Headed to Montreal

[gdl203]

I'm adding another recommendation for L'Epicier. Had a really nice dinner there - very inventive without being silly molecular stuff.

 

[MilanoStyle]

Originally Posted by odoreater

Overrated compared to what? I thought it was pretty nice, had a good time.

I find Toronto has more to offer than MTL.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by MilanoStyle

I find Toronto has more to offer than MTL.

For visiting, maybe... I think you get better quality of life in montreal though. There's more than enough good restaurants. The opera is decent and the symphony is good. Living is cheap and the commute is a breeze if you're smart and forgo driving.. There's two great markets that are easy to get to, pretty good shopping, and it's compact, so it doesn't take any tmie to get from point A to point B. I do like Toronto, but it sucks needing a car for everything.

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by MilanoStyle

I find Toronto has more to offer than MTL.

Really? I always thought Toronto would be just like another American city, whereas Montreal is more unique. I mean, I live 15 minutes outside of NYC, so for a city to be interesting to me, there has to be something unique about. I don't care for visiting cities that are just watered-down NYCs.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by odoreater

Really? I always thought Toronto would be just like another American city, whereas Montreal is more unique. I mean, I live 15 minutes outside of NYC, so for a city to be interesting to me, there has to be something unique about. I don't care for visiting cities that are just watered-down NYCs.

Quebec city would be more different from NYC than montreal. Aside from Old Montreal, I'm not sure what a tourist goes to see here. The downtown core is like any other city except that it's compact and you can walk everywhere.

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Quebec city would be more different from NYC than montreal. Aside from Old Montreal, I'm not sure what a tourist goes to see here. The downtown core is like any other city except that it's compact and you can walk everywhere.

Yeah, we spent most of our time in the Old City and in the area of St. Denis street.
Both of those areas are very different from what you see in NYC. We spent very little time in the downtown section.

 

[GQgeek]

Oh you're already back? Did you go to Au pied de cochon? I personally think food is the best reason to visit the city. It's a great food city.

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Oh you're already back? Did you go to Au pied de cochon? I personally think food is the best reason to visit the city. It's a great food city.

Nah, we didn't have as much time as we thought we would to be picky about eating places. We had crepes for lunch one day at what's supposed to be one of the best crepe place (La Treskill I think it was called). Then we had dinner one night at a place called "Le Grill" in the old city. We ate at a few other places where the food was generally pretty good (although, admittedly, I don't have the most discerning tastes and given that I diet pretty strictly most of the time, pretty much anything that isn't turkey with honey mustard tastes good to me).

We tried to go to L'Avenue a few times, since I hear it has the best breakfast food in all of North America, but the line was always so long that we didn't go.

One day we rented bicyles and rode around the entire city and that was pretty cool. We went to the park where there was some kind of impromptu drumming/weed smoking session going on, which I enjoyed.

All in all, it was a nice trip. Would visit Montreal again.

 

[amerikajinda]

http://www.oliveetgourmando.com/index_flash.cfm Olive + Gourmando We stayed at the W and had breakfast every morning a few blocks away at Olive & Gourmando -- it was very good for coffee, pastries, yoghurt with figs, etc.

 

[lefty]

My wife is entertaining an offer to move to Montreal, which doesn't thrill me as I'll have to commute between the city and NY. However, for better or worse.

Where to live? Looking for an hip area with neighbourhood amenities.

Plateau?
Outremont?
Westmount?

Haven't been there in a while, but I think that Old Montreal may be too toursty.

Thanks,

lefty

 

[MrGimpy]

Originally Posted by lefty

My wife is entertaining an offer to move to Montreal, which doesn't thrill me as I'll have to commute between the city and NY. However, for better or worse.

Where to live? Looking for an hip area with neighbourhood amenities.

Plateau?
Outremont?
Westmount?

Haven't been there in a while, but I think that Old Montreal may be too toursty.

Thanks,

lefty

Outremont wouldn't be considered a hip area--it's the francophone version of Westmount. Both are old money areas that are lovely to stroll around, but far from hip.

