We had the most amazing time in Montreal this week celebrating Lunar New Year at Montreal’s highly acclaimed PARK Restaurant. Montreal on its own is such a magical city – but add to that Canada’s top Asian chefs from coast to coast, this was a night to remember.
Our visit started with checking into the Hotel Birks Montreal and we were completely dazzled. This gorgeous space was once the headquarters for the legendary Canadian jeweller and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors were stripped and redesigned into gorgeous rooms boasting a marble bathrooms, premiere bath amenities and the most comfortable bed we’ve slept on while traveling. In fact, we opted for a nap instead of shopping just to get our money’s worth. 48 hours in Montreal is just not enough.
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We had some amazing eats while in this beautiful town. Dinners at the Tuck Shop where we indulged in grilled octopus and cod and at PARK where the nigiri changed our life. According to our chef friends – the best Pho in town is at family owned and operated Pho Lien and we of course made not one but TWO trips to St. Viateur Bagel.
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The highlight of our trip – an epic Lunar New Year collaboration dinner featuring the country’s top Asian chefs, including Chef Duncan Ly of Foreign Concept. The group assembled by PARK’s Chef Antonio Park included Nick Liu of Toronto’s Dailo, Angus An of Vancouver’s Maenam, Joel Watanabe of Bao Bei and Kissa Tanto, Roy Oh of Calgary’s Anju, Jeff Kang of Toronto’s Canis and Takeshi Horinoue of Montreal’s Lavanderia and PARK.
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Our very quick trip ended with lunch with a dear friend Montreal-based travel blogger, writer and photographer Jeff Frenette at McKiernan Luncheonette. Such a cool space! Communal seating, casual and the food was simple and tasty. We shared the pasta of the day which was an oxtail ragu, the rotisserie chicken on rice and an order of fries with mushroom ketchup. All delish – and we picked up a chocolate chip cookie for the plane ride home.
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Our trip was far too short – we missed a dinner at Montreal Plaza but it’s sure to be on the list for next time.