663731 Sat Oct 31 12:22:05 -0700 2009 13 22 Quebec (including Montreal) 0 5145333 Am visiting Montreal in late November and am looking for recommendations on places to snack between meals. Love focused businesses that specialize and are obsessed with perfecting a niche of food. Here are some of the categories I'm interested in: Coffee/espresso - strong, rich styles Chai Pastry - interested in all cuisine & ethnic styles, from French favorites (macarons, canneles, croissant), to Asian Bread - enjoy all kinds from rustic levain to the pillowy sweet Chinese buns Gelato Are there any snacks unique to Montreal? Can't misses? Sat Oct 31 12:22:06 -0700 2009 99519 justtryit 1 5148545 La Maison du macaron: De La Roche just south of Mont-Royal. Fou Desserts or Les Saveurs du plateau for pastries, both on Laurier East between, say, St-Denis and Papineau. Cocoa Locale for cakes and cupcakes: Parc near Villeneuve. St-Viateur or Fairmount for bagels. On the streets of the same names. Mon Nov 02 06:27:18 -0800 2009 5145333 16017 Campofiorin 1 5149081 (crap, I lost my post....) Coffee : Café In Gamba, Neve, Myriade, Café Italia close to Jean Talon Market, and this thread (among many other threads) :http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/98712 chai : don't know... I buy pre-made chai-stuff. Pastry: Gascogne, and the middle-eastern stall @ Jean Talon Market; and pastry related : Mamie Clafoutie on Van-horne St... Bread: "Première Moisson" ( I always ask for over-baked stuff, they are better than the bread in the display), or St-viateur or Fairmount Bagels Gelato (or ice-cream related): Havre aux Glaces @ Jean Talon Market On Van-Horne, there's "La Maison du Cheddar" that specialized on Cheddar; you can get cheese curdes (fromage en grain), or grill-cheese... Mon Nov 02 09:22:23 -0800 2009 5145333 11828 Maximilien 2 5149193 regarding premiere moisson, what do you mean by over baked stuff? is this surplus? stuff they hide in the back? Mon Nov 02 09:47:33 -0800 2009 5149081 1113414 sharkbait88 3 5149320 wrong wording ... I ask for baguette "Bien Cuite" or Well Baked, or nearly burnt ... the ones that are too "brown" and crispy for the public display... Each time they sound insulted when I ask for that, and say that they never burn bread, but I ask them to go at the back and get the ones that I like, not the chewy ones, and they find a few of them that I'm happy to buy. Mon Nov 02 10:29:04 -0800 2009 5149193 11828 Maximilien 4 5149834 ah i see, are they still soft on the inside? Mon Nov 02 12:56:49 -0800 2009 5149320 1113414 sharkbait88 5 5150374 Yes; and they are crispier outside. Mon Nov 02 15:36:38 -0800 2009 5149834 11828 Maximilien 6 5150436 ooo just the kind i like! thanks for the tip Mon Nov 02 15:57:22 -0800 2009 5150374 1113414 sharkbait88 1 5150491 Tarte au sucre (sugar pie) - try it at Ma'am Bolduc, 4351 avenue de Lorimier. They also have other Québécois specialties like tourtière (meat pie) Fèves au lard, tourtière, soupe aux pois (French-Canadian split-pea soup), pouding chômeur (poor-man's pudding cake) - try La Binerie Mont-Royal, 367 Mont-Royal est - http://www.labineriemontroyal.com/ Poutine (fries with gravy and cheese curds, don't knock it til you've tried it) - a lot of folks recommend La Banquise, 994 Rachel est, http://www.restolabanquise.com/ Bagels aka Montreal honey-water-boiled, wood-oven-baked bagels - try St. Viateur and Fairmount & compare. Get sesame (white) or poppy (black) and forgo the fancy stuff. - http://www.stviateurbagel.com/ http://www.fairmountbagel.com/ Coffee - try Myriade - 1432 Mackay (downtown) - http://www.cafemyriade.com/ Bakeries - try Moh's famous Mile End Bakery Tour: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/663304 Gelato - don't know about gelato specifically, but highly recommend hitting up Havres aux glaces for ice cream at the Jean-Talon Market. You can also try some crêpes at the stand in the middle of the covered area of the market, or paczi (Polish donuts) at Wawel while you're there. http://www.marche-jean-talon.com/ http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/403500 