Montreal 2024 - Day 4: Epicerie Sue, The Cold Room, Damas

On our final full day of the trip, Leah and I enjoyed a relaxing afternoon meandering around the city. We stopped at Sue, a popular local Asian convenience store and sandwich shop, followed by one last evening of drinks and dinner out. 


Épicerie (aka Sandwicherie) Sue is a wonderful Montreal staple with fantastic lunch options and cool imported Asian products. We enjoyed our meal and snagged a few fun items from the shelves to bring back home with us. 

Sandwicherie Sue
951 Ave Duluth East, Montreal, QC

After lunch, we walked by a local pâtisserie and decided to indulge in some dessert. 

Our pre-dinner cocktail stop was at The Coldroom, a speakeasy-style bar on the east side of the city near the water. We had had a fantastic experience here on a previous trip, but sadly this visit fell flat. The drinks were still very good, but the bartender wasn't really very interested in speaking with us (he spent the whole time chatting with another couple, who we think were friends of his). So we kinda just sat there by ourselves in a mostly empty bar with our admittedly still pretty good drink. 

The Coldroom
Rue Saint-Vincent, Montreal, QC

For our final dinner, Leah and I wanted to try something different, and had read great things about Damas, a high-end Syrian restaurant. We ordered the tasting menu and were blown away by the flavors - all the food was delightful. That said, the young sommelier was very over-eager - while endearing, he did wear out his welcome by the end of the meal. A minor nitpick though, especially after receiving the cold shoulder at the bar beforehand!

I don't have the detailed menu of what we ate, but I've written everything in as best we could remember. 

Damas
1209 Ave Van Horne, Montreal, QC

Marinated Stuffed Olives

Raw Beef w/ Quail Egg

Fattouch Salad

Kibbeh Nayyeh
Lamb Tartare, Bulgur, Onion, Aleppo Pepper, Walnuts, Mint, Olive Oil

Borek
Akkawi Cheese, Herbs, Tomato-Quince Jam

Kunafa Shrimp

Labneh, Oak Honey, Zaatar, Pistachio

Sea Bass

Some complimentary shots with turmeric for us and some of the staff, courtesy of the bartender! 

Meatballs

Aleppo-Sour Cherry Sauce, Spices, Pine Nuts, Saj Bread

Chicken

Lamb Chops

Fried Kibbeh

Lamb, Pistachio, Onions, Spices, Eggplant Purée, Yogurt, Tahini, Lemon, Pomegranate

Assorted Baklava

Montreal 2024 - Day 3: Cloakroom Bar & Au Pied de Cochon

To cap off our third day in Montreal, we visited two favorites - drinks at the Cloakroom Bar and an outrageous dinner at Au Pied de Cochon. 


Cloakroom has been voted one of the world's best cocktail bars on numerous occasions. It's a tiny speakeasy-style space with no menu - the customer instead discusses preferences with their bartender, who makes them something on the fly. We had a great experience on our previous trip and were looking forward to the same again. 

Cloakroom Bar
2175 Rue de la Montagne, #100, Montreal, QC

On our previous visit, we asked our bartender about something special and he suggested a decades-old bottle of aged Campari, which really blew us away. We enjoyed a similar thing here with this bottle of green Chartreuse from 1980! 


Next up was the OG of Montreal Quebecois dining, and probably my favorite restaurant in the world.

Au Pied de Cochon
536 Ave Duluth E, Montreal, QC

We made a point of reserving seats at that bar, which we've never sat at before. We lucked out and were positioned directly in front of the kitchen - it was a lot of fun to watch the team at work, and they were very friendly with us. 

Sea Urchin

Tuna Specials

We had been tipped off that one of the chefs had recently caught a huge bluefin tuna and they were gradually serving it at the restaurant. We made a point of ordering several tuna dishes, including an incredible raw dish and a sort of salad with sliced tuna. 

Foie Gras Nigiri

One of our all-time favorite dishes which we get every time - creamy pieces of poached foie gras over sushi rice with peanuts and maple.

Tagine

We were thrilled to see an old favorite return. This was one of the first dishes we ever had at PDC - at the time I called it, "The best meat experience of my life" - and it had not lost a step since then. A myriad of different meats slow-cooked in an earthenware pot, served with fresh bread and spicy, herbaceous sauces. 

Plogue à Champlain

Another outrageous signature dish of the restaurant - a buckwheat pancake topped with foie gras, cheddar, rich sauce, and scrambled eggs cooked in maple syrup. 

There was a large office party in the back of the restaurant - we had a ball watching the chefs prepare and send out some truly insane food, including a massive sushi and oyster platter, multiple fish pies, and the pièce de résistance, a fried pig's head set on a bed of brussels sprouts and crowned with a double rack of ribs. Unreal. 

Dessert

To finish, we ordered a pair of sweets, including our favorite maple pudding chômeur.