Hello Friends,

On our next day of our  trip, we were determined to find the best bagel in all of Montréal. We ended up trying two different bagel shops: La Maison de L’original Fairmount Bagel and the Boulangerie St. Viateur, and after comparing them among the different flavors we tried, we decided the first shop was slightly better, although they were both very tasty.

We found them slightly smaller than American bagels, on the sweeter side and more dense/firm. Also, interestingly enough both places did not offer toasting, and only had cream cheese in a small containers that we had to request.

We found them slightly smaller than American bagels, on the sweeter side and more dense/firm. Also, interestingly enough both places did not offer toasting, and only had cream cheese in a small containers that we had to request.

We walked around and looked at a leather shop called Lowell’s where I had to hold myself back from buying basically everything.  The name Lowell comes from a small town in Massachusett’s where Jack Kerouac was born and raised.  The bags are designed and made in Montreal and looked great in every color I saw.  Good leatherwork is totally worth it.

From there we took a metro to downtown to check out Old Port, which would have been a gorgeous strip of land next to the water if it weren’t so cold and windy on our visit. We ended up popping into a maple store, where I promptly sampled everything and decided I needed to have the maple ice cream. We did purchase a few things to bring back as gifts, but I liked everything I tasted there.

From there we metro’d back up to our neck of the woods for a light dinner of poutine. It seemed to be that there were two places that were highly recommended, and we opted for the one closer to our hotel. We decided to go with the Classique and one Savoyard (see photos below). All three of us agreed it was fine to try it, but we like our french fries better with just ketchup. But it was an experience to try it! The line was almost to the end of the block when we got there, and it curved around and into the restaurant with two separate lines for to go orders and for eating in the restaurant. My favorite part about their restaurant was a wall decorated in beautiful artwork describing each item on their menu. It was hard to snap a few pictures without people blocking it, but I was able to get a few.

That was a full day of eating for us, so we called it a day and walked back to our hotel. I really enjoyed seeing the Old Port, and can imagine it a beautiful place to walk through with warmer weather! Where do you think has the best bagels? Has it been in NY, Canada or somewhere else?

Love,

-S