What a week – rain! This appears to be the final week of grossness, and we’d like to help you enjoy your weekend by forwarding you to some great restaurants, cool bars, and fun daytime stuff to do while we anxiously wait for the Montreal summer to arrive.
Friday night head out after work for drinks at Tavern on Monkland. The Monkland Village, just adjacent to Westmount, is the perfect locale for the young professional – lots of cool little neighborhood spots, young people, and good times. The bartender makes some of the best hot shots in the city, which is perfect considering the cooler temperatures. After a few drinks, head a bit south for a very casual chicken dinner at a Montreal landmark, Chalet BBQ, where you can get the best quarter chicken dinner in the city (make sure you order the special sauce times two!). For drinks, we hear that Philemon in Old Montreal is expecting a large crowd and will have a fun DJ, so get down to the Old Port for the rest of the evening.
Saturday morning head into the heart of the Plateau to Maam Bolduc for a classic breakfast; no fuss, just some of the best breakfast fare in the city (and the portions are huge). Everything is quite affordable as well, with most menu items coming in under $10 a plate. After dinner grab a Bixie bike and work off your breakfast and warm up with a ride across town to Park Lafontaine. If it’s sunny, enjoy a good book on a bench people watching for the rest of the afternoon. For dinner, grab yourself a table at Ryu Tapas. This Japanese fusion restaurant offers some of the best sushi in the city as well as an Asian fusion menu recently updated by head chef Alex Cohen, who spent the past 10 months travelling through East Asia only to bring back his experiences to put into his new menu. After dinner head to Sparrow for an English-style pub night.
Sunday get up and head out for lunch at Santropol; this sandwich and soup shop specializes in some of the most bizarre sandwich toppings in the city. How do you feel about peanut butter and cream cheese together? Trust us, though, the stuff works together better than you’d expect, and this is a spot that’s always busy. After lunch head to AMC and catch the new documentary Bully and then head home to rest up for the upcoming work week (and hopefully warmer weather to come).
Photo courtesy Maam Bolduc