Devi tonight. 2 thumbs way up!

Kirk, whats your opinion on L'Actuel? We went last night for mussels and frites. The food was great but the service was hortible and the atmosphere was bland.

 

I never went to L`Actuel but its good to know! Often owners of Restaurants only concentrate on how good the food tastes, how its prepaired, food costs.... They never give the front of the house a thought, but most of the time during a customers culinary experience, it is the front of the house (the waiters, the service) that comes through first and the food is second!

If you want to eat Mussels, you can head over to Bieres et Compagnie (It basically means Beer and Company) on St Denis. 4350 Rue St Denis, there is a great full page menu on Mussels, and most of the other stuff on the menu is cooked with Beer.[SIZE=5]
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+1 for Bieres et Compagnie

Enjoy your stay!