I lived on the Plateau for a year and would move back in a heartbeat. It had a great neighbourhood feel, isn't overrun by tourists and students, and is a proper French-speaking quartier. (Nothing against anglos...I'm one of them.) It's still a young-ish area and has great restaurants, cafÃ

s, and green spaces, in addition to all the amenities you'd need.

You're probably right about Old Montreal. The amenities are starting to move in to the area, but the tourists would do my head in.

If you're looking for an interesting anglo area, Notre-Dame de Grace may be worth a look. I've never lived there but have heard good things.

 

[lefty]

Originally Posted by MrGimpy

Outremont wouldn't be considered a hip area--it's the francophone version of Westmount. Both are old money areas that are lovely to stroll around, but far from hip.

I lived on the Plateau for a year and would move back in a heartbeat. It had a great neighbourhood feel, isn't overrun by tourists and students, and is a proper French-speaking quartier. (Nothing against anglos...I'm one of them.) It's still a young-ish area and has great restaurants, cafÃ

s, and green spaces, in addition to all the amenities you'd need.

You're probably right about Old Montreal. The amenities are starting to move in to the area, but the tourists would do my head in.

If you're looking for an interesting anglo area, Notre-Dame de Grace may be worth a look. I've never lived there but have heard good things.


I would have thought that Outremont and Westmont supported a restaurant/cafe community. We'll be heading there in November to check it out. I'll look into Notre-Dame de Grace.

Cheers,

lefty

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by lefty

My wife is entertaining an offer to move to Montreal, which doesn't thrill me as I'll have to commute between the city and NY. However, for better or worse.

Where to live? Looking for an hip area with neighbourhood amenities.

Plateau?
Outremont?
Westmount?

Haven't been there in a while, but I think that Old Montreal may be too toursty.

Thanks,

lefty

I don't know what your definition of hip is.

I really like westmount and used to have my apartment there. There are a fair amount of cafÃ

s and bars in the Sherbrooke / Victoria area, along with a good supermarket and good dry cleaners. It's an upper-class neighborhood and property/rent isn't cheap there. A similar neighborhood is Monkland village and it's a bit cheaper. Things are much more affordable in the plateau though. I would also take in to consideration where she will be working. If you want houses with a bit more yard space, Hampstead is another upper-class neighborhood that is very close to downtown but you will generally need a car and I don't think it's really want you want anyway. I also don't like Notre-Dame de Grace (NDG). I've lived both there and in the Plateau and prefer the plateau. There's more burglary and things like that in the Plateau, but I haven't lived there in a few years so maybe that's changed.

One of the great things about Montreal is that you can really keep your commute to a minimum. I've never been to Outremont, but it's kinda far from downtown imo.

Old Montreal is great, and there are some really really nice places there that you wouldn't find anywhere else in the city. The problem with Old Montreal is that there is no supermarket. Still, there are tons of cafÃ

, bars, and restaurants there and the streets are quite beautiful. Plus, you can run or bike along the waterfront. It would definitely be on the top my list.

 

[Histrion]

Its longer to get downtown from Outremont than from Westmount, for certain. I'd prefer Westmount but if you are looking for nice boutiques and cafes, Outremont is better IMO. Westmount does have some interesting places on Victoria/Sherbrooke, though.

I'm looking into moving to MontrÃ

al soon (2009) and I'll most likely be looking for a place on the Plateau, rather close to downtown. I'd also consider the Mile-End but the commute would be a tad longer than from the Plateau.

 

[The Wayfarer]

Originally Posted by MrGimpy

Outremont wouldn't be considered a hip area--it's the francophone version of Westmount. Both are old money areas that are lovely to stroll around, but far from hip.

I lived on the Plateau for a year and would move back in a heartbeat. It had a great neighbourhood feel, isn't overrun by tourists and students, and is a proper French-speaking quartier. (Nothing against anglos...I'm one of them.) It's still a young-ish area and has great restaurants, cafÃ

s, and green spaces, in addition to all the amenities you'd need.

You're probably right about Old Montreal. The amenities are starting to move in to the area, but the tourists would do my head in.

If you're looking for an interesting anglo area, Notre-Dame de Grace may be worth a look. I've never lived there but have heard good things.

I second the Plateau. If I were to live in Montreal, that's where I'd want to be.