Montreal specialites and trends - moreMontreal eGuide


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Montreal specialites and trends

As for other large cities, Montreal is hit by successive waves of restaurant fads. But, like many restaurant critics noted, we seem to be two years late on fads elsewhere. Here are some past fads that came and went (but most stayed to a certain extent) : sushi bars (still popular and as of winter 2002, sushi bars in various forms have made a big comeback), fondues, thai restaurants (also still popular), designer pizzas, tex-mex, theme restaurants, fusion cuisine, pasta bars and Ethiopian food. Montreal is usually late catching up with those fads (Montreal is not at the forefront of fad restaurants.. fortunatly, altough one could argue that the bagel and gourmet coffee fads came from here), since restaurants here tend to stick to the classical side of cuisine (although there are lot's of interesting exceptions). Amongst other fads are 2 for 1pizza and 99 cents slices pizza places (actually most 99cents pizza places only sell cheese pizzas at 99 cents, all other pizzas are more expensive) and indoor terrasses (they are restaurants or bars with glass-garage-door type doors that open up in the summer).

The specialties that Montreal is known for are : smoked meat, bagels, vietnamese restaurants, indian and inexpensive french. And here's an interesting trivia : Montreal, after New York, has the largest number of restaurants per capita in North America.

If you are looking for exotic choices, there's L'Auberge du Dragon Rouge (a restaurant that serves authentic medieval food), Toqué (a french-fusion restaurant which puts an emphasis in the presentation), Divine Comedia (a restaurant-theater-experience although the food isn't all that good), etc.

By the way, Toqué is the most critically acclaimed restaurant as well as the Casino's restaurant names Nuances.

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Last update: 01/02/2024