A birthday visit to Montreal

My niece was turning 16, so that was a perfect excuse for a family reunion in Montreal.  As you might have already noticed, we always focus are gatherings around food!  

The first day we tried out a new 'all you can eat' sushi restaurant.

We feasted on sashimi and mango chicken.

We felt a walk by the water was in order to help work off our feast.

The following day, we prepared all of the birthday girl's favourite foods!

 

Don't forget the cake!

You can't visit Montreal without 'smoked meat'; a reuben from Moe's!

We headed downtown for our last day and went back to Deville's (see previous post) and tried their fish tacos, chicken and waffles with maple sauce as well as the coconut battered onion rings!

On my drive home, I stopped at our local lock to watch the rushing water as a result of the major rain we have had!

 It was a fantastic few days!

A weekend in Montreal

Given that we have been surviving through one of the worst winters we can remember in many years, my creative juices have been frozen, but are now awakened and I am ready to share stories and meals enjoyed.  I will start with the most recent and work backwards to make up what was missed!

I grew up in Montreal and go quite often, but when V-Star Lady (see to the right) suggested a road trip to Montreal, I enlisted the help of my sister and we acted as tour guides in our own city (she still lives there, I have been gone for 30 years).

Our first day took us to the Bio-dome,  which is part of the original Olympic village, the site of the 1976 summer games.  One of the pavilions has been turned into climate controlled sections housing everything from simulated tropic to antarctic temperatures.

 Here are some of the residents we visited with.....

 Meet the underwater creatures

Don't forget about the birds and ducks!

not to mention the baby lynx and the penguins...

Our next stop was a stroll down St. Laurent Blvd, which divides east from west and is affectionately known as 'The Main'.  Walking is hungry work, so we stopped into a local hangout (funnily called 'The Main) and tucked into the proverbial Montreal delicacy, 'smoked meat and poutine'...yummm.

 

 Graffiti artists have been busy adorning the buildings.

St. Laurent Blvd boasts many ethnic shops with wonderful selections of culinary delights!

The following few days took us to Mount Royal and the Westmount lookout to capture scenic vistas, but not before fortification in the way of brunch at a local hipster spot call L'Avenue!

 Check out the neon bathroom and motorcycle hanging from the ceiling!

A quick trip through Jean Talon market (one the oldest open markets in Montreal) gave us a chance to stock up on fresh veggies for dinner!

 
We rounded out our trip with shopping on Ste. Catherine St and final lunch downtown at 'Deville', which is a throwback to the diners of the 1950's.

No visit to Montreal would be complete without a stop for 'Montreal bagels' (boiled in honey before baking in a wood fired oven) and french bread for the trip home.

A waterfront stroll as a final goodbye to a wonderful weekend getaway.