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Food and alcohol
- Beer: there's a very large selection of beers in Montreal, from commercial giants like Molson and Labatt to micro-breweries and imported beers. The most interesting beers come from micro-breweries (altough some of them are not so micro anymore). Any beer from Unibroue (Fin du monde - aka End of the World, the Maudite - aka the Damned, Blanche de Chambly, etc) are great and they won some international awards too. Other beers from Boréal are also great, you have to try the Boréale Rousse (they started the "red" beer trend). There are also the Cheval Blanc beers, a tavern that brews and bottles its own beers (they even have a maple syrup flavored beer). But stay away from Belle Gueule, I don't know who brews it but it tastes more like some orange cola than beer. The beers from Molson or Labatt taste pretty much all the same. But beware if you are an american, the canadian beers have, on average, stronger alcoolic content than american beers. You can buy the commercial beers and some of the micro-brewery beers in every dépanneur (corner or convenience store) and supermarkets (by the way, no stores can sell beer past 23:00). Imported beers and specialty beers can be found at the SAQ stores and there's even a SAQ store which specialtizes in beers on St-Denis street just south of Mont-Royal ave.
Bread and pastries: le Fromentier is the best in town for fresh bread, they actually call it a "bread atelier" and not a bakery (1375 Laurier east, Tel.:(514) 527-3327). The Patisserie Belge and Patisserie Bruxelloise are also good. But like any fresh food, you have to eat them as soon as possible before they dry out (which is a couple of hours). -
Bagels: La maison du Bagel (aka St-Viateur Bagel) is the best. If you are wondering what are the differences between ordinary bagels (aka New York bagels) and Montreal bagels, it's because you haven't tasted the Montreal kind... The Montreal bagels are thinner than the usual bagel (which makes for a bigger hole in the middle) and are less "bread-like". They are usually dipped in sugar water then cooked in wood ovens. If you buy them at a place where there's no wood oven in sight, then they are not real Montreal bagels, so stay away from Dunkin' Donuts bagels for example. You have to buy them fresh where them make them and you have to eat them while they are fresh because the become hard quite fast (the become hockey pucks two days after you buy them). You can also buy them at Fairmount bagel but they are not as good (too mushy) and they get harder even faster...
Supermarkets: yes a supermarket and why not. You can check out the different products that you may or may not have back home (it could be interesting) or if you have a kitchen in your hotel room... There are numerous supermarkets around (not many downtown though, there's one on Ste-Catherine street west of Guy street and another in the La Cité appartement complex on du Parc ave. corner of Prince-Arthur). The 4 Frères on St-Laurent just north of des Pins ave. which is opened 24hrs/day. If you are looking for high-end products, there's the Wesmount Square market (Atwater and Ste-Catherine street west) and the Cinq Saisons on Bernard street west in Outremont. - Public markets and other food markets : There are three major public markets in Montreal : the Atwater market in the south-west (corner of Atwater and Notre-Dame street west, Lionel-Groulx metro station), the Maisonneuve market (corner of Bennett and Ontario street east in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district, Pie-IX or Viau metro stations) and, finally, the Jean-Talon market in Little Italy (just south of Jean-Talon street west and just west of St-Denis street, Jean-Talon or de Castelneau metro stations). All three have a permanent section which is opened all year (there are bakeries, butcher shops, cheese shops, etc) and a seasonal section only opened from spring to autumn. The Jean-Talon market is the liveliest market and the Maisonneuve market has the most beautiful building. There are also fruit and venegtable stands near metro stations (Mont-Royal, Rosemont and Côte-des-Neiges stations for example) and other smaller neighbourhood public markets, but they are opened only during the summer. There's also the Faubourg Ste-Catherine's ground floor (corner of Ste-Catherine street west and Guy, Guy-Concordia metro station) which is a private indoor market with various small specialty shops selling everything from pastries to sausages.
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