Living In Montreal

Burger Places

Fab — Sat, 30 May 2009 18:18:47 +0000

Are you a burger lover?
Well Montreal has quite a few burger joints for you to try.

Here is where to find them and also a little poll…

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Le Coin G - 8297 St Dominique - Montréal, QC H2P 2L2

La Paryse - 302 rue Ontario Est - Montréal, QC H2X 1H6

L’Exception - 1200 rue Saint-Hubert - Montréal, QC H2L 3Y7

Les Folies - 701 avenue du Mont-Royal Est - Montréal, QC H2J 1W7

Copoli - 5181 boulevard de Maisonneuve Ouest - Montréal, QC H4A 1Z3

L’Anecdote - 801 rue Rachel Est - Montréal, QC H2J 2H7

Le Vieux Dublin - 1219A rue University - Montréal, QC H3B 3A7

Mondo Fritz - 3899 Boulevard Saint-Laurent - Montréal, QC H2W

Mr. Steer - 1198, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest - Montreal, QC H3B1K1

---
Related Articles at Living In Montreal:

Golf Courses

Fab — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:52:31 +0000

With at least 6 months of the year sacrificed to a blanket of snow and sub-zero temperatures, golfers in Montreal have to go to great lengths to make sure that they get as many tee times in as possible during that thin wedge of warmth that Canadians refer to as summer. While Montreal might have not have a large enough landmass to support many golf courses, there are an abundance of courses located within easy driving distance of the city, including a few situated on the island itself.

Royal Montreal Golf Course

Located on Ile-Bizard, a cozy western suburb of Montreal, the Royal Montreal Golf Course is in fact the oldest golf club in North America. Originally established in Mount Royal Park in 1873, the club has moved twice, including a brief layover in Dorval before arriving at its current home. With 45 holes, the Royal Montreal Golf Course is a world class playing field. It has been host to the PGA Tour’s Canadian Open 9 times, most recently in 2001. The course is open to members only, but allows guests to play at the invitation of members – as good a reason as any to make some golfing buddies.

Atlantide

A bit farther west, on Ile Perrot (notice a trend here?), is the spectacular Atlantide golf course. Along with its sister course, Don Quichotte, Atlantide is a modern, challenging course set against the natural beauty of the St. Lawrence river and the St. Louis lake. A bit less than an hour’s driver from downtown, Atlantide’s bent grass course offers 18 holes of play, as does Don Quichotte. Both courses are open to the public for single round and week-long membership rates.

Montreal Island Golf Course

Riviere des Prairies is home to the Montreal Island Golf Club, on Damien-Gauthier street. Unique in the region, one of the Montreal Island Golf Club’s two courses was designed by Pat Ruddy to be a replica of the style of course found in Ireland. 7180 yards of sweeping dunes and pot bunkers will make you think you’ve woken up on the wrong side of the Atlantic. Large greens and an almost total absence of water hazards further add to the Irish flavor. The second course, Le Parcours de L’Ile offers a more modern interpretation of golf architecture. The course is open to the public.

Other Courses near the Island

The Town Of Two Mountains offers a 6500 plus yard course which is open to the public and is near St-Eustache, a quick 30 minute hop north of the island. Golf Hemmingford, a half-hour drive in the other direction is a 36 hole course, of which 18 holes are open to the public. Longeuil, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence maintains a municipal golf course since 1990 and all 36 holes can be played by non-members. Cote St. Luc and Anjou are two other locations on the fringes of the island which host public golf courses.

Exploring outside the area

If you are willing to take a day trip and hunt down a few of the more distantly located golf courses in Quebec, there are two regions you should target. The first is the Laurentians, which can be accessed by driving north on Autoroute 15 past Laval. Many splendid courses can be found here nestled against the backdrop of the mountains. Your next best bet is a little farther away. The Eastern Townships of Quebec, representing an hour’s drive east along Autoroute 10 is home to quite a few courses. Most notably are those found in Magog, Lennoxville and Milby. Don’t let the distance discourage you – these two areas are some of the most scenic in the entire province, and the journey will be as memorable as your round of golf.

---
Related Articles at Living In Montreal:

Learning French

Dim Sum Places

Fab — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:18:09 +0000

For a lunch or a brunch, Chinese dim sum are a super option. Dim sum are little portion dishes made of meat, seafood, vegetables, fruits etc… there are a lot of different kind of dim sums. Usually there are served in the morning and tea is always the drink on the side. In Montreal, the best dim sum places are located right in the Chinatown area. Be aware, Saturday and Sunday morning, the places listed after are usually quite packed. For a no wait time, it’s better to go experience dim sum during the week.

