after dinner drinks in Montreal?

[nickcambridge]

Hi all ---

We're going for the first time from boston in August. Have reservations at au pied de couchon on thursday night (yahoo!) and was wondering where to go for great after dinner drinks in the area? We like great wine, grown up vibe, nothing annoying hip or precious. What is the scene like for the late 30s world...here...the bar scenes at restaurants are where it's at...not a club...but understand every city is different.

Should we just hit boulevard st. laurent and take our chances? (Globe, Tokyo Bar, or something like that? -- been doing some research).

Thank you! Will reciprocate if you come down to this neck of the woods....

[LTL]

What are drink prices like at Laika? What kind of music do they have late at night, late being after 10ish?

[SnackHappy]

Drink prices at Laika are on par with most other non-boutique-hotel bars in town.

As for the music, you can check out the DJ schedule on their website: http://www.laikamontreal.com/

[LTL]

What are those price ranges? I'm not from Montreal and therefore don't know. Thanks for the website link!

[SnackHappy]

Beer in the 4 to 6 dollar a pint range. Mixed drinks around 5 to 8 dollars. Fancy cocktails 7 to 10 dollars. Those are your basic going rates for drinks in Montreal. I'm not sure about the cocktail prices. I never order anything that comes in a cocktail glass as it seems to be an excuse to automatically overcharge for booze.

[LTL]

Thanks for the detailed response. These are very reasonable prices.

[carswell]

Not a huge choice in wine bars but four stand out.

BU is, IMHO, the best. Cool laid-back ambiance, good food, one of the city's best wine lists and an interesting by-the-glass selection that changes weekly. Located in rapidly gentrifying Mile End, about 20 minutes by foot from APDC.
www.bu-mtl.com

Somewhat closer to APDC are Pullman and POP. The wine lists and BTG selections are not as extensive or as interesting as BU's. Decor at the former is split level, dark, shiny and sleekish (low-slung leather banquettes), at the latter a cozy update of Danish Modern. POP is only open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and usually has live music after ten (jazz lately but rock sometimes). Don't know what to make of the BTG selection shown on its website -- only two reds and two whites? Didn't use to be that way. You might want to call and check before deciding to drop in.
www.pullman-mtl.com
www.popbaravin.com

Aszu in Old Montreal has an outdoor terrace of sorts. Food's quite good. I don't recall seeing the claimed 50 wines by the glass on the late-night menu, but you'll probably find something that appeals.
www.aszu.ca

By the way, wine bars in Quebec are technically restaurants, meaning you have to order some sort of food, if only a small plate of hors d'oeuvres or a dessert, along with your wine.

[Maximilien]

me think that after you've been to APdC, you really don't want to see anyfood for at least 10 hours; that's why I left out the wine bars.

[nickcambridge]

ha!! yes from what my boston friends tell me about the foie gras poutine and the duck in a can, we may need to walk around instead of drinking.

And, we're not that particular about *great* wine -- although we enjoy it --- i suppose it was a way of stating that we've sort of outgrown the martini-du-jour scene that was once interesting in boston and now annoying --- if that makes any sense. Ambience, decor, relaxed crowd --- which these all seem to have.

Thanks everyone for the help...this is exactly the types of places we were thinking about.

[carswell]

Point taken. Indeed it's why I included the closing disclaimer. That said, just because most people overindulge at APDC doesn't mean you have to. It's perfectly possible to put together a less than gargantuan meal: go for a salad followed by a fish; order two appetizers instead of an app and a main; or split one main between two diners. And, if I recall correctly, all four wine bars serve desserts (now that Demers is in charge of the sweets there, POP would be a primo candidate), never APDC's strongest point, so unless your heart's set on a soup-to-nuts APDC experience, you could skip the pouding chômeur and waddle over to a watering hole for the last course. Or order one of the cheapest things on the wine bar's menu (e.g. $5 for nuts and olives at BU), viewing it as a cover charge; no one says you have to eat it.

[YUL PHL]

would Sofa Lounge be a good idea or is too young? Haven't been there in years.

[JenJen]

As Maximilien suggested, Baldwin's or Mile End both sound like they would work for you.

[SnackHappy]

I would definitly take Tokyo Bar off your list. The crowd is very, very young and clubby. Gogo Lounge is also very young and trendy.

I guess Laika is okay, but I find the vibe there a bit weird. I've never really liked that place after 8pm. A lot people do like it, though. Especially the Montreal electronic music crowd. Blizzarts down the street caters to the same crowd.

I like Plan B on Mont-Royal near Drolet. It's a very nice place with a great terasse. The ambience is grown-up but not stuffy and the drinks are very good. It's the sister bar to Bily Kun, which caters to a slighly younger crowd. They are both a short walk from APDC.

Further down Mont-Royal is Edgar Hypertaverne. It's where the Plateau yuppies congregate on the weekends. Not my kinda place, but it is lively and pleasant.

None of these places or the ones mentionned by Maximilien are good for wine, though. You'll only get a good wine selection at a wine bar or restaurant bar. I'm not a wine person so I really can't help you with that.

http://www.barplanb.ca/
http://www.bilykun.com/bk/eng/index.html
http://www.hypertaverne.com/

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Bar Blizzarts
3956 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montr, Montreal, QC , CA

[mainsqueeze]

Also on Mont-Royal is Baraka, they specialize in rum-based drinks like mojitos.

[Maximilien]

There are not many "lounges" in Montréal. That being said, couple of possibilities, not too far from Au Pied de Cochon.

Jello Bar, a bar specialised in Martinis.
Barmacy Baldwin, a nice place, more bar than the other places.
A Gogo Lounge, a 60's retro style.
Mile end, bar on the ground floor, small discos with good DJ on the first floor.
Laika, closer to Au Pied de Cochon, "hip" without beeing too hip; good music.

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Jello Bar
151 Rue Ontario Est, Montreal, QC H2X, CA

Baldwin Barmacie
115 Avenue Laurier Ouest, Montr, Montreal, QC , CA

A Gogo Lounge
3682 Boul Saint-Laurent, Montreal, QC H2X2V4, CA

Mile End Bar
5322 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montr, Montreal, QC , CA

Laika
4040 Boul Saint-Laurent, Montreal, QC H2W1Y8, CA

[sockhead]

Tried to go to Jello Bar on Saturday after hearing great things about the place. Got there around 1:30... lineup to get in. Didn't actually go in, but from the people outside... Definitely did not seem like the cool, lounge-type place that I imaged it to be. Had these pretentious underage girls standing around me, and a lot of the people waiting to get in looked... sketch. Trashy looking woman came out to smoke a cigarette, swearing in French... Could hear from the music that they were playing really loud generic hip-hop music/rnb. Sounded like a club. We ended up leaving after waiting in line for like half an hour. Was my first impression of the place wrong?

[cricri7]

The place changed a lot since it first opened. Many years ago, it was more of a lounge where older people (over 30!) went to have drinks. It started getting a bit too empty and the owners changed the vocation. It now caters to a much younger clientele and plays generic hip/hop, tehcno and this sort of music. Your impression of the place is not at all wrong!!

[sockhead]

Good to know! I won't try to go back there for a while. Laika sounded neat, if not a tad pretentious. Maybe I'll spend some money there.

[phedre]

Another good bet might be the newly opened comptoir à vin « bouchonné », reviewed a few threads down.