Montreal Strutters!
BeatChemist
1,465 Posts
I know there are some Strutters in Montreal! I'm visiting Montreal for the first time this weekend. Driving up super early on Friday and coming back to Toronto on Sunday. I'm going with a friend who does business out there, and his wife. He has some work to do Saturday during the day, but otherwise we're pretty free all weekend. They go pretty often, but I'm looking forward to just walking around the City and being a tourist. On my list of things to do are:
1. Eat some bagels
2. Eat some Shwartz's
3. Dig for some records
4. Get a lap dance
5. Visit La Belle Provence
6. Wander around Old Montreal
7. Drink some good espresso
8. Brush up on my French
9. Drink/Dance with some French girls
Not in that order.
What else should I be checking out?
I would really appreciate record shop and espresso recommendations!!
1. Eat some bagels
2. Eat some Shwartz's
3. Dig for some records
4. Get a lap dance
5. Visit La Belle Provence
6. Wander around Old Montreal
7. Drink some good espresso
8. Brush up on my French
9. Drink/Dance with some French girls
Not in that order.
What else should I be checking out?
I would really appreciate record shop and espresso recommendations!!
Comments
st. viateur bagels and fairmont bagels are mere blocks apart, visit both and do a taste test. both are open 24 hours as i recall...
some may try to convince you there are better places but you must pay chez schwartz a visit. i suggest building up a bit of an appetite and then ordering the schwartz special combo. get your smoked meat with "medium fat" and you want spices on your steak. also, i would consider investing in an entire smoked meat, packed for travel on the day of your departure from the city...
i am also a big fan of the main, which is across the street. i reccomend trying their beef ribs.
try to get a portugese meal in as well... i am partial to chez doval and roi du plateau
Packing a meat bundle for the way home???? I like the way you think...
Edit: Ahhh!! Bagels!! Thanks! We shall have a bagel-off.
I'll help you organize them around records
so...basically
chill with your friend and do whatever on friday
saturday have a hangover breakfast at cosmo's and go to the salvo and record store encore records near by
then take the bus to cheap thrills...walk through mcgill campus and hit ''le pick up'' and ''beatnick'' on your way to schwartz
i say go to the main and skip the line at schwartz but if you have to you won't be disapointed
then walk up the street or bus it to bernard and st-laurent
there you can catch some bagels and go to olympico for a sweet cup of espresso on a nice terasse
you will be near to other stores musicorama and phonopolis then you can go to death of vinyl and walk down beaubien for some latino snacks or take the metro to mont-royal station
from there you canhit the spots on mont-royal street and check out the mountain
Melo-disc, 33 tours
then you are close to the portuguese resturant
going to doval is a great idea for supper and you will be near the belmont for a sick show on saturday night (Music is my sanctuary party)
(great DJs nice bar, so dancing with girls covered, I cosine these guys and i know it's the types of beats you like)
after that you have to choices go grab a late night poutine (classic route at la banquise 24h) or go to bocadillos right down the street for some venezuelan street food...then sleep
then spend sunday chilling in the old port and you will be close to the bus/train station or your car near the highway
job well done
PCMR's list is pretty dead on...
i would say skip La Belle Provence... the Binerie on Mont Royal is great for the more home style stuff... almost every neighborhood has a spot like Belle Provence, but better... Montreal Pool Room downtown is the late night spot, but most neighborhoods have one... my fav was AA on Notre Dame in St. Henry...
Soulstrut is the shit.
pcmr I knew you lived there cuz I saw your additions to the SS City Guide. I had no idea you moonlight as a record-oriented trip planner!
I'm pretty much going to follow your itinerary. I don't see how I could possibly go wrong.
pgunn thanks for the info! My friend is a Belle Provence fan, so we'll end up there at some point. I am told I need to try one of their toasted hot dogs. Very gourmet shit... lol
Thank you everyone! I will report back with some pics and hopefully a few nice finds!
joe beef
le comptoir
lawrence
Drink at....
Vices et Versa
Dieu Du Ciel
Buy some beer from Charlevoix and Trou Du Diable.
Hit up Atwater or Jean-Talon market.
Last stop before you leave are st viateur/fairmount. Bagels freeze relatively well.
Bring fiber pills, Montreal is meat heavy, constipation for days.
yeah i forgot you need to holla at quebec beers one of the best products we have to offer
charlevoix's company is unibroue (his LPs arent bad either ;)
dieu du ciel can be your predrink before doval's
if you want to do more on sunday i strongly suggest walking from the old port to the verdun area by the canal
you will end up near st-ambroise brewery..great terrasse and tasty selections
bring back a couple of unibroue bottles with the corks and sit on them
after a year a fin du monde really develops an awesome body and it pops of for any celebration
the real grail is the unibroue award winning 11 bottle
if you have a car stop by rachel and iberville in al little conveinec d??paneure boni-soir..it looks normal from the outside
but inside is a cornucopia of beer selections that are incredible like uniondisk japan record store for beer
aser have you tried le filet (from the folks at club chasse&p??che)
belle province is generic..the ones downtown are horrible the ones in the eastend are more trueschool but you don't want to go there just for that
un toast?? is always on point (all dressed) but there are way better places...however it's a classic regardless, ther poutine is satisfying as well (queu de cochon has changed my life on that however) btw i would recommend poutineville if you really want to go full on poutine much better than banquise (for topping integration) and open late as well
atwater market will be right near the brewery btw
enjoy
THIS ^^ is a pretty badass itinerary. :game_over: I would follow that to a T if i were you.
