Quebec Trip

planning on about five days to see Montreal and Quebec? How many days in each? See the sites, eat and–did I mention–eat?
alan

Quebec City?

No restaurant recos but this is such a fantastic historic city. You wlll love it.

In Montreal, Dominic Allnut said that Joe Beef is pretty fabulous.
I met the Sommelier at La Paulee. Food is steak. Supposedly one of the best Burgundy lists in Montreal.

Schwartz’s deli. The rest you will need to ask what is great at the moment. Lots of great places to eat.

You need at least a couple of days in Quebec City. Montreal is huge and you could easily spend a week.

High end foodie dining Montreal.

Toque
Le Club Chasse et Peche

One have to eat dish. Poutine.

Really need more than 5 days, but I’d do 3 in Montreal and 2 in QC.

In the former, joe beef, pied du cachon, Schwartz’s and St Viateur for bagels (and Liberte cream cheese, which I still dream of). I need to check my notes on QC restaurants

Only if you can drink DRC with it :slight_smile:

I liked Graffiti in Quebec (this was 2 1/2 yrs ago).

3 in Montreal, 2 in Quebec.

Quebec City is amazing… the only walled city in North America, etc. etc. but really so European in both look and attitude it’s hard to believe you’re in North America.

In QC: For among the best croissants ever, you must do breakfast at Chez Temporal, and it’s good for a casual bistro lunch also. For dinner, look at Marie-Clarisse for seafood, Toast! for more Nouveau Canadien, and I think, despite it’s location smack in the busiest touristy areas outside of the Chateau Frontenac, Le Continental is worthy of it’s reputation as a good old world French restaurant. For Quebec City, frankly the best thing to do is just walk around the Old City, but going into the Plains of Abraham, the Musee de Francoise American, the Musee des Beaux Arts, and the Musee de la Civilasation are all very nice, as is the funiculaire between the lower and upper town and the magic of the Place Royale.

Sites in Montreal are many, but do try to get to the Pointe-a-Calliere museum for a sense of Quebec history, and check out the Basilique de Notre Dame.

Montreal eats: a great restaurant city-- the Chinatown is small but has some very good eats, and I love _l’Express_for classic Parisian bistro fare. At the high end, if Toque! (a truly great restaurant) is a little pricey for you, check out his more casual bistro Brasserie T! which is located in the modern art museum. And for something not in any guidebooks, try Toro! Toro! for really great tapas… though for smoked meat that puts even NYC to shame, make sure you go to Schwartz’s, and get some bagels too that rival anything in NYC from St-Viauteur.

Have fun!

Actually, the restaurant scene in Montreal is highly competitive and things change often, so if you can ask a someone who lives there you are likely to get some good tips. There must be thousands of interesting restos in that city!

Yep. This is how we found “Toro! Toro!” last time we were there. But a few places, like Toque!, Au Pied de Cochon, Schwartz’s and l’Express seem to be perennially good and near the top of what they do.

If you like fois gras, I’ve never seen any place that has it so many ways and times on a menu than Au Pied, but I’m worrying that I’m getting too old (and heavy) to eat in a place like that too regularly :slight_smile:.

Toque is overrated, IMO. Like eating at The Capital Grille. Go with Cochon.

Oh, and spend almost all your time east of St Laurent. Brush up on your French.

There are threads in the travel forum on these cities. I love both of them. We were in Montreal in November for a Leonard Cohen concert. It was so bitterly cold that we did not venture far from our hotel (which was near the concert hall). Montreal is a big city. It’s a wonderful place with a distinct character, but more like other big cities. Quebec City is more of a distinct place that you won’t find anywhere else. Spend all your time in or near the old city.

2 days/nights in each is enough. Maybe 3 in Mtl.

About a mile outside of the walled city is Clocher Penche. Very good food and decent wine list. Have the Cocotte for two. Also one of the best Boudin’s I’ve had and the duck gizzard salad was really good. Inside the walled city, I like Lapin Saute. Get the Rabbit and Duck for two. No apps needed. That is enough food for 2 people. Wine list is so-so but the food is worth going for. If you want to go somewhere classier and spend some bigger bucks then I would recommend Le Saint-Amour. These are for Quebec City.

thanks for all the ideas. Will do 3 in Montreal and 2 in Quebec and start sorting through the rest of the info.
alan

I’d do all 5 in one or the other and take a day trip, maybe see the 10,000 islands on the St. Laurence.

