Polish Restaurants in Montreal

I will be travelling to Montreal for a weekend. Any good Polish restaurants there worth mentioning?

Try 'Mazurka" on 64, Prince Arthur Street. If you don't mind bit dated decor but prices are reasonable, food is very good and location is attractive (near St. Laurent Street)

Another one is Stash's Cafe on 200, St-Paul, Ouest in Vieux Port (old port). I never went there but it is conveniently located not far from Notre Dame Basilica.

Thanks Bzibzioh!

Looking for the most authentic cuisine. Maybe we will try both.

We plan on taking in the Biodome, Mount Royal, the Olde Towne, the Underground city. Any other recommendations? Something suitable for a 12 year old little woman....

Join us for a beer this weekend?

Biodôme is fun. Since you are there also go to the top of the Olympic Stadium Tower and -eventually- Botanical Garden (you can buy tickets together at Biodôme, as trio cost less)

But that would take probably whole day.
Mount Royal is a lovely park with a panoramic view of the city. A lot of folks biking and running there. There is parking on top but is just nice to walk there. Try to avoid Sunday impromptu tam-tam concert on the Park Avenue side as it is not suitable for children.

Old Town and Old Port is nice. Check out Notre Dame Basilica. Celine Dion got married there.
The Underground City is just a mall. I wouldn't bother. Is just convenient during winter that you could walk there directly from the metro station to, say, provincial government office without going out.


On Saturday evening there will be fireworks. Jaques Cartier Bridge will be closed for traffic so people will watch from there for free. I heard good opinions about Montreal Science Centre in Old Town so maybe check it out. And there is always La Ronde (amusement park). Now there is promotion: if you add 1$ to the price of La Ronde ticket you can watch fireworks from there in the evening.


Sure, give me a call. My husband hinted something about camping in Ontario this weekend but we'll see.

So I shared this with the Little Miss, she says "Cool!", we will have to check them out.


We are hoping to leave the car parked, and take the metro where we need to go. How much of a hike is it from bottom to top? I was there years ago (drunken stupor ;-) ) and can't really remember much of Mount Royal.


What is that and when should I avoid it (am, afternoon or pm?)


I kind of figured that it would be much like Toronto's, but I will let her strike it off the things to do list, it is after all her trip!


We are staying close to the Cathedral, is it possible to see the fireworks from south of the cathedral by the waterfront for free?


We will be arriving Friday, I will have the computer and will drop you a PM.

Thanks again for the info!

When going to Botanical Garden take your camera with you. Good photo op, especially in Chinese Garden.


If you take a metro go to Mont Royal metro station and than take the bus #11 or #97
Check #97 bus schedule [stm.info/taz/horaire.php?l=97&d=O&t=54005&lng=a]

Bus #11 will take you to the top, bus #97 to the bottom of Mont Royal. Hiking will take about 1 hour.


Colleague of mine told me that this Underground City was featured in one episode of "Amazing Race" so is somehow 'famous' now and a lot of Americans are coming to see it.


The same guy from work told me that it got better recently as police presence is more visible. Those "concerts" are whole Sunday.


Ask at the hotel's front desk whether would be possible to watch from the rooftop. The shows begin at 10 p.m. and last about 30-minutes. And if you have a radio available set in on 105 FM to listen to the music during display.

suite101.com/view_image.cfm/885457

Have fun!

OK, we ended up at Stash's Cafe in Old Town Montreal. The place had a nice old world charm to it (much like everything in Old Town Montreal). We missed lunch hour, so we came in for an early dinner - we were the only ones in the place, which made me a little nervous. We came through the door, and a guy with a non-French Canadian accent seated us at the table, and in my limited knowledge of the Polish language, I asked him if he spoke Polish. With an accent that seemed more "Canadian-English" than mine, he replied in Polish that he did.

I started off with an enquiry as to the vodka menu, as I was a tad parched, and ended up with Ice Cold Belvedere, from a freshly uncorked bottle, filled to the brim. Nice Start.

Had to try the Borscht - OK, not too salty like some restaurants try to make it, but not as good as my mother in law's. But then again, ask 4 Poles to write a good borscht recipe, and you will get 6 different recipes!

I opted for the kotlet schabowe, with a side of Potato and Cabbage. The veggies were good, but the coating on the schabowe was a little commercial, and the whole thing was deep fried as opposed to pan fried, but good none the less.

My daughter opted for the perogies - and she enjoyed them immensely.

Dessert rolls around, and my daughter had the szarlotka with a large dollop of yogurt on top. It was nice because it wasn't too sweet, again, a little different than the mother in law's. I opted for the poppy-seed cake, and it was nothing like I expected. There were heavy layers of of icing between, much too sweet for my liking, and I have a sweet tooth. I couldn't finish it all.

For my final dessert, I forced myself to quaff a final shot of vodka, and again, it came out in a virgin sealed bottle, Icy cold and filled to the brim.

It was an interesting weekend as there was a science fiction convention in town. Mid way during our meal, the restaurant started to fill up, with some of the geekiest looking folks you could imagine. When the waiter filled up the second shot of vodka, it must have caught the sci-fi crowd's attention. As I downed the shot (in Polish style) I heard an audible gasp from the geek corner, disbelief that somebody could drink vodka down in one gulp. A cultural experience for us both, I guess ;-)

More Pics to follow...

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  Outside
  
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  Inside
  
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  Inside
  
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  Decor
  

The placemats had an interesting saying posted on them:

Before you start, a word of advice: Anything is better with wodka - even wodka.

A few more pics to follow....

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  Menu Cover
  
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  Placemat
  
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  Belvedere
  
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  Borscht
  

Finally, we get to the kotlet schabowe, perogies, szarlotka and poppy-seed cake.....

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  Kotlet Schabowe
  
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  Perogies
  
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  Szarlotka
  
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  Poppy Seed Cake
  

Did you take a photo of the castle dungeon-like staircase down to the ladies' room? It's the best part of Stash's decor.

Actually, I never drank enough to need the WC!

Sorry I missed it!

I did however notice a little art store across the road that sold some interesting pieces and books.

great thread, is there more to come?

Not much without straying too far from topic.

This is the art store that was across the street, a poster that decorated the entrance, a nifty book that was for sale inside the store (which I meant to google when I got home, but forgot...) and some Jewelry hanging in the window.

We ended up by the waterfront on Saturday night, walking down one of the docks. There were many little stores selling souvenirs and trinkets. We came across one that was selling some nice Amber / Bursztyn (sp?) pieces. We looked around and the guy said in a Polish accent there would be a discount today! Lucky us! I asked him if he would give a discount for a girl with a Polish name, and he started talking to my daughter in Polish. We talked for quite some time, and he recommended the Mazurka restaurant that Bzibzioh had mentioned. We bought a small piece and unfortunately, never got to Mazurka. There is never enough time when you are on vacation!

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  Storefront
  
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  Entrance
  
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  Cool Book
  
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  Jewelry
  

I noticed your report only now!


Kotlet schabowy deep fried???? Blasphemy!!!


I thought at first that you had a piece of makowiec but from the picture it looks like ... what is that?


Styl łokietkowy? ;)))

It looks like you had fun.

Certainly not the way it is made in this house! I did have one deep fried in a PL Restaurant, once. Can't say I enjoyed it as much then, either.


Sweet and Gooey.


Yes, we did!