PlanetEye

Eating out can become unappealing after many days of vacationing. Sometimes, all you want is a simple meal that doesn't taste like typical restaurant food. If this becomes the case, head to Stash Café, a family-run Polish restaurant in the Old Port, for a quality meal that tastes like something that came out of Grandma's kitchen.

Stash Café is a warm, welcoming place where you can enjoy a meal for hours on end. There are long wooden tables with benches, perfect for a group of friends or smaller tables, ideal for cozying up to your loved one. With the lamps hanging low over each table, the lighting creates a nice mood -- dim, yet not dark. Something that marks Stash Café from other restaurants is the pianist who tirelessly plays the evening away (think Beatles, not Brahms) as you sip your vodka contently.  

The Golbaki (cabbage rolls) is wonderfully prepared, served steaming hot with a side of potatoes and red cabbage. Also a good choice is the Pierogi, with the option of a mixture of meat, cheese and cabbage. Not sure what to try?  How about The Primer, the main course being a selection of the most popular Polish fare so you can sample a few specialties at once. Finish your meal with a heavenly fruit square with a dollop of sweet cream on top, fresh and made in-house.

Although lovely any time of year, this restaurant is especially nice to visit on a cold, winter evening. With the windows framing the picturesque sight of falling snow, music trailing in the air and a hot meal in front of you, true comfort can be found here, no matter how cold or how many miles away from home.

Walking in the vicinity of Romados, a Portuguese rotisserie in the Plateau, you'll be hit with the tantalizing smell of charcoal-roasting chicken. It permeates the air and there is no escaping it. Romados is more than a rotisserie -- it is also a bakery serving yummy pastries and breads, as well as a place to shop for your deli meats. But follow your nose to the back counter where the real treasure awaits you: chicken slowly roasting to perfection.

Even those who can do without meat devour this chicken until there is not one edible part left. Maybe it's because the seasoning and charcoal infuse it with mouth-watering flavour, or because it is moist down to the last bite. This is the way all meat should be served and after tasting this chicken, the supermarket one you're used to picking up will seem so inadequate, so bland.

The meals are massive and cheap. For less than seven bucks, you can get a quarter of a chicken, salad, rice and a heap of seasoned fries, all piled so high, the container is ready to burst open. As if this weren't enough, when paying at the cash, they'll throw in a soft, freshly baked bun from the bakery, perfect for slopping up your container's remnants. The overly generous portions, therefore, are best shared with someone else.

Although this is more of a take-out place than a sit-down restaurant, there are a few tables available for a quick bite. The tables are lined with disposable paper tablecloths, ready to soak up the grease. Health-wise, this is not the best of options but also not the worst. And if you plan on getting your fingers fantastically greasy just once while in Montreal, this is the best place to do it.

There is unparalleled comfort found in a large bowl of steaming Tonkinese soup, warming your insides with every bite. With its tender pieces of meat and a heap of soft noodles, topped with fragrant basil, cilantro and thinly sliced onion, there is no denying that this tops the list of comfort foods. Well, healthy ones, anyway.

In Montreal, it seems as though this meal is sold at every corner and ordering one is usually playing it safe, since most of them taste pretty much the same. At Pho Lien, however, a small Vietnamese restaurant in the Côte-des-Neiges area, the soup goes from simply satisfactory to something worth talking about.

There are about a dozen soups to choose from, with beef dominating the menu in various combinations (rare, well-done, etc.). The beef is sliced as thinly as possible and the portions are generous. Although the bowl is filled to the brim with fresh ingredients, the delicious broth is what stands out most. Other than the soups, there are other traditional Vietnamese dishes to be had, just as satisfying and at reasonable prices.

It is recommended you sit on the front-store terrace and enjoy the breeze since the restaurant's interior tends to get packed and muggy. The service is barely passable, although most people would sit through far worse to sink their soup spoon and chop sticks into a bowl of this flavourful soup.

La Perle is a gem of a restaurant, located at the west part of the island. If you plan on visiting the burbs, this Szechuan and Thai restaurant is a great lunch spot, especially for a large group. The lunch menu features an all-you-can-eat option with a varied selection. You order as many different dishes as you'd like and they are promptly brought to your table, scaled according to the number of people you're dining with.

Unlike many such restaurants, the food is made with care; it is not overly starchy, drenched in gooey sauce or heavy with oil. Some notable options include the hot and sour soup, perfect in consistency and just the right balance of flavours. The Hunan dumplings are slightly firm and delicious, rather than a mushy mess as they are sometimes served. Finally, the Szechuan pepper chicken is moist and seasoned just right.

