Trip Report: Montreal
Montreal is a city to spoil yourself with great food, drinks, and spas. I took a recent jaunt to Montreal for a long weekend, and what a great destination. The non-stop flight is a quick 90-minute hop from Reagan. The city has a cool Old Town of its own with lots of architecture, churches, and other sites to check out. The city's Notre Dame cathedral is worth a stop to explore the chapels, especially the modern chapel rebuilt in the back of the cathedral after being hit by an arsonist. But I’ll be honest, what I was going for was to try a lot of the great culinary destinations the city has to offer.
Do yourself a favor and just book the water circuit at Bota-Bota before you even arrive. You have to experience this! I am serious, it is a must-do in Montreal! A tugboat in the harbor converted to a Nordic-style spa with saunas, ice baths, steam rooms, whirlpools, and an outdoor pool. Each deck and sauna room has a different but amazing view of the city that you can enjoy while relaxing your muscles and mind. One of my favorites was the ice bath post-sauna where the outdoor stairs took you into the rushing river itself, but don’t worry they have plenty of traditional baths, as well. I think this is the best view of the city, period, too bad you can’t take a phone past the locker room to snap a pic of the view. But the relaxation and rejuvenation are well worth putting the phone away for a blissful three hours, I got an extra treat in that it was a beautiful, sunny day when I was aboard. (Don’t forget to bring a bathing suit and non-slip sandals in your luggage so you can enjoy, walk-ins are welcome too!)
The Montreal Botanical Gardens are also well worth the short trip through the city. The indoor greenhouses have a fun selection of carnivorous plants and an edible garden room. The outdoor gardens have beautiful Japanese pavilions and other curated formal gardens, it’s a big area though, so bring comfy shoes! If you have kids, the botanical garden and Biodome, located close by, are both great options!
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts spans multiple buildings and has a nice selection of traditional, modern, decorative, and other art, all connected underground through the basement. This is a great place to wander and burn off a few of the calories you are going to eat. Another great option for some activity is a hike up Mont Royal.
The Underground City is fun to wander. See if you can navigate your way through all the underground passageways and browse shops, pick up a coffee (or a local beer a little later in the day) while you’re there.
Before we get to the dining scene, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the many markets throughout the city that are great for wandering around and grabbing a quick snack. At the Atwater Market, I loved trying different maple items (although some were a bit sweet for me), picking up gourmet terrines, trying interesting potato chips, and other fun foodie items. It’s a good thing I walked about 8 to 10 miles every day because I also couldn’t resist some of the great baked goods.
During the pandemic I had bagels from St. Viateur shipped to me, so it was a logical must-stop. You can watch the bagels being made in the large wood oven on long wood peels, and then taste the freshest bagels. They are known for their Sesame Seed Bagel, and it’s delightful, but my favorites are the Rosemary Sea Salt and the All Dressed (Everything). I got one of my all-time favorite sandwiches at the café, a bagel sandwich with smoked salmon, capers, tomato, and onion. I am not from New York and have never lived there, so I don’t have a dog in the Montreal versus NYC bagel divide. I will say that I loved the bagels here. While they aren’t as big as some of the bagels we get in the States, the texture is amazing. (Pro tip: the longest line is generally for the café if you just want bagels there is normally a shorter line.)
Don’t miss Olive & Gourmando if you like a good salad. Their Salad 24 is packed with great flavors and textures from soba noodles, tofu, fried shallots, broccoli, carrots, kale, nuts and so much more with a light and tangy sauce. Their potato salad was also top-notch, while the much-acclaimed Cuban sandwich was good, but a definite runner-up to the salad. Located right in Old Town, the line for seats moves fast, so don’t let it scare you. Also, the big cups of cappuccino are a delightful throwback to the ‘90s when we used to sit at a café with a big mug.
There is a reason Au Pied Du Cochon is a mainstay restaurant. I was with companions who haven’t met a foie gras they didn’t like. We had pretty much every dish with foie gras on the menu like the foie gras nigiri and the terrine of foie gras. Each was decadent, and absolutely a hit. I had never tried poutine before, so this was my introduction, good thing we had salad for lunch! We also had a delicious pork chop with a great sauce.
The bar at Nora Gray is a throwback to the best ‘70s dad basement bar with wood paneling and black leather. The cocktails and wine list make the bar a great destination. They definitely have a sense of humor, but when it comes to the food, they don’t play around. Each pasta dish on the menu was worth eating. We were vying for bites of each so we could pick a favorite. The gnocchi was my favorite, with the strascinati as a close second.
Chances are you will want to eat at one of the restaurants by the restauranteurs Fred Morin and Allison Cunningham. Joe Beef happened to be the one we tried. Known for a very decadent lobster carbonara, which tastes like lobster bisque and spaghetti carbonara had a secret forbidden love. The foie gras here was also tasty, especially on their delicious croissants. The menu rotates daily and we had a lovely braised rabbit, as well, as a side of vegetables as my foie gras to salad count was running low.
There are so many other restaurants and bars to try, this is just a small selection! Overall Montreal makes a great destination city, especially for a long weekend, the flights are short, hotels are generally affordable, food is great, and there is just enough to do, without being overwhelming.
