KeithA

We had a lovely meal with friends on Saturday night. Started with great cocktails - I enjoyed the passion fruit margarita and the pear one (can't recall the name) - both were great and a bit on the sweet side like I like. We got the chip service with the always excellent trio of salsas and add guacamole (good but not too special) and also got the elote corn and cheese special with chips (it comes as kernel mixed with the other ingredients as another dip for chips). The corn special was really good. The sad note though was the usual homemade blue corn chips were replaced with only so so yellow corn chips that probably weren't made in house and one of the baskets of chips was mostly broken bits. We shared a bunch of mains - nice winter harvest salad, fish taco, sopesitos with short rib birria (this was really good but one of the smaller dishes with two small rounds - filling but next time I'd stick to the tacos), really tasty and large whole branzino special where the fish is slathered with a sauce rub and it comes with pickled onions, carrots and fresh tomato slices and avocado to add to tortillas) and the chicken thigh mole enchiladas. The enchiladas were the least favorite dish because despite the mole they were somewhat bland. This was a shame as I love mole and have had really good other versions here before. For dessert we shared one of each of the two choices - tres leches cake with blueberries on top and pineapple flan. Both were good and rich, but not too much that were just the right amount for the 4 of us to end the meal on a sweet note. Service was good - only issue was finding room on the table for all of the entrees - the place is small and so are the tables.

We made the usual roast turkey with fennel, small red potatoes and onions to cook beneath the bird (the vegetable come out all schmaltzy and so tasty), along with a bit of free form bread dressing (I grabbed a bag of stuffing mix from Whole Foods, realized I didn't have enough bread for my crowd of ten, so toasted up some bread cubes - burning a few in the process, then sauteed onions and celery in butter along with chopped sage and parsley before mixing in eggs and chicken stock and then baked - it was ok - better when I use proper stuffing croutons and more veg like mushrooms and peppers too), cranberry sauce (tried the Post recipe for orange cardamon since I usually do a very basic one - it was good but too tart from too much OJ), homemade parker house rolls, green beans (again I was on a Post recipe kick this year - did their crunchy version with chopped dates, sliced almond and citrus/maple dressing - very good but unlike the recipe I did cook the beans for about 3 minutes instead of leaving them raw), arugula endive orange salad from Ina Garten which is always good, and the obligatory apple sauce for those who like it on their turkey. Dessert were a great pear, apple, cranberry crisp from Ina Garten with assorted ice creams - vanilla and caramel paired best and See's chocolate turkeys, chocolate creams and their seasonal pie-flavored truffle sampler. We love See's and usually get this same assortment but I think the seasonal pie flavors aren't very good - their regular chocolates have much better fillings. That was dinner but we also did an app spread for lunch when guests arrived - mostly premade stuff like grapes, cut up veggies, pretzel bites, crackers, pita bread, assorted cheeses, dips (Little Sesame Hummus - best store bought brand, Cava tzatiki - our favorite), but I did make two dips - Chirshi (garlicky pumpkin dip), and Muhammarah (used the Zaytinya cookbook version which was good but a bit different than others I've made in that you sugar dusted, roast pepper slices with skins left on instead of essentially burning and removing the skins) and homemade pickles (bread and butter cukes, fermented, garlic dill cukes, and vinegar radishes). Plus homemade strawberry jam to go with the cheese and crackers. We also made Friday morning homemade cinnamon rolls (my wife outdid herself) and Friday night shabbat dinner where I tried the Post excellent shaved brussel sprout and apple salad that was a hit. It was a busy weekend with lots of cooking, cleaning and family time 🙂