This being said, with better quality comes a heftier price tag.  At $13.95, the lunch menu is priced fairly, but the a la carte option is expensive, and not always justifiably so. You're better off heading downtown where there are more competitive prices.

La Perle has friendly, professional service and is spotlessly clean. Ordering several tasty dishes, sharing them amongst friends and comparing your favourites makes for an enjoyable lunch.

Ordering a mediocre restaurant sandwich you could have easily slapped together at home is disappointing. Thankfully, this sort of dissatisfaction won't happen at Café Santropol. The inventive sandwiches served here are carefully created, only to leave you wishing you could successfully reproduce them on your own.

The ingredients of each sandwich seem random and make you wonder how much hit and miss was involved before each one was finalized, but the flavours work well together and make for an interesting change. Some creative choices include the Midnight Spread (cream cheese, peanut butter, honey, nuts and raisins) and the Northern Lights (cream cheese, olives, and mellow spices spread, sprinkled with roasted pecans). If you're not adventurous when it comes to food, you can play it safe and opt for something like ham or tuna, which are just as good. All the sandwiches are ridiculously enormous, served on thickly sliced bread, equating to about four pieces of your average sliced sandwich bread. As if this wasn't enough, there are even three-layer sandwiches on the menu.

The environment can be described as "hippy" for lack of a better word and is very laid-back, although at times more than it should be.  People have complained that the service is too slow and you can anticipate waiting a long time for your meal. This is why you should stop by on a beautiful day and sit in the garden terrace, where you won't mind lazing away a couple of hours.

If you had to associate just one flavour with Quebec, it would have to be maple. After all, Quebec is the world's largest producer of maple syrup, with a history that goes back many generations. If you've never sampled authentic maple syrup drizzled onto hot pancakes on a Saturday morning, you don't know what you're missing. Don't let Aunt Jemima's pretty smile fool you -- 100% pure Canadian maple syrup is nothing like you've ever tasted.

When walking through Old Montreal's quaint, historic streets -- a Montreal must -- you'll want to stop by Canadian Maple Delights, a charming gourmet bistro and shop. Everything -- every single thing on the menu -- is made with either maple syrup or maple sugar. Gelati, sorbets, pies, muffins, chocolates, pastries, tarts, what could be sweeter? A good choice is the maple latte, which some may find sickly sweet (they go so far as to top the foam with maple sugar) but is worth trying at least once.

After indulging Quebec-style, you can make your way downstairs where there is a mini museum chronicling the history of maple syrup, from the time of the Native Americans up until today, and even includes a few relics. A staff member will be there to answer any questions you may have.

The boutique has the perfect selection of souvenirs to bring home. Of course, there is a variety of maple syrups, some that come in attractive collector's bottles. There is also maple butter, sugar, candies, teas, dressings and even soaps.

This shop is impressively clean, especially considering the amount of traffic it gets on a clear day and the staff is friendly, which is something both the locals and tourists appreciate. Most importantly, the products it offers are of premium quality. Stop by Canadian Maple Delights to learn a part of Quebec history, take home lovely gifts, and of course, to indulge in a treat that is oh so Canadian.

Baldwin cleverly calls itself a "barmacy", a marriage of both bar and pharmacy. When you first walk into this perfect spot for late-night lounging, you won't be able to guess as to where the pharmacy aspect comes in. Depending on what you order, however, your drinks may be served in vials, a subtle and fun way of displaying the pharmacy motif. Then all the pieces come together when you learn the story behind the name: co-owner Alexandre wanted to pay tribute to his grandmother, Mrs. Baldwin, who spent many years working in a pharmacy.

Baldwin's decor is predominantly white with warm amber highlights, making it a bright, feel-good place, unlike some dark and dreary lounges. You can sink into the long bench at the back or sit comfortably in one of their sturdy vinyl chairs, way too heavy to use as a weapon in a bar fight, as someone playfully pointed out.

Baldwin serves your standard choices of hard liquor, beer, and wines. You can also order French champagne if you're feeling celebratory or just want to go all-out while on vacation. Why not! The martinis are excellent, especially the litchi, which is not excessivey sweet as it is sometimes served. Not a booze hound? The virgin mojito is refreshing, and a far better option than a routine soda.

Baldwin is not overly trendy, perfect for those scouting a cool place minus the snobbery that sometimes accompanies attractive lounges. So it is recommended you do as Baldwin suggests: "let's drink to our health."