Montreal
according to student life of Emily. What I remember most fondly and want to recommend to you (2007 - 2013)
Favorite streets (not in any
order)
1.
McGill
College Avenue:
a. Short walk
b. Has great view of McGill
university on the north end of the street
c. Entrances to all Malls
(around like 5… I haven’t counted) that are all connected underground: “Underground
City”
d. Always is decorated…for
events
e. Connects “Ben&Jerry’s”
Ice cream shop that gives out free ice cream once in a while to McGill
University
2. St. Catherine Street:
a. Long street perpendicular to
McGill College Ave
b. All fun stuff connected by
this street
i. Restaurants& Cafes
ii. Clubs
iii. Malls & Street Shopping
iv. Artist’s Street Exhibitions
like giant light up swings you can ride… theatres & Concert Halls (GO BY METRO:
PLACE DES ARTS)
v. Festivals & Parades
vi. Chinatown & OLD MONTREAL
(Notre Dame Church) (BY METRO: PLACE D’ARMES)
vii. *Gang fights at night only
very rare to see
c. Don’t go too far on this
street, fun stuff is concentrated From Chinatown to Atwater (that’s still about
an hour walk I think).
3. St. Denis Street, (GO BY
METRO: BERRI-UQAM)
a. Street Parallel to McGill
College Av
b. Street for young
entrepreneurs’ boutiques and eateries
c. Also has clubs
d. From time to time this street
is blocked off and filled with pedestrian shopping
4. Crescent Street (METRO: GUY
CONCORDIA)
a. Liked it mostly because it
had a Karaoke which had 5hrs of fun for $10
b. But is filled with pretty
people and expensive cars at night for some clubs I’ve never been to…
5. Sherbrooke Street
a. Longest street in Montreal (I
think) Connects from East to West
b. Only 10 minutes of it is
packed with semi fun stuff
i. Start at McGill University
gate (McGill College avenue cross Sherbrooke)
ii. Walk west and you will see
Museums (Art Galleries) and Boutiques and hotels where celebrities stay
iii. End at Crescent Street
Restaurants (List
according to closeness to McGill University) – you will notice these
restaurants are fit for Student wallet size… please refer to some other person
if looking for high end restaurants… FRENCH cuisine in Montreal is also very
good – I hear
Right By McGill
1. Lola Rosa Café
a. Really nice food and
atmosphere… (according to my preferences)
b. Vegan-ish place
2. ATTI: Korean Restaurant on
University Street
a. Nice interior
b. Good Lunch menu price
3. Furusato on Bleury street:
AMAZING JAPANESE HOME FOOD
a. Only con is that it only
opens for a few hours during lunch
4. Reuben’s: Steak, Smoked Meat,
Pasta
a. Only good at one location on
St. Catherine street by McGill
b. There are two types a deli
and a restaurant you want to go to the restaurant. The deli one on St.
Catherine is underground so it’s easy to distinguish
c. I like their desserts too
To West of
McGill
5.
Three
Amigos on St. Catherine St.: Mexican Food
a. 69cent tacos on Sundays
b. $7 Awesome steak Fajita on
Sizzling plate and all different sides on Wednesdays
6. L’Academie on Crescent St.:
Mussels and Pasta
a. Run by Culinary school
students
b. Good environment, good food,
good service… most times
c. Good price from Sunday to
Wednesday ($12 for any menu)
7. Chez Cora’s: Brunch
a. Other Cora’s restaurants
exist all across Canada but Montreal is its origin and must say it’s a little
different.
8. Qing Hua Dumplings METRO Guy
Concordia
a. Dumplings Hand made on the
spot…
b. Good experience but very Asian
9. Kazu: AMAZING JAPANESE FUSION
a. Only con is that the line up
is really long if going at a wrong time
10. Seoul Chako on St. Catherine
St.: Sushi and Korean BBQ buffet.
a. Nice Interior
b. Good Clean Facility and great
for lunch or dinner
c. Sushi is good during dinner
d. Meat grill in table is
amazing because it has its own ventilation… in the table
11. Jardin de Pekin at Snowdon
Metro Station: BEST CHINESE FOOD
a. If you like Peking duck
experience (cooked and thinly sliced at your table for you)
b. Also has menu catered to
Koreans in Korean.
12. Pho Lien By METRO Cote Des
Neige (Near St. Joseph’s Oratory): BEST Vietnamese Place in MTL
a. Must try their 3 colour
dessert drink!!
13. Restaurant Blanche Neige:
$1.99 Breakfast (By METRO Cote Des Neige)
a. 2 Eggs, 2 Toasts, Ham or
Sausage, Potato, Tea or Coffee, all for 2$
To East of
McGill
14. SCHWARTZ: FAMOUS MONTREAL
SMOKED MEAT on North End of St. Laurent Street Another cool street like St.
Denis but Closer to McGill
a. MUST EAT when visiting
Montreal
b. Countless famous people ate
here
c. Many plays and musicals made
on this place
d. THIS Street is filled with a
lot of things to do and eateries
e. Also Only Con is long line up
if at wrong time
15. Little Sheep Hot Pot in
Chinatown: All you can eat Chinese Hot Pot
a. Fresh vegetables
b. Healthy Soup Base
c. Smelly because Soup is
boiling all day everyday
16. La Banquise-Apparently the
BEST Poutine in Montreal! (I still like Costco Poutine Best)
a. Go by METRO Mont-Royal and
walk towards an awesome park (Parc La Fontaine)
b. Hand cut fries (I think)
c. And all different flavours of
Poutine
d. Good Apricot Beer
Desserts
1.
