Returning to the east side of Canada as a vegan
So this blog is over three years late, but when I was talking about travelling and blogging as a vegan on The Average Vegans podcast, I was reminded that I hadn’t blogged about this trip I took in the fall of 2019, which was my first trip outside Vancouver as a vegan. While the trip was centred around visiting my friend Gail in Toronto and my cousin’s wedding in Montreal, I had no trouble eating out, so I thought it’d be worth sharing, even now. I was born in Montreal, but was last in Toronto in 2003 when I spent 8 months studying on exchange at the University of Toronto. The last time I was in Montreal before this trip was in 2007, visiting family with my sister for a few days, and I wasn’t yet on the path to going vegan.
Take this stroll down memory lane with me—you can also check out my Instagram account for the Story highlight.
Sunday, September 8
We arrived late afternoon to Toronto, which meant we only had time to settle in, get some groceries, eat dinner, and check out my friend’s neighbourhood. We ate at Bolan Thai Cuisine, a great Thai restaurant in the hood. I can’t remember what I ordered, but I was glad there were options for me. I love Thai food!
Monday, September 9
We all went our separate ways as Gail and my sister both went to work (my sister’s company has an office in Toronto), Leo went to meet some of his friends, and I went mural hunting using the map on the Dundas West Open Air Museum website. These murals weren’t new, but I like that whenever there were people in the mural, many times they were people of colour.
I went to Urban Herbivore for lunch, which is in the Kensington Market area of Toronto, my favourite area in the city. Unfortunately Urban Herbivore is no longer there, but it was a lovely, bright, white and green cafe. I distinctly remember my friend Karine telling me to get the tempeh reuben sandwich there, but I was craving fibre so I opted to build my own salad.
I don’t think I ever ate in the area when I lived in Toronto years ago, but it’s known for its second-hand stores, and I was on the hunt for a fall/spring faux leather jacket, which I was able to score for $40. I also bought my (now staple) thin hoop earrings. Gail and I met and had some gelato and I stopped by Bunner’s, a vegan cafe in the area, to get a cupcake for later.
The gang met up at Bar Poet on Queen Street in downtown. We had aimed for Hello123 initially, but it was closed. I had a vegan pizza and Bar Poet was playing good tunes, so I was happy. I also met some of Gail’s Toronto friends.
Tuesday, September 10
I decided to take Leo on a walking tour of downtown around my old campus and end at Graffiti Alley. It was then I learned Leo is not a walker! We took the obligatory tourist photo at Nathan Phillips Square in front of the big Toronto sign, I found the same apartment where I lived on Gerrard Street, and discovered how much the Yonge/Dundas intersection had turned into a Times-Square-imitation cluster of tall buildings and ads. I’m not going to say it was pretty when I lived in that area 20 years ago as many of the buildings were old, but it’s sad that it’s turned into a corporate-run neighbourhood. Even the little theatre I used to see movies at alone is gone and seems to have been replaced by a huge Shoppers Drug Mart.
We stopped at The Annex Food Hall, a food-court style building with lots of different Asian-inspired food options. I don’t remember the name of the place, but believe I got a mushroom bao with taro chips and then bought another round of the bao, as it was really good and filling.
We found ourselves back at Kensington Market as we walked down to Graffiti Alley, so it was good to show Leo that area. I also stocked up on some cannabis at a dispensary called 1Tonamara on Spadina. Great location, but I had to sign up as a member and take my photo.
I feel like I should give a primer about street art here. What I know graffiti to be is letter art using spray paint. Murals can qualify as street art if they are outside. So while Graffiti Alley did have a ton of graffiti, it also has a lot of what I’d call street art, not graffiti. So if you are expecting to see a majority of graffiti art at Graffiti Alley, you’ll see it mixed in with street art/murals. When we passed through, there were a couple of guys working on a wall, but also a wedding photo shoot taking place. So it’s definitely not just for the artists. There were a few memorials to the late Mike Kennedy (@mrwuns on Instagram) and Nipsey Hussle (by @sumartist)
Leo and I took a bus further east to the area called Vegandale, which I thought to be a neighbourhood full of vegan stores and restaurants. It was really disappointing! Only Imperative was open, and Vegandale Brewery was as well, but they weren’t serving ice cream at the time (and I don’t drink beer) so that was a fail. While I know that Vegandale is a successful vegan event and now in multiple cities, they should really lift that label from this area!