Dim sum spots

Tong Por, 43 rue de la Gauchetière

La Maison Kam Fung, 1111 rue Saint-Urbain

Rubis Rouge (Red Ruby), 1008 rue Clark

Furama, 1115 rue Clark

---
Related Articles at Living In Montreal:

No related posts

Brunching Spots

Fab — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:05:11 +0000

Anyone who is a fan of the nightlife will tell you that on the weekends, breakfast is the easiest meal to skip. After a late night out, not many people are up at the normal times where breakfast is being served in restaurants. Montreal is a city with a very active club culture and bar scene, and in recognition of this fact, many restaurants have decided to specialize in that combination of lunch and breakfast known as brunch. Brunching has become quite popular in Montreal over the past few years, as partiers and students alike use this combination meal to fuel their weekend endeavors.

Brunch spots

It’s no surprise that good brunch restaurants tend to cluster either near residential areas or student populations. One of the most popular, and strangest brunch restaurants is Cosmo’s in Notre-Dame-De-Grace. This tiny lunch counter is one of the most colorful spots in the city to enjoy weekend brunch. In the summer, their seating expands to the sidewalk patio, and the ‘Cosmo’s Creation’ mega-omelet/sandwhich is highly recommended. It’s so popular that the city offered the owner a significant amount of money to re-locate to the Old Port district to better serve tourists, but he declined and continues to run his business out of the same location where it has resided for decades.

Place Milton, located on Milton street in the Plateau neighborhood is very popular with McGill University students, given its proximity to both St. Laurent boulevard and the student housing ghetto. This restaurant is packed to the gills on weekends, and its not uncommon to have to wait outside in the street before you can go in and sample their popular egg and other brunch dishes.

For a touch of Montreal tradition in with your brunch, check out Deli Joe on St. Dominique street in the northeast quadrant of the city. Located in Little Italy, Deli Joe is known for their smoked meat eggs Benedict, which combines the famous Montreal smoked meat with a creamy sauce.

Chez Cora is a well present chain all around Montreal.

Cafe Orange is another known good brunch place if you are living around westmount / notre-dame-de-grace.

Buffet brunch

If you are really feeling the hunger pangs and can’t limit yourself to just one plate, then a buffet might be your best option. There are two large brunch buffets worth mentioning in the city. The first is La Stanza, located in St. Laurent on Cote Vertu. In addition to the standard buffet, this large establishment has 3 chefs standing by ready to make you the omelet, crepe or other brunch creation of your dreams from the wide array of fresh ingredients laid out in front of you. Another good bet for those with a huge brunch appetite is the Buffet Vichy chain, who’s Lasalle location on Newman is closest to downtown.

Chinese brunch

Another great way to brunch is to go around Chinatown for some great dim-sum spots.

---
Related Articles at Living In Montreal:

Must Know Classified Websites

Fab — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:02:56 +0000

Do you want to sell some unused items?

Do you want to buy some used ones?

Nowadays the best way to reach people looking at either buying or selling stuff is the internet : a few websites are definitely must visit places for that purpose. Here a list of classified websites when you will likely find what you are looking for.

Classified Websites List

LesPAC

Site d’annonces classés numéro 1 au Qébec. URL: LesPAC

Craigslist

Provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, personals, services, local community, and events. URL: Craigslist Montreal

Kijiji

Free Classified Ads for Montréal, Québec. URL: Kijiji Montreal

---
Related Articles at Living In Montreal:

Grocery Shopping

Fab — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:58:08 +0000

While Montreal is filled with interesting and fun restaurants, most people don’t eat out every night, and many love to cook for themselves. The city has the usual supermarkets and grocery stores that you might find in other parts of Canada, but there are also some uniquely Quebecois aspects to food shopping in Montreal. Let’s take a look at both cases.

What is a depanneur?

One of the commonly used terms that seems to most often confuse visitors to Montreal is “depanneur“. Quite simply, a depanneur is another word for corner store, or convenience store. In Montreal, some of the larger depanneur chains are Boni-Choix and Couche-Tard, (which roughly translates into ‘open late). Called ‘deps’ for short, depanneurs are usually open late, and some are 24 hours. Depanneur can also be privately owned or attached to gas stations. Many of the 24 hour depanneurs are associated with a gas chain.

