Toronto & Montreal Trip

[MelonBoy]

Anyone throw some suggestions to my week long trip?
My friend and I are going.. we done really party but willing to go to a club/strip club for the experience... Food is a high priority, if its good we are willing to drop some dough to try it out!
Recommendations would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks


I've been digging through the old threads (most of them are before 2010..)
This is the break down of stuff I should do/go in Toronto/Montreal.
-- Montreal Activity --
- Strip club + Night life (Keep finding reviews where the bouncers/dancers try to steal your money... seriously? anyone experience this lol)
- Crescent Street
- Rue Ste.-Catherine
- Old Montreal"
- St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal
- Underground City

-- Food --
- Poutine?! (Any recommendations?)
- Going to go bar hopping.. (any specific ones I should hit up?)




-- Toronto Activity --
- ????
- Eaton Centre
- ???

-- Food --
- Cheap chinese food! ($40 for 2 lobsters + 2 dishes, so ive heard)

[TRDood]

Toronto - Chinese food is slightly lower quality than Vancouver.
- go watch a Jays game for $20-30
- distillery is kind of like a Yaletown/Gastown combined.
- Guu on Church street is much better than Guus in Vancouver.
- CN tower restaurant probably worth the extra money to not wait in normal line for 2 hours

Montreal - pastrami sandwich at Schmuck(sp?)
- steak at Moiesh (sp?)

[Lomac]

For food in Montreal, I recommend Schwartz's (probably the best smoked meat deli in town) and La Banquise for poutine. There are also lots of fantastic little pubs and hole-in-the-wall restaurants if you're willing to try 'em.

As for the activities, I think you've basically got them covered. Old Montreal is definitely a neat place to wander. Just watch out for all the stupid touristy crap that's been sprouting up rather quickly down there. And the clubs... well, I never experienced any bouncers or dancers trying to take my money, but I've always been under the impression that if you try to at least attempt to speak some French (even if it's only to say you don't speak it), they'll probably be less inclined to try and rob you.

[6793026]

jays game was epic cheap
24 dollar ticket and i jut went to the bottom.

k town toronto food is epic cheap so i did enjoy that

[Great68]

Was just at Montreal for F1, had a blast.

Didn't do a WHOLE lot of sightseeing, as we spent most of our day, every day, at the track. Didn't do any clubbing either, because I'm not into clubbing and wanted to get up early for the races.

But we managed to spend thursday in Old Montreal. We had lunch in at "Montreal Poutine" Montreal Poutine - Restaurant/Cafe - Montreal, QC | Facebook. It's got a really neat courtyard where we ate.



Then we went and saw the festivities on Peel & Crescent, and had drinks on Crescent. I got a raging headache by 7:00 from flight fuckups and sleep deprivation, and went back to hotel to sleep.



After friday Practice we had dinner at Garde-Manger, which is Chuck Hughes' restaurant from the Food Network Show "Chuck's Day Off". It was great food, but the menu was heavy on seafood. Being from the west coast, seafood is the last thing on my mind at a city like Montreal. Note: This restaurant is usually booked up months in advance, we were just lucky and they had some bar seats available when we got there.

·: Restaurant Garde Manger :·

We went to another place in Old Montreal for dessert, with a cool courtyard but I can't remember the name of it.

We did Schwartz's on Saturday after Qualifying, we got there JUST before the giant line started (~4:00pm). Personally I thought this place was just a little overrated. The smoked meat is good, but I would never line up as long as people do for this place. If there was a huge line, we probably would have kept walking.



The area that it's located in is a great euro-ethinc type spot. We spent some time going through the various delis & markets, salivating and wishing we brought a bigger suitcase to bring stuff home in. We really get the shaft here in BC.

Sunday after the race we walked around St. Catherine st a bit, they had the Franco Folie Festival going on with outdoor concerts. We had dinner at a restaurant called "F-Bar" in their "patio" which was right next to one of the biggest stages and got to watch a francophone concert going on. The food was great too.



