Local Montreal Food Tours

A couple weeks ago Ben and I went to Montreal for an extended long weekend. On this trip we had the pleasure of attending a local food tour of the mile-end district of Montreal that was hosted by Local Montreal Food Tours. I had never been on a food tour before and didn’t quite know what to expect but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

We were asked to meet at La Panthere Verte for 11am. We weren’t sure how much we would actually be eating on the tour so we popped into a bakery and had a very quick and small bite before meeting the group. The restaurant was in a bit of an industrial area, with several warehouses surrounding it. I’m not sure which way Google thought it best to take us to get there but it definitely wasn’t the more popular route – we were a bit hesitant at first. La Panthere Verte is located right beside the first Frank and Oak clothing store, which is definitely worth a pop into; barber, coffee shop and clothing store combined into one.

Once we arrived, we were quickly greeted by our tour guide Francoise. She was a pleasant looking Montreal-er (born and raised) with less of an accent than I would have expected. We stood in a circle and introduced ourselves and where we were from. I couldn’t believe how diverse the group was – Sweden, Australia, Norway, France, several from the United States and a handful from Toronto.

As soon as La Panthere Verte’s doors opened we walked inside to sit at the giant glass table, which as we later learned was all made out of recyclable materials. In fact, all the furniture from the restaurant is recycled. Sitting around the giant table, Francoise explained the history of the vegan and organic food joint. The owners immigrated to Canada from India. They used to deliver food via bicycle and when they moved they vowed to do the same in Canada. Despite the cold, they will deliver food in the dead of winter by bike!

The first dish was their delicious traditional Falafel sandwich. The pita was filled with falafel balls, cabbage, carrots, pickles, sauekraut, sprouts and tahini. I have never had a falafel pita before, and I was wonderfully surprised.

After our bellies were filled, we were taken outside and stood in the sun for a history lesson about Montreal and Mile End. Apparently Montreal reached it’s peak in immigration around the 1980s. The immigrants came in waves, the French, the English, the Chinese, etc.. Mile End in the 1980s became an artistic neighbourhood and has stayed that way ever since. Because of that you find a number of unique restaurants, bars and clothing shops. Especially here, you’ll find the most famous bagels of Montreal – but we’ll get to that.

Our next stop was a bit of desert, Genevieve Chocolat Grandbois. Even the outside of the chocolate shop looked delectable. It was a tight squeeze as we all pushed inside the small store and were instantly greeted with a piece of chocolate. Each piece is decorated with a white set of images that are meant to tell you which flavours they are. We were a piece of chocolate with the famous caramel spread inside. We were told to place it in our mouths and let it melt. I’m a bit more impatient so I cheated a bit, but biting into the chocolate the caramel sauce oozed out of the chocolate. Genevieve, the owner of the chocolate shop learned the craft on her own accord and continues to experiment with no direction but her own today. Apparently she just purchased a bean plantation in Costa Rica as well so she could have control from plant to bean – how cool! After our chocolate we were given wonderfully think, and super chocolatey hot chocolate and sent on our way.

Finally, some carbs! Our third stop was St. Viateur Bagels. The first thing you notice upon entering are the hoards of pictures, news clippings and autographed lined along the wall. Almost as if you need telling about how good the bagels actually are. We stood watching the bakers (is that what you call them?) making dough, rolling it, throwing it in the fire oven, flipping them and placing them in the giant bagel-conveyor-thingy. It felt like it took forever for Francoise to come back with the bagels and cream cheese. They were still warm from the oven and I dipped a piece of the bagel into the cheese. Honestly, they weren’t as good as I was building them up in my mind and trust me, if there’s one thing about me it’s that I LOVE bread. Apparently Montreal bagels aren’t as sweet as New York City bagels, or store bought ones. Maybe that’s what I was missing?

As our tummies were a little full, we took a bit of a longer walk to our next destination. Along the walk through residential streets Francoise explained that the reason Montreal is famous for their staircases is really to prevent pedestrians from getting impaled (too morbid?). Back in the day when they were building the homes of Montreal contractors were asked to build homes away from the sidewalk so that falling ice wouldn’t hit people walking by. In order to save space on the inside of the home, contractors simply built large staircases on the outside! I realized how much money this would save homeowners in Toronto (where staircases count as square footage).

Finally we got to the place I was looking forward to the most, Drogheria Fine where we were going to have homemade gnocchi. I was not disappointed. Seriously the best gnocchi I’ve ever had. It could have been the tomatoes sent right from Italy, or the fact that Franco only makes homemade pasta for people on the Local Montreal Food Tours, but I couldn’t get enough!

As little as I wanted to leave Drogheria Fine our last stop of the day was Boucherie Lawrence for some meat and cheese. All the meats and cheeses that we were given are made in and around Montreal (either Ontario or Quebec). Francoise came out with a platter filled with three kinds of each. She told us how to eat the in what order. Generally I’m not a fan of cheese unless it’s creamy but I found the cheeses given were so good. The meats weren’t exactly to my taste.

Francoise ended the tour with a quick lesson about southern Quebec and a thank you to the group. She was great. For my first ever food tour I had such a great time. I also didn’t think I would learn so much about Montreal and it’s history which was nice as well. And so, we left with full tummy’s, ready to explore more of Montreal.

** A big thank you to Local Montreal Food Tours for hosting me on this delicious adventure. As always thoughts and opinions are my own! If you’re interested in this tour click: HERE