Montreal in Winter

We visited Montreal in late February during the Montreal en Lumiere festival celebrating art, food and culture. The city has a different feel in winter and we took advantage of the season to enjoy the wonderful Quebecois restaurants, gaming cafes and cold (but lively) outdoor atmosphere. Nuit Blanche with snow and lights was full of energy and magic!

Towards the end of winter, Montreal en Lumiere brings light and a surge of energy to the snow and ice covered city. This organized effort engages artists and restaurants to shake things up with special events and performances that draw people together. There are both outdoor activities and indoor retreats for when you lose feeling in your face.

French is the official language of Quebec and Montreal, and French culture certainly has a prominent spot in the makeup of what defines Quebecois culture. Many outsiders come to Montreal expecting a French experience, and the city is certainly capable of delivering that in some warped form. Understanding that Montreal and larger Quebec is not France leads to a better experience and one that is more fulfilling for those who visit.

The Plateau area in central Montreal has streets filled with restaurants and cafes, townhouses, and parks. It is serviced by the metro, and abuts Mount Royal Park, McGill Univeristy, and Place des Spectacles where the main outdoor events for Montreal en Lumiere are held.

Art and Montreal go hand-in-hand. The murals are around every corner and can be enjoyed year-round. The overall floor for food quality is higher than most cities we have visisted. In Old Montreal there are structures dating to the 17th century and stone streets. Lighting seems to to have significance beyond functional illumination.

Beneath the streets of Montreal there are corridors connecting the metro with shopping complexes and larger public institutions. Referred to as the Underground City, this is a smart way to move around Montreal to stay warm in the winter or cool in the summer. There is also an element of efficiency with these pedestrian paths avoiding traffic crossings and maximizing the use of high-speed transport. Grab an OPUS card in the underground and then download the Chrono app on your phone to purchase and load fares to it... easy.

La Binerie is a lunch-counter style restaurant that harkens back to days gone by. There are counters with stools, but curiously they face one another rather than the kitchen. Old-school Quebecois food is on the menu, and we enjoyed a hearty breakfast that included Fèves au Lard (a form of baked beans) and Cretons (a coarse pork spread) with grilled toast. The patates rôties maison or homefries are piled on the flat-top out back like any good diner should. Buckwheat crepes served with molasses or maple syrup put things over the top, and no-one was able to polish their plate. It is simple food rooted in tough times. A good spot for breakfast.

Montreal smoked meat is its own thing. Like corned beef it is made from beef brisket rather than beef navel used in New York pastrami. It is brined like corned beef and pastrami, then rubbed with a spice mixture and smoked like pastrami. The spice mixture is different than pastrami, and overall the finished product has a more intense flavor. Competition in the smoked meat market is intense, but Schwartz's Deli is the OG and deserves its popularity. While the fries are now frozen from a bag, the smoked meat on rye with mustard is iconic. A black cherry soda is the classic pairing. Like in New York, Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe brought these recipes which have become part of the city's cultural fabric.

We normally make dinner reservations a month or so in advance of our travels and were able to get a table at Mon Lapin, rated by Canadas 100 Best as the No.1 restaurant in 2024. It had a great neighborhood restaurant feel and excellent service. The food is intended to be shared family style which was a nice casual touch to the experience. Things started out great with the BBQ carrots and gnocchi with lamb ragu, but quickly went south from there. We had a guineafowl salad that was very gamey and a fish dish with mushrooms and greens that were not properly cleaned. The show-stopper buckwheat cake looked the part but was pretty dry. We may have hit them on an off-night, but our experience was certainly a miss.

L'Express has been churning out French classics since its start in 1980. The place has a vibrational energy. Filled tables packed close together, the cacophony of patron chatter, and professional but frantic waitstaff weaving throughout with wine and food. Everything we ate was fantastic. Notable items were the rilletes, roasted quail and ile flottante with caramel. Best frites of the trip, and they have an 11,000+ bottle wine cellar with a tome to select. The waitstaff can also recommend something by the glasss.

We stayed at the Quebec Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (L'ITHQ) which has both a hotel and restaurant where students learn to serve real customers. Its a great location on the Plateau and sits on top of Sherbrooke station part of the orange line. The restaurant serves fixed courses along with some bonus dishes like tableside flambeed crepes caramel. L'ITHQ is known around the world, and serves as a feeder for some of the best restaurants including those in the Michelin guide. Notable dishes were the smoked arctic char with creme fraiche and cloudberry gel, and the lamb with Jerusalem artichokes.

We stopped into the restaurant Bivouac during nuit blanche for dessert and warm drinks to unthaw. We didn't have reservations but they were able to accommodate us. Pudding chômeur is a depression-era Quebecois dish that consists of bread pudding doused with maple syrup and topped with a bit of cream. Bivouac elevates this a bit with maple ice cream and some crunchy textural goodies on the side. It was a nice cap to the evening just steps off Place des Spectacles and the nuit blanche events.

Le Valet D'Coeur or Jack of Hearts is an amazing game store that has massive inventory, including RPG miniatures and custom pieces like high quality dice. While the brick and mortar experience is best, they also have a website with everything under the sun available to order.

Le Naughty Claw was a fun afternoon stop after resting and recovering at the hotel from a morning full of undergound city exploration. The basic formula is you give them real money, they give you fake money, turn the fake money into a pile of stuffed animals with the claw machines, and exchange the stuffed animals for a large one to create smiles.

Through a simple Google search we found a gaming cafe called Cafe Yvonne run by a young couple on the Plateau. It has no big signs out front and seems to be a work in progress, but has all the critical components for fun. Board games, big tables, caffeine and great food. The genuine conversation doesn't hurt.

Ellen: Clark, Audrey's frozen from the waist down. Clark: That's all part of the experience, honey.

This was our first experience visiting Montreal during the winter and experiencing the festival of lights. This time of year brings people together if only to protect the children from the wind. The classic heavy dishes of the region make a lot more sense in February than peaks of tourism in the summer. Red wine drinks and sits better in the belly. There is a greater chance that you will get a local when sparking up a conversation, and you can enjoy many of the cities attractions with a new perspective.