Don't Fall for Tourist Traps in Montreal
Don't Fall for Tourist Traps in Montreal
But there's one in L.A. that's worth it
I didn’t take this photo, but it does reflect my truth: on the 4th I ate the biggest dipped cone in existence. Did I love it? Yes. Was I exhausted by the end? Yes. It was from a place called The WinDow, on the Venice Beach boardwalk, which is obviously the ideal setting for a dipped cone. It was pretty fancy (or at least had a fancy price) and I did wonder if I would have preferred the more classic, Dairy Queen-esque version … but of course I enjoyed it and took the whole cone down, like a champ. -Katherine
If you haven’t become a paid subscriber yet, please consider it. The money goes straight to paying freelancers a good rate - much better than most publications. And if not that, click on the heart icon above so I know you’re reading! Please enjoy the article below by Elie Gill.
The Best Local Eating in Montreal
By Elie Gill
There are line-ups in front of Schwartz's, the famous smoked meatery, every weekend of the summer. The food is good, but the options in Montreal are fantastic and plentiful. There's no need to queue up anywhere.
This is the place you should go to instead of Schwartz's. Just up the street from it, Rotisserie Coco Rico is a classic Portuguese roast chicken joint, a specialty of the mid-St. Laurent neighborhood. The spit-roasted chicken is immaculate. It comes as halves in a styrofoam clamshell with potatoes or fries and a garden salad. It also offers small sandwiches on homemade rolls that are crispy on the outside, but leavened so the inside is tender and just chewy. These come with roasted pork, chorizo, or sausage. In the long winters, roast-chicken steam warms the window, and the smells of paprika and schmaltz waft down the block. You're going to enjoy it.
The problem with brunch can be its sheer production: having brunch. The crush, the waiting. The mimosas, the hollandaise. At Chez Jose you can get the essential brunch items, like an egg-based dish, fruit, pastries, and coffee, but you can also get the perfect hangover meal, which is a churrasco sandwich and an orange-coconut smoothie. A churrasco is marinated chicken breast, two slices of provolone, guacamole, thinly-sliced cucumber, and hot sauce, pressed into a fresh roll. If you’re there with someone and both hungover, you can go the extra mile by splitting a sopa de marisco, Portuguese seafood soup, which comes with buttered bread for dipping. It’s hard to do justice to the gratefulness this meal engenders. You can sit outside, but the place is small and busy, so getting up and out to it early is a good idea. The coffee is good too.
If you like homestyle Korean food, good. Hoya has kickass Korean stews. I always order either the soondoobu chiggae with seafood, or the kimchi chiggae, and they arrive bubbling in a hot stone pot, with plenty of garlic and spice and a deeply flavored broth. The kimchi in chiggae should always be nice and sour. The seafood scallion pancake (haemul pajeon) is also excellent. For those interested in more modern Korean snacks, there is fried chicken and cheesy rabokki. The owner’s love of food comes across in her demeanor; she’s warm and joyful. Tamer tastes can find something on this menu too. The atmosphere is casual and easygoing.
Nouveau Palais has a modest threshold, a “sombre, almost lugubrious front,” to quote A.J. Liebling on his favorite Parisian restaurant of the interwar period. Nouveau Palais was a diner in the ‘70s, and the decor has barely changed, so it’s unpretentious inside as well.
The menu has changed. In fact, it changes often, while retaining a few staples: Caesar salad, poutine, mac & cheese, fried chicken, and a soup of the day: today it’s gazpacho. The day before yesterday, it was a green pea soup garnished with fresh tarragon. The prices are modest, but the food is well-prepared. The drinks menu is typical of food’s approach: something delicious, at a variety of prices. A handful of beers, local and imported, digestifs including calvados and a selection of amari, as well of whiskeys, cocktails, and wine.
The Mile End location hosts a rotating cast of local weirdos, pleasant families, artists, couples kissing, friends meeting, etc., and the music is good. The last full album I heard there was Yo La Tengo’s “I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One.” I ordered calamari and a salad. On my next visit, I ordered a Nordic shrimp sandwich with fries. The shrimp were delicate and fresh, and crunchy with pieces of celery, in a light mayo with a kick of mustard seed. The fries were thin, browned on the outside, crisp on the edges, and soft: proper French steak fries. My friend had a very good moules frites in white wine and aromatics. Hard to go wrong at Nouveau Palais.
The legacy vegetarian cafe is its own animal, and Santropol is one of the best, located around the corner from the main drag of St. Laurent, but not findable for most tourists. Tucked away from a heavily-trafficked street, Santropol has the space to make its twinkle-lights, free-bookshelf, colored-glass decor truly welcoming. In the warm months, they have a tree-shaded back patio with homemade sculptures. The menu has a number of coffee and hot chocolate options, with all kinds of fixings and milks. Any of them are wonderful. The bagel and rye sandwiches, often featuring sprouts, are a delight. There is a snack plate, for the long study and catch up sessions the local students get into. There are no alcoholic drinks, and no sanctimony. It’s nice. 🇨🇦
More Food Reading:
The handsomest guy I know told me about a brand of canned water called Liquid Death - specifically the flavor Severed Lime - and I can’t tell if the founders meant the hyper-masculine branding as a joke, but they certainly are rich now.
This is true, about the tilapia. You might be consuming more prison-made products than you think - remember, slavery is legal in the U.S.!
If you liked the newsletter today, please forward it to someone who’d enjoy it, and tap the heart icon above or below, which will help me reach more readers. I appreciate your help, y’all!
This newsletter is edited by Katherine Spiers, host of the podcast Smart Mouth.
A TableCakes Production.
Want to contribute? Here are the submission guidelines.