BUMP -
Is a Quebec wine tour worth it? My only concern is that the wine is not utter crap, like it is here in Minnesota. I do not know the names of the wineries. Thanks.
Not really Matt. If you go southeast from Montreal towards the Vermont border (Bromont, Sutton, Cowansville areas) there are some wineries and cideries. Gorgeous area with a great lifestyle especially in the summer, but I wouldn’t go just for the wines. Great cycling country, super friendly people (road conditions are only average). You probably know, but Ontario has considerably better wines with many more choices. But it’s not Quebec.
Good timing this got bumped. Heading to Montreal for a long weekend in June. First time visiting there and we’re going with friends. What are some of the new must hit spots for dinner? Not looking for Michelin star type places, but more of cool atmosphere with great food. Wife loves sushi too, if there’s any recs for that. Thanks.
The, arguably, best sushi restaurant in Montreal is definitely Antonio Park’s http://parkresto.com/
There are great BYO restaurants in Montreal as corking is not allowed in restaurants that have their own liquor license like le Quartier Général http://lequartiergeneral.ca, O’Thym http://www.othym.com/ and À l’Os http://www.alos.ca/.
If you want to eat Michelin star food at not so Michelin star price, La Taverne F http://www.tavernef.com/ and Brasserie T! http://www.brasserie-t.com/ are 2 really good choices. Both bistro types next to each other but by 2 of Montreal’s most renowned chefs (Carlos Ferreira for the former and Normand Laprise for the latter).
And obviously there are the classics like Pied de Cochon, Joe Beef, L’Express, etc.
Oh and I live in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, where most of the Quebec wine is made. We can make very decent whites, Domaine Les Pervenches in Farnham makes an amazing chardonnay for $25-30, but most producers still focus on making reds and they are meh at best. There’s no “great” wine made in Québec, mostly QPR stuff that tends to do better in the white/bubbly department than red.
Brain picking time: where did you stay in QC? It doesn’t appear as though there are ANY direct flights into QC from DC, which is sort of shocking. Thinking about a trip in June if I can snag some FF seats.
EDIT; Maybe fly into Montreal and drive to QC? Looks as though it might be a nice ~2:45 minute drive. Has anyone done that?
The Chemin du Roy is one of the nicest drives I have made.
Thanks Olivier. Great looking recs. How’s the sake menu at Park? Booked Taverna and Park so far.
Neal, I don’t know if Porter flies out of DC but Porter out of Newark with connecting flight in Toronto is a pretty easy trip. You may have the same availability out of DC.
Thanks guys. Doing research now
We’ve driven from here to QC bypassing Montreal, as well as driving from Montreal to QC. Both are good drives.
If you have the time, you may want to continue past QC for a day or a few days. Montmorency Falls is just east of QC and gorgeous. Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré is a nice stop. Baie-Saint-Paul and L’Isle-aux-Coudres is a lovely area to relax.
Any good recent Quebec city resto experiences? We just booked a few days in the old town next week.
Just got back. IX Pour Bistro about 2 miles from old town but you may not be able to get in. I called a month ahead for a table for 4 and it was totally booked 3 of the 4 nights I was there so call now if you are interested. Also L’Affaire est Ketchup about 1 mile from old town. Another tiny place. Two seatings a night at 6:00 and 8:30. This place was featured on one of Anthony Bourdain’s shows. They cook on two really old stovetops but they make delicious food. Only downside is it’s a bit slow as only one guy doing service but he hustles and he gave us some excellent wine recommendations.
Bump for Jerome and myself. Heading up tomorrow for a four day visit with the family. Will report as I am able.
And thanks to all those that submitted comments on this thread!
We just got back. We never walked so much in our lives. Averaged just under 20km per day, with 1 day at 25km. Ate & drank insane amounts, but came home down 1 lb. Only used the car once to visit the excellent SAQ signature store down Boulevard Laurier (Chevillon & Arnoux at great prices $cdn).
Dinners at Chez Boulay (bistro Boreal), L’Échaudé, les Freres de la Cote & the back terrace of a small side street resto, le Petit Coin Latin.
Boulay & L’Echaude were more creative & slightly finer, whereas the other two a bit more traditional bistro.
Would go back to all of the above, especially L’Echaude & Boulay. L’Echaude has a better wine list, with some good choices. Down in lower town so a bit less busy.
We stopped at at least 2 sidewalk patio’s each day for small lunches/ snacks & a drink. Excellent petit dejeuners at Casse Crepe breton (worth the wait & opens earlier than the equally well regarded Le Billig) & our same back courtyard terrace at le Petit Coin Latin. Great Croissants.
Kids ziplined over Montmorency falls day we left. Insane! Glad they did it though.
On a side, note, doesn’t anyone know about the taxis in both Montreal and Quebec City? Do they all accept credit cards?
Not sure, but both have Uber if you have an account.
I do have an account; unfortunately I will not have any cellular data…
We got back on Friday night after a really nice trip. A special ‘hats off’ thank you to my new Canadian forum-friend Chris for some of his ideas. We piggy-backed on several and all were 100% spot on.
We stayed in the port area (Le Port-Royal) which turned out well for us. Internet sucked, rooms varied from mediocre to really nice (we spent 1 night in the poor one before moving to a great one), and the hotel slightly crunched our car while it was in their care. More to come on that unfortunately…
We actually preferred the Port area as it was quieter with phenomenal restaurants. After walking around the old town up on the hill, we decided that it was way too touristy for what we wanted. I’m sure there are nice hotels up there but the crowds really turned us off.
We ate the following:
Toast! (excellent dinner; thanks Chris!) loved the crostini appetizer and the vegetarian gnocci was one of the best dishes I’ve had in a very long time)
3 out of 4 breakfasts were at Café de la Dominicain (perfect French style café with coffee and pastries, really nice owner)
SSS (Simple Snack Sympa) for lunch was awesome (salmon tartare for me; my wife loved the chicken salad)
One night we bought bread, cheese and sausage (and beer) at the Marche at the port. Nice selection of fruits, veggies, and other items. Fun to browse.
Lunch at Spag&Tini was good, but a bit touristy. Prices were fair.
Dinner at Chez Boulay (thanks Chris!) – this was my favorite of the trip. Food was exceptional, wine list good, and service was very attentive.
Lunch at Resto de la Plage on Ile d’Orleans. The only real resto we saw on that side of the island. Food was very good, prices were fair, and it was nice to sit on the deck on the water.
Dinner at L’echaude – another winner. Really good food, the best wine list I saw (had a 2013 Morey St. Denis
from Remi Jeanniard – tasty). Service was a bit slow, but overall pretty good.
We also looked into the zipline (thanks again Chris!) – what a fantastic memory for my wife, boys and I. I think I saw my 13 year old grow up when he realized he had to go on the zipline by himself —we thought double zipline meant two people at a time. Highly recommended. The falls are beautiful and worth the drive/visit even if you don’t do the zipline.
Went to 2 wineries:
- SAI on Ile d’Orleans: good whites and presumably good ice wine – bought both but didn’t try the ice wine yet, Didn’t bother with the reds here.
- Cep d’Argent on the drive back down Autoroute 55 South – decent wines but the 2013 La Reserve red was mind-blowingly tasty and only $16 CAD. Wish I bought more (anyone going up that way in the near future? ?? would love some more!)
Still taking my time planning but I have made a reservation at chez boulay for dinner one night (as it will be my birthday) Still planning other things though.