Montreal 2025
Bonjour! Mark and I swapped our annual NOLA trip for Montreal and it did not disappoint! Ironically, there were many similarities as both cities are heavily influenced by French history and cuisine. Known as the "Paris of North America," Montreal has that same effortless sophistication that I miss about Paris when I visited years ago. The top three things we love about Montreal is the fine dining/food scene, cafes and trying the café allonge, and its vibrant outdoor culture.
The fine dining scene in Montreal is so interesting because it's unpretentious, very welcoming, and they expect you to stay and dine for several hours. For two dinners over the weekend, we dined at Lawrence (where they were exclusively serving a seasonal prix fixe menu), and Au Pied de Cochon (consistently recommended by locals & food critics alike). It seems like many of their elevated restaurants are scattered all over the city, nestled in unassuming storefronts in quaint neighborhoods. When we walked into both of these restaurants, the intimate settings held no more than 80 guests, and the counter seating by the kitchen allowed guests accessibility be in the midst of the action. I absolutely love this because I have been to too many pretentious restaurants where an aura of exclusivity and a mysterious kitchen often serve subpar food for double the price.
Lawrence and Au Pied de Cochon were both incredible, located in the pocket between Mile End and Mount Royal. At Lawrence, I loved the crab liver, cucumber and black truffle tartlet (app), poached halibut with crab and nettle curry (main), and foie gras, apple, maple and toasted yeast (dessert). Twelve "plates" and 3 hours later, Mark and I were blown away.
At Au Pied de Cochon, we ordered off of the menu, starting with Duck Temaki, an incredible umami duck tartare. We also had sweetbread and their foie gras appetizer special. I normally steer away from animal organs, intestines, etc. but I decided who better to cook these innards other than a French chef. I made it through enough bites to ascertain that I do not like certain foods and passed on these delicacies to Mark who happily accepted. For our mains, Mark ordered Au Pied's specialty: Duck in a Can. That's right- our server came to our table with a can of duck meat and a can opener and somehow made the presentation whimsical, fun and appetizing. I don't quite match Mark's enthusiasm for authentic French cuisine so I was very happy with my halibut in Portuguese broth, which was cooked to perfection. Other restaurants we recommend are Olive et Gourmando (we went twice for brunch), Maggie Oakes, and Ma Poule Mouillee for Portuguese chicken and poutine. We did so much eating.
It was our first time in Montreal so we did the usual things listed on Trip Advisor: walk/shop Old Montreal & Old Port, Notre Dame Basilica (replica of the one in Paris), Eaton Centre, Crew Cafe (beautiful cafe located inside an old bank building), Underground City, Mount Royal Park. It's always fun exploring a new city but the magic in Montreal are the surrounding neighborhoods. Mile End and Quartier Des Spectacles are two neighborhoods that we really enjoyed. There are many great restaurants, cool vintage shops, local breweries, and parks; if it's over 45 degrees F, everyone is outside in shorts either cycling or just hanging out at the stoop of their local dive bar.
A fun find during this trip was Le 4e Mur, a hidden speakeasy with a trick to get inside. They have live music and burlesque shows on certain days and the cocktail menu directs you to solve a mystery at the end, if you are inextinguishable - or sober enough - to understand the clue the bartender gives you after every round. Le 4e Mur is on Saint Denis street and it's almost impossible not to find something to do on that main strip.
Montreal, we will be back! The food, the espresso, the random techno playlist that our Uber driver was playing.. Stereo, you are on the list next time. IYKYK.
