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Visiting Montreal


Fanpuck33

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So, a friend and I are planning on coming up to Montreal for the game on March 20 and spending the preceding weekend in town. What are some things that we should do that might not be the obvious tourist type stuff (i.e.Notre-Dame Basilica, St. Joseph's Oratory)? Where should we go to grab something good to eat? Not talking fine dining or anything like that, but good, local cuisine. (Keep in mind I am of the opinion that everything is better with bacon!)

P.S. Thankfully I visited the city as a kid and got to tour the Forum while they were still there!

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Haven't booked any place to stay yet, but my friend is talking about using AirBnB.

I'm a fairly frugal person, but I don't have to pinch pennies or anything. So I guess a fairly normal budget.

Are they any good brew pubs/micro brews? I wouldn't call myself a craft beer snob, but I do like trying new beers. I've got a collection of over 200 bottle caps from all the different beers I've had. When I was in Boston I toured Sam Adams, which was pretty cool since it wasn't one of their major plants and had more of a craft feel to it.

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Haven't booked any place to stay yet, but my friend is talking about using AirBnB.

I'm a fairly frugal person, but I don't have to pinch pennies or anything. So I guess a fairly normal budget.

Are they any good brew pubs/micro brews? I wouldn't call myself a craft beer snob, but I do like trying new beers. I've got a collection of over 200 bottle caps from all the different beers I've had. When I was in Boston I toured Sam Adams, which was pretty cool since it wasn't one of their major plants and had more of a craft feel to it.

Bah. Brutopia's advantage is to be downtown.

Much better options though.

Dieu du Ciel (29 avenue Laurier Ouest, Montréal, QC H2T 2N2, Laurier station) is a world awards winning brewery.

Benelux (245 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal, QC H2X 1X7, Place des Arts station) is really good too. (actually been there once with AlexStream and Macaskill)

Brouhaha Pub (5860 Avenue de Lorimier, Montréal, QC H2G 2N9) is another great pub.

Vice Versa too (6631 Boul St-Laurent, Montréal, QC H2S 3C5).

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Somewhat cool restaurant to go to just before the game is Dunn's (smoked meat). Really close to the Bell Centre and not that expensive at all. Lot of Habs fans go there an hour or so before the game and then head to the Bell Centre.

Here is a list and review of great BYOW restaurants :

http://montreal.eater.com/maps/best-byob-montreal-restaurants

I've been to # 3-8-10-15-16-17-21-22-23. My favorite are #23(French cuisine) and #16(Afgan cuisine).

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Somewhat cool restaurant to go to just before the game is Dunn's (smoked meat). Really close to the Bell Centre and not that expensive at all. Lot of Habs fans go there an hour or so before the game and then head to the Bell Centre.

Here is a list and review of great BYOW restaurants :

http://montreal.eater.com/maps/best-byob-montreal-restaurants

I've been to # 3-8-10-15-16-17-21-22-23. My favorite are #23(French cuisine) and #16(Afgan cuisine).

I've always preferred Reuben's Deli to Dunn's for smoked meat. It's a little more expensive, but still walking distance to the Bell Centre.

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I've always preferred Reuben's Deli to Dunn's for smoked meat. It's a little more expensive, but still walking distance to the Bell Centre.

You're right, Reuben's is good too. As you said, will need you a little extra money, but not THAT much.
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Excellent stuff, thanks! Will definitely try hit up Dunn's and/or Rueben's, as I love me some smoked meat! I'll give those brew-pubs a look over as well. Any of them have a particularly good stout or porter? The darker the beer, the better! I've come along way from a conversation I had with JLP once, where I said Budweiser was near the top of my list, simply because it had so little taste and I only really liked beer as a cheap way to drink in college, haha.

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Excellent stuff, thanks! Will definitely try hit up Dunn's and/or Rueben's, as I love me some smoked meat! I'll give those brew-pubs a look over as well. Any of them have a particularly good stout or porter? The darker the beer, the better! I've come along way from a conversation I had with JLP once, where I said Budweiser was near the top of my list, simply because it had so little taste and I only really liked beer as a cheap way to drink in college, haha.

I miss JLP. Probably wrote a few of the most hilarious posts on this board, mainly in HWL section though.

Pretty much all brew-pubs in Québec brew stout or black IPA or some kind of dark beers. It is very "in demand" around here.

Your best bet is Dieu du Ciel. I mean it, they won A LOT of awards and medals at international beerfests and contests. Very crowded though, gotta show up before 10pm most of the times.

If you want to bring back some local beer, go the Peluso (2500 Rue Rachel E, Montréal, QC H2H 1S1). They have whole sections just for stout beers. Well, they have sections for all kind of beers...

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  • 2 months later...

Hit up Brutopia and Benelux on Friday night. Both had a pretty solid stout. I was a little bummed at Brutopia because the server mentioned a smoked beer, only to find out it was tapped out. Couldn't eat meat on Friday, so I figured it was a good time to get some poutine at Brutopia.

Saturday we hit up Fairmount for some bagels and then headed over to Dieu du Ciel. They had a pretty good porter and an excellent imperial stout. Also tried a couple others on a flight. From there we went up Mont Royal for the view. Being a stereotypical overweight American, that wore me out and was no good for a foot that I had jammed a couple days prior. Hooray for Alleve!

For dinner I decided I was in the mood for a burger, so we hit Burger Bar, which we had walked by the first night. Oh. My. Gosh. I've seen Montreal steak seasoning in the spice aisle at the grocery, but had never tried it. So good. I have a new favorite burger seasoning.

Finally on Sunday, we hit up the two Basilicas and my buddy esplored a good bit of old Montreal. Then we met back up and went to Dunn's before the game, which was also very good. We both grabbed a Molson Ex there to see what the difference was, haha.

All in all, a great weekend, despite the horrible game. Thanks for the excellent recommendations! Next time I come up, maybe we can put together some kind of meetup.

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Nice trip !

Hit up Brutopia and Benelux on Friday night. Both had a pretty solid stout. I was a little bummed at Brutopia because the server mentioned a smoked beer, only to find out it was tapped out. Couldn't eat meat on Friday, so I figured it was a good time to get some poutine at Brutopia.

Saturday we hit up Fairmount for some bagels and then headed over to Dieu du Ciel. They had a pretty good porter and an excellent imperial stout. Also tried a couple others on a flight. From there we went up Mont Royal for the view. Being a stereotypical overweight American, that wore me out and was no good for a foot that I had jammed a couple days prior. Hooray for Alleve!

For dinner I decided I was in the mood for a burger, so we hit Burger Bar, which we had walked by the first night. Oh. My. Gosh. I've seen Montreal steak seasoning in the spice aisle at the grocery, but had never tried it. So good. I have a new favorite burger seasoning.

Finally on Sunday, we hit up the two Basilicas and my buddy esplored a good bit of old Montreal. Then we met back up and went to Dunn's before the game, which was also very good. We both grabbed a Molson Ex there to see what the difference was, haha.

All in all, a great weekend, despite the horrible game. Thanks for the excellent recommendations! Next time I come up, maybe we can put together some kind of meetup.

Nice trip. Never been to Burger Bar myself. Gotta try it now...

Could definitely try to meet next time, could try to include Streamer and Maca... I was in Argentina from March 6th to March 26th. Had some pretty decent beers there as well... but mainly Malbec wine.

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Good times! I'm looking at making a trip next fall. I haven't been to Montreal since probably '98 or so. I used to go quite often when I still loved in NY and VA. Since I moved to CO in 2000, I haven't been at all.

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