If wacko Trump is elected, you can't beat the exchange rate in Canada

In downtown Montreal, bicycle lanes are two ways and separated from vehicular traffic by an island, above. A strong U.S. dollar makes Canada a great place to vacation, and that's especially true in the sophisticated, French-speaking city a day's drive from northern New Jersey.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The U.S. dollar equals $1.30 Canadian, so as an American you get more bang for your buck in sophisticated Montreal, where I vacationed for 10 days this summer.

With the possibility wacko racist Donald J. Trump will be elected president, I'm looking north to Canada as a place to take refuge from his madness.

When I attended the International Jazz Festival in Montreal with my wife and son, the favorable exchange rate meant everything cost less -- our hotel, restaurant meals, tickets to concerts, taxis and such everyday purchases as toothpaste.

I used my U.S.-based credit cards for nearly all purchases in Montreal in late June and July, when the U.S. dollar was worth $1.27 to $1.29 Canadian.

But on June 30, I withdrew 60 Canadian dollars or loonies from an ATM just in case I had to pay cash for something.

My bank only debited my account for $47.96, including the ATM fee.

The Eaton Center is part of Underground Montreal, a vast network of offices, hotels, shops, restaurants and concert halls linked by the metro -- the Montreal subway -- that allow residents to get to work and enjoy cultural attractions during the city's brutal winters.

The awning of Sophia's provides a quick French lesson: It's a neighborhood sandwich shop (sandwicherie) with salads (salades) and juice (jus). Nearly all Montrealers are bilingual.

Wrought-iron staircases are a distinctive feature of apartments in Montreal neighborhoods.

Homes on the outskirts of the city, above and below.

Like Manhattan, Montreal is an island city with many ethnic and fine-dining restaurants, and residents who come from all over the world. But this one near the Hyatt Regency Hotel and major concert halls serves the worst version of Vietnamese-style pho -- a noodle soup with an anise-flavored broth -- that my wife and son ever tasted.

A restaurant and bar called Le Date on St. Catherine Street East, in a neighborhood called East Montreal. The city's annual LBGT pride festival will be held from Aug. 8-14.

A free jazz concert, as seen from my 10th-floor hotel room. The Hyatt Regency provided earplugs for guests whose rooms overlooked outdoor performances, which ran from 11 a.m. to midnight.

Talented music students from universities and colleges in Canada, above and below, gave many of the free concerts during the 11-day run of the jazz festival.

One of the student big bands that performed had more than 20 members, including a singer.

Jugglers and acrobats kept the crowd in the plaza amused and entertained.

The fare on the subway and buses in Montreal is $3.25 Canadian, $3 when you buy two trips at a time and $2.70 when you buy 10 trips.

A new, sleeker subway train undergoing tests didn't carry any passengers. Montreal subways ride on rubber wheels.

In Montreal's Chinatown, you'll find Chinese, Vietnamese and Asian fusion restaurants.

Bao Bao Dim Sum, a bakery at 83 Rue de la Guachetiere Ouest in Montreal, offers a wide selection of filled buns from $2 to $10 Canadian, above and below. Takeout only.

A mural just off St. Catherine Street.

North of the border, Costco Wholesale members say vive la difference

Two 3-liter bottles of extra-virgin olive oil from Greece are part of an extensive selection at the Costco Wholesale on Bridge Street in Montreal, above and below. I bought the Elara brand from the island of Crete, right, which is a great deal at $18.99 Canadian or $13.30 in U.S. dollars -- less than $4.50 a liter. I can't find an unblended EVOO for that price in New Jersey.

Avocado Oil and olive oils from Greece, Italy and other countries stretch all the way to the end of the aisle. Although they aren't marked, olive oils for cooking and salads don't contain genetically modified ingredients.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

MONTREAL -- Costco Wholesale warehouses in Canada look exactly like the ones in New Jersey, but sell a few items I can't find close to home.

And with a strong U.S. dollar, there are some great deals to be had. 

I have a minor complaint: 

Costco warehouses in Montreal, where we were vacationing, take only MasterCard, and won't accept the new Costco Visa I use in New Jersey or even a Visa-branded debit card.

