Flavours of Montreal

I like to eat. Nothing is too weird, too sickening, or too belly busting for me. I’ve eaten a sheep’s face in Africa, bugs in Thailand, and brain in Toronto. I’ve even had whiskey with a dead cobra in it. When I travel, my favorite thing to do is try all the local food. Even when I feel like I’m about to explode and the top button of my pants has been undone (we’ve all been there), I’ll still be working away at my plate. It only made sense that while I was visiting Montreal I ate my way across the city.

With an empty stomach, I signed up for the full-day “Flavours of the Main” tour with Fitz and Follwell Co. My guide was friendly, knowledgeable and charismatic. In every restaurant or store we entered we were warmly welcomed, as if we were everyday locals. In the morning we walked from Chinatown to the former Red Light district, to the supper club districts, the former Jewish quarter, and Little Portugal. We met shop owners, learned about Montreal’s history, and most importantly, sampled the goods. In the afternoon we visited Mile-End, Little Italy, and Jean-Talon Market, and we left not a single crumb behind.

I could spend all day listing every delectable delight I tried, but we try to keep things short and sweet here on the Sounder. Some of the highlights? Dragon’s beard candy, also known as Chinese cotton candy, which left you with a white beard of your own; tea from a bulb that blooms into a delicate flower in your tea pot; and homemade chocolate soda. I not only experienced culinary delights I would never have been able to find on my own, I also tasted all the old classics Montreal is known for, such as poutine (a Canadian rite of passage) and Montreal smoked meat. By the end of the day I was busting at the seams.

Food tours aren’t all that Fitz and Follwell Co. cover. They also offer cycling, walking and winter tours, and their headquarters doubles as a relaxed bike sales and repair shop. My advice? Skip the souvenirs and take home a few extra pounds instead. There’s no better way to get a real taste for a new destination.

Victoria is our in-house eater and Latin America planning assistant. She bleeds gravy, and it kind of scares us.