In Montreal as an anglophone it is tempting to stick to Ste Catherines and St Laurent, but it is definitely worth your while overcoming a fear of the language barrier and heading to the French side. The areas of Rue Mont Royal, rue St Denis and around provide better shopping, friendlier cafes and a real insight into the true heart of the city.

Leave metro Sherbrooke and walk north up St Denis, or station Mont Royal and walk East/West along rue Mont Royal and then South down St Denis

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Montreal vegetarian restaurant - a vast, imaginative & varied selection of soups, salads & hot dishes all based on fresh & tasty ingredients.

Self service from buffet, sold by weight. I paid only 10 CDN for a massive & delicious plateful.

In Montreal’s Latin Quarter, décor features revealed red brick walls, decorative fireplaces, wood floors and tables.

1720 St-Denis Street (between De Maisonneuve and Ontario), Montreal

Metro Berri-UQAM

Telephone: 514-845-2627
Fax: 514-845-1180
E-mail: commensal.st-denis@videotron.ca

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Great lounge-cum-restaurant on the the trendy Saint-Laurent Boulevard, with good food and equally well-made drinks. I recommend the martinis. Perfect place to kick off the evening while waiting for the clubs to get started.

3515 St Laurent Blvd; tel: (514) 842 0220

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An Ethiopian restaurant on the awesome street of St. Denis in the Plateau region. The best thing to get is the injera with a variety plate of different dishes. You get to eat it with your hands! They provide you with warm napkins at the table to wash up with before and after. It's very special, and also delicious.

3435 St Denis, Montréal, QC H2X 2L1;
tel: (514) 281-0111;
métro: Sherbrooke
www.abiata.com

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This is a set of two little Chilean restaurants that have particularly good empanadas. Many varieties, including several delicious vegetarian options. Also serves nachos, quesadillas, tacos, and burritos - quality ingredients and sauces.

152 Napoléon; tel: (514) 286-6075;
64 Marie-Anne W; tel: (514) 982-9212

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Fantastic resto with great poutine selection, as well as a summer garden patio. Their poutine has both quantity and quality. Either eat in, or get it to take out to eat in nearby Parc la Fontaine.

994 Rue Rachel, at Parc la Fontaine;
tel: (514) 525-2415

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Maison des Bagels on St Viateur is open 24/7 and the bagels are the best in the world - wonderful with Liberté cream cheese (eat your heart out Philadelphia) and a smoked salmon mousse.

263 St-Viateur west near du Parc ave
Metro station: Place-des-Arts then take the 80 bus north
Tel: (514) 276-8044

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Schwartz's serves the best smoked meat sandwich in the world. Go to this Hebrew delicatessen for smoked meat in an old-school deli atmosphere.

3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard;
tel: (514) 842 4813
www.schwartzsdeli.com

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A small place where you can buy freshly-made bagels and then sit out on the street benches to eat them. Forget fat, spongy bagels; get the real ones here - thinner, and more chewy. Don't miss the ones with bits of orange peel in them.

71 Avenue Fairmount Ouest; tel: (514) 272-0667;
Nearest metro: Laurier

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This restaurant right near the Parc Mont-Royal specialises in custom sandwiches, and showcases local photography, and a certain local ambience.

3990 St Urbain (corner Duluth);
tel: (514) 842 3110;
www.santropol.com

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Go to Beauty's for brunch or breakfast. I love the mishmash of this place, which has been operating since 1942 and has consistently been voted best place for breakie and brunch.

93 Avenue du Mont-Royal Ouest;
tel: (514) 849 8883

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If you're in Montreal, you've got to have a bagel (or two, or a dozen) at St Viateur Bagels. Best bagels in Canada, bar none.

Also, while the Metro is great to get around, it's not nearly as user friendly as London's. Many stations don't have ticket machines, and many don't have easy-to-find information about fares. And, well, the staff aren't exactly warm... That being said, it's still a great way to get around.

St Viateur Bagels have three shops in Montreal. Check www.stviateurbagel.com for details and maps.

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Brunch is a major part of life in Montreal. So are bagels.

Bagels Etc, a small cafe on rue St Laurent does the perfect bagel brunch in an amazing atmosphere. It's also one of Montreal native Leonard Cohen's favourite spots. You can't go to Montreal without coming here.

On rue St Laurent, near the interesection of Rachel.

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The Sushi Depanneur has got to be unique among sushi restaurants, not only in Montreal. Only here will you get to eat delicious fresh sushi at affordable prices in the shop window of a corner store! It perfectly captures the beauty of unpretentious Montreal.

The restaurant is on Rue Mont Royal, and the street in itself is worth a visit: little shops jostle for space with a multitude of bars and restaurants, all in the middle of one of Montreal's oldest quartiers, the Plateau Mont Royal - which incidentally is the neighbourhood with the highest population density in all of North America. Look out for the colourfully painted houses with winding outdoors staircases.

You'll find the Sushi Depanneur as you head east along Rue Mont Royal, just before Rue Papineu (take the metro to Mont Royal).

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Many Montreal restaurants don't have a license to serve wine, but this is a good thing, because you can bring your own and there's no corkage. Combined with the competitive Montreal restaurant market, it makes for a cheap way to eat and drink very well. Look for restaurants with the sign "Apportez Votre Vin".

Wine can be bought at one of Quebec's SAQ (Societe des Alcools du Quebec) stores or at a depanneur (corner store).

Away from the big streets on the Plateau is good AVV hunting territory. Les Infideles on Rachel (near St Hubert) is a great example, but there are lots of cheaper places too. The closest SAQ is on St Denis just up from Duluth.

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Less chic than Marche Atwater, but bigger, cheaper and with much better street food. Shops include the fantastically named "Qui L'ait Cru?" for cheese.

7075 Avenue Casgrain; tel: (514) 277 1379;
Metro: Jean Talon, then walk 3 or 4 blocks west (along Jean Talon) and one south;
www.madeinmtl.com/main.php?langval=2&rdv=179

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This stretch of cobble stone street between St Laurent and Square Saint Louis is forbidden to cars. There are lots of outdoor restaurants, bars, cafes, and it's packed with people at night, especially in the summer. Square Saint Louis is a gem too.

Just find the intersection of Boulevard St Laurent and Rue Prince Arthur;
Metro: St Laurent

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A Jewish-style deli that does to perfection the traditional Montreal smoked-meat sandwiches. Huge piles of meat on simple white bread, topped with mustard. On weekend mornings, there can be a 15 or 20 minute line out the front door. Swift, no-frills service. Schwartz's is perhaps the archetypal Montreal experience, and the list of famous names who patronise the place is suitably complete.

3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard;
tel: (514) 842 4813
www.schwartzsdeli.com

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Beauty's is an original diner set behind Mont Royal. Beauty's has by far the best breakfast in Montreal, possibly the best breakfast in the Western Hemisphere! The food is gorgeous and there is always a queue outside on a Sunday with Montrealers and tourists alike queuing for Sunday Brunch. Not to be missed is their toasted bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese and there are always free refills on coffee.

Beauty's is on the corner of Avenue Mont-Royal West and St. Laurent Blvd. Bus No. 55 will take you there.

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The frendliest, tastiest, cheapest sushi in montreal, it looks a bit dodgy from the outside, with odd Chistmas lights and palm trees in the window, but the sushi and service are amazing, we never spent more than $40 for two, and we eat a LOT. And everytime we went they gave us a few free samples and a delicious tempura banana for pudding.

On the corner of Mackay and Sherbrooke, in the Concordia ghetto, opposite 2150 Mackay - underneath a bookshop.

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