On our last night in Toronto, we had a Jamaican feast, ordering in from two different places (although I only had the veggie patties from Cool Runnings) and got take-out from Fresh to eat on the train to Montreal the following day. I ate the fries that night and am pretty sure I ordered a Chickn Caesar wrap for the train trip. It was SO good, but I did find the price at Fresh on the high side for casual fare. But now that I’m writing this in 2023, it’s expensive to eat out anywhere!
Wednesday, September 11
We got up early to head to the train after Gail left for work. A nap and five hours or so later, we arrived in my birth city, Montreal. The first thing I noticed when we rolled in was the change in architecture. Montreal’s got great architecture; a mix of new and old buildings with a European influence. They also have their fair share of murals, and I believe have had the longest running mural festival in Canada, Festival Mural.
After checking into our Airbnb, the first thing we did was get Leo to try some real Montreal poutine about a block from where we were staying. Then we took a stroll down Boul de Maisonneuve, which we found was the area where the Gay Village is. I rather liked the rainbow balls strung across the street lamps.
While waiting to meet up with my sister, Leo and I wandered further down Boul de Maisonneuve and crossed Rue St. Denis, which I hadn’t realized was another cool street with restaurants and shops. We decided to take a stroll down that way, and I swear I came across the same restaurant where my late cousin Meg and her husband Dean had taken me to when I first arrived in Montreal as a college student, back in 2002. Paisano has a very distinct blue awning and I know for a fact we were drinking (and maybe eating) on a second floor restaurant. Whether or not it was the exact place, I feel like it was my cousin telling me “welcome back” to the city. I told my aunt (Meg’s mother) the story the following night.
After meeting up with my sister, we ate at Vietnamese restaurant Le Red Tiger (not vegan, but solid options) and called it a night.
Thursday, September 12
For lunch, we scheduled to meet a family friend my mom went to high school with at LOV in downtown, and I took more photos of architecturally cool buildings. LOV was near Phillips Square in downtown, which probably would have looked lovely had there not been perpetual construction.
LOV is a gorgeous restaurant I wish opened in Vancouver. Excited to try a vegan version of poutine, I ordered that with a bowl of soup. While the cheez chunks are not like the usual poutine and I was okay with that, the dish could have used more gravy in my opinion.
Afterwards I took Leo to Old Port and through Old Montreal, which is a dead ringer for the Paris scene in Inception, one of our fav Christopher Nolan movies. Walked by Notre-Dame Basilica and my cousin and her groom-to-be said they saw us out the window walking in this area while they were dining on a second-floor restaurant!
Before we left for our trip, we made plans with my Montreal (and other visiting Vancouver) family and my cousin’s friends to celebrate her 30th birthday at Pakistani Dera Restaurant. I distinctly remember ordering an okra dish with rice. There was a TON of naan left over that we took back to my cousin’s house a few blocks away.
So I should tell you that on top of being an amazing artist, my cousin’s Italian wife, Adele Zanni, is a fantastic baker and cook. She made a vegan chocolate cake which was not only one of three cakes my cousin had (to celebrate her 3 decades on earth), but my breakfast on some of the remaining mornings of this trip!
Adele and my cousin broke out their liquor stash and my family finally finished the entire bottle of Jose Cuervo he’d purchased in 2001. My aunt also had 3 shots of tequila that night, and she’s a great grandma!
My bride-to-be cousin discovered for the first time that I smoked cannabis as I’d stepped out for a bit after dessert. Leo started diving into the pile of leftover naan and everyone was laughing because he looked so hungry. Adele even offered to make him some pasta. I explained that this time of night (midnight) is usually when Leo orders pizza from Domino’s.
Friday, September 13
Leo hadn’t been having his usual fancy pourover coffee on this trip, so we went an hour’s trip downtown to La Finta Cafe to get it. Then we hopped on a bus to Lumiere du Mile End, one of the other vegan cafes my cousin mentioned that I can see no longer exists. It was a very small cafe, and hubs and I sat outside on the patio. I can’t remember what I had (likely a salad and a sandwich or scramble), but it wasn’t all that memorable. What I do remember is the young man at the cafe was all on his own, serving, cooking, and taking payments.
We ended up on Blvd Saint-Laurent where I saw more murals, did some window shopping, and Leo found two famous smoked meat sandwich establishments, Main Deli and Schwartz’s Deli across from each other so he could taste both. (He preferred Main over Schwartz’s, which had less meat but supposedly tasted better.)