At a dep you typically won’t find any fresh produce or meats, but you can usually select from a wide range of beverages, beer and wine (until 11 pm), canned goods, crackers, cookies and other snack food. Some depanneurs will have frozen foods mixed in with their ice cream and popsicles. Few people do any serious grocery shopping at a depanneur, but they can be very useful if you get the late night munchies or just want to pick up a few things for a party.

Montreal grocery stores

Montreal is home to a few local grocery store chains. Esposito started in the Notre-Dame-De-Grace neighborhood and branched out to include 2 other locations around the island. In fact, the original Esposito is still standing and was the first building in NDG to have automatic-opening doors. Unfortunately, the glory of this location has faded over the years and it now has a rundown feel.

Metro is another, larger chain based in Montreal. The second largest grocer in Quebec, Metro had the good fortune to purchase almost half of Steinberg’s store locations when that giant chain fell into insolvency in the early 90’s. This has positioned them well in the market. Metro also runs Super C, a discount grocer that makes up a smaller portion of the over 570 Metros in Quebec and Ontario.

A few of the familiar national supermarket chains have enjoyed great success in Montreal, such as Loblaws, who have a smaller presence under that name but enjoy much greater market penetration with the Provigo line of stores. Loblaws purchased Provigo in 1998 and used then as their toehold in Quebec. Together with Maxi, Provigo and Loblaws are the largest food distributor in Canada, just edging out Metro. Other players have entered the Montreal scene as well, such as bulk-food seller Costco.

While not quite as overwhelming as their American counterparts, these major supermarkets in Montreal will be more than adequate when it comes to filling whatever grocery list you might need to fill. If you can’t find what you are looking for at a supermarket, feel free to visit the open markets at Jean Talon and Atwater to track down some of the more seasonal or exotic ingredients that you need.

---
Related Articles at Living In Montreal:

Health Care System

Fab — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:42:45 +0000

In Canada, all citizens have the majority of their health care costs covered by one insurer – the provincial government. In Montreal, this means that any citizen can walk into a hospital and receive free medical treatment including consultation, surgery and even some kinds of psychological care. The province and the federal government use a portion of the sizeable amount of taxes collected each year to fund this system.

How does it work?

In Quebec, each citizen is given a “Carte Soleil” or Medicare card. The card is issued by the RAMQ, which translates into the Ministry of Medicine for Quebec. This card is the passport to Quebec’s medical care system, and people must present it each time they visit a doctor who is part of the public system. The card tracks the number of visits a patient makes to each clinic or doctor and then uses that information to manage funding and resources throughout the system. Doctors are all paid by the provincial government, and they are not permitted to charge any extra fees for any items covered by Medicare.

How is health care managed?

Quebec has a somewhat unique system of clinics called CLSCs, which are used to provide healthcare to a specific region or population. For non-emergency care, citizens are encouraged to call a hotline called “Info-Sante” (info-health) in order to speak to a nurse about their problem or question. The nurse can give advice and also help make an appointment at the closest CLSC. CLSCs are generally staffed by nurses and a rotating group of doctors, and they also provide walk-in patient service.

There are also a large number of “private” clinics in Quebec. These clinics can be divided into two categories: those whose doctors are part of the Medicare system and those who have opted out of Medicare and charge patients directly for their services. The majority of these clinics fall into the first category and are private only in the sense that they are self-managed. Private clinics can also function as a collection of specialists in a certain area, such as rhumatology or ophthalmology for example.

For emergency healthcare, the best option is to head to the emergency room at any major hospital. Hospitals also handle the majority of surgery cases in the province, although there are some private surgical practices.

What isn’t covered by Medicare

Medicare coverage is comprehensive, but it does have some limitations. Prescription drugs are not covered by Medicare in Quebec, but are instead part of a provincial drug insurance plan that has a yearly premium for each citizen as well as a monthly service fee. It is possible to opt out of this plan if your place of business offers prescription drug coverage, which is not uncommon. Prescription drugs are also heavily subsidized in Quebec and their prices are quite low when compared to the global market. Dentistry and eye care such as prescription lenses or contacts are also not generally covered by Medicare but fall under the coverage of private insurance.

---
Related Articles at Living In Montreal:

Sugar Shacks Restaurants

Fab — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 01:20:14 +0000

Here a list of possible sugar shacks (cabanes à sucre) located around Montreal. They are a large number of places and we certainly don’t list all of them. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you want to see one added.

This article lists restaurants that serve a sugar shack menu, click on the following link for more information on what is a typical sugary menu : the sugar shack menu.

