|
|
 |
|
Best Dining Bets
Nuances, 1 av. du Casino, in the Casino de Montréal (tel. 514/392-2708): This gourmet resto at the top of the city's casino got an impressive face-lift in 2007 that made the decor as contemporary and elegant as the food -- all creamy walls and pale leather banquettes. It's a room with real star power.
Toqué!, 900 Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle (tel. 514/499-2084): Superstar chef/owner Norman Laprise has been thrilling Montréal gourmands for years. In dishes of startling innovation, he brings together diverse ingredients that have rarely appeared before on restaurant plates. There's little point in describing individual dishes, for he replaces them with some new invention before any of his entrees achieve signature status.
- Best Classic French Bistro: Plateau Mont-Royal's most Parisian spot, L'Express, 3927 rue St-Denis (at rue Roy; tel. 514/845-5333), is where you come to see what the Francophone part of this city is all about. From the black-and-white-checkered floor to the grand, high ceilings, this is where Old France meets New France.
- Best Room for a Celebration: Nuances, 1 av. du Casino (tel. 514/392-2708), got a dazzling face-lift in 2007 and now looks as contemporary as the food on its plates. It's a gracious, multistarred temple de cuisine atop the Montréal casino on Ile Ste-Hélène.
- Best Exotic Downtown Restaurant: In a city where French food and its derivations rule, the lush orange and blue Mediterranean decor at Portuguese Ferreira Café, 1446 rue Peel (tel. 514/848-0988), as well as its big, fleshy mounds of grilled squid and black cod feel downright sexy.
- Best Restaurant at Which to Eat So Much You Can't Move: As the name -- "The Pig's Foot" -- suggests, Au Pied de Cochon, 536 rue Duluth est (tel. 514/281-1114), is mostly about slabs of meat, especially pork. The "PDC's Cut," weighing in at more than a pound, is emblematic.
- Best Vegan Restaurant: A standard-bearer since 1997, Plateau Mont-Royal's Aux Vivres moved to new digs at 4631 bd. St-Laurent, near avenue du Mont-Royal (tel. 514/842-3479), in 2006 and has been packing in vegans, vegetarians -- and the meat eaters who love them -- ever since.
- Best Guilty Treat: Poutine is a plate of french fries (frites) drenched with gravy afloat with cheese curds. It's a bedrock Québec comfort food that tastes better than it sounds. La Banquise, 994 rue Rachel est (tel. 514/525-2415), near Parc La Fontaine's northwest corner, offers upwards of 25 variations and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Best Old-Fashioned French Meal: Right on Place Jacques-Cartier in Vieux-Montréal, Chez Queux, 158 rue St-Paul est (tel. 514/866-5194), is a throwback to a time when the only cuisine was French and the only proper romantic meal was chateaubriand for two, alongside showy tableside preparations and flaming desserts. The food is decidedly retro, but the execution is superb. And the waiters wear tuxedos.
- Best Out-of-the-Way Place for a Date: Little La Montée de Lait, tucked on a nondescript side street in Plateau Mont-Royal at 371 rue Villeneuve est, at the corner of rue Drolet (tel. 514/289-9921), keeps you close to your honey and elbow-to-elbow with neighbors. The room can get loud, though, so consider that in your planning.
- Best Breakfast: The city has seven outposts of Eggspectation, and they all do brisk business serving funky, creative breakfasts with loads of egg options. The menu is extensive, prices are fair, and portions are huge.
- Best Smoked Meat: There are other contenders, but Chez Schwartz Charcuterie Hébraïque de Montréal, known simply as Schwartz's, at 3895 bd. St-Laurent, north of rue Prince-Arthur in Plateau Mont-Royal (tel. 514/842-4813), serves up the definitive version of regional brisket.
- Best Burgers: Local wisdom holds that the biggest, juiciest burgers are assembled at the Latin Quarter's La Paryse, 302 rue Ontario est (tel. 514/842-2040). Nipping at its heels (although in entirely different neighborhoods) are MeatMarket, 4415 bd. St-Laurent (tel. 514/223-2292), a gourmet burger joint in Mile End, and the new m brgr, at 2015 rue Drummond (tel. 514/ 906-2747) in downtown. The latter was launched by steakhouse stalwart Moishes in early 2008.
- Best Bagel: Even native New Yorkers have to give it up for Montréal's bagels, which are sweeter and chewier than those produced south of the border. Both St-Viateur Bagel & Café, at 1127 av. Mont-Royal est in Plateau Mont-Royal (tel. 514/528-6361), and Fairmont Bagel, at 74 av. Fairmont ouest in Mile End (tel. 514/272-0667), are the places to assess that claim.
- Best Restaurant at Which to Share Food: The tapas phenomenon gave rise to Pintxo, in Plateau Mont-Royal at 256 rue Roy est (tel. 514/844-0222), which does its own variations on the Spanish-Basque originals.
- Best Restaurant, Period: Ever-questing Normand Laprise and partner Christine Lamarche keep Vieux-Montréal's Toqué!, 900 Place Jean-Paul Riopelle, near rue St-Antoine (tel. 514/499-2084), in a league of its own. This dazzlingly postmodern venue is now a deserving member of the gold-standard organization Relais & Châteaux.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
|
|