The MasterCard credit card I used to make purchases totaling $133 Canadian dollars charges a small foreign-currency transaction fee, but that was offset by the card's 2% cash rebate.

And my actual cost for the items was about $93 in U.S. dollars.

Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto is one of my favorite items from Costco. In Montreal, the price is $10.99 Canadian or about $7.70 U.S., compared to $7.99 in New Jersey.

Three large Canada-grown cucumbers are only $2.99 Canadian or about $2.09 U.S., compared to $3.49 to $3.99 in New Jersey.

I haven't seen shallots like these in the Costco Wholesale warehouse in Teterboro, N.J., or the Costco Wholesale Business Center in Hackensack, N.J.

Three pounds of shallots -- a type of onion with a hint of garlic -- were $4.99 Canadian or $2.80 in U.S. dollars.

When you figure in the strong U.S. dollar, fillets of fresh wild salmon, haddock and cod, above and photos below, cost about the same in Montreal and Teterboro, N.J. In Canada, fish is priced by the kilo (2.2 pounds).

If I ran out of Stanfield's Men's Briefs, which are made in Canada, I would drive the 350 miles to Montreal just to get more. They are the most comfortable I've found because they are cut generously, and come in black, gray or white. I bought two packages of five briefs for $21.99 Canadian each or about $15.40 U.S. I have a 38-inch waist, and buy Extra Large to allow for some shrinkage in the wash.

Two things to avoid buying at the Montreal Costco are gasoline and wine. The warehouse doesn't sell the inexpensive Kirkland Signature house brand wines and sparkling prosecco from Italy you can find at the Costco warehouse in Wayne, N.J. On July 4, Costco members paid $3.94.8 Canadian for a gallon of regular gas or about $2.77 U.S. The sign shows the price per liter.

Costco Wholesale, 300 Rue Bridge, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; 1-514-938-5170. No pharmacy.

A second, larger Costco warehouse at 105 Marche Central, Montreal, has a pharmacy; 1-514-381-1251.

Restaurant Manitoba, Baton Rouge, Pizza Il Focolaio and Brasserie T!

A large Shrimp Roll with Horseradish Mayo ($14) from the lunch or midi menu at Manitoba, an unpretentious neighborhood restaurant in Montreal that prepares only organic ingredients from Canada.

Manitoba's blackboard menu didn't list thick pieces of house-cured bacon when I ordered Morue or Cod Fillet with onions and a sauce made from nettles ($16), but my wife was glad to eat them with her shrimp roll and after our meal, ordered six more slices to go.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

MONTREAL -- Too many restaurants, too little time.

That's always the way it is during our visits to this cosmopolitan French-speaking city, which boasts a Manhattan-like array of fine-dining and ethnic restaurants.

Taxes of about 15% are more than double those in New Jersey, but the U.S. dollar's favorable exchange rate took the sting out of three of us eating every meal out for eight days.

We revisited favorites near the concert halls of the 37th edition of the International Jazz Festival, and tried two new places, funky Manitoba and Il Focolaio, an authentic wood-oven pizzeria with an astounding selection of 75 pies.

All prices are in Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar was worth $1.27 to $1.29 Canadian dollars during our visit.

I started lunch at Manitoba with a Cold Celery Root Soup, which had a thick buttermilk base ($7).

Restaurant Manitoba

I had heard a great deal about Manitoba, which offers "a taste of the forest in our plates, a taste of nature in our glasses," and I wasn't disappointed.

The restaurant, which serves new Canadian fare, is now our favorite in Montreal, replacing the shuttered Vanhorne.

For lunch, I had a cold soup that tasted strongly of celery; a smoky, pan-roasted piece of wild cod that melted in the mouth; and two glasses of red wine.

My wife chose a radish salad to start; a large, delicious shrimp roll, and nougat ice cream for dessert.

Our teenage son had a green salad, the cod with thick-cut bacon and a glass of red wine (the drinking age is 18 in Canada).

Our lavish lunch, including taxes and four glasses of wine, but not the tip, topped $150 Canadian or about $105 in U.S. dollars.

Restaurant Manitoba, 271 Rue Saint Zotique Ouest, Montreal; 1-514-270-8000. 