Sugar Shacks List

Sucrerie de la Montagne
Where: 300, rang Saint-Georges - Rigaud, QC J0P1P0
http://www.sucreriedelamontagne.com

La P’tite cabane d’la côte
Where: 5885, route Arthur-Sauvé - Mirabel, QC J7N2W4
http://www.petite-cabane.com

Les Vergers & Erablière Denis Charbonneau
Where: 575, Rang de la Montagne - Mont-Saint-Grégoire, QC J0J1K0
http://www.vergersdc.qc.ca

Chalet des Erables
Where: 384, Montée Gagnon (Route 335) - Sainte Anne-des-Plaines, QC J0N1H0
http://www.chaletdeserables.com

---
Related Articles at Living In Montreal:

Sugar Shacks Meals

Indoor children’s play areas

Fab — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:31:19 +0000

If you have children, you know how important it is to get them out of the house for some physical activities. Particularly during the long months of winter, it’s nice to know indoor places where the kids will have fun and where grown-ups can enjoy family time, socialize or relax.

Here are a few spots in the Montreal area that are really worth trying out.

Fundomondo

Where : Pointe Claire Plaza - 245Q St. Jean Blvd. - Pointe-Claire, QC H9R 3J1
http://www.fundomondo.ca

Zigzagzoo

Where : Place St-Charles - 980 St-Charles Ave, local 120 - Vaudreuil-Dorion, QC J7V 8P5
That’s how they define themselves : “The largest indoor family fun center just west of the West-Island!“.
http://www.zigzagzoo.ca

Funtropolis

Where : 3925, boul. Curé-Labelle, Laval, Québec
http://www.funtropolis.ca

Kidnasium

Where : 6263 Somerled Ave, Montreal QC H3X 2B7
http://www.kidnasium.net

Kazoom Cafe

Where : 4850A, boulevard des Sources, Dollard-des-Ormeaux
http://www.kazoomcafe.com
That’s how they define themselves : “A family entertainment center that caters to the entire family“.

KinderMotion

Where : 13115 boulevard Gouin Ouest, Pierrefonds, QC H8Z 1X1
http://www.kindermotion.ca
That’s how they define themselves : “Newest & Largest Indoor Playground in the West Island catering to children from birth to up to 12 years of age.“.

---
Related Articles at Living In Montreal:

Snowdon Area

Fab — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 23:50:25 +0000

Snowdon is a an area of Montreal that finds itself caught between the much larger neighborhoods of Notre-Dame-De-Grace on one end (which it is technically a part of), and Cote-Des-Neiges on the other. Centered around Queen Mary street east of the Decarie expressway, Snowdon is a primarily residential neighborhood that stretches north along Decarie until it runs into the Mont Royal town line.

Queen Mary is a large, 4 lane road that expands up from a small residential street west of Decarie until it intersects with Cote-Des-Neiges boulevard in the east. Along this segment of Queen Mary you can find restaurants, grocery stores as well as several kosher eateries. In fact, Snowdon represents one of the highest concentrations of kosher restaurants in the entire city. Notable are Chez Benny on Queen Mary, and Pizza Pita, further down along the Decarie.

As you drive up Queen Mary, you will encounter the College Internationale Marie-de-France, as well as the impressive St. Joseph’s Oratory. The Oratory is located on the right just before the street reaches the intersection with Cote-Des-Neiges. This imposing structure is fitted with the second largest dome in the world, coming in after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The Oratory is said to contain the healing relics of Brother Andre, a monk who was able to cure the sick and the infirm through the power of God.

Snowdon metro station

The Snowdon metro station, found on Queen Mary near Decarie, houses both the short Blue line as well as the much longer Orange line. The Blue line exists primarily to serve the several universities that dot its service route. The Orange line heads through the heart of downtown and joins up again with the Blue line in the Plateau neighborhood. Snowdon station has metro tracks on two different levels, and there is actually an entrance to the metro on the other side of the Decarie that was completed but never officially opened or used. The only marking of its presence is a fenced off area in the middle of Queen Mary road, and behind the fence is a steel shack and locked door leading to a dark staircase.

Victoria street

The stretch of Victoria street that runs through the heart of the Snowdon neighborhood is one of the more ethnically diverse areas in the city. Many recent immigrants to Montreal settle in this area, and as a result there are food shops and clothing stores that reflect a global range of tastes. Since the area has an overwhelmingly residential flavor, it benefits from many schools, including traditional Jewish schools. There is also a large Jewish cultural center to be found on Westbury street, across from a park that spans 3 city blocks.

---
Related Articles at Living In Montreal: