Downtown Montreal

Things are great above ground as well. Crescent Street is a mecca for restaurants....and I don't mean the usual US chains (although some are there). Eating is a event that goes well into the evening.

Chinatown and Old Montreal are nice outdoor activities as well. There are many restaurants, cafes, and bars you can get in out of the cold to relax and warm up.

Quick Tips:

I may keep for the departure tax to leave Dorval airport, but you can also charge it.

Visitors from outside of Canada can get tax rebates/refunds on federal and provincial tax paid on accommodation and most goods taken out of Canada. Pick up the Federal Tax Rebate Program brochure and form at the airport. There are other forms used by clearinghouses that charge a percentage of your rebate, but why do it? Look for the Federal form.

Best Way To Get Around:

Rental cars provide flexibility, but are expensive. Check with your auto insurer to see if your policy covers you for rental cars outside your home country. Mine does not. The rental car contracts I have seen are all in French, which is a little awkward.

The lounges, restaurants, and all common areas are lavish, and my standard rooms I have had are always fine. The bathrooms have premium fixtures. The service was top notch.

This property has 21 floors, with rooms and suites on floors 3-21, and convention and mezzanine levels. A basement level has parking, a pool and jacuzzi, and a lower basement takes you to the Central Train station and the Metro (subway).

The lobby level has shops, The Beaver Club restaurant (see other journal entry), and a great bar called Les Voyageur. Les Voyageur has a very clubby atmosphere, with wood furniture and paneling everywhere. The tables are covered with antique French maps of Quebec. At night they have a piano/vocalist.

This property is 2 blocks away from Le Centre Sheraton (see other journal entry), and is within easy walking distance to downtown shopping, Crescent Street restaurants, and the Molson Centre if you like hockey or concerts. You can walk underground from the hotel to shopping and the Molson Center without going outside, which is nice in bad weather.

The Queen Elizabeth is adjacent to the Central Train station and you can take escalators down to the subway, and to the underground shopping cities.

The Sheraton has 2 bars....a Sports bar (complete with hockey arena seats), and a lobby-type bar that is more comfortable. There are shops and conference facilities on several levels of this 37-floor property. I stayed on the 18th floor and still heard rowdy Saturday-night crowd.

Breakfast buffet is ok. It is highlighted with omelets that are cooked-to-order.

The Beaver Club is very nice and upscale. They have fixed-price options (Table Hote' and very popular in Quebec) where you can select courses from the menu, for around $60CDN per person.

I had Romaine salad, leek soup, filet mignon, and dessert...all were great.

Two in our party had jeans on, and were initially refused entry, but upon learning that we were staying at The Queen Elizabeth, they bent that rule. I wouldn't count on being served in casual attire.

Plush place, great service, and great food. As long as your dressed, why not?

I had a meat dish of assorted beef, poultry, and pork medallions, and shrimp that you cook yourself. They bring you a heated stone the size of a small book after your salad, and it is surprisingly efficient at cooking even the last piece of meat.

Very novel for someone at the table to order this. I ordered steak (cooked by the chef) on my second visit.

Thursdays is in an entertainment district on Crescent Street, and is an easy walk to Downtowm hotels, including The Queen Elizabeth and the Le Center Sheraton (see other journal entries).

This location (close to downtown hotels) is less elaborate than other locations. There are no Cadillac cars hanging from the ceiling or coming out of the walls. But they do have lots of Rock memorabilia, including Keith Moon (The Who) and Bob Dylan shrines (and lots more).

The menu and food was consistent with other Hard Rock Cafes I have visited. I had a Beef Pot Roast with mashed potatos that was good. My wife had a large salad and French Onion soup (both good I'm told).

Hardly the Montreal experience, but if you want decent American food, the Hard Rock Cafe is a consistent choice.

It is an open market-style restaurant that is truly unique. It has many restaurants within the 33,000 square foot market that you pick and choose from on an ala carte basis, and pay one cashier on the way out. There are also retail shops (specialty grocer, wine shop, candy, bakery, etc) you can visit on your way to the cashier.

Here is the way it works: The hostess gives each person in your party a 'passport' that you let each merchant stamp with your purchases (don't lose it!), and seats you.

Then, you select any and all the snacks, appetizers, entrees, drinks, salads, soups, desserts, merchandise, etc from all the restaurants and stores.

You can choose from Grill and Rotisserie, Seafood, Pizza, Rosti and Pasta, Salad, Far East, Crepes and Waffles, Fruit, Deli, Sushi, Grotto Bar and Coffee Bar.

