Dinner and bars in Montreal?

January 7, 2006 5:24 AM

A night in Montreal. Dinner and bars?

We're a bunch of college kids going skiing in Quebec, and we'll be one night in Montreal. We did this last year but didn't know the good places to go. We should be vaguely around Peel and Ste Catherine W if our bus takes us to the same place as last year. We're only there the one night so I doubt anyone is going to want to get in the subway or taxi, so things should be walking distance (we're from NYC and used to walking.)

This is going to be on this Monday night, so things can't be predicated on the Friday/Saturday scene. We have a liking for good beers, so that's a potential plus for any bars.

posted by TheOnlyCoolTim to travel & transportation (17 comments total)

Peel and St Catherine's? Oh god. You're at least a 25-30 minute walk from the actual good Montreal, and longer still to the very good.

I suppose you could do worse than dinner at Thai Express [977, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest] (if you like Thai)... Cafe Presto closes pretty early but is excellent-but-basic, extremely cheap Italian food - but if you're a group of more than 4 or 5 it may be tough to fit inside (and on yr US$, the 'extremely cheap' thing probably doesn't matter).

It's probably worth it to hike the, yeah, 20-30 minutes to St-Laurent, because there's a glut of bars, clubs and restos on the strip known as "the Main", north of Sherbrooke, and while they're peopled by university kids and stuff, it's a significant improvement on the Peel-Pub horrors at Peel & St Catherine. Biftek, just below rue des Pins, is sort of legendary, and will have more of the Montreal hipster flavour that is so vaunted these days. Noisy, smoky, but free popcorn. There's a Thai Express next door, too.
posted by Marquis at 5:54 AM on January 7, 2006

If you like the vibe of MOntreal, though, it's definitely worth taking some time to come back for a few days or a week, one summer. Stay further to the north and east, at a B&B in the Plateau (avoid Old Montreal), and I wouldn't be surprised if you had one of the best holidays of your life.
posted by Marquis at 5:55 AM on January 7, 2006

I used to live on that very corner.

Go to the place I always recommend in these AskMe threads: Au Pied Du Cochon. It's my favorite restaurant in the city. They'll smother whatever you order in foie gras, and it's affordable to boot.

Oh... but wait... you're going to be there on a Monday? That's bad news. Most good restaurants in Montreal are closed on Mondays. If you find a place you think you'll want to go to, you'll probably need to call ahead and see if they're open.

Just stroll up and down St. Laurent and hop from bar to bar... they're all around. Else's, on Roy two blocks east of St. Laurent, is my favorite.
posted by painquale at 6:20 AM on January 7, 2006

Please if you want to have any kind of idea of what a good night in montreal is, stay away from Peel and St-Cath.
St-Laurent is a good suggestion.
If you are looking for trendy places stay on lower St-Laurent. If you want slightly less trendy spots hike up to the Duluth corner-area.

Best of luck.
posted by sandrapbrady at 6:35 AM on January 7, 2006

Yeah, I sorta figured from last visit that it was the not-so-good Montreal around there.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 6:57 AM on January 7, 2006

I strongly agree that you want to get OUT of the area you're in for a truly good Montreal experience. Bifteck is a great place to drink if you do get up that way, and a little more mainstream would be La Cabane (you can eat there as well, mmm), a few blocks up. For good beers in that area you want to try Réservoir, on Duluth near St. Laurent.

BTW these suggestions are made assuming you're not white-ball-cap-wearing frat boys. If so, walk along St Catherine and find a strip club or walk downstairs to the Peel Pub.

For the sake of argument are there places near Peel and St Catherine that would be OK? Yes, in fact there are. In particular, on Crescent St there is a decent brewpub called Brutopia which is worth a visit. It's about 4 blocks West of Peel just South of St Catherine.

I'd need to know more about what you like to eat (and spend) to recommend a restaurant.
posted by mikel at 7:04 AM on January 7, 2006

Second most comments. If you want to eat well, be prepared to walk a while for anything interesting. If you just want to drink, there are plenty of crappy bars in the immediate area.

