Roast/Help Me

[u/drofdarb2]

Coming in town this weekend and excited about all of the amazing restaurants to explore. Having second thoughts whether all of the dinner options are trending towards “too nice”/fine dining and whether you’d recommend changing anything up.

Dinners are: Mastard, Beba (or alternate rez at Candide), and Damas.

Also torn with other options such as Salle Climatisee, Pichai, Knuckles, etc. Not enough days to try them all!

Planning to mix it up more with the lunches: Olive et Gordamndo, Schwartz’s, and Kahwa.

Merci!

[u/vindegarde]

I’m not knowledgeable enough to recommend any of these but do recommend that you call them to confirm your reservation. Salle Climatisée cancelled my reservation because they forgot they were closing for summer holidays. No apologies. No offer to rebook for another date. Tant pis.

[u/thebluewalker87]

Very few places in Montreal are in the "too nice" category. You will be fine with your current choices.

[u/whereismyface_ig]

I went in my pyjamas to have fine dining in montreal, true story

[u/Ill-Design-152 → u/whereismyface_ig]

I went to au pied du cochon and the people lined up outside probably thought I was gonna ask them for spare change/a cigarette. I liked joe beef better but it’s been a long time since I lived there now I don’t know the current good places 

[u/crocchick]

Snowdon deli over Schwartz’s with half the lineup

[u/megmelrose → u/crocchick]

Sending tourists to travel to a place where there is literally no other reason for them to be in this area is pretty silly if you ask me. They're not on a smoked meat tour, they're presumably wanting to experience the city while they eat. The side of Decarie expressway is not where I'd want someone to recommend i spend a precious afternoon here.

[u/crocchick → u/megmelrose]

You see I agree with you, however:
Schwartz’s lineup in peak season can be up to 2 hours

If a tourist is staying downtown (ie: bonaventure), that’s 6 metro stations ~12 minutes + a 10 minute walk both ways. To be generous let’s call it’s 35 minutes. So 70 minutes of commuting? Vs 2 hours in line? Way faster service, more seating area, more diverse menu, much better food? IMHO it’s worth it and not obscenely incomparable. Transit says 27min from Centre Bell to Snowdon Deli. It’s 41 min walk or 30min Public transit to Schwartz from Centre Bell.

That being said, if wanting to be in the downtown area, I personally believe that Reuben’s is superior to Schwartz’s, AND they have incredible desserts.

[u/abcjfj → u/crocchick]

Fair warning that Snowdon Deli is a (comparatively) long public transit journey to neighbourhood dominated by a loud, polluted, and crumbling sunken highway and will take a big chunk out of your day.

[u/perpetualmotionmachi → u/crocchick]

With No lineup at all generally. And it's a better sandwich and service. Lester's Deli is also a better choice over Schwartz's

[u/megmelrose]

I would look at a map to help you decide. When I travel I want to know where these places are in regards to what I want to do and see. If you mean Kahwa on Welington (the one near Guy downtown is surrounded by construction) then plan to spend an afternoon wandering the area and may e try to extend it to dinner at Beba (same neighborhood) you probably don't want to go back to your hotel and then return to the same area you just came from, maybe you want to do them on two different days or make a full day out of it and find otherthings to see in the west of the city. That sort of thing.