Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I'm going to Montreal in June after a whopping 10 years away, and I am so going to chow down on some Aux-Vivres. Can't wait.
What else should we do during the day? We are there for 1 day and are seeing Radiohead in the evening...what should we do to fill the day?

Is Aux Vivres better for lunch or dinner?

Truth? Either. Though they don't start serving their burgers until dinner.

Mmmm. Aux Vivres, I wuv you....

i think they serve everything all day... i'm not sure about burgers, but they aren't my fav anyway. i'm pretty sure my husband's had one for lunch before.

weekend brunches are pretty yum and aren't available after 3pm if i'm not mistaken.

Brunch is a good idea!

I will be there for a few days next week and I can't decide whether to go to Little Italy for lunchtime and then Aux Vivres for dinner, or the reverse. I guess I'll see what happens. Everyone keeps telling me Jean Talon market is an absolute must.

it's fun, for sure, but there's not a ton to eat there for vegans. there's a crepe place that does vegan stuff, but they seem to have confused vegan with gluten-free (a common issue!) and it's not that great. i mean, if you're there to check out the vibe and the produce and the booze, you'll find something decent to eat, but i would never go just to eat, you know?

Good to know, thank you!

Crudessence is on my must-try-next-list. I've had a bite of their brownies (they sell them at a health food store around the corner from where I live) and it was to.die.for.
Aux Vivres as well. Luckily both restos aren't too far from home (perfect apartment, lucky me!)
I already had a Tempehtation-Pita at Le Panthère Vert which was really good.

Oh, someone please send me some money, I wouldn't be eating at home anymore...

Mmmm Aux Vivres. I freaking loved that place so much. The coconut bacon BLT and the veggie "lox" wraps were UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE.

Oh, another one I totally forgot about: http://www.bonnys.ca
I've also been there last week. They're all vegetarian but most menu items can be veganized. The black bean burger was pretty good (and spicy!) I also liked how it came with nachos in three different colors.

Now I totally want to go back to Aux Vivres... darn not having any money! haha

We just got back from four days in Montreal (plus the driving to and fro) and had a great time. I was with my kids so did not have as much leeway where to eat. We did eat at Aux Vivres one night and it was delicious, especially the spreads - I ordered the Greek plate and the cold plate for sharing. The tzatziki and carrot "lox" I will try to recreate at home.

I bought soy curls, Dandies and Daiya pepperjack block at Viva Vegan. The pepperjack came in handy for adding to plain veggie sandwiches :-). I haven't had marshmallows since last summer in Calgary, not sure why Planet Organic doesn't have them here.

We went to the biodome/gardens/insectarium/Olympic stadium and spent a whole day there.
We walked up Mount Royal from lac aux Castors (Which was a huge construction site).
We went to Notre Dame and spent way more time than I had thought we would there.
My kids rode the Metro for the first time.
They also ate a lot of bagels.
A student protest group went past our window on Friday night followed by a startling number of police and police vehicles.
We washed our clothes at the buanderie Amherst and discovered by accident a fabulous coffee shop around the corner (Pourquois Pas Espresso bar) - a place for coffee geeks like me. I went back the next morning to have a chat with the co-owner, and of course to get another Americano. No soy milk and no quick coffee to go but the espresso is impressive.
We walked around a lot and enjoyed the sights. I enjoyed driving in the city as people are not as timid as drivers in Halifax.

I left my oldest son there so I will be back. I feel very comfortable in Montreal though I hadn't been back in 20 years. It is good to know how fast my French comes back, too.

One thing I noticed was that most people in shops/restaurants addressed me/us in French only, whereas I always remember people sizing me up when I was young and speaking in English right away. I wondered whether this was a cultural shift or perhaps I look more French than I used to, or maybe it is just coincidence and not an accurate assessment.

Most people addressed us in French at first as well, and I'm a midwestern American who doesn't speak any at all! Everyone was very capable and glad to switch to English, though, when we said we did not speak French.

