Montréal

Fall 2024 - I had just started an internship for this term when I found out that the company I worked for had an office in Montreal. Even better, I had a friend who lived in Montreal as well. This obviously calls for some flight tickets; so on the 27th of September, my trip to Montreal began.

The streets of Montreal sure were different from Toronto’s. Everything seemed calmer and the people seemed to move about at a slower pace. When I walk around Toronto, I always feel like I’m trying to get from point A to B as fast as I can. A change of pace adds a lot to the relaxation that someone might be looking for in a trip like this.
We can't talk about Canadian cities without mentioning their public transport. The subways felt a lot different too. A lot of the stations in Montreal had a distinct 80s/90s feel. A mix of brutalism but with some more flair. Did you know that the Montreal subway trains run on bus wheels? You can definitely feel it when riding too. The smooth ride of the rubber tires feels a lot nicer than the TTC's rough metal wheels.

If you know me, you won’t find it any surprising that I spent a lot of my time looking up cafes. I'm happy to report that the cafes in Montreal were better than I had ever hoped. Not only were there a lot of them, but the vast majority of them were specialty cafes. You should check out this page if you're interested in learning a little more! This was already amazing, but Montreal had one more card up its sleeve; pretty much all of them were supplied with unique and local roasters. I didn’t realise there could be so many roasters in Montreal alone (or maybe they were sourced from Quebec as a whole, but my argument still stands). Even in Toronto, while cafes may serve specialty coffee, you generally don’t get a lot of breadth in terms of your choice of roaster. It’s a real shame I don’t live here to be able to try all these coffees out.
Additional note: these bakeries in Montreal really know how to make a good croissant. Flavourful for sure, but to me, the most important bit was the texture. Most croissants I had here were soft and moist on the inside, but a light and satisfying crispiness on the outside.

When we did decide to eat out, we made sure it would be unique. This isn't a comprehensive list, but just a few that left an impression on me.

Ma Poule Mouillée

I forgot to take a photo of my own for this one so here’s one I found on the internet. This is Portuguese chicken poutine. It felt akin to putting Costco rotisserie chicken thigh meat on a poutine. If you know what those two things taste like separately, you can easily imagine what this chicken poutine tastes like. Thumbs up from me.

Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich

My first bout of Montreal smoked meat was the ham version they sell at Sobeys. The first bite of this sandwich immediately told me that these two meats were completely different. While Sobeys’ smoked meat has a soft texture and a light flavour, Montreal’s smoked meat was incredibly salty and the meat was on the drier side. The meat's flavour was as strong as its salt content, so it would be wise to prepare yourself a drink before taking a bite. It came with a whole pickle, and half a spoon of mustard slathered on the bread, which was not even close to nearly enough for a good balance. Although that being said, there was something quite addicting about the whole experience. I think an ice cold beer to go alongside would fit the bill.

Gol's Lanzhou Noodle

I love Gol’s. The flavour of the broth, the meat, and the texture of the noodles is just so good. I know I said earlier that eating out would be unique experiences, but imagine my surprise when I found out they had a Gol’s in Montreal too. Apparently it was the first Gol’s in Canada before they started expanding out of Montreal (this makes it unique I suppose). They had less noodle thickness options, but otherwise it tastes just like any other Gol’s. (i.e. really good)

La Binerie

A brunch restaurant. Their specialty was “fèves au lard”, a Quebecois dish - think British baked beans with a whole lot less sauce, and more pork fat. I took a photo of the food but not the beans themselves - oops. Good food overall, if you enjoy full english breakfasts, this one's for you.

Jérôme Ferrer

Definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Jérôme Ferrer, a fine dining restaurant, had a special deal where if you were celebrating becoming 22 in 2024, you could snag a free meal at their restaurant. I love myself a good fine dining splurge every once in a while, but one for free? It almost seemed too good to be true. But alas it was very true, and what was even better was that anything on the menu was free, including the course meal. A lot of interesting visuals and tasty food, but I’m not quite sure if I would’ve been happy with the $140 price tag it would have cost me otherwise. Here's just a few of the dishes we got to enjoy that night.

The touristy spots were very tourist-heavy; not only were there a lot of people, but the shops themselves sold overpriced food, and generic goods that scream "I visited Montreal/Canada". Despite all this, the history of the city remained intact and beautiful. Brick paths lined the pedestrian area, and the stone-brick heavy buildings resembled ones you would find in fantasy video games. I tried to look up the architecture style that Old Montreal uses, but I couldn’t find a definite answer. The closest I got was “Quebecois stone buildings”, which Google images gave similar results to Montreal’s buildings.

The commute to work from my friend’s place was something that made my morning special. Imagine this: you wake up in the morning and peek outside; clear skies, sun shining brightly, warm day forecasted. You grab yourself a rental bike and off to work. It’s a relaxing ride as there’s barely any elevation change, and Montreal’s roads are set up such that there's always a sectioned-off part of the road just for bikes. The fresh morning breeze paired with bright sunlight can boost anyone’s mood instantly. Did I mention you bike alongside the river? It’s a great start to the day.

Unfortunately, because of how the weather works, not every day is sunny. Sometimes it’s rainy. Sometimes you forget to check the weather before leaving, so when the clock hits 5pm, it’s pouring outside and now you have to bike home in the rain. While it's a little sad I wasn't able to bask in Montreal's nicer fall weather for very long, I still remember it fondly as the best work commutes I've ever had.

My trip to Montreal was special for a multitude of reasons, but the things that stood out to me the most was the cafe culture and how the city felt to be in. I did end up spending a majority of my time at work, so most of my afternoons weren’t very productive in terms of travel. When I got back home after work, all I wanted to do was to eat dinner and relax. Maybe grab a couple beers from the SAQ too (Quebec's LCBO). If I were to go again, I definitely think I’ll do some more research on food recommendations.

Coming soon: picture captions upon click/popout, and currently figuring out how I should add a bunch of my other photos in a big grid.