2016 - Montreal Day 2

We woke up a bit later today and headed to La Maison Kam Fung for dim sum. We actually got here at around 11:00am, which is earlier than most of our regular dim sum meet ups at home. It was cool to see that they have push carts here. It did seem more expensive though. The slip actually has a running total based on what size you order which was neat (it is normally a guessing game until you ask for the bill). We paid in cash and was told that it would be tax free/included depending on how you view it. No issues with the restaurant.

Dim sum!

Went to Notre Dame Basilica next. This church cost $5 admission for a very colourful looking church. Make sure to visit the area in the back for something more normal and less sensory overload. Have a look at the pictures to decide if you want to pay to visit or not. Most pictures give you a good idea of what to expect inside based on my visit.

Notre Dame Basilica exterior

Notre Dame Basilica 

Notre Dame Basilica 

Notre Dame Basilica

After a bit of a discussion on the plan for the rest of the day, we decided to go back to the hotel to get the car and we drove to the Saint Joseph Oratory. $5 for parking, no price for admission unless you want to visit the museum which is another $5. The Oratory is REALLY big, but in my opinion, very plain. At least by comparison to Notre Dame. It also seemed more modernly designed and decorated. Make sure to try to visit the areas off to the side. We missed going back to the Gardens, but on the right (which is south), there is a nice lookout terrace area with a large parking lot.

Saint Joseph Oratory 

Saint Joseph Oratory 

Saint Joseph Oratory 

Saint Joseph Oratory

A short walk away is Duc de Lorraine which is a French pastry shop. We came because they were supposed to have $1 croissants since it is croissant day, however, they were sold out by the time we got there but we stayed for a quick snack.

Duc le Lorraine 

We drove back to the hotel and hung out a bit before heading for pre-dinner and dinner. Saiko Izakaya was for pre-dinner and they served quality dishes of things that I feel like we sometimes get at all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants. The place was nice, service was good (first time I experienced the waitress give out soya sauce plates and fill them a bit for you). I don't know if it is necessary to go, but I didn't have any dislikes about the place.

Saiko Izakaya 

Saiko Izakaya 

Saiko Izakaya 

Saiko Izakaya 

Saiko Izakaya

Next we walked to Liverpool house was for dinner. We ordered the spaghetti with lobster, the steak, horse tartare, and a dozen oysters. Without an appreciation or understanding of seafood, I didn't quite get/appreciate the oysters or the spaghetti with lobster dishes that we got, however, everyone else seemed to love them. I thought the steak was really good. Horse was interesting because it was a tougher meat, nothing else that I could say about it. Best meal of the trip! Service was really good here. Never had an empty cup of water for long, all cutlery was replaced between courses. Good suggestions when we asked our server, nice place. My issue is that the music is fairly loud at the bar-half of the restaurant. I think the other side might be quieter. We did come in with a reservation, however the earliest we got was 9:30pm, so plan ahead for this one if you want to visit.

Liverpool House - Oysters 

Liverpool House - croquettes 

Liverpool House - horse tartare 

Liverpool House - steak 

Liverpool House - lobster spaghetti

We took an Uber to the local arcade spot, Amusement 2000 Plus. This was my first Uber experience, it seemed pretty seemless and I can see why people like it. You order a car based on proximity to you, you get an estimated cost and appropriate arrival time, they come, and they go, since you don't have to tell them where to go, it is already connected to their phone. Once you arrive, you leave! No need to worry about cash or tips. Overall, I enjoyed the experience.

Amusement 2000 Plus

We were at the arcade for maybe an hour. It was fairly small, reminded me of Playdium but more cramped. We had a good time, played some really old games since it doesn't seem like we really have arcade machines here anymore. You do need tokens here, so you can be stuck with a few extra if you don't plan accordingly. Nothing seemed expensive here which was nice.

Went back to the hotel and hung out a bit more before calling it a night. By the end, I think everyone was pretty tired since we don't normally hang out until so late. Tomorrow, we have breakfast, drop off Mario at the local airport, and head back to Toronto.

2016 - Montreal Day 1

This weekend is my bachelor party weekend in Montreal, where we leave on Friday morning and return on Sunday evening. This time, it is with the guys and the ones who made it are Mike, Seiji, Harold, and Mario. We picked up our large SUV (Nissan Pathfinder) last night since they didn't have any minivans available. This was unfortunate since the trunk space for the Pathfinder is actually pretty bad if you have ANY luggage at all. But we made due since it is a 7 seater, so we just used the extra space for our stuff.