Monday morning we took the Via Rail train to Toronto to visit my wife's uncle. We were only there for one day and didn't really do any touristy stuff , so I don't really have much to say about Toronto.

FYI: Underground city in Montreal is just a giant mall. I stayed the fuck away because the last thing I wanted to do was waste my Vacation in a mall.

[Hondaracer]

Never had any experience in strip clubs bouncers stealing money etc

Super sex on crescent is a pretty awsome strip club, the hottest chicks were there out of like 4-5 we went to, alot of girls who look like
Models and full contact dances

We ate at Moishe's where I probaby had one of te best steaks of my life just outside of downtown Montreal

Club 1234 on the rooftop of an office building was pretty cool as well, not sure if it's called that anymore though

[Liquid_o2]

For activities to do in Toronto, definitely depends on the type of person you and your friend are.

I would recommend:
- Blue Jays game
- Steamwhistle tour (right across the street from Rogers Centre)
- Distillery District
- Toronto Islands (take the Ward Island ferry if you want to avoid the tourists going to Centre Island)
- Hockey Hall of Fame
- St. Lawrence Market, go on a weekday if you want to avoid the weekend crowds.
- Casa Loma is cool if you like old castles
- Cabbagetown if you like architecture, it has the oldest stock of Victorian era housing in North America. A lot of the houses are 130-140 years old.
- The Beaches is a cool area if its a nice day

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by MelonBoy

- Strip club + Night life (Keep finding reviews where the bouncers/dancers try to steal your money... seriously? anyone experience this lol)

you might have to tip the bouncer when they seat you, that's the closest thing i can see as a cash grab.

+1 for swartz's and montreal poutine.

[AWDTurboLuvr]

Montreal:

Poutine : Go to Bofinger's or Poutineville, those are the two stalwarts in this city
Smoked meat deli : Yes, there is Schwartz, but there are better ones like The Main and Lester's.
Other restaurants: Au pied de cochon in the Plateau district. If you like meat, this is the place to be. There is also O'Thym, which does BYOW or beer. In fact, there are quite a few restaurants that do that in Montreal now, so don't hesitate to bring a nice bottle for the table.

Le Sainte Elisabeth is a great bar with a good outdoor space and awesome atmosphere.

Old Montreal, eating-wise, you could try Communion and Gaspar (decent burger).

As far as peeler bars go, yeah, there is super-sex, I haven't been in over 4 years so can't give you an updated review for it, but hey, it's a cornerstone establishment.

[Hondaracer]

Montreal poutine is like a soup compared to here, the best poutine I had IMO was T the Montreal casino, and I probably ate it like 10 times lol

[Hondaracer]

a few pics i dug up as well:

Montreal smoked meat at Nickels:





oh nomnomnomnom



moishe's:

[TRDood]

In Montreal for the long weekend plus a couple days. So far so good.

Here are some activities/foods that I think was worthwhile:
- amphibus tour (do this first and you will be introduced to most of Old Montreal)
- les gros jambon (good brunch)
- old montreal

Not worth it:
- la banquis
- kazu

Also had some chinese food in Chinatown because I haven't had veggies for a while. Very nasty and dirty.

Remaining:
- st joeseph oratary
- schwartz

Edit: bring cash with you. It appears that Montreal doesn't like to take plastic... Wtf?

[xerograv]

Originally Posted by MelonBoy

-- Food --
- Poutine?! (Any recommendations?)

Elgin St Diner open 24hrs in Ottawa for Poutine, they make better poutine than pretty much anywhere else, I know it'll be Heresy to say Montreal has the best, but they don't. It's just a fact. ESD makes the best.

also the Works in Ottawa make the best Burgers.


I second Nickles in Montreal for the smoked meat, it's pretty epic. To avoid the Bouncer "tax" go in and pay the minimum, and when the guy starts to walk you to your table, you just stop and look at the wall, he'll come back and you say, sorry, admiring the decor, I'll find my own seat thanks. they won't like it, but, they won't kick you out.

