BEST BAR SNACKS IN MONTREAL PART 1

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Most people have a soft spot in their hearts (or livers) for the dive bar. The unpretentious, cheap and totally relaxed hole-in-the-wall-watering-hole is sometimes the perfect choice for a night out. And what almost always comes with these establishments are stomach-softening bar snacks. You’ve got peanuts (aged 2-12 years), stale cheesies and the ever-present drink-inducing pretzels. But in Montreal, there are plenty of ways for you to set the bar snack bar a little higher….

Here’s a quick peak at some of the Best Bar Snacks in Montreal:

Baldwin’s: If you’ve watched the Baldwin’s video I made, you know that I’m a fan of their great mixed drinks. True works of mixological art. What else is equally worthy of your attention? Their decadent grilled cheese sandwiches. I have a feeling that the owner’s new venture, the Dominion Square Tavern, is going to take late-night eating up even higher.

The Sparrow: The place that has rapidly become one of the Mile-End neighbourhood’s favorite new lunch/brunch spots is now open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Along with the later hours comes a slimmed-down (but not slimming) bar snack menu that continues their tradition of English-oriented gastro-pub cuisine (their chef worked in London with Gordon Ramsay, among others).

Divan Orange: This place has wisely redone its late-night menu, because a while ago I was served what may have been the most pathetic plate of nachos ever made in the world. No longer- they now have a great grilled cheese sandwich as well an equally impressive mushroom and cheese tart featured in the photo above.

Buvette Chez Simone: This was one of the first places I thought of when brainstorming for bar snack ideas- their platters made up of high-end items from their charcuterie, fish, cheese and salad menus are so far beyond the “bowl of peanuts” it’s laughable. The only caution I’ll add here is that, not shockingly, I’m not the only Montrealer that has figured what a great place this is: the last time we were there it was packed to the gills and a table was an hour and a half wait away.

Else’s: One of the Plateau neighbourhood’s hidden gems, Else’s is a small darkly lit bar just off of St-Laurent which always plays great music. The menu is fairly standard nacho-esque fare, so why am I including in this list? Because Will Ferrell was spotted here eating a plate of their great samosas and I just wanted to an excuse to include this Will Ferrell link from the movie that he shot in Montreal.

Is this all Montreal has to offer in the way of great bar snacks? Of course not, and if you’ve got some great bar snack suggestions that I need to include, come find me on Facebook or Twitter and I’ll figure out some way to email you a grilled cheese sandwich.

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