We began at 9:00am and rounded up everyone by around 10:30am after a quick bite at McDonald's and we were off. We didn't really hit any traffic until we were close to Montreal which was nice. We had one break stop and a gas stop and made it at around 5:00pm. Remember that there is usually constructions in Quebec, so be aware. Also, gas seems cheaper in Ontario, so fill up before crossing over.

Since we didn't really eat on the way in, we stopped for a small bite at Frites Alore which specialize in fries and poutine. We ordered a large fry, three sauces, and two poutines (one General Tao and one duck). The food was quick to come and it was good, I thought that they were a bit cheap on giving gravy and curds, but the duck poutine I thought was pretty good.

Large fry on the left, general tao on the top, duck on the bottom

We had a later dinner planned at 9:00pm and with the Raptors' playing Game 6 tonight (3-2), we went to a nearby sports bar and had two pitchers while watching the game. I don't watch the game much, but when you watch it with a group, I totally understand why people would do this with others around. Having people cheer or boo and complain adds a lot to the sports watching experience compared to when it is just myself and I am not a big sports fan. At half-time, we had to leave for dinner and by then they were up by a few points, so it sucked that we couldn't finish watching the game.

Dinner was at Moishes which is the local steakhouse which has been there since 1938 and they have a 3-hour happy hour from 9:00pm to 12:00am where you can get an appetizer, a main, and a coffee/tea for only $25! You can add a side for $5, making it a full course meal for only $30. I ordered the salmon tartare, the rib steak, and the potato. Everything was really good. At this price, it is hard to beat for the portion sizes that you get (the rib steak was surprisingly big). Don't forget that you also get free bread, pickles, and coleslaw (and man, the coleslaw was really good here). By the time we left the restaurant, we found out that the Raptors lost. Oh well, onto Game 7 on Sunday!

Salmon tartare 

Rib steak and potato

After dinner we headed to Randolph Pub Ludique, a board game cafe, and we played Sheriff of Nottingham. In SoN, everyone takes turns being the sheriff and you are basically like border patrol, everyone else will take turns telling you what they are bringing over and you need to determine if they are lying or not. If they are, you as the sheriff was charge they a fine, if they are telling the truth, you owe them money for wasting their time. We don't do this often anymore, so it was fun. The place closes at 2:00am, so, it is a pretty lively city to be in if you are a night owl.

How'd I end up with this girly looking drink?

With our game done, we got back to the hotel and went to visit the casino. Parking is free, but the GPS got us lost again, so it took longer than necessary to get there. We wandered around and played a few games there. There was free pop, coffee, or tea if you want while there. It is multiple floors and the building is quite nice, although I did not understand the layout, so a map would have been nice, just so that I knew where everything was. It was a bad experience for me when I realized that since I don't play the games often, I forget what the rules are, and the board is only in French, no English, so it was impossible to play anything unless it was something that required no reading. We were here for about 45 minutes before we left.

Headed back to the hotel after and called it a night. It was pretty late by this point (probably 3:30am), tomorrow, we visit some churches and more eating!

Past POIs - Notre Dame Basilica [Montreal, Quebec, Canada]

I have visited Montreal several times now and somehow I don't think I have actually wandered any of the sites besides Old Montreal. During our last visit to Montreal, I decided that we should visit two of the larger and well known churches here and the first one is Notre Dame Basilica located downtown.

Strangely and I guess not quite surprisingly, Notre Dame Basilica as you see it today is not how it began. It was founded in 1642 as a small chapel and was converted into a larger church in 1657 where the construction was completed sometime between 1672 and 1683. It was again enlarged with construction beginning in 1824 and it was completed in 1830, the towers were completed by 1843. The organ there today was built in 1858!

It received Basilica status in 1982 by Pope John Paul II and it became a National Historic Site of Canada in 1989.

It costs $5 for regular admission or if you like you can come for a sound and light show in the evenings which is $10. There is no parking in the area, so try to get there on foot or by Metro with the closest station being Place-d'Armes.

I personally think that it is worth a visit, I normally walk in with the feeling that I shouldn't be paying to see this, but it looked really nice in pictures and when you go inside, you will see why it is worth the cost, at least in my mind. Make sure to visit the chapel in the back, I think a lot of visitors don't even know that it is there since there were only roughly 10 people there when I went in the afternoon.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!