We went to Rosedale for the first time on Sunday night. Our family of 4 really enjoyed it despite 1 teen feeling under the weather and grumpy. The decor and attentive service gives off a nice, fancy-ish vibe but the menu and prices are aimed at being a neighborhood place for a nice meal vs. a destination only for special occasions. It has a mix of a nice u-shaped bar with cozy chair, 2 and 4 tops and several cozy booths like the one we had near the open kitchen. We started with excellent classic cocktails - Aviation for me and Bee's Knees for my wife. My kids ordered the cherry spritz mocktail but thought it was a bit sour - although I had a sip and thought it was great. For first courses we shared the cheese plate (small gripe they didn't tell us the names of the 2 nice portions of cheese were and when I asked, they still didn't give the specific names - we eventually saw them written on the dessert menu) which was good but pretty standard, the brassica salad - nice mix of sweet, sour, and crunch and easy for 2 to share a small portion each, and the cheddar and potato fried croquettes with aioli. The croquettes were really good and I'd easily get them again - comforting, not too heavy bites with a good rich dip. The small size of each ball is perfect for a good taste without feeling too heavy. For mains we got a cheese pizza, rotisserie half chicken, and butternut squash ravioli. The pizza was big - enough for 2 to share as a main and great for each of us 4 to have a few slices - it was charred, thin crust but crispy, not floppy. I look forward to trying some of the other versions with more interesting toppings. (Pizzas were popular as most tables had one and they offer lots of different versions/toppings). The chicken was large, nicely cooked to a juicy succulence - it is bone in so you have to carve yourself. It also came with a side of a few roasted potatoes and parsnips? plus too bitter for me broccoli rabe. Definitely enough for 2 or more to share. The ravioli was the miss that I would not get again - the pasta was nothing special, the filling one note of sweet-ish squash and the nuts and truffle tapenade underneath had almost no flavor which was odd. The savory menu overall had a really nice mix of dishes including a steak I saw go by that we'll have to get next time and I've heard from others the fish entrees are good too plus lots of different interesting sounding sides. For dessert we had the chocolate cake, roasted apple ice cream, and pear and pomegranate sorbet. Skip the sorbet as it was too strongly sour flavored and least interesting despite its cute cornmeal pizzele. Apple ice cream was really good scoops with a zinfandel sauce which didn't actually add much but more sweetness while the few cheddar cookie crumbles were a nice texture add - we liked it and would get it again. The best was the chocolate cake - a slice of hearty but not too rich chocolate base with a topping of meringue and whipped cream on the side. Definitely get this and enjoy if you like chocolate. Overall a really nice experience and we look forward to returning again.

Since I've been touted their bagels as my favorite recently, I thought I'd revive this topic. All of my old comments above still hold true. I'd also add that their rugelach is pretty good and occasionally they offer really good gingersnaps and other specialties. You can also pre-order for pickup, their at several area farmer's markets and we've had their platters a few times too which have been great.

Yes, there website says they are at several farmer's markets: Old Town Farmers' Market (Alexandria, VA) Palisades Farmers' Market (Washington, DC) Bethesda Central Farm Market (Bethesda, MD)

Updating my now 6 year old post up above, my current go-to bagels in DC are Baked By Yael across from the zoo. They are smaller, chewier and only traditional flavors AND EXCELLENT. (not though if you want a super soft oversized doughball that some people call bagels). I also like Bullfrog Bagels and Bethesda Bagels. I haven't tried Pearl's yet, its been a long time since I've had Goldbergs and I'm not a big fan of Call Your Mother. CYM is ok but the bagels are a bit sweet like Montreal style and they don't have onion. They aren't bad bagels but not my preference. Baked By Yael also has Ivy City Smokehouse's lox and whitefish salad which are great.

Yes and where is Baked by Yael, Georgetown Bagelry and Buffalo and Bergen? DC is blessed with a number of local good bagel shops but I think the Post wrongly limited their testing. I doubt there are more than 4-6 additional spots that meet the criteria that should have been added to their taste test to get a more complete picture of the local bagel scene. Also, I didn't like the article's NY slant (see the judge's NY bona fides listed). The DMV has always had it own good bagel places for 100+ years and comparing them to NY is outdated and irrelevant. We've lost some good local places overtime- still miss Bagel City in Rockville but still plenty to around. To finish my rant - why do places not make onion bagels - it is a classic. I'm looking at you CYM (whose bagels are only so so IMHO). Personally I love Baked by Yael (you have to enjoy more traditional ie smaller bagels in traditional seasonings - no blueberry with jalapeno cream cheese available). I still need to try Pearl's. I also recommend local Ivy City Smokehouse bagel toppings - great regular lox, pastrami lox and smoked trout and amazing whitefish salad (less thrilled with their salmon salad) available at many of these bagel shops and in local grocery stores including Yes. I think Ivy City is only missing pickled herrings but otherwise has it all.

