Trips Over the Border

Some of my favorite things to do are:

• Visit the Botanical Gardens
• Shop and eat on Saint-Denis (funky and international)
• Check out the bright neon lights of St. Catherine
• Walk for blocks in the Uunderground City

Quick Tips:

Montreal is frigid in Winter.

I've visited twice in November, and both times we were glad to spend most of our time in the underground shopping area, using it just to move around the city. In the summertime the weather is great, as it rarely gets very hot. The flowers will be blooming at the Botanical Gardens.

Best Way To Get Around:

The rooms were a pleasant surprise. The room was easily four times the size of any hotel room I've had in New York City. The king-sized bed was comfortable, although the pillows, as at all Omnis, are filled with a strange, crunchy material. I do not need to mention that the room was spotless. The large bathroom had some great free amenities like Ginseng moisturizer, and the tub was big enough for two of us to enjoy a bubble bath.

Overall, I will definitely stay here again!

The room we got felt small, only because they had outfitted it with not only a king-sized bed but also a couch, coffee table, and desk. The room also had its own kitchenette. It would be a great stop-over for a business traveler! Regrettably, we were only staying for a single night.

The Hilton Garden Inn is not to be confused with the other Hilton at the airport. As one traveler described it, it is the one with the Chinese decorations. Their free shuttle comes by the airport every half-hour.

The Radisson at Laval is an older structure located within walking distance of one of the larger malls in this province. I chose to stay here because I was visiting a friend in a nearby hospital. I was able to procure a room for the low price of C$109. The hotel is a little dark and has a touch of ‘80s decor, with gold-trimmed mirrors in the hallways and what some might call "eye-catching" carpet/wallpaper. However, it is clean and the staff is pleasant.

My room has a bit of an unusual smell, so I suspect it was a smoking room in the not-too-distant past. However, the bed is soft, the pillows are generous, the heat works, and the Radisson provides outstanding bath products. In addition, the Internet is free (using it presently).

Praise first. The hotel staff was very pleasant, and I felt thoroughly welcomed. In fact, after checking in – on the way up to our room – I commented to my partner that you can’t go wrong with Marriott. This, despite the aging ‘70s decor evidenced throughout the hotel’s public areas.

Wrong. Apparently you can. Let me describe some of the amenities of the room: washcloths that scratch your face when you use them, beds so hard that your body goes numb, and pillows that were overstuffed with something crunchy. I mean, I know down is expensive, but what happened to good old cotton fill. After three sleepless hours, we decided we would get a new hotel the next day.

Have I mentioned how awesome the Omni Montreal is?

At any rate, the decor and service are the icing on the cake. The real treat is the amazing food. You can order by the dish, or you can do as we did—try the prix-fixe menu. These dishes mostly come with a cheese fondue with bread to start, followed by a meat fondue, and finishing with a chocolate or maple-syrup dessert fondue. Let me promise you that you will be stuffed, but happy after one of these.

We ordered the Mental for two. Our dinner started with just the right amount of cheese fondue. We chose the local flavor, the Quebecois. It was mainly Gruyere, with a hint of cider, and a local cheese, Oka. There was a nice intermission where we could sip our wine, waiting for the main dish. When it arrived, we were ready for more. What I'm saying is that the pacing is good. Anyway, our main meal was a Bourguignon—piping hot canola oil that you cook your meat in. We were able to select four meats and chose salmon, caribou, wild boar, and duck. The caribou is something I'm going to dream about forever, even better than venison. The salmon was fresh enough to eat raw but even better seared in the oil. The wild boar and duck were amazing too.

For dessert, there was a choice between a maple-syrup fondue and a chocolate fondue. My partner wanted to try the chocolate, so I'll have to get maple the next time. It was tasty, but it was hard to fit any more in our stomachs. Still, I believe I had my spoon in that pot, getting every last bit of chocolate out.

In summary, I will be back. This restaurant is hot, hot, hot!

This dimly lit restaurant has several tatami rooms, a bar, and plenty of table seating. Down-tempo beats play softly in the background. The other people here were young, well-dressed, and mainly Asian.