http://www.wawelpatisserie.com/ Have fun on your trip! Mon Nov 02 16:18:58 -0800 2009 5145333 66614 kpzoo 1 5150707 Pastry--Cannoli at Alati Caserta on Dante, just a short walk from the Jean Talon market--really the best I have had in any city, ever. Bread--Zaatar--lebanese flatbread deliciousness, comes in many varieties at the Zaatar bakery on DeCastelnau just north of the JT market. Gelato---I very strongly second Havre aux Glaces in the JT market--amazing, and it, unlike many Montreal ice cream joints, is open through the winter. Note-you can always have 3 flavours in one, even in the smallest portion size. Mon Nov 02 17:37:43 -0800 2009 5145333 269364 chililala 1 5152886 wow, so much to eat already with all those suggestions... others I can think of: pasteis de nata, portuguese egg custards. A good place to get them would be les Anges Gourmet, at 4247 Saint-Laurent. Lahmajoun (armenian thin pizzas), at Arouch. Downtown location at 1600 de Maisonneuve W, next to the Guy Concordia metro I'll skip chinese bakeries since you're from San Francisco! You probably have a more extensive choice there. Kouign Amann (= butter cake) a specialty from Brittany (France) made of layers of brioche dough, butter and caramelized sugar. A treat if you like buttery pastries! Their croissants and other options are all very good. 322 Mont-Royal E, close to St-Denis (closed on Wed now). Another good bakery wood be the Fromentier, 1375 Laurier W, corner de Lanaudiere. They make different breads each day of the week. There's also la Maison Cakao, a chocolate shop just a few steps away, 5090 Fabre. Greek pastry place: New Navarino bakery 5563 du Parc, corner of St-Viateur (where the bagel shop is) you can also check out Cheskie, a Jewish bakery just a street north, on Bernard. They're known for their challah, rugelah, babka, etc... fresh nuts: the nut booth at either Atwater (close to the pizza place) or Jean-Talon markets. Their spicy rosemary nut mix, or maple covered pecans are addictive! churros: Uruguayan version at Churros Montreal. They also have empanadas. 7497 St-Hubert Corn / rye crackers from Fourquet Fourchette (a Nouvelle-France type restaurant, located in the Palais des Congrès at 265 Saint-Antoine W, corner Jean-Paul Riopelle place - good deal for lunch by the way). They serve those in the bread basket, and you can also buy a small bag for 5$ - crunchy and quite tasty. I wouldn't make a detour for them, but since you'll probably visit the downtown and old montreal areas, you'll be close. No need to eat there to buy stuff; they also sell cured meats, smoked salmon, mustards, beers... Something tells me you won't be craving gelato late November... :-) Tue Nov 03 13:14:36 -0800 2009 5145333 275139 Chocolatine 2 5154343 another spot that came to mind: Riz en folie, which serves rice pudding 16 different ways. On Mackay, open late, closed Sun. http://www.rizenfolie.com/ Wed Nov 04 04:32:39 -0800 2009 5152886 275139 Chocolatine 1 5156214 Coffee, PAstry & Bread - Les Copaiins D'Abord is a can not miss. It really does have the most amazing pastries. I used to sell them and they practically flew off the counter. Their coffee is great too. Never tried their bread but it looks pretty decent. As for ice cream, look for shops that sell Bilboquet local ice-cream. Quebec's answer to Ben & Jerry's. They have a few locations around town, I say Google it. As for local snacks - my God. Poutine. Crispy fries, with stringy molten cheese curds and thick gravy poured all over. Believe me, I know it sounds revolting - I avoided it for a whole year after coming to Montreal... but it's a winner. Best place to get that is La Banquise on Rachel and Cristophe Colomb. Hands down. Wed Nov 04 14:27:07 -0800 2009 5145333 1121754 NickMontreal 1 5157226 Wow thanks for all the amazing sounding suggestions! Thought I would post a link to something I came across, a Montreal food guide created by Tom Sietsema: http://www.mapageweb.umontreal.ca/furstenf/perso/ffmontrealfoodguide.htm Wed Nov 04 22:01:00 -0800 2009 5145333 99519 justtryit