Nice early date night at Seki before heading over to 930 Club for a show. We had seats at the bar which made for a noisier but fun show as we watched the kitchen in front of us prepare all the dishes. I forgot to read my post from last year and made the same mistake of ordering everything up front which led to lots of dishes all at once - although it was a bit better paced as certain grilled dishes took longer too cook. Either way - next time we'll order as we eat. I really enjoyed the seared katsuo/bonita sashimi which came with ponzu sauce and minced garlic to add. I was really in the mood for fish so also had the kampachi/amberjack sashimi - which was tasty but not as good as the katsuo. We each had an onigiri - big and fresh with warm rice - salmon for her and mentaiko/spicy cod roe for me - delicious. We had the grilled soy-basted buri fish which my wife liked since sashimi isn't her thing. I got a few bites too and it was good. We also had one order of the tsukune chicken meatball skewers - they were only ok. Both less tender and more falling apart (a bit counter-intuitive) then other versions I've had elsewhere that I usually love. (I should have read my note from last year that the yakitori was better). As a nice side we enjoyed 3 obanzai of asparagus with garlic chips, beets with citrus, and their regular cucumber. All were very nice to accompany the richer dishes.

If you want smoked meat closer to home, try Wagshal's brisket sandwich - it is excellent. Very similar meat, spicing and similarly served on rye with yellow mustard. I had one yesterday for lunch that was excellent - even after being delivered. They also sell vacuum packs of the brisket in their stores.

After having read about Amoo's for many years (especially all of the high praise here on DR), I finally tried it when I happened to be nearby last Sunday. I got a very warm welcome from an older gentleman (maybe Chef Seb's dad) when I placed my order. I got the saffron chicken kabob and beef koubideh with the saffron rice and it was excellent. Really flavorful and tender soft rice and very moist and tasty kabobs. It came with a small cup of yogurt sauce which was good on the beef and a spicy green herb condiment which reminded me of zhoug. The spice was nice but not needed. Also included was a big piece of fresh flatbread which was very good. If I lived closer it would be in my regular rotation. I did see they will deliver the 25 mins or so to me in DC so I may still get it more frequently.

Stopped by the food hall for the first time last Saturday and really enjoyed our meal at Hiya Izakaya. We arrived in time for their 7 day a week happy hour which offers some good deals on certain drinks (I think $7) and slight discounts on certain menu items at $5 each (I think 5 drink choices and 5 food items with a good variety for each). We started with two of their rotating highballs - one coconut and one citrus-passionfruit. These were great - very tasty, not too strong and a nice paring for the food. We got all of the happy hour food items and then added some more items. I love Japanese skewers so it was a good fit. The Momo chicken breast with tare/teriyaki-like sauce is the basic order and Hiya version was very good - nice char, flavorful sauce and still tender. Our favorite was the tsukene - chicken meatball with tare. Their version is more compact that others I've had in US and Japan but it was very tender and went great with the sauce - we got 2 of those. Less exciting was the Tebasake chicken wing - which is a butterflied wing still with a few bones and a seasoning-no sauce. I don't usually get this type and found it to be a bit overcooked. I'd skip it. We also got the cabbage salad with sesame dressing and shaved bonito flakes on top which was a good veg bite to balance the other dishes. We also had the tuna jalapeno crispy rice and the hamachi crispy rice. All of the above except the hamachi was on the happy hour menu. (happy hour tuna is 2 pieces vs. non-happy hour is 4 pieces). Both were good but we liked the tuna better - its more assertive flavor balanced better with the crispy rice. I can't recall if we've had this type of sushi before as it seems to be a newer trend that has really caught on - essentially nigiri sushi but the rice underneath is grilled lightly on all sides first. The dishes as Hiya were also non-traditional in that the fish is chopped up mixed with seasonings and placed on top as a small mound - not the usual nigiri of a thin slice of raw fish. We also tried the non-HH wasbai gaucamole which was a small dish of avocado guac with wonton chips for scooping. It was good too. Overall, it is a great place for a light meal with good drinks. The bartenders were great with service and despite the food being made to order, we ended up with a nicely paced meal as everything was served whenever it was ready. The only gripe is the whole seating area - nice big bar and small surrounding tables and high tops all have stools with no backs.