They give you a map when you come it. It shows where everything they have available is located (in English and French).

You can get breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and late night snacks, since they are open from 7am until 2am 7 days a week.

From the Rosti and Pasta stand, I had a great vegetable pasta and my wife had incredible chicken pasta with hash-brown-like potatoes...all cooked fresh. On another visit we had great breakfast omelets.

Don't miss Marche....it is great for sharing dishes and adventures with each other.

It is very nice and warm and well-appointed. Wood floors and brick walls are elegant and not rustic. Staff is reserved but attentive.

They have a wide selection of everything they offer: Appetizers ($5-6CDN); Salads ($8-9CDN); Soup ($5-6CDN); Entrees including beef, chicken, pork, seafood, vegetarian, and rice ($10-15CDN); plus desserts!

They also have a full bar, wine list, and wide selection of cognacs and other aperitifs. Chang Thai has just the right amount of lighting. Not too dark, but dim enough for great atmosphere. They also have subtle mood music in the background.

My entree was chicken with green beans and red curry, with steamed rice. Very nice.

They have a small open kitchen that is well-organized. The staff is friendly and helpful with the French menu.

La Colombe has a fixed-price menu ($65 CDN) that includes soup, salad, entree, and desert. You bring your own wine.

I had vegetable soup that was velvet-textured; salad of pickled julienne cabbage and carrots, and garnished with smoked herring; the entree was pork medallions in a spice sauce with mashed potatoes and garnished with a baby carrot. Dessert brought crapes drenched in chocolate sauce.

Everyone in my group of 8 really enjoyed our evening here.

Pizzaiolle is space-challenged with small tables and aisles.

Like many of my other Montreal dining reviews, Pizzaiolle has a prime location on Crescent Street in downtown (or Centre-Ville).

Walkable from major downtown hotels...otherwise take a taxi, since street parking is VERY limited.

I had their 'Americana' pizza with tomato sauce, cheese, pepperoni, green peppers, and mushrooms.

My wife had their 'Disperata' pizza with tomato sauce, cheese, and oregano. Recommend for a quick and inexpensive pizza, not a multi-course dinner.

They have a second location at 4801 rue St Denis that we did not visit.

Its prime location on Crescent is 2-3 blocks from Rene-Levesque Blvd, and its downtown hotels I stay at (and journal for you) when I visit Montreal.

Dundee's is a fun bar with friendly service. The large bar is inside the door, and it has a large selection of bottled and draft beer. They have 2-for-1 prices from 4-7pm, which was a nice surprise. The floor is on multiple levels. At the rear of the bar, they have a dining area on a lower level. There is a separate stairway to the basement, and their spotless restrooms.

The restaurant is inexpensive, but the food is only fair. They have a selection of sandwiches, steaks, and pasta. We both had a steak. My wife didn't complain, but mine was very tough (I chalked it up to you get what you pay for). I started with a salad, which was okay, but the vegetables were in strips like you see on appetizer plates. My wife started with French Onion soup, which she liked.

The staff is friendly, and the bar is great fun. If you stay to eat, try their sandwiches.

To me, nothing hits the spot on a cold night (ie, late March in Montreal) like good Indian food, in a nice warm place with great service. Allo Inde did not disappoint.

Allo Inde is below street level, and we were immediately greeted and seated by a host. They have 2 main dining rooms. We sat in the dining room with a bar, in a raised booth at the very front of the restaurant, and watched the world walk by (or slip and slide on the ice) during our visit.

They have a full bar, so we had drinks and contemplated their large menu, while munching on Papadum (large crispy spicy wafers). They have Table D'Hote (fixed price multi-course) dinners for one ($12-$16 CDN) and two ($26-$30) persons. If you prefer to order ala carte, they have beef, chicken, lamb, shrimp curry and Tandoori dishes all in the range of $8-$15 CDN, and vegetable dishes for $5-$6 CDN. Normally rice comes with the main course in Indian restaurants, but you have to buy it here for an extra $2. You can also add some Indian bread for $1-$5 CDN (we like the traditional Nan bread).

I ordered Chicken Vindaloo, Pilau rice, and Nan bread. Chicken Vindaloo is a hot and aromatic red curry sauce with pieces of chicken breast and chunks of potato (aloo) in it. I spoon it over the steamed rice, and eat it with the Nan bread. Yum! My wife had Lamb Saag, which is a mild spinach curry with chunks of lamb. She had rice and bread as well, and she liked it all.

