Montreal, Day 2: More Than Poutine

A really good vegan brunch is likely up there on my best things list, in general.  It’s just food, I know, but is it?  Eating is the most sensual of acts one can perform, one where all senses are engaged… one that nourishes the physical body while feeding the “soul.”  It’s ritual; it’s nostalgia; it’s vitality; it’s an opportunity.  This Day 2 in Montreal would be one of many food opportunities, each with its own value–or an understanding of a squandered opportunity which is also pretty important.  Our first meal, at Antidote Bouffe Végane in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district, was storybook perfect.

As a long-time vegan, I mostly drink black coffee.  More complicated coffee drinks were not an option for me for years, and I never jumped into the coffee culture thing. So there is still a new excitement in drinking things like lattes now, especially when I get to choose my plant-based milk. This is my coconut milk latte and MP’s almond milk one. 

But to the food, I got the Bagel “Saumon” Fumé, Vegene Tse.  It was a Montreal-style bagel, which has been at war for bagel superiority with our East Coast’s stye bagel for quite some time.  They’re smaller, sweeter, denser and with a larger hole than an East Coast bagel and traditionally contain egg and honey. So, not vegan. Getting a vegan Montreal bagel was a must while in town. This bagel was topped with carrot “salmon,” smoked walnut cheese, red onion and capers.  That was all delicious, salty and briny paired with the sweet dense bagel, yes.  But the plate had everything else a brunch needs: homefries, fruit, and greens. Salty, sweet, potato, fruit, greens, good coffee: perfection.  And the service and decor of this place was also impeccable. 

The Benedict was also outstanding, containing the usual English muffin, tofu round, greens and Hollandaise sauce. 

Such a beautifully photogenic meal. 

They received their pastry deliveries while we ooh and awed about their food. A flaky vegan pastry was also a must here French Canada. 

So we partook in tearing apart one of our own. Layers of airy dough that was slightly sweet.  This brunch was checking off all the boxes!

After eating a big meal and with more food stops on the horizon, our plan was to walk as much as we could during the day. We started with seeing sites in Old Montreal. This is Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, across from the St. Lawrence river and the La Grande Roue de Montréal. Thy heavy muggy atmosphere made the scenery muted and drab. Then the thunder and rain started. 

We managed to discover more vegan eats in the duration, like M Churros Mme Banane, a frozen banana and churro stand that had vegan options!  See the vegan symbol on the left? Very exciting to see!

My frozen banana covered with Belgium dark chocolate and the churro with caramel salt and creme that tasted exactly like vanilla pudding.  Hooray for stumbled upon vegan treats in the Old Port of Montreal.

Also in the Old Port area, a food truck festival of Poutine! We found two vegan options there: below’s Poutine Factory and L’Gros Luxe, not pictured.  We did not get poutine from either of the food trucks as we had plans to meet our friend for poutine in just a short while. 

In the meantime, more vegan bites along the way.  We stopped at Sophie Sucrée, an all-vegan bakery that supplies many of Montreal’s eatery with all-vegan goodness, like Antidote Bouffe Végane this morning.

They had a lot to choose from, so I asked for a recommendation.

I got the red velvet which was delectable–moist and with the most dreamy vegan cream cheese frosting I ever did have. This was not a hard lump of confectionary sugar and shortening that you’ll want to remove neatly from the cake portion (I’m calling you out, many if not most vegan bakeries in the states!)… this was heavenly.

Next we headed to meet our friend on the line of La Banquise, supposedly the best poutine in Montreal.  After the rain subsided, many folks wanted their lunch at La Banquise.  The line stretched down the block, so we hopped on in When in Rome-type fashion.

I had high hopes for their vegan option, especially after last night’s LOV poutine. We ordered the La Véganomane and another veganized version with mushrooms, green peppers and onions… because now there was 3 of us.  

I’m not going to go on about how disappointed we were that the poutine cheese was yucky Daiya and there was no way to eat around it. But after a long wait and sociological distress from bearing witness to 6 loud “bros” “bro-ing” it up adjacent to us, we wanted better.

We next hiked up a mountain!  Mount Royal to be exact.  We took the more strenuous climb up to the view of the Mount Royal Chalet then continued to see the cross at the top of the mountain. It was a gorgeous way to justify all the eating we had done! 

The dapper Leonard Cohen

The cross upon the mountain

The before picture.  We then parted ways to get ready for a special evening out, the wrap party for a Paramount Pictures film our friend is directing here in Montreal.  

Fun with filters, at the (Twin Peaks-inspired) bar and before in the room

Finally, the plate of vegan tacos we ate many of.