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Good morning, friends! I am so excited to start my day in Montreal with a food tour! After an amazing meal last night, and a ton of trouble sleeping, I finally fell asleep around 7:30 this morning. With my alarm set for 9 am, I got an exhausting one and a half hours of sleep. Remember that just yesterday, I flew across the US and Canada, going on 5 hours of sleep from the night before.
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Table of Contents
Before the Montreal Food Tour
I had to wake up at 9 to repack my suitcase and make the switch from riding boots to snow boots. There may or may not have been a little slip on black ice last night, which promptly landed my derriere on the ice-covered pavement.
So now, snow boots – out! Riding boots – in! Most of my luggage had to be slightly rearranged.
1. Bagels at Crew Collective
After repacking, checking out, and leaving my luggage downstairs, I set off straight away to Crew Collective to meet Justin, my Old Montreal Food Tour guide, and the rest of the group. Crew Collective sits in the wonderful old gilded-age headquarters of the Royal Bank of Canada.
At Crew Collective, freelancers rent โoffice spaceโ from the collective and also sell higher end breakfast, bagels, and coffee to help pay the rent in this massive old bank atrium. Itโs a great use of a historical building and theyโve helped to preserve a lot of the interior. It reminds me of co-working spaces that my friend E frequents often. In fact, it’s highly possible he has been here.
A quick note about the delicious, but not too decadent, smoked salmon bagel with veggie toppings. Justin explained to us that, like New York (which shares a lot of similarities to Montreal), a large wave of Eastern European Jewish immigrants came to Montreal prior to WWI, around the same time as many of them migrated to New York, and brought along with them their traditions of bagels. An open face bagel with fresh smoked salmon, cream cheese, and veggies was just the thing I needed to help get my day going.
2. Desserts at Cookie Stefanie
The Montreal Food Tour continues onto Cookie Stefanie! A delightful local dessert shop, specializing in gluten-free baked goods. We only tried the gluten-free carrot cake, which was delightfully moist, likely due to the surprise pineapple inside!
3. Poutine at Restaurant Taberna
Can you really do a Montreal Food Tour without eating some poutine? Nope!
Hailing from the fair province of Quebec, poutine is a regular part of Canadian cuisine. The main ingredients comprise of french fries, topped with cheese curds and brown gravy. No one knows the exact origin, but poutine first appeared sometime around the 1950s in Centre-du-Quรฉbec. It is now a defining feature of Canadian cuisine, and some call it Canada’s national dish!
We tried the poutine at Restaurant Taberna, which is a Portuguese restaurant. The poutine was special, with two different kinds of cehese curds and Portuguese sausage in addition to the brown gravy. It was SO GOOD! I absolutely loved it!
4. Sausage and Duck Carpaccio at Bistro-Brasserie Les Soeurs
Bistro-Brasserie Les Soeurs is as an artisan microbrewery, housed in a former nunnery! We tried a sausage and the duck carpaccio there, but unfortunately it was my least favorite stop.
For me, duck is easy to get wrong, and difficult to make well. Although I’ve had beef carpaccio and enjoyed it, the duck carpaccio was too thickly-sliced, too chewy to eat. I don’t see on the menu anymore (as of 2020), so perhaps they removed it due to feedback. Not sure! But either way, it’s a lively environment, and if craft beers are your thing (or former nunneries), check it out!
5. Poudding Chomeur at Soupesoup
Disclaimer: As of 26 February 2019, Soupesoup filed bankruptcy. Google seems to believe that some locations are still open but I cannot confirm this. If someone in Montreal could let me know in the comments, that would be great!
The tasting at Soupesoup was our dessert. Deliciously-made Poudding Chomeur, i.e. bread pudding with real Quebecois maple syrup! Warm, sweet, and absolutely delicious! If Soupesoup is still around, go and try it!
Sights along the way
Parting Thoughts on the Montreal Food Tour
It was a wonderful tour to introduce me, not only to Canadian food, but also to Montreal as a city. I’m grateful that they ran this tour in the dead middle of winter, despite being the off season!
If you’re going in the winter, bundle up, and walk slowly – no one likes slipping on the ice, even if you’ll be comforted by a bunch of food after!
Montreal Food Tour Recap
Tour provider: Local Montreal Food Tours
Cost: Adult $64.99 CAD | $48.99 USD,
Adult + Alcohol $78.99 CAD |$59.99 USD
Total food tour length: approx 3.5 hours
- Smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel at Crew Collective & Cafe | map
- Gluten Free (GF) carrot cake and espresso at Cookie Stefanie | map
- Portuguese sausage poutine at Restaurant Taberna | map
- Sausage and duck carpaccio and beer at Bistro-Brasserie Les Soeurs Grises | map
- Poudding chomeur at Soupesoup | map
Lannie is a perpetual wanderer and loves to share her travel adventures and the food she eats along the way with everyone.ย She works during the day while bouncing around the world and dreams about new places and faces at night!ย She has a home on the magical Isle of Islay in Scotland, where the whisky flows freely and happily.
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Oh, goodness. As always you leave me hungry! I would love to go on a poutine tour across Montreal and it would definitely include Restaurant Taberna! Thanks for the tip. I DID go on a poutine tour across Toronto once and, wouldn’t you know, I slipped on the ice, too! What comes first, the poutine or the fall? ๐
What a delicious post! I’ve never been to Canada, which is disgraceful considering the fact that I grew up in Wisconsin! I would love to try to Poutine and of course the desserts. A brewery in a former nunnery sounds a little hard to resist as well, lol!
Montreal is such a great foodie city! I’d love some poutine right now!
When someone first told me about poutine, I thought it sounded disgusting. Cheese curds! Yuk. Little did I know that it’s perfect boozy pub fare loaded with gravy. Yum.
This Montreal food tour looks like a good introduction to the city’s cuisine. When we visited, we sought out the bagels and poutine. Really delicious!