Perhaps the most memorable part of our visit was how friendly and helpful our server was. Usually the staff in Indian restaurants is friendly, but very reserved, but when we asked our server about some basic questions about the sights in Montreal, he offered not only advice and recommendations on where to go, but gave us maps and a tourist guide (a small but very helpful book). I told him he should be a concierge.

They have free parking, and if you don't want to go out, they deliver for free.

They have outdoor tables in the front, but it was freezing during our visit in late March. Inside, they have a country Italian decor with wood floors, and wine bins that cover one side wall. They have wine barrels that line the stairway to the second level, where they have an open kitchen. There is a separate glassed-in kitchen on the ground level.

Since Weinstein and Gavino's is popular, it is also loud, so don't expect a quiet dinner. However, you can expect decent service and food. I started with bean and pasta (Fagoli) soup, which was good, although it had no beans or pasta! I followed with sole fillet (wafer thin) stuffed with broccoli and rice with side vegetables. My wife had chicken breast (pounded very thin) rolled and stuffed with mushrooms, and started with a large ceasar salad. It was all fine.

One of the staff noticed I was taking pictures, and stated that they usually don't allow it. When I agreed to comply, he said it was okay. So I'm not sure why he brought it up, unless he was looking for an argument. Overall, our visit was fine. Find Crescent, and you will find Weinstein and Gavino's.

The interior is awesome. There are wood handcarvings, stained glass, paintings, and sculptures that depict the story of the Bible, and an incredible blue ceiling with gold stars. In the rear of the church, they have a huge and beautiful organ (built in 1891) with over 7,000 pipes (I wish I could have heard it).

The acoustics inside are amazing. You can hear soft conversations throughout the place, which makes sense, since they didn't have microphones and loadspeakers when it was built.

Masses are held at 7:30am, 12:15pm, and 5pm on Monday through Friday, at 5pm on Saturday, and on Sunday at 8am, 9:30am, 11am, 12:30pm, and 5pm. Guided (in French and English) and self-guided tours are available when services are not being held, and included in the $2 CDN admission.

There is a Gift Shop adjacent to the church. I thought it was kind of tacky for it to be open on the Sunday of our visit.

We walked up to the Pub Claddagh and saw a Celtic band seated around a table playing music (so why not go in?).

They not only had Port (Offley '95), but a large selection of beers, ales, scotch, and other liquors.

Even with the band (guitar, mandolin, and violin), the atmosphere was cozy and we were able to talk to each other.

Pub Claddagh is clean and well-lit compared to stereo-typical pubs. All bar stools and chairs were upholstered in colorful cloth and tapestries, and they have a nice wood bar, and wood floor with in-laid tile work. Nice light fixtures lined the bar.

There is a small humidor on the bar (did not partake).

Pub Claddagh is in a very popular section of Crescent Street easily reached on foot from downtown hotels.

We enjoyed the quality live Celtic music and hilarious conversation and instrumental improvisation between songs.

You can enter this underground city from many places around downtown, but we entered it across the street from The Queen Elizabeth Hotel.

You can literally get lost and never know where you will come out above ground. You can find everything in the underground city. Just in the Place Ville Marie, which is small compared to other parts, there are many restaurants (see journal entry on Restaurant Marche Movenpick), beauty salons, perfumeries, banks, pharmacies, and of course, lots of men, women, and children shoes and clothing.

Some of the Chinatown landmarks are being restored. There are many small stores and restaurants (Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, etc), but none stand out enough to mention.

Of all things, my wife asked at one shop about where she could buy the lace curtain/valance material they had in the shop window. They gave (lengthy) directions to a fabric shop. I knew neither of us could find it, so I figured that was the end of it. Days later, we stumbled upon the place downtown without even trying, and we brought home several meters of fabric!

If you are walking to Old Montreal (see Journal entry) from the west side of downtown, Chinatown is worth a look.

The area is reminiscent of Europe, with its cobblestone streets and historic architecture. Saint-Paul Street is the oldest street in Montreal, and it has many small art galleries, and shops of every size and sort. Where St. Paul crosses Jacques-Cartier Place, there is an open plaza that was a market, but now is lined with street performers (musicians and magicians when we were there), and small cafes and restaurants. Bonsecours Market is also on St Paul Street. It is now an indoor mall of gift shops, but was the City Hall until the 1870's. It is a beautiful building and definitely looks more like city hall than shopping.

There are many other historic buildings that we admired, but will have to learn more about on my next visit.