Background on Montreal Restaurants

 

As part of my trip to Montreal, I did much research via chowhound, Fodor's, Frommer's, Yahoo travel, and other web sites on good restaurants nearby. I knew I wanted to eat at places that I can't find back at home. That meant French bistros and nice bakeries. But it also meant so much more. I learned Montreal really was a good town for foodies, with countless other unique dining experiences with restaurants specializing in items ranging from fois gras and Montreal bagels to smoked meats and poutine. Even though I was in the city for five days, I could've easily filled many times more days than that with recommended restaurants.

 

Context for this Particular Restaurant

 

Many people claim Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal) contains many tourist traps. Thus, I was very happy to see one place, Olive & Gourmando, receive many reviews, most of which were written by locals, raving about its sandwiches and brownies.

http://www.oliveetgourmando.com/

 

Located on a random corner, not on a route from any tourist sight to another, and marked with understated signage, it clearly wasn't for tourists. (See photograph at bottom.)

 

Olive & Gourmando Review

 

Olive & Gourmando served us tasty sandwiches in a wonderfully quirky atmosphere. I like places such as this one that write the menu on a board. And the funky lamps hanging from the ceiling are awesome!

 

We split three sandwiches. All were good and served on good bread.

 

We had:

• Veggie sandwich. Had lots of hummus. Also had a quite good portobello mushroom. My dad really liked the strong olive flavor (from "crushed olives," according to the menu).
• Cuban. Basically, ham and cheese. Had a bit more cheese than I'd like, but that's just me and my cheese proclivities.
• Chicken sandwich with avocado, tomato, and mango. Identifying that tasty and unusual last feature took some creative thinking.

 

We also had to order a brownie. It was like solidified fudge: solid chocolate. Hence, it was good, though it was so intense it was hard for the three of us to finish it. I can't imagine how one person could do it alone. 

 

Sadly, since we were so hungry by the time we made it to this place -it was nearly 2:00pm-, I forgot to take pictures of the food.

 

While the interior is lively and eclectic, the exterior of Olive y Gourmando is fairly bland and nondescript.