Not many know that Montreal is pretty much 50/50 when it comes to english vs french speakers. The more west you go though, they are all most anglophones... But most friendly people here, even if they are french speakers, will try to talk to you in english if you dont understand... unless you cross paths with someone who is a very "frenchie" seperatist. But that doesnt happen much, and I've lived here my whole life.

Arisaig: Did you go to Bagel St-Viateur? Best darn bagels ever!

Oh and I'm sorry about Beaver Lake. Usually its a very pretty sight to see. But the whole city is under major construction everywhere it seems. I look around my home and all I see is trucks parked everywhere to repair bridges and such (I'm right next to the airport, so that doesnt help either)

I found that in general, the French-speaking servers/shop employees of Montreal would listen to my (decent, but certainly not native) French, roll their eyes, and speak to me in English. It was a little hard on my pride, because I did study French (immersion, even) for 12 years. It's not very well-honed because I've lived on the coast for a long time, but I hope to one day use it and improve it!

My sister has been living in Montreal for almost four years, and she barely ever uses her French. She works for McGill and they are apparently an English environment. It's kind of sad.

I guess it really depends on where you are in the city. West Island is like 75% anglo.

stuckunderhere: St. Viateur bagels have eggs, unfortunately. We did go to both famous bagel shops, though, and brought home in the car a large number of bagels. It was interesting to see the bagels being made and the neighbourhood.

My son and his friend have moved into an apartment in the Plateau and he loves Montreal so far. He needs to find a job now :-)

i live in parc-ex which is a very new immigrant neighbourhood, and it's equally possible to get around in french or english. not like when we lived in st michel in the east end and i couldn't even order a coffee in english.

i think it's a bit of the quebecois french versus parisian or school french that makes a difference in how people respond. i speak pretty low levels of very quebecois french (because i only learned it here) and people generally FORCE me to keep going, even though i'm obviously struggling pretty bad. but people visiting with school french that they learned elsewhere get switched to english pretty quick. and realistically, if you're visiting, you're probably going to end up talking to people who are just as comfortable in english as in french... restaurants, stores, etc, they all employ bilinguals.

if you live here, it gets trickier, because you're dealing with trades people and gov't workers and so on who really aren't bilingual and it's not a matter of them not wanting to help you out in english, they really can't. i had a gov't worker basically refuse to try to find me an english speaker to deal with a pretty complicated employment issue... her reasoning was that she could understand my english... no mention of the fact that i couldn't understand her french!

so far, though, in the three years i've been here, i've realized that the hard edges between the anglophone and francophone communities has really blurred. younger francophones are realizing that they will really be held back in life by the french-only education that was thrust upon them in the 70s and 80s and young anglophones are interested in the rich cultural scene in montreal and participate in french. there is really very little real strife between the two communities anymore. like a really well-known local journalist says, "Montreal is a city that works in practice, but not in theory."

Do they? Didnt know that. Not like I've been there in over 3yrs (before I became vegan) anyway.

Oh the Plateau, nice! But I'm a suburb girl. I will stick to Dorval if I can ;)

Funnily enough, my grandpa is partly responsible for that. He was Minister Of Education and gave us access to public schools and the likes. And I think the whole french reform was part of it too. Not sure on that one though. I'd have to ask...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_G%C3%A9rin-Lajoie

A Fairmount Bagels some of the flavours are vegan, not the regular sesame ones though.

Montreal folks, East Africa is a vegan friendly Ethiopian zone in NDG and is cheap + delish. Super friendly service, the place is TINY and family run. Not fancy, kind of a trippy vibe. Anyway HIGHLY recommended. Took the boyfriend there for his birthday and 35$ for the 2 of us including a very generous tip. I'm still full 4 hours latter.

Oh I shall give that a try :)
The only Ethiopian food I've had before was from Le Nil Bleu a few yrs back...

What did you order?

My husband will be going to Montreal this week for a business trip, and the client is probably going to offer to take him/his colleague out to dinner. He knows of the main veg-friendly places to suggest, but in case the client doesn't seem open to veg places, what are some omni restaurants with good vegan options he can suggest?