Alan…I wouldn’t miss Au Pied de Cochon. I’ve been twice and would love to go again. They have a cookbook (actually more than just a cookbook). I think I’ve learned more from that book than any other…for my taste/interests.

The pork stuff…the foie gras poutine are all great. And, though I am not a dessert person, the pouding choumeur is one of the best desserts I’ve ever encountered (and have made many times after writing to them in 2003 for the recipe…which came in French with metric measurements…luckily the cookbook came out several years later and cured that.)

Schwartz is also classic, for what it is…a Canadian take on pastrami.

In QC, we found so many small restaurants/bistros up the hill from the old city…that we stopped looking for haute cuisine there…as I emailed to one Burgundy producer while we were there: greetings from “fausse france”. It can get confusing there…

bon voyage…please report back

Sorry I just caught this thread. We go to Montreal every year - though last Fall’s trip was cancelled because of the hurricane! We tend to spend three nights - and I invariably wish we added a fourth. Montreal is a great walking city, if you stay at one of the downtown hotels. Other people have named most of them, but here would be my three recommendations in order of “can’t miss.”

  1. Joe Beef - great restaurant. A bit less heavy than Au Pied de Cochon. Definitively better than PDC - though it took a while for the hype to catch up. Nonetheless…
  2. PDC. It’s classic - you go there when you are in Montreal for the same reason that you go to St. John in London. It is just what you do. You don’t need to go on your second trip to Montreal, but you really must on your first trip. I’m partial to the Tarte Tatin with Foie Gras - although the FG pizza is good, too. If you are really hungry, order the eponymous dish. Go hungry.
  3. Le Club Chasse et Peche - great choice for the high-end dinner.

I agree with what Peter suggests re Toque. I wouldn’t say that it is bad or over-rated, but what it is, is like any number of high-end places in which you can eat in any major city on the continent. It just doesn’t have much character. It is professional, polished, and very good, but not special - better to grab lunch at Toque’s sister-restaurant (forgetting the name) next to the contemporary art museum.

Hit both Marche Jean Talon and Marche Atwater. Go to Byblos for breakfast one morning - it’s a Persian place which serves divine omelets. The best chocolate in Montreal comes from Chloe, who is next door to PDC - which is only helpful as a landmark - because when PDC os open, Chloe is closed, and visa versa.

It has been at least ten years since we went to QC, but we enjoyed a meal at Laurie-Raphael. I can’t remember the other places we ate - though we did stay at the Frontenac and have one meal at the restaurant there.

In Quebec City, stay in the old port/city. Best restaurants are Laurie Raphael and Saint-Amour (by far). Expect to pay $300-350 for two, including wine, taxes and service.

The only bring your own wine worthy of your money in Quebec City is La Girolle (French cuisine)

In Montreal… Best high-end:

  • Toque!
  • Club Chasse et Pêche

Best sushi/fusion with French/high-end:

  • Jun-I on Laurier street in Outremont (10 minutes by taxi from downtown)

Best fresh fish:

  • Milos (same owner as in Las Vegas and New York)
  • PortusCalle (amazing food from Portugal)

Best Italian high-end

  • Ristorante Primo & Secondo
  • Graziella

Best Pizza/pasta

  • Napoletana… Cash only. In Little Italy. More like a cafeteria, not for a sexy date. In and out in less then 60 minutes. No reservation. Must wait in line outside. Its a Bring your own vine restaurant.

Best foie gras/today I want to get fat:

  • Pied de Cochon
  • Joe Beef

Best French/creative:

  • Leméac… Also on Laurier street
  • Européa
  • Auberge Saint-Gabriel

Current buzz:

  • Les 400 Coups
  • Le Filet (same owner as Club Chasse et Pêche)

Best bring your own wine:

  • O’Thym
  • À l’Os
  • Christophe (food is OK, not sensationnal, but fairly priced)
  • Quartier Général

And yes, you need to visit le Marché Jean-Talon where you can eat amazing terroir food on the corner of the street for $6.

Julien…as a person who is on a perennial search for great pizza…I was surprised to find a really satisfying example in Montreal at Napoletana…and with the atmostphere of the dying breed, in the US, of family owned, “red sauce; relatively primitive” old Italian pizza places…that sell other things, too. It was also a good change from all that faux-French cooking…and the other rich stuff in Montreal.

Thanks for reminding me of that place.

Just following up on Joe Beef.
The sommelier is also the GM. Her name is Vanya. A really smart lady.
Here is a nice piece from Eater on Joe Beef.