Saturday morning at 6AM, I began my journey on a vegan road trip from the Boston area to Montreal, Canada for a two day weekend mini-vacation!! Now, I had visited Montreal in the past. However, that was more than ten years ago. I was vegetarian then. Now I am vegan. This visit would include sightseeing and some wonderful vegan meals. In fact, I did my research quite well and had a long list of restaurants, bakeries, ice creameries, and shops I planned on visiting, in addition to sightseeing!! My goal was to eat at every location on my list!! I was on a mission…a mission to explore Montreal’s vegan culinary scene!!

I started out on my journey by making sure that my auto was well-equipped with vegan travel snacks such as fruity Luna Bars, Quinoa Bars, and chocolate and cherry Pure Bars. They were definitely enough to tie me over until my arrival in the city. After all, I did not want to eat too much during my long drive because I had planned to have lunch at a vegan restaurant in Montreal!! I stopped at a rest area in New Hampshire for some water. The vending machines were disappointing..no vegan snacks in sight! I got back in my car and enjoyed the scenic New England drive from northern Massachusetts through central New Hampshire then entering into Vermont. I arrived at the Canadian border at 10:30AM..just a four and a half hour drive. It then takes another 1.5 hours to clear immigration (depending on traffic) and finally arrive in Montreal.

After an early afternoon arrival at my hotel which was right off off of St. Catherine’s Street, I headed to the vegetarian restaurant called Bonny’s Cuisine(www.bonnys.ca). Many of their items are marked with a “V” for vegan on their menu. I chose a whole wheat lasagna filled with zucchini and mushrooms and a tofu ricotta. It came with a garden salad topped with pumpkin seeds and pita bread. It was perfectly delicious!! The pasta had a nice consistency and the ricotta was delicate and cheesy. My beverage was a House Mix living juice of carrot, apple, celery, and ginger..Very good! For dessert, I selected a chocolate mousse with Canadian maple syrup. It was rich and smooth!! I enjoyed it very much. I definitely recommend this restaurant for tourists. Salad, dinner, dessert, and beverage were around $20 for nice portions. They sell several dessert snacks such as brownies or rice bars at the counter.

My next stop was across town at the new cupcake bakery called ShiShi Desserts(www.shishidesserts.ca). They offer quite a few flavors of vegan cupcakes. You call them 48 hours in advance to let them know what you would like to order. I had not called in advance. However, they had some ingredients remaining from a previous customer, so the owner was kind enough to prepare a half dozen, mini-cupcakes for me for $6.

They were raspberry-filled cupcakes with vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate frosting with sprinkles. These cupcakes were so incredibly moist and rich and just amazingly delicious!! The owner sat down and chatted with me about her bakery. She had started with a cupcake catering business out of her home.

Within a year, business expanded so she she opened the bakery. Upon request, the bakery will make regular size cupcakes with a variety of colorful frostings . They truly are artisan and gourmet cupcakes!! The owner and staff are very warm and welcoming and are open to preparing the kind of cupcakes you prefer. I HIGHLY recommend a visit to this bakery for their scrumptious vegan cupcakes!!

I then hopped into a taxi to another part of the city to go shopping for vegan snacks at A Votre Sante health food store. Montreal has several natural health food stores. This particular one is very popular.

I purchased some Vegan Gummy Bears from Germany, Ricemilk Chocolate Bar from Canada, and a Vega health bar from Canada. The city itself, as with any major city, is a melting pot of ethnicities. It has Chinese, Greek, and Latin neighborhoods. Arabic, Indian, and Jamaican residents enjoy city life here also.

I took another taxi back to the downtown area. The next item on my list was to visit the Bonaventure Food Court near the underground city. The cafes were closed at 6pm, as expected. However, I found the O Bol cafe which proudly displays a sign that they serve vegan meal options.

As I walked through the city, I noticed there was a comedy festival called “Jus Rire” going on outdoors. It was free. There were characters dressed as old comedians such as Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. Performers were doing tricks with hoops of fire. A video technology company offered games. It was a pleasurable way to spend the evening. The summer months offer many festivals in Montreal including the jazz festival, international film festival, and world music festivals.

For dinner, I decided to eat at Crudessence (www.crudessence.ca), the city’s vegan raw food restaurant. I ordered a raw mushroom burger in chapati bread with a side of kraut. It was a filling and tasty artisan, raw sandwich! My dessert was a soy uncheesecake topped with goji berries. They served a perfectly sized portion. It was quite good.

After a brief walk around town, I went to Meu Meu Creamerie for some vegan ice cream. They serve 120 flavors of ice cream, five or six of which are soy-based, vegan ice cream. The vegan flavors they make onsight are vanilla, chocolate, hemp, peanut, banana, and mango. I chose to have a mango ice cream in a cone.

After a full day and evening of vegan foods and city activities, I decided to call it a night.
In the morning, as I walked towards the subway, I noticed a small restaurant which was closed, but noted the sign on the door which stated that they are vegan-friendly. I appreciate seeing these things more and more frequently during my world travels. Montreal culture has changed a bit since my last visit. Now, the signs everywhere are all in French and you hear people speaking French. I was told that the older generation wants to preserve their French culture. Everyone does speak English to tourists without problem.

Sunday morning, I took the Metro subway Green line followed by a bus ride to Aux Vivres(www.auxvivres.ca), one of the three vegan restaurants in Montreal. For brunch, I ate vegan wheat waffles topped with cashew cream, maple syrup, and a fruit salad. It was absolutely heavenly!! My beverage was a creamsicle smoothie made with carrot, orange juice, and vanilla. It actually tasted like a creamsicle! I really loved this brunch!! They have a small bakery on premise where you choose among many cakes, pies, and other baked goods. They also serve sandwiches and rice bowls for dinner.

After strolling through the shops and making some purchases such as French and German skincare products from Ogilvy department store, I went back to my hotel to await my Grayline bus, city tour. The bus tour brought us to dozens of the city’s most popular tourist attractions including Notre Dame Cathedral, St. Joseph’s Oratory, Mont Royal, and Olympic Stadium. We were given the opportunity to get off the bus at these locations to take photos. I really enjoyed this tour and recommend Grayline for new visitors to the city!

Now it was time for dinner. I wanted to try yet another vegan-friendly establishment in town called El Commensal. This location on campus at McGill University is known for its huge buffets. This vegetarian and vegan buffet has a large percentage of vegan items which are clearly marked with a “V”.

I walked around the buffet stations looking for items marked as vegan. I selected tofu curry, stir fry vegetables, seitan stew, Kasha pot pie(sweet potato), veggie curry, vegetable casserole, and Thai seitan. Everything was wonderfully prepared and delicious!! For dessert, I chose the vegan carrot cake. You cut the slice yourself so the waitress can weight it for the price. It was good, not overly dry. I really enjoyed this filling buffet at only $15.95 maximum. My tummy was full now!!

I had completed every goal on my list during this two day holiday!! I had done the popular, touristy sightseeing. More importantly, I had eaten at every restaurant on my list for lunch, dinner, and brunch; had dined at a vegan buffet; gotten vegan cupcakes; and had eaten vegan ice cream!! I was thrilled!

I completely enjoyed my visit to Montreal!! It is a mecca for vegan dining and great sightseeing!!