Don - did I miss the post somewhere on the board - where is this magical delicious cheap DC area pizza?

Don and others have done a great job keeping the site going. I just checked and I joined April 21, 2005, a a week after it went live about 20 years ago. I was just getting into dining around then and had only moved into the city less than a year before. If I recall correctly, egullet's DC forum or one of the other wider known dining forums at the time had some dispute and Don broke off and set up this site and brought over almost everyone from there. The forum was much more active years ago and I think a lot of the more active members stopped posted or moved away and sadly some even passed away. I lessened my posts as I had kids and wasn't going out to eat as much but then started again in the past few year as they became teens and we started go out more and traveling more. Engagement is tough to maintain but for all of us checking regularly - keep posting.

Prince Edward Island is beautiful and great place for a summer vacation. However, not surprisingly if you don't eat shellfish the food options are hit or miss. We stayed in Charlottetown, the biggest town, which has the most variety of options on the island. Many of them though are not great eats. Again we don't eat shellfish so we missed out on the main attractions that are everywhere - so many options on the island for lobster dinners, lobster rolls, PEI mussels, and oysters. If you eat those things I'm sure you'll love anywhere you go. Alas that was not our journey. Also PEI is huge on potatoes so choose them if you have that option. First the good: Rick's Fish and Chips and Seafood - probably best meal we had on PEI. This is a small family run place in tiny St. Peter's Bay in the NE of the island - situated 10-15 on the way in or out of the Greenwich Beach section of PEI National Park. After doing the easy but spectacular Greenwich Dunes hike, we stopped here for lunch. They have nice patio of outdoor tables as well as small indoor dining room. Be patient as the food takes a while especially if you come during lunch rush like us - but it is all made to order. We had some of the best fish and chips we've ever had. Fries were good but the fish was fresh, huge portion (1 piece is plenty for 1 person) and perfectly battered. The tartar sauce was really good too. A man at the next table asked to buy a bottle. We also had a great grilled chicken sandwich (again big portion) and tasty burger and grilled cheese (thick cut white bread and lots of cheese). The staff and cooks are really nice and friendly too. The ordering process is a bit confusing but they will help you with it. You order outside from a small stand - menus are off to the side in a basket by the water jug. You get your drinks at the ordering stand. Then you get a buzzer and pick a table. When it goes off you go to the side of the main building to pick up the food. I would go out of my way to eat here again - also a great excuse to go back to Greenwich for more hikes and beach time. Cows Creamery - small local ice cream chain with 4-5 stores in bigger towns around the island. The most fun is the factory store just outside of Charlottetown - only a 5-15 min drive from anywhere in town. Tons of flavors - some better than others. I didn't like the wild blueberry and the mooey gooey was only ok but the wowie cowie and apple crisp were excellent. This place loves puns. The factory has a nice self-guided tour where you can see ice cream being made and their cheese cave (they also sell a few different types of cheddar cheeses - I didn't try but they won some awards). The best part of the factory store after the ice cream though is the big store of clothing and souvenirs including the whole print to order t-shirt selection with 150 or so pun parody shirts - my daughter got a cute Dunder Mooflin, a paper cowpany, shirt. We also ate a few times at the downtown Charlottetown branch on Queen St - still lots of flavors and souvenirs but less choices for both. Receivers Coffee - local mini chain. We ate both times at the one in the old brass shop near the harbor and Founder's Hall market. Good coffee/tea, great pastries and full breakfast/lunch menu. I didn't get it but the strawberry shortcake french toast is enough for 2 and looked great. I enjoyed the eggs on toast with fried potatoes (like steak fries) and the strawberry jam filled croissant and large bowl of maple yogurt with granola, fruit and jam. They do grab and go with chairs outside plus full service seating indoor and outside. Much better than our so so hotel breakfast buffet. Piazzo Pizzeria and Enoteca - neapolitan pizzas and pasta and more in downtown Charlottetown. Not amazing but good solid option. They have