Passion for Québec and Elsewhere

Pour la version française, cliquez sur Quelques adresses pour un bon café au Québec.

Laurentians

My coffee ritual is fairly recent as I started drinking coffee only in my forties. I had my first coffee at Brûlerie des Monts in St-Sauveur in the beautiful region of the Laurentians in the province of Quebec. It was on my way to work, so every morning I would order a latte. In the same region, Couleur Café* in Ste-Agathe is also a good address for an excellent coffee.

Prior to that, I was a fan of hot chocolates. But, not just any hot chocolate, it had to be made with real milk and cocoa or even better with a very good melted dark chocolate. You can find very good hot melted chocolates at Juliette & Chocolat in and around Montreal.

Montreal

If I am in downtown Montreal, I like to stop at Melk Café Stanley. A small but charming place with very few seats, most people come to buy their organic coffee and continue on their way. Pastries are also available. They also have a second address on Monkland in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce district.

In eastern Montreal, in the Hochelaga district, I discovered the Canard Café, which is defined as a specialist of third-wave coffees. You can enjoy an excellent coffee accompanied by danishes and muffins, a breakfast or a sandwich or salads. We stopped there after our visit to the Botanical Garden before heading downtown to the McCord Museum. A warm, vibrant, cosmopolitan place. My father had chosen a banana muffin and a raspberry muffin and I opted for La Bicyclette breakfast with poached eggs. I also noticed on their website another address on East Ste-Catherine in the Ville-Marie district. A great discovery.

CENTRE DU QUÉBEC

When I travel to Quebec City on Highway 20, I always stop in Drummondville, which is almost halfway between Montreal and Quebec City. My favorite place to take a break from the road is at Rose Drummond’s. It is a shop, a florist, a greenhouse and a café under the same roof. I usually order a latte at the Rose Café and allow myself a few purchases at the shop since they have a nice variety of local products. It is also possible to visit a part of the greenhouse, buy a bouquet of cut flowers or a plant.

Quebec

In Quebec City, The Cafes of La Maison Smith seems to be a must from what I gathered from my reading. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to try one of their coffee while I was visiting that beautiful city a few weeks ago. They have several locations.

When I travel abroad

When I travel, I usually carry with me either a small stovetop espresso pot or a bodum depending on the accommodation I rent. I also bring the most important accessory, a battery operated milk frother and of course my favorite blend of Lavazza coffee.

For my upcoming trip to Italy next Spring, I am planning on leaving the coffee paraphernalia at home and drink my coffee in local ”bars”. You read right, in Italy a coffee shop is called a bar! And if you feel like having an alcoholic beverage, then you must look for a pub, as my Italian teacher had explained.

In the meantime, enjoy a good coffee and share with me your favorite places!

You wish to discover new places to travel to, or discover the next best secret.

Keep on reading.