Later that eve, we met up with my cousins at Hello123, the same restaurant we wanted to go to in Toronto, so it was meant to be! By that time I started to feel sniffly so I got a $12 bottle of green juice the restaurant served, and got another one to go.
After dinner we went back to my cousin’s for more storytelling, dessert and drinking (for them). Adele made me some ginger tea which I’m sure fought off whatever sickness I was starting to feel.
Saturday, September 14
I headed out to Jean-Talon Market with hubs and sister, which is an open-air market. There was the biggest paella pan I’ve ever seen that was cooking, and hubs couldn’t resist starting off with a plate. Indoors there were more food establishments, and although I’m sure there are more plant-based options now, I can only recall maybe two options that were there.
I wish I could remember the vendor I got this from, but it’s a savoury vegan crepe!
GUSTA was also previously at Jean-Talon Market but since we have their products in Vancouver, there was no need to eat there.
If we had enough time to jet around, we would have also hit Atwater Market, so that’ll be on our list for the next Montreal trip.
Afterward we trekked to La Banquise for the meat-eating Leos to try more poutine, and walked back to Blvd Saint-Laurent where I did some shopping.
That evening, we went back to my cousin’s for our last family dinner and Adele pulled out all the stops, making both a vegan pasta with cheez and a couple of vegan sides, including fermented mushrooms. This is on top of all the dishes containing animals for everyone else. Graci, Adele!
My cousin decided to give us a ride home, so we went up a hill to a fancier part of town called Westmount (it reminded me of the British Properties in West Vancouver) where we got a great view of the city at night.
Sunday, September 15
The morning of my cousin’s wedding, I met up for chai with my old friend from back in our Vancouver Short Film Festival days, Kelly St-Laurent, her husband Alex, and their dog Bucky at Le Doggy Cafe, which is so fun! Bucky is an introverted dog and very shy so he spent most of the time under our table, but it’s so funny watching all the other dogs. Every time the door opened and a new dog entered, all the other dogs would bark and come over to check them out and the new dog would take a tour of the place and try to get a rise out of Bucky.
A place like this would be great in Vancouver, but we already have such strict liquor laws, I’m sure they’d find reasons not to have it. I also learned there aren’t very many places dogs are welcome in Montreal—they don’t even have dog parks there.
On the way back to the Airbnb, I stopped by organic vegan cafe The Green Panther/Panthère Verte on Rue St. Denis (no longer there) to grab a wrap to eat on the train. I didn’t get an appetizing photo, but it was so good.
My cousin’s wedding was at Jatoba in downtown, near Phillips Square where we were the second day. It’s a lovely place for a wedding with lots of natural light where the ceremony took place.
One of my cousins is a talented jazz singer and graced guests with her voice as everyone filed in and filled out the guestbook. The ceremony was beautiful and the bride and groom looked stunning.
Dinner was family style with the dishes coming out to share between 4 people. Only the edamame was vegan, so I asked a staff member if the restaurant could make something without meat, seafood, or dairy (I was not sure if they new what vegan meant!) and they made two dishes for me: warm vegetables with rice and chips, and a crispy edamame salad. (The other salad shown below the veggies/rice dish was not part of my meal.)
After the wedding game and speech portion of the reception, the DJ kicked off the dancing and Leo and I went out with the bride and groom and their friends (in the parking lot beside the restaurant) to celebrate their nuptials with the cannabis I bought in Toronto. It wasn’t bad!
Before heading home, we ordered an Uber for my uncle and sis and I had to break out our French on the app because the driver didn’t understand “for my uncle”.
When we got back to our Airbnb home, Leo was still hungry so he went out looking for late night food and McDonald’s was the only thing he could find. Gross!
Monday, September 16
We didn’t have time to eat out before flying back home, but we stopped one last time on Blvd Saint-Laurent so my sister could pick up smoked meat to go. Our Uber driver educated us about how a lot of Montreal is run by the mafia and the reason why construction and development takes so long is because the mafia charges unbelievable rates for everything, even for the new hospital they have there (pictured in header photo).
While this trip was more focused on friends and family and not so much on the food, when I make it back to these cities I’ll have more of an update for you. Since this trip, I’ve learned the vegan food game has gotten SO much better in Toronto so I’m excited to go back, and I’m sure Montreal has a lot more spots I missed as well.