The menu is extensive, with lots of maki to choose from. Since creativemaki is what I look for in a sushi menu, I was very pleased, and we nearly ordered too much in an effort to try it all. Right away the fish struck me as very fresh and tasty, with an unusual type of salmon that's hard to find on the East Coast being one of the standouts. The maki, sushi, and sashimi were truly oishii.

The restaurant is open late, but the sushi bar does close, so you'll want to order your desserts early to make sure they are created before the chef has cleaned up for the night.

I should also mention that the prices are great. You're getting gourmet sushi for the price of mediocre sushi by my Boston standards.

For an infusion of Caribbean spice, Kalalu is the restaurant to visit. On a second-level storefront on St. Denis, not long before it intersects with Mont-Royal, the restaurant/bar is located in the heart of the international dining scene in Montreal. Inside, Kalalu offers some comfortable couches as a waiting area for guests, a full bar with a variety of creative cocktails, and candlelit dining.

Caribbean food has several cultural influences--Asian, African, Indian, French, and Spanish–-as a result of all the peoples that came to inhabit these islands. Kalalu’s particular specialty is Haitian food. Like many Americans, I have never had the opportunity to taste Haitian cuisine, although Cuban and Jamaican are quite popular.

To start our meal, we ordered cigares creoles. These resembled the popular Tex-Mex appetizer, the taquito. This concoction of beef and pork was rolled up in a fried egg roll and served with a spicy sauce. I ordered one of their signature Exotic cocktails, the Manguorange–-a juice-filled rum drink served with an umbrella and a cherry.

Our waitress recommended the shango, a salmon fillet with rice, over the vindaloo (more of a pasta dish). My partner ordered the shango, and I asked the waitress what she thought of the lambi. She responded with delight that it was her favorite dish. The lambi is a traditional Haitian dish: stewed conch meat served with red beans and rice and chips of mashed plantain. Conch meat is a shellfish but has a strong, meaty texture. It took the spicy sauce very well. The mashed plantain was delicious, and I even enjoyed the more subtle flavors of the red beans and rice.

For dessert, we shared another signature dish–-a bread pudding made with some very tropical ingredients.

The portion sizes were perfect, as they usually are in Montreal. We were able to try several delicious items on the menu without feeling overly stuffed. The waitstaff was quite attentive, and we received a second bread basket without asking when we finished our first, frequent water refills, and our check as soon as we showed signs of wanting it. We were also seated very quickly, considering we had not made reservations. I would definitely go here again, although, being located next to another favorite restaurant, Fonduementale, it would be a difficult choice to make.

Modern furniture is the main trend here on St. Laurent, and there are plenty of stores that cater to this taste. The most beautifully appointed is the Biltmore, but its salespeople may not deign to speak with commoners. At least that’s the impression we got! Nevertheless, we enjoyed viewing their egg chairs evoking that scene from Clockwork Orange.

Next, we stumbled upon a most amazing store displaying a combination of modern sensibilities and ancient Indian artifacts. The owner’s specialty is taking temple doors and windows and transforming them into wardrobes, bookcases, and entertainment centers. She also does custom finishes. We saw one table that had its floral accents painted in turquoise. She also showed us her design for a bathroom using an old Indian table and attaching modern Kohler sink fixtures. The prices were quite reasonable and we ended up buying two end tables with the Kama Sutra painted on the front and a canopy piece for a bed in the Rajasthan style with two carved horse heads.

Next door, another store offered furniture, window vestments, wall decor, and tableware for the Eastern-loving consumer. The store, Turquoise, offered everything from velvet and silk Indian window treatments and Chinese merchant chests to Turkish tea sets and Burmese Bodhisattvas. The store is a delight to explore, but the prices are, as expected, quite a bit higher than they would be in the original countries. I did purchase some lovely curtains in mustard and cinnabar for what will become our Rajasthani guest bedroom!

There is plenty to explore on St. Laurent, especially in the home decor department. There are also plenty of restaurants and much more ample parking than is available on St. Denis.