Montreal

[mfanderso]

We will be staying one night pre-cruise at the Delta Montreal Hotel. Is there someplace nearby to purchase soft drinks or other things we wish to take on the ship with us? Also, what is there to do nearby for one night. We won't be getting in to Montreal until 6:00 p.m. or so and our cruise leaves the next day.

[Ephraim]

There are TWO Delta hotels in downtown Montreal. They call one the Delta Centre-Ville and the other Delta Montreal. The Centre-Ville is close to the Place Bonaventure and Square Victoria, both of which have corner stores (we call them "deps", short for depanneur). The Delta Montreal is on President-Kennedy and therefore next to the Bay, Place de la Cathedrale and the Centre Eaton. There are plenty of small corner stores around in the area as well.

 

Neither of these areas have any real supermarkets. Your best bet might be to look for a Pharmaprix. There is one not far from the Delta Montreal, two streets south to Ste-Catherine street and then three streets east at 390 Ste-Catherine West. There is also an IGA at Complexe Desjardins, about 4 more streets east and at the corner of the building. If you are the Delta Centre-Ville, then head through Place Bonaventure, through the train station over to Place Ville-Marie and there is a Pharmaprix there. Or you can head over to Complexe Desjardins for the IGA, 4 streets north and then about 6 to 7 streets east via Rene-Levesque.

 

Remember that stores close at 5PM on Saturdays and 4PM on Sundays, so the corner stores and the pharmacies will be your only choice. (They are open until 9PM on Thursday and Fridays. Until 6PM other days except some malls that open until 9PM.) And be patient after store closing time as we have a legal limit on the number of employees at late hours. You want alcohol, the corner stores might be your only choice, since the government alcohol stores generally close at normal closing hour. Remember that we are more worker friendly in Quebec than consumer friendly, so we have laws to protect workers from having to work odd hours (unless they want to). So stores are limited in the number of employees allowed on the floor past normal store opening hours.

 

The Pharmaprix on Ste-Catherine West is open until 10PM each night. And the one in Place Ville-Marie is only open according to this schedule:

Monday 7:30 am -- 7:00 pm

Tuesday 7:30 am -- 7:00 pm

Wednesday 7:30 am -- 7:00 pm

Thursday 7:30 am -- 9:00 pm

Friday 7:30 am -- 9:00 pm

Saturday 9:00 am -- 5:00 pm

Sunday 12:00 pm -- 5:00 pm

 

The IGA's hours are:

Sunday 08:00 - 20:00

Monday 07:00 - 20:00

Tuesday 07:00 - 20:00

Wednesday 07:00 - 20:00

Thrusday 07:00 - 21:00

Friday 07:00 - 21:00

Saturday 08:00 - 20:00

[mfanderso]

Thanks. We will be at Delta on President Kennedy. We will be getting in on a Friday evening so if something is not open then we can surely get something on Saturday morning.

 

Can someone recommend a good place to get a good dinner on Friday night nearby?

[Ephraim]

There are more restaurants per capita in Montreal than any other city in North America (only Paris has more per capita). So, you will have to give me an idea of what kind of food you want and what price range. Almost anything can be had in Montreal, even Indonesian food (though not near the hotel). And prices can vary from inexpensive to one of the most expensive (if not the most expensive) restaurants. Dress is usually casual in Montreal, but some restaurants can take quite a long time to get a reservation if they are very popular. Toque, for example, can take upwards of a year to get a reservation.

 

Stores are open till 9PM on Friday. But it will take you about an hour from the airport to the city at 6PM. My suggestion, don't rush through customs... take your time getting off the plane, through customs and then getting your luggage, you are going to spend it either in a cab in traffic or leisurely going through at the airport. It will take an hour at 6PM and about 30 minutes at 6:30PM or so. The road to downtown goes by a bridge and gets congested at rush hour.

[mfanderso]

There are more restaurants per capita in Montreal than any other city in North America (only Paris has more per capita). So, you will have to give me an idea of what kind of food you want and what price range. Almost anything can be had in Montreal, even Indonesian food (though not near the hotel). And prices can vary from inexpensive to one of the most expensive (if not the most expensive) restaurants. Dress is usually casual in Montreal, but some restaurants can take quite a long time to get a reservation if they are very popular. Toque, for example, can take upwards of a year to get a reservation.

 

Stores are open till 9PM on Friday. But it will take you about an hour from the airport to the city at 6PM. My suggestion, don't rush through customs... take your time getting off the plane, through customs and then getting your luggage, you are going to spend it either in a cab in traffic or leisurely going through at the airport. It will take an hour at 6PM and about 30 minutes at 6:30PM or so. The road to downtown goes by a bridge and gets congested at rush hour.

 

After traveling all day we wouldn't want anything fancy. Something easy to get to with no wait. Maybe a burger or something. Fast food would even be ok.

[Ephraim]

Well there are a lot of places, but some might be closed since they only serve lunch and close with the offices. You will find most fast food places (other than food courts) dead at night, Montrealers usually just use them to feed the kids before they go out to dinner. But going based on comfortable distance from your hotel there is...

• Bellagio Ristorante - Italian (505 de Maisonneuve)
  
• Quiznos - Expensive subs with no vegetables.
  
• Sushi Shop - Sushi served too cold
  
• Pullman - Wine bar with tapas type food, well liked (3424 Parc)
  
• Bistro Isakaya - Nice sushi, been with my aunt and uncle (3469 Parc)
  
• Le Caveau - French restaurant (2063 Victoria)
  
• La Maison du Jazz (Biddle's) - Ribs and Jazz. Charlie Biddle is the father of Montreal Jazz, might need a reservation. (2060 Aylmer)
  
• Baton Rouge - Resembles Houston's in the US (Complexe Desjardins)
  
• St. Hubert - Rotisserie Chicken, very popular locally and not expensive (Complexe Desjardins).

If you can't agree, there are food courts at La Cathedrale (a shopping centre build under a cathedral) and a large one at the Centre Eaton.

[mfanderso]

Well there are a lot of places, but some might be closed since they only serve lunch and close with the offices. You will find most fast food places (other than food courts) dead at night, Montrealers usually just use them to feed the kids before they go out to dinner. But going based on comfortable distance from your hotel there is...

• Bellagio Ristorante - Italian (505 de Maisonneuve)
  
• Quiznos - Expensive subs with no vegetables.
  
• Sushi Shop - Sushi served too cold
  
• Pullman - Wine bar with tapas type food, well liked (3424 Parc)
  
• Bistro Isakaya - Nice sushi, been with my aunt and uncle (3469 Parc)
  
• Le Caveau - French restaurant (2063 Victoria)
  
• La Maison du Jazz (Biddle's) - Ribs and Jazz. Charlie Biddle is the father of Montreal Jazz, might need a reservation. (2060 Aylmer)
  
• Baton Rouge - Resembles Houston's in the US (Complexe Desjardins)
  
• St. Hubert - Rotisserie Chicken, very popular locally and not expensive (Complexe Desjardins).

If you can't agree, there are food courts at La Cathedrale (a shopping centre build under a cathedral) and a large one at the Centre Eaton.

 

Thank you very much. I am sure this will help us find something.