Cheap ‘n good eats on The Plateau in Montreal

Montreal has plenty to do and see, but it isn’t a city known for tourist sights and sightseeing. This is a city where visitors can experience some of the best that Canada has to offer from style and the arts to dining and exploration. The secret to Montreal is experiencing the city, its flavors, its activities, its shopping, its neighborhoods, its underground, its students, its theater, its music, its weather and its diversity. Who wants to spend time in churches and museums when visiting a city like Montreal.

Don’t get me wrong, there are sights to see — the old town, a biosphere, botanic gardens, Olympic park, a handful of ornate churches, a few museums with art and ruins, rides on the rapids — but I guarantee you that few visitors return to Montreal to revisit the tourists sights. Everyone who may have come to Montreal to see the sights, returns again and again just to have fun and enjoy this exceptional city.

This is a city of diverse and unique neighborhoods. Come to Montreal to enjoy life in the neighborhoods.

My niece is a student at McGill University smack in the center of Montreal. She has been living there for two years and is beginning her third year of studies. I just had a chance to visit her in The Plateau neighborhood of Montreal.

There is basically nothing “touristy” to see in this neighborhood. According to guidebooks this matrix of streets has absolutely no sights to see. There are no museums, no spectacularly decorated churches, no bands of bright-shirted tourists following a leader carrying a colorful umbrella, no tourist souvenir stands replete with gaudy t-shirts, colorful postcards, made-in-China coffee mugs and plastic magnets.

You’ll find tiny ethnic restaurants, small cafes spilling onto sidewalks, sugary-smelling patisseries, boulangeries with stacks of baguettes, record stores with bins of LPs, posters for music venues, small lettuce-strewn produce stores, dry cleaners, fragrant florists and sofa-filled coffee houses on almost every block of each main street. A tourist could get lost here for hours just wandering and experiencing Montreal life. On a sunny day, few locals would want to be anywhere else.

I’m sure there are expensive things to do in The Plateau Mont Royal (as it is known officially) however my experience in this neighborhood has been with university students. They are masters of getting the biggest bang for the buck. And when there are lots of cheap eats, eventually students and every other resident find the best of the bargain eateries.

So, here is my quick tour of some of The Plateau’s best places to grab a pastrami sandwich, a hamburger, chicken, bagels, vegan entrées and pastries. I’m sure you’ll discover your own after a couple of strolls down Boulevard St. Laurent, rue St-Denis or Avenue Duluth Est and the streets and alleys in between.

Patati Patata
4177 St-Laurent, (514) 844-0216
A rare burger joint — Everything here is made right in front of you in a tiny space that might be able to seat a little more than a dozen clients at a time. Stools line the counter and the windows. Take-out customers dance between ordering and picking up orders.

It’s not limited to burgers — there is tofu, roast beef, poutine and eggs. Two guys behind the counter take the orders and handle all the cooking stuff. They hand cut and dice veggies, onions and cheese, mix salad dressing, shake baskets of french fries, make salads and converse with customers easily shifting between English and French. Locals wait patiently for their food to be cooked and talk about what’s going on in the neighborhood. After my experience, I just want to go back for one of the tiny burgers with tiny prices.

Schwartz’s Hebrew Delicatessen
www.schwartzsdeli.com/, 3895 St-Laurent, (514) 842-4813
This place is an institution. These guys have been serving up smoked meat (like pastrami) and other cold cuts for more than 80 years. It’s Canada’s oldest deli. Everyone who is anyone seems to have come here on travels through Montreal. Be ready to wait for a table to enjoy your overflowing sandwich shoulder-to-shoulder with the other clients unless you come early. This is the kind of place that would make a Jewish Grandmother’s eyes sparkle.

Besides their great reputation, they are generous. The sandwiches are overflowing with generous portions of meat. When I was there very early on a Saturday morning buying smoked meat before the deli was making sandwiches, I asked for four slices of bread so that I could make two smoked meat sandwich for a picnic. When I opened my bag to prepare the picnic, I found a whole loaf of rye bread that had been tossed in free of charge for my picnic. Now, that’s generous!

Don’t forget one of their giant pickles.

Romados
115 Rue Rachel Est., (514) 849-1803
This place was, I’m told, a bakery first and then a chicken joint. They still bake bread, but the chicken business has gone bonkers. My niece in typical college-speak says, “OMG Uncle Charlie, they serve so much chicken, they can barely get the box closed. And is it is soooo good. Like, really good.”

The chicken is grilled over charcoal and there is always a line waiting for orders. Everyone is patient and probably is imagining the succulent chicken that they are about to get. If you know the ropes, order ahead to save the wait. The place only has about a half-dozen tables, so it really is a take-out joint. Take the chicken to a park or square to enjoy. Or rent a bixi bike and head to Mount Royal only a few minutes away.

Did I mention the chicken is cheap. That’s my perfect meal — cheap and good. A quarter of a chicken withfried and salad costs around C$6 and a full chicken with salad is just a bit more than C$10.

Un Kouign Amann
322, Mont-Royal Est, 514.845.8813

I have no idea of how to pronounce the name of this place. It is named after its delicious top-selling pastry. The layered pastry originated in Breton, France, but has been perfected for North America right here on rue Mont-Royal. I look at it as wonderful layers of crepes packed with butter and sugar, but not too much sugar.

Besides their namesake, this patisserie serves a collection of pastries and breads and excellent coffee. There are only four tables tucked into the window spaces surrounding the door, but if you are lucky enough to score one of these spots they make for great people-watching venues and the perfect place to enjoy coffee and a pastry or two.

Fairmount Bagles
www.fairmountbagel.com/, 74 Avenue Fairmount Ouest, 514-272-0667
St-Viateur’s Bagels
www.stviateurbagel.com/main/, 263 rue Saint-Viateur, (514) 276-8044

I have never been a bagel fan, though I’ll eat one whenever it is proffered. But on my first visit to Montreal, I was introduced to fresh-baked bagels. Since then, whenever I am in Montreal I head to one of the two bakeries that still bake these bagels 24 hours a day in wood-fired ovens. Watching the bakers plop the bagels into boiling water, waiting for them to rise, then laying them on the long wooden boards and sliding them into the ovens is an experience. The best part is having the warm oven-fresh bagels on the spot.

Both of these bagel bakeries vie for best in Montreal. I love both of them. My first Montreal bagel was at St-Viateur, but I certainly wouldn’t pass up a bagel from Fairmount. These creations are so good and tasty that there is no need for cream cheese or butter. Take your choice from what is coming out of the ovens — sesame, poppy seeds, whole wheat, flax seed, multi grain and more.

You can’t go wrong and you’ll have a bagel experience that you will remember for the rest of your life. In case a visitor to Montreal wakes up at 2 a.m. with a bagel craving, these bakeries are open every day 24 hours per day. Enjoy.

Aux Vivre
www.auxvivres.com/, 4631 St-Laurent, (514) 842-3479
Now, I haven’t eaten here. This is a word of mouth recommendation. But for my vegan and vegetarian friends, this is said to be the place to dine on The Plateau. There are plenty of tables as well as take out and the locals all swear by the place, even the meat eaters. As with the rest of these dining spots, Aux Vivre is excellent and afforable.

Note: While in Montreal, I stayed at Le Petite Hotel, 168 rue St-Paul Ouest in Old Montreal, (514) 940-0360. This boutique hotel is brand new, only having opened two months before my stay. The modern room appointments are excellent and blend with the rustic original building. The staff have been imbued with a sense of ownership and the service is excellent. It is a trek from The Plateau, but only steps from the restaurants and sights of Old Montreal. Highly recommended.