wine flights too. Pizza was cooked well with good ingredients but a bit under seasoned and need something else to make it pop. Pastas were simple too. Ye Olde Bakery in North Rustico - tiny carryout bakery at an intersection with limited outdoor seating. The place is popular and so small there is a line out the door. Large selection of all types of cakes, cheesecakes, tarts, croissants, breads, handpies. We liked the butter tarts (brown butter cooked in small tart), strawberry jam cheesecake tart, chocolate croissant, rolls, and apple handpie. Worth a stop if you are nearby. We found it while checking out the Wool sweater store across the street. Founder's Hall - food court in harbor of Charlottetown. Lots of different options. The sushi burritos were really good, italian foccacia sandwiches pretty good/messy, and pizza - margherita with pesto swirl was pretty good. All of the places make to order and so it can take a while to get food - they often give buzzers. There is also a big liquor/wine shop, potato fudge shop (not bad, allegedly lower in calories, a bit less rich), and a hot sauce shop. One bad thing we got were good looking, crappy tasting soft pretzels from the bar. Charlottetown Farmer's Market - a short drive north of downtown open on Wed and Saturday. It does have some produce and meats but is mostly prepared foods/food court stands and crafts. We got some liquors, great breads, and pottery. There is a dining room area in one corner of the circle. And then the forgettable/not recommended: Casa Mia (so so Italian), John Brown (nothing special American food on Victoria Road where musicians play outside the patio all day and night rotating by different singers/groups - often talented, but you can just stand in the street and listen), Trailside Music Cafe with food from Salvador Dali cafe next door (go for the show, get a drink, maybe dessert, but skip the meh dinners), Ta-Ke Sushi (good vegetable tempura, ok sushi, weird zaru soba), Richmond Dairy Bar - frozen fried food and so so soft serve (part of a chain of 50+ dairy bars all serving local ADL dairy cooperative ice cream, maybe the hard ice cream is better or food better at other ones), Sou'West (pretty water side dining serving so so food, fish and chips were decent, other food meh), and Andrew McPhail Homestead tea house (nonprofit in out of way old house without much tea selection and so so cakes. Apparently they do a high tea on certain days that are popular but I would skip this spot.). One other place worth mentioning is the Dunes Art Gallery and Cafe near Brackley Beach (really nice red sand beach with shallow water for a ways in part of the north central coast of PEI national park). We didn't eat here so not first hand experience but it was very popular, had a nice menu, really nice dining rooms that overlooked their really nice gardens. We stopped for art and garden walk and liked it. I think you may need a reservation. PEI Preserve Company is another place we stopped but didn't eat in their nice looking restaurant - probably best for breakfast or dessert. I did try the preserves which were ok including a few unusual fruits but I didn't buy any because they didn't seem special. A few thoughts on certain local tourist foods: The raspberry cordial drinks available everywhere on the island just like everything else Anne of Green Gables is basically carbonated fruit punch - fun but skippable. The chocolates at Anne of Green Gables Chocolates are likewise nothing special. Cows Creamery Cow Chips (milk chocolate covered potato chips) are sold everywhere, even the airport, are basically a salty chocolate with a bit of crunch - I didn't enjoy but you may. Not food related but a few places/activities we did which were great: Cape Tyron Lighthouse - not the biggest or oldest and you can't go inside, but it is this little out of the way spot a short walk across a flat dune to the ocean and walk east along the coast for an amazing red sea cliff view Beach Goats - SW corner of island - go frolic, pet, carry, or even paddleboard with goats on the beach. Small operation run by nice woman and her teenage son. Prim Point Lighthouse - S central part of island - pretty lighthouse on a point with beautiful bay views, you can go up lighthouse too. Bring binoculars and look for seals. Anne of Green Gables musical and free Island Steps noon time dance performance at Confederation Arts center in center of Charlottetown were fun Anne of Green Gables visitor center and recreated Green Gables house in Cavendish- lots of fun if you are a big fan of the books. Not that big though - probably 1 hour visit is enough unless you want to picnic. I'd skip the nearby LM Montgomery homestead as it is only a foundation - not much to see there.