[rien]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Club 1234 on the rooftop of an office building was pretty cool as well, not sure if it's called that anymore though

I think you're talking about club/altitude 737. It's 2 of the top floors of the building. The view is pretty cool but that's about it.

Anyway I lived in MTL last year so I can shed SOME light on the city (not much of a party-goer). I haven't been to Schwartz for smoked meat because it's supposedly incredibly incredibly busy at all times. Reuben's on rue st. catherine's has delicious smoked meat.


La Banquise is not worth the hype. I love poutine but I have to be honest and say that most poutine places will offer you more or less the same thing. La Banquise just had a huge variety to choose from, that's all.

If you're craving asian food, skip Montreal and save yourself for Toronto.


Tokyo bar in st. Laurent (known for their Tokyo thursdays. lots of uni students. 40+ of my facebook friends have liked it on FB...) apparently Epic Meal Time is spotted often there. I know the have a heated terrace, but again, nothing special.

[Klutch]

Im thinkin about going at the end of this month, i just wanna hit the clubs up and party hard. Any good places you guys would recommend, i will be gettin bottle service so preferably some place that has a solid setup and dirty bitches

[01-xtreme]

Careful at some of the strip clubs on St Catherines. If it seems like she's offering a wicked deal to go in the back, you might be getting robbed.

Ultra Light nightclub is full of youngins.

If you're renting a car, consider going to Quebec city - all the locals say Lady Mary-annes is the best strip club in all of Quebec. And if you do go, go to club Chez Dagobert. Never have a witnessed such an amazing congregation of ass and accents.

[MelonBoy]

Just as a future reference for all you strip club hunters...

Hands down the hottest chicks I've seen in the strip clubs were from Strip Clubs Laval Gentlemen's Club Montreal Pink Paradise Near Downtown Montreal Strip club, Strip Dancers, danseuses nues
Its a little drive out of downtown but well worth it.. Girls there all looked like they were in College/Uni and SUPER HOT...

Also as recommended up top:
AVOID - Kazu - Line up was hella long.. Overpriced to hell and it taste like your average vancouver Izakaya (Also pitcher of Sapparo was ridiculously overpriced something like $25 or $30)

[Slifer]

BUMP!

Going to Montreal/Toronto in July

Activity in Montreal:
Six Flags
Strip clubs recommended so far:
Pink Paradise at Laval
Supersexe at St. Catherines
Any other good ones that I shouldn't miss

Activity in Toronto:
Canada's Wonderland
Playdium
What else is there to do?

[Slifer]

No recommendations?

[Lomac]

Toronto... best advice is to leave as soon as you can.

As for Montreal, check out Schwartz's. Freakin' fantastic smoked meat sandwiches. Also make sure you have some poutine at one of the many great places out there.

[Slifer]

Any fun daytime activities in Montreal?

[Lomac]

There's a nice little hike on Mount Royal and you can always check out the Notre-Dame Basilica. I would recommend checking out Old Montreal (avoid the touristy stores) as well as wander down Rue St Paul. And as much as it may not seem like a thing to do in Montreal, check out the Planetarium. Much better presentations than the ones you get in Vancouver.

[nabs]

Nightlife

Toronto - Uniun, Guvernment (it's about to close in december)

Montreal - New City Gas

Poutine in MTL - La Banquise (The original poutine place, looks like its in the middle of nowhere, then you'll see a line of people) , other than that the atmosphere in MTL is amazing, i love it there. I would spend more time in MTL than TO.

[Gucci Mane]

Originally Posted by Lomac

Toronto... best advice is to leave as soon as you can.

bumping an old thread here.

is Toronto really that dull? i've been thinking of visting there for quite some time now. I just found a great deal on airfare/hotel for next week and i'm thinking of pulling the trigger.

[Ulic Qel-Droma]

im disappointed in the number of people that have strip club reviews.

super sex lol. can't forget that name.