Beaver Lake in Mount Royal/ Le Lac aux Castors à Mont Royal
[This is the final post of our Canada October 2025 trip, which in the busyness of life has taken a very long time to write up. It is a fitting end to the year where the highlight was this Autumnal trip across the Atlantic].
It is cold here in London as I write, but the weather in England is never as cold as in Canada. It was a real stroke of good fortune that we had nothing but sunny days and blue skies throughout our trip. This October by all accounts was an unusually mild one. Thanks to Boston-Florida Cousin and his extended family, we had a wonderful tour of Montreal, taking in more of the city than we would have if we were by ourselves.
We walked, talked and ate, and sometimes we did this all at the same time. It’s called Chinese efficiency. Photos below of some of the things we ate and some of the sights we saw. I didn’t take any photos of our lobster dinner in Chinatown because we were busy talking and of course, eating.
WHAT WE SAW
Mile End: Unique architecture where the stairs to the upper flat is not internal but external
Mile End: Church of St Michael and St Anthony
Mount Royal: Autumn foliage in the park and views of Montreal from Belvédère Kondiaronk at the top of Mount Royal, next to Chalet du Mont Royal
Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal
The Montreal Biosphere (an environment museum) in Parc Jean-Drapeau on Saint Helen’s Island, with a geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller
WHAT WE ATE
(watch this episode of Feed Phil in Montreal)
Pancakes with maple syrup at Beauty’s (93 Mont-Royal West, Montreal H2T 2S5) was a grand way to start the day. This is a Montreal institution and its location at the corner of Rue Saint Urbain and Avenue Mont-Royal makes it an ideal starting point for a bagel and coffee run afterwards. In fact the whole Mile End area is great for a food tour (we could not fit in Schwartz’s Deli).
I was asked which bagel I preferred from the two famous Mile End bagel shops. I have been thinking about this a lot. In the last week I also ate bagels from three London bagel shops, just to jog my tastebuds. Here are my thoughts.
1) Between London and Montreal bagels, the latter wins hands down as they are wood-fired. As far as I know there are no shops that sell wood-fired bagels in London
2) Montreal bagels have bigger holes in the middle, and I prefer less bread and more filling in a bagel, so on this score they also win against every other type of bagel
3) Between Fairmount and St-Viateur, the shopping experience was less stressful in the latter, and I also appreciated seeing the bagels displayed in the open. Fairmount had an awesome selection of Philadelphia brand cream cheeses which I have never come cross before.
4) Conclusion: Not being a bagel connoisseur I thought both bagels were excellent but if made to choose one bagel I would have to return to Montreal for another on-site tasting before deciding
Sesame Bagel Challenge: Fairmount (top) and St-Viateur (below).
The original Cafe Olimpico in Mile End, loved by locals and visitors alike
B-F C was never going to let us get away without trying Canada’s national dish of poutine: French fries (what we call potato chips) topped with cheese curds and gravy. We ordered one to share, with smoked meat to make up for missing Schwartz’s Deli.
Our final meal in Montreal was at Olive + Gourmando, which I knew we were going to enjoy so I also brought their cookbook home to London
We managed one more walk along the river before leaving for the airport.
Canada was an adventure, 2025 was an even-paced year and I am grateful to be alive. Happy New Year wherever in the world you are reading this from. May your 2026 be filled with much peace, happiness, good health and as always, someone special to love. Mx