Just got back with wife and 2 teenagers from several days in Montreal. We found some really good and some so so eats. Moishes - lovely classy interior at this delicious steakhouse downtown (just NW of Old Montreal) - apparently the oldest in the city going back to the 1930s. This is the type of place to go all in and we sure did. Originally it catered to the Jewish community on the Plateau (the original location is still there and has the name on it) and so they bring you pickles, coleslaw, bread and butter like a deli but the menu is pretty much normal steakhouse now. The pickles were very good big sours and the coleslaw was sweet and excellent. We started with the caesar salad (probably the only dish I would skip as it was pretty plain), and great burrata with super fresh thick cut tomatoes with basil oil. This was already a lot of food and could easily have served for apps for 4 people. However we indulged and got a bunch of sides with our mains. We had the new york strip, filet mignon and half chicken and all were really good - especially if you like montreal steak seasoning. All was perfectly cooked and didn't really need the sauces that came on the side - peppercorn was good and strong, bordelaise was ok and chimichurri was kind of meh. We got several sides - all of which are large and could be shared by a whole table. We loved the fried onion slivers, and the potato monte carlo (a twice baked whole potato that is mixed with some butter and cream) - it has a nice crust on top and like mashed underneath. We also got the mixed vegetables - which were a great blend of grilled ones. We somehow managed to find room for dessert (it helps to have teens) and glad we did because they were also really good. The classic cheesecake was NY style with strawberries in syrup on top and the Pave Royal was a rich but not too much chocolate mousse like cake on top of a crunchy wafer. We also enjoyed the cocktails and wine too. The portions here for everything are really big and prices are not cheap so go for a fun night with a group. We ended up being there for several hours. They take reservations but you can probably make them 1 day ahead or even same day. Pub Saint Pierre - first place we tried was lunch at a little gastropub in SE corner of Old Montreal (same block as Olive et Gourmando). Small menu but nice mix of options. Great burger and turkey burger, fries, and surprisingly delicious baba ganoush (non-traditional) also good cocktails. Modavie - busy French bistro in heart of Old Montreal with live music in the evening. They have lots of dining options - outside, inside near bar, first floor room with rock music (I think it was blues rock the night we went), and upstairs has a jazz trio. We chose the jazz and it was really nice. The food was pretty good too. Nice cheese plate to start. We didn't get it but the bone marrow appetizer was very popular and looked good. The house specialty is lamb and so there are a lot of options. I enjoyed the lamb cavatelli - braised lamb on top of pasta with morels and goat cheese. Pesto gnocchi and steak frite were also good. The desserts also looked good but we went out for ice cream instead. I would recommend making a reservation here and specify where you want to sit. They have a schedule of music on their website. Schwartz's - this is the most famous smoked meat shop and is very popular with tourists with long lines down the block from noon on. Our friends from Montreal said that you can get just as good or better even at some of the other delis around the city like Snowdon Deli. We didn't do any comparison though so I can't really say. We were nearby and took the plunge. There are actually 2 lines - the long one on the street for the small dining room which has a slightly bigger menu with some steaks and the indoor line when you go inside for carryout. When you enter the carryout, it is a long narrow space and we walked all the way back to the end of a long line. It took about 15-20 mins to get to the front. The menu is very small - smoked meat, turkey or salami sandwich - all on soft rye with yellow mustard plus fries, pickles, poutine. They also have sealed packs of smoked meat in refrigerator cases and loaves of rye. The smoked meat was excellent. I seem to recall Wagshal's in DC's smoked brisket sandwich is inspired by Schwartz's. We love Wagshal's brisket and it is a lot closer. We also tried the salami - good if you like beef salami but nothing special. Turkey was bland. I don't think anyone typically orders any sandwich except smoked meat. I