For poutine, i'd say go to 'Chez Claudette' on Laurier, a very little walk from Dieu du Ciel, and open late, if not 24 hrs some days.
Doval is ok, but why not just go to Romados (portuguese chkn breakface) and eat in a park?
eat on the mountain with a local beer you mean
that's what my sundays were all about for a while
highly recommended and your a stones throw away for the belmont
'tu as l'embarras du choix' as we say
ill cosine everything above and here are some things left off the list that ive garnered from my countless visits and extended stays:
dinner:
jardin nelson: have the rabbit cr??pes and the melon sangria
lunch:
romados: walk-in chicken and frites. best meal under $10 in the country
breakfast
cafe grand (grand st.&sherbrooke; ouest) for one of the best breakfasts ive had there. and an entirely anglophone experience, if you start to feel any major disconnect.
breakfast bonus beat:
good ol cosmo's.
the science centre in old montreal is running a pretty neat exhibit about human identity using Star Wars as an effective narrative. gotta buy tickets a day in advance but worth it for even a small fan. (full-size carbonite solo-r)
yodel at me if you need corporate codes for hotels my son. you're a consultant for HP & IBM right? *wink*
close to the action but away from the crowd: try New Town on Crescent street for the rooftop patio. hookah and hendricks on the rocks with a superb view of the metropolis.
Eat a bagel with smoke meat from Shwartz, and an espresso on the side, while you get a lap dance & speak French to a Quebecois stripper.
Or just follow pcmr's tour itinerary.
we need a MTL strut reunion thing to go down at some point...bring back the days when RAJ mahal was tearing it up on st-cath
final advice
if you want a cool lounge with good beer in between activities or you want to check out la place des spectacles (jazz museum)
well bleury bar a vinyle has all vinyl nice beer selection and is open at 3 on friday
there is a jerome derradji (house legend) playing there on friday so that could be your spot
edit: ok, i see that is the aforementioned romando's. remember to get your order in early if its dinner you want..
http://www.urbanspoon.com/rph/67/1431927/941538/montreal-rotisserie-romados-rotisserie-romados-photo
b/w
if you are looking for cheap, dirty fun then try to go and to place where the french cgep students frequent. get shitfaced, dance to horrible music and make out with a french lady. cafe campus used to be that spot but i am currently disconnected.
I will definitely post updates and finds as the weekend goes by. I'm pretty pumped about the digging aspect of the trip. I don't usually drop a lot of cash on records in one trip/day, but since I'm not paying for travel or hotel.... fuckit. I think I'm gonna set a couple bills aside just for records.
Soulstrut is seriously the best place on the internet. You dudes are duder than dude.
Yes!!! The misses and I had a wonderful trip there back in summer 2010. I gripped some heatery for days at the record shops there, and the dining and nightlife were quite nice.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
On the bus to Cosmos now for breakfast. Hitting the salvo and Encore after that. I think Shwartz for lunch.
Post pics later!
I think I want to move here... :D
I'll post up some pictures tomorrow. I highly suggest that everyone visit Montreal at least once. I definitely plan on going back soon.
no unfortunately I haven't. Haven't tried dna either. Want to hit them all.
I think Montreal has one of the best restaurant scenes in Canada for whitey food.
Records:
Espresso at Flocon on Mont Royal:
Cortado from Flocon:
Toaste All Dressed w/ Poutine chez La Belle Province:
Super Special at The Main (across from Schwartz - lineup was too long... lol):
Late night tacos at Tequila Tacos:
La Maison du Bagel:
Cool art in a headshop window on St. Laurent:
Near Old Montreal. A lot of cool graf/street art around the city.
Beautiful nature trails in Parc du Mont Royal, up the mountain.
View from the top observatory area.
Tourist shot.
Croix du Mont Royal.
We rented a three person bike cart thing. Stupidity ensued. I am sippin on Spruce Beer. Which is pop that tastes like pine trees. lol
Montreal Smoked Meat.
A huge thank you to everyone that posted in this thread. You really helped me maximize this trip. I have lots of shit I want to hit the next time I go. There were like 6 or 7 record shops that looked good but I just didn't have time to hit. My fav part of town was the Mont Royal and St. Dennis area on the plateau. Just a great vibe. Book stores, little cafes, record shops, boutique stores.
I plan on taking more trips out there soon. My friend usual travels out there once or twice a month, and I'm just going to make sure I've got my days off when he's going (make-my-own-schedule-related). He's pumped to have company on the drive, and I could totally kill a day just wandering around town and enjoying the city. I'm hoping to make it a regular thing.
The next time I'm out there I'd love to meet up with any Strutters that would want to have a beer! I feel like I already owe a round or two to pcmr for his travel tips!
Last summer my wife and I rode our motorcycles up from Albany to Montreal, then up the St. Lawrence to Quebec City (where I have family roots), then down to Burlington, then home. Great trip riding through the province over a few days. It does help to learn some Francais once you leave the cities.
i can hack my way through a conversation which never hurt and my GF is full out fluent, so I have no worries.
in my countless experiences there, if you exhibit that you've even TRIED to learn the native language they'll jump in with English and save you without too much butthurt. this only goes for Montreal tho, NOT the rest of PQ