Luckily in Montreal you're never too far away from good beer: just buy a Fin du Monde or a six pack of Cheval Blanc at any depanneur. Or a pint of Boreale usually suits me just fine too.
posted by thirdparty at 7:35 AM on January 7, 2006

I think we might be underestimating the attractions of rues Crescent, Bishop and de la Montagne to visiting anglos. People have good things to say about Rosalie and Ferreira which are in the area. Also Brutopia, as noted above. People don't have to find their way to the Plateau to have a night out, although for myself I'd go to Schwartz's and have beer afterwards someplace else.
posted by zadcat at 7:54 AM on January 7, 2006

Yeah, Brutopia's quite nice. The raspberry beer is really good for wussy beer-drinkers, too!
posted by Marquis at 8:14 AM on January 7, 2006

Yeah, in terms of food that area is excellent if often more on the high-end (price-wise) of things. You're not going to get the meal at Newtown that you'd get at, say, Jolifou or La Colombe - but the reverse is true as well, and I'd take Newtown over most of the restos below Prince Arthur any day.

Ferreira is one of Montreal's top-10 restaurants bar none, top 2 for fish. It's expensive for students, so not likely a good choice related to this question, but still. Next door I believe the Ferreira people operate a lower-priced place - mostly sandwiches and such? Info on that would probably be apropos here.

Another very good food choice in the area is L'Entrecôte St-Jean (on Peel above Maisonneuve) for steak-frites. It's not a pub but it's not going to break the bank either, at least not as much as some of the spots on Crescent. Rosalie (as mentioned by zadcat) is an even better choice, though possibly more pricey (I'm not sure).
posted by mikel at 8:23 AM on January 7, 2006

True, I was thinking cuisine. If I were in that area I might walk a couple blocks west and eat at a noodle shop or Lebanese place in the sort of studenty mishmash blocks west of Guy. Star of India is along there too, which seems to be one of the more longtime reliable curry houses.

Another possible option for a group is to go to Montreal's small Chinatown. Most of the restaurants there have big tables and seem to be accustomed to serving groups that show up spontaneously.
posted by zadcat at 8:40 AM on January 7, 2006

In the other direction (East) you've got some decent brew pubs and Irish pubs south of St-Catherine (Brutopia on Crescent, O'Regans on Bishop), as well as the ultimate dive bar, The Cock & Bull Pub (St-Catherine between Fort and St-Mathieu). I say you get on the Metro and head out to St-Laurent or even St-Denis (if you don't mind speaking French) and bar-hop. Biftek is a good choice. Le Swimming if you like live music. Stay away from Crescent between St-Catherine and Maisonneuve -- nothing but tourists, the bad kind (the drunk 18-year-olds from Massachussetts and upstate-NY and Ontario, kind).

I second the Cafe Presto, though it's better as a lunch place. Good Japanese food on Rue de la Montagne between Sherbrooke and Maisonneuve. If you like sushi, I'd recommend Kanda (Kandu?) on Bishop @ Maisonneuve, which offers all-you-can-eat for $20 a head, though you pay extra for anything you order but don't eat. The better restaurants are in the Plateau, though. Grab a bottle of wine from the SAQ and make your way out to the Duluth/St-Laurent area. You won't be disappointed.
posted by Succa at 8:49 AM on January 7, 2006

Le Swimming closed a little while ago.

Oh and please. The street is not called "St. Catherine's" although I see that written down more and more often.
posted by zadcat at 8:56 AM on January 7, 2006

I recommend Boustan (2020 Crescent) for cheap tasty food in the area -- be warned that you will probably be forced to order the vegetable pita the first time you go there (and that is not a bad thing). And for even cheaper, Al Taib (2125 Guy) is great (and tasty). Order a zaatar or half-and-half all-dressed -- it will only set you back 2 bucks.

As for drinks, yeah, there's Brutopia, but I would head up to the Plateau and go to Bifteck.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 9:27 AM on January 7, 2006

St. Laurent and St. Denis. Simple.

For dining, try Fonduementale - fun fondue and great atmosphere.
posted by k8t at 11:00 AM on January 7, 2006

Biere & Co for great Belgian beer and mussels. On St Denis, I think.

Second the Brutopia recommendations. Great beers.
posted by slogger at 12:07 PM on January 7, 2006

Thanks everyone, now we'll see if I can convince people to try something good.

I'm leaving pretty soon, so if anyone's thinking of leaving any more messages just be aware you're doing so for posterity and not for this trip.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 2:47 PM on January 7, 2006