Cacao
70
a. There are two, one on Du Parc
Street which is closer to McGill University, but one by Atwater has better interior and is the original one.
b. Has Chocolate menu from all
around the world
c. Fondues, Crepes, Waffles
2. Juliet et Chocolat
a. Do you like Chocolate?
b. This is a must visit if you
like chocolate and are visiting Montreal
c. I like it less than Cacao 70
but still a very popular and famous around town
3. CoCo Bun
a. Best Chinese Bakery!
b. Delicious and very economic
to the wallet
c. There are three that I know
of: One in Chinatown, One in Guy Concordia Metro Station, One in Atwater Metro
Station’s Mall entrance
d. Don’t pay tax if you pay cash
4. Premiere Moisson
a. Epic Best Awesome French
Patisserie
b. Do you like French Desserts? What
more can I say
5. Rockaberry
a. Big Pies
b. Best Apple Crumble
6. Orange Julep
a. It is that Giant Orang Ball
Building near Metro Station Namur
b. You can see this Giant Orange
Ball at viewpoints atop Mont Royal. Especially overlooking away from Montreal
downtown like a top of St. Joseph’s Oratory
c. Everyone you ask in Montreal
will know of it but no one knows what is going on inside the Orange ball or
what exactly Orange Julep is.
d. It is a Drink made from whole
Orange Fresh that morning and comes down to kiosks at the bottom of the Orange
ball at 7AM through tubes it’s cool and magical
7.
A
very famous Bagel place that sells only a certain number of bagels fresh in the
morning… can not remember the name…
Also try
walking along St. Catherine, St. Denis and St. Laurent Streets to Find So Many
others… Montreal’s Fire Oven Italian foods are great too, Many Brunch Cafes are
reknown and of course French and Fondue places are well known…
If tired of city
scene... Go by Chinatown and down towards the Harbour where OLD MONTREAL is it
has lots of eateries too and great place to stroll/bike by the water.
Places to
Visit:
1.
St.
Joseph’s Oratory
a. A sight to see inside as it
is the biggest
b. A sight to see outside as you
can see all of Montreal
c. This place is famous because
many people with disability of walking climbed the stairs while kneeling on
each step and at the end of the stairs they were cured of it. You can see walls
full of canes and crutches left by people who were cured at top.
d. Go on a Sunday and you can
hear the Organ play… (TOP FLOOR!)Organ pipes run along the whole wall up to the
ceiling of this massive building and it is amazing
2. Climb up Mont. Royal
a. Short Hike up but lots to see
(can drive around it too)
b. You can see the view of
Montreal (Opposite direction from St. Joseph) if you take the hiking trail from
the top of Peel Street (only about 30 minute hike up) then take a different
route down to see ponds
c. Said to be designed by the
man who did Central Park in New York. Don’t know where I heard this from…
3. Chinatown & Old Montreal
a. Cobblestone
bricks line this old fashioned town with grand architecture
b. Tour de
l'Horloge: Clock
Tower on the beach (You can climb inside!)
c. Light show at Notre Dame Cathedral…
which is said to be exact replica of the French Notre Dame but I haven’t
researched on the truth of this statement it is very magical inside but you
have to pay to get in…$2/ person
d. Poutineries
e. Cupcakes
f. Beaver Tails
4. McGill University
a. That building on Sherbrooke
street to the East of McGill College Entrance and After University Street is
the Music Building. If you walk in to the Glass building at the East end of
Music Building some times they have free concerts by the graduating class or
Embassies
b. Go up Mcgill College Street
from Sherbrooke through the Archway You will walk by the statue of James McGill
all the way to James McGill’s Urn. He was buried there… but I don’t think he is
there anymore. I think they moved him some place else some while back.
c. At this point you are in the
middle of campus to the west is Arts and to the right is Science and
Engineering including nursing and architecture too
d. There are hourly tours… just
ask someone or go online
SHOPPING
1. Downtown’s Underground City
a. It is very confusing, grab a
map. Some malls are fancy, Some malls are average
2. Street Shopping
a. St. Denis Street
b. St. Laurent Street
c. Mont Royal Metro Station (Farmer’s
market type cool hippy stuff)
d. St. Catherine (Good
recognizable name brands)
3. BIG MALLS-a little bit of
distance away
a. Carrefour Laval
i. Best place for me because all
the store fronts are decorated so nicely and has amazing flour garden in the
centre
b. Galeries d’Anjou
i. Very Modern, Calm and Large
c. Premiere Outlets
i. Just opened… haven’t been
If going for more than a few
days
1. I suggest you also book a day’s
trip on a tour to Quebec City for one day. Very different culture. (Can rent a
car for a day or book a bus tour-many going)
2. Also visit Mont. Tremblant or
Gatineau Park! Amazing view of Autumn colours! Romantic!!
3. Also Capital of Canada, Ottawa
is only 2 hour drive away!
4. Also IF you like biking? Rent
a bike at the BIXI stations and Ride awesome scenic Bike trails which I can’t
quite remember exactly but if you search online it’s there