got a pickle which was only ok. I would definitely check out other places next time. I heard good things also about smoked meat from Lester's Deli, Dunn's and Reubens. Cheskie Heimeshe Bakery - great Jewish bakery in Mile End neighborhood. It is a little carryout but everything we had was good. Especially good was the cheesecake-like pastry dipped in chocolate on the top and bottom, big chocolate eclari and rainbow cake slice. The chocolate top cookies and flaky chocolate rugelach were good but not great. I didn't check but I think it is a kosher bakery. The neighborhood has a number of kosher options including a whole kosher supermarket. H3 Restaurant - this is the hotel restaurant at the Humaniti Marriot we stayed in. Apparently it has a well known chef and is somewhat of a destination place. We ate breakfast there a few times and thought the food was excellent - real care in the preparation and quality ingredients. It is right near the convention center downtown. We probably would have tried dinner there but they were closed for dinner 2 nights were were there - Sunday and Monday. Fiorella - italian place with neapolitan pizza. Tasty pizza and pasta in a loud lively atmosphere - apparently Fridays and Sat they have DJs and kids are not allowed. It was plenty busy without the DJ on a Sunday night. The downside is that the food was very slow to come out. Long waits looked to be that everyone in the place ordered pizza and there brick oven is only so big. I wouldn't go out of my way to go here but it is a decent choice if nearby like we were. Time Out Market - this is a huge food hall with about 20 different options on a floor in a busy mall downtown. The options cover all types of cuisine and a bit overwhelming at first. I had a really good and fresh salmon and tuna poke bowl. Good option if you are shopping downtown or near the museums a few blocks away. St. Viateur Bagel - one of the two famous local bagel places (the other being Fairmont which we didn't try but are supposedly similar). In addition to several storefronts, they wholesale their bagels to a lot of places around town (I had a great smoked salmon one at H3). We went to one of their storefronts in Mile End and it looks really cool and old school. Guys handmaking them, putting them on boards to bake in a wood fire with big piles of bagels ready for serving. The eating experience was less thrilling. Some of the bagels are a bit burned in spots - like a neapolitan pizza. It is really meant to be a carryout to take home and eat. They will not slice the bagels and no sandwiches. I know many people rave about them - since the cooking is inconsistent I think it depends on which one you get. I also am partial to NY/American style which are boiled first for that chew and are less sweet than Montreal. Also note they are cash only (one of the very few places we found in Montreal that didn't take credit cards). Olive et Gourmando - famous coffeeshop with baked goods and sandwiches in SE corner of Old Montreal. We went for breakfast 1 morning and lucked out going a bit early so snagged a table right away. The lines kept growing as we ate. Tea was very good, almond long skinny croissant was not great and the famous grilled cheese was decadent and good. The chocolate croissant was alright. The sandwich is a panini with lots of melted cheese and caramelized onions with a side of very sweet ketchup. I didn't like the ketchup but the sandwich alone was like french onion soup as a sandwich. They also have a cute gourmet cooking/kitchen boutique next door. The sandwich menu is very short so not sure why it is so popular but worth it if you don't have to wait. If you do, skip it and go next door to Pub St. Pierre instead. Dinette Marcella - Italian in heart of Old Montreal. Very cute inside with lots of hanging lanterns. Service was a bit slow but food was surprisingly good. I was worried it was a bit of tourist trap but actually very nice. We enjoyed the chicken milanese and the cavatelli with pesto and sundried tomatos as well as the side of good fluffy rosemary focaccia bread. Maggie Oakes - popular spot in the touristy NE part of Old Montreal, Place St. Jacques. The food was only ok. We enjoyed our food but I wouldn't go back as it wasn't anything special. I had a dry aged steak with mushrooms, and vegetables, and others had the cheese plate, caesar with chicken, and salmon with lots of sauces but not very flavorful. If you do go, get a reservation. It has both outdoor and indoor seating and is connected to the William Gray boutique hotel.