A taxi from our downtown hotel cost $20 Canadian (about $15.60 U.S.), including the tip, but we paid only $3.25 each to take the No. 80 bus back along Avenue du Parc, a major north-south street (coins only).

Web site: Great food in a funky setting

Manitoba's Green Salad, above, and a Radish Salad with Creme Fraiche and Lemon, below, $7 each.

Nougat Ice Cream.

This is one time I should have ordered a bottle of wine. The three of us had four glasses of Ombre du Soir organic red wine from France, but the check listed only three at $14 each.

The entrance to Manitoba on a quiet Montreal street.

Seating is at a bar and tables, above and below, and during our lunch, two chefs worked in an open kitchen, rear. The floor is unpainted concrete.

Our server also tended bar at Manitoba, but only a few tables were occupied during our leisurely lunch. The back of the dining room is a large glass garage door, which was open to a garden.

BATON ROUGE IN COMPLEXE DESJARDIN: The Lobster Salad ($21) at Baton Rouge, a popular steakhouse in Montreal, doesn't ordinarily have this much tender claw meat, above. But the restaurant was so busy, the kitchen sent out the first one with no lobster, below, and to apologize doubled the usual portion of the delicious crustacean.

My wife and son shared a pound of Baby Back Ribs with mashed potatoes ($29).

A House Salad served in a large soup bowl at Baton Rouge was $11, above. A Caesar Salad was $13, and you can add chicken for $8 more.

A 9-ounce glass of red wine was $11, above. A 6-ounce glass was $8.

We had to wait about 20 minutes on a busy Sunday for a table at the Baton Rouge on Saint-Catherine Street West, where the kitchen, servers and managers were slammed by the jazz festival crowd, above and below.

The restaurant also has seating outdoors. Web site: Steakhouse & Bar

IL FOCOLAIO: This downtown institution offers 75 different wood-fired pizza pies, each one the size of a large dinner plate, including No. 23, Campagnola, with pancetta, onions and olives (hold the mushrooms) ordered by my wife and son, above ($15.50).

The pies are cut into quarters, and I saw many customers eating them with forks and knives, as they do in northern Italy.

Pizza Il Focolaio

I loved the incredible selection of authentic Italian pizzas, inexpensive house wine, optional lactose-free cheese and the service at Il Focolaio, a downtown Montreal restaurant that has been slinging wood-oven pies since 1934.

But our lunch there was marred by flies in the dining room, including big and small ones that buzzed around my table during the hour I waited for my wife and son to meet me there (they walked in the opposite direction for 20 minutes).

When they finally arrived, my wife had to cover her pizza to keep those nasty, dirty insects from landing on it.

After I paid the bill, I went downstairs to the men's room and encountered another fly, as well as the strong smell of urine and deodorizer.

Now that I'm home, I may call the Montreal Health Department to alert officials to the unappetizing conditions.

When I first arrived, the host found a table for me, even though the restaurant was almost full, and a waiter poured glasses of water and gave me menus while I sipped a glass of red house wine ($5.25), and waited for my wife and son.

I mentioned the flies to the host as I was leaving, and he thanked me, though he didn't seem surprised or ask a waiter to get out the fly swatter. 

Pizza Il Focolaio, 1223 Rue du Square-Phillips, Montreal; 1-514-879-1045. 

Web site: Wood is good

At Il Focolaio, No. 71 is a pizza with pesto, fresh tomato slices, fresh arugula and balsamic glaze ($16.25). The Montreal pizzeria is the first I've encountered to offer lactose-free cheese for an extra $1.50, and it's organic, too. I asked for both pizzas to be made well-done, but they weren't.

The restaurant's menu says "wood is good," but I've found coal is better and imparts a deliciously smoky taste to the pizza crust.

We shared this terrific combination, called Giardino, a Caesar Salad topped with Grilled Vegetables and served with two pieces of chewy pizza dough rubbed with tomato ($13.75).

A can of San Pellegrino Limonata was $2.75.

BRASSERIE T! I found a perfect lunch dish -- grilled Dorade or Sea Bream served over crunchy spring vegetables ($26) -- at this fine-dining restaurant on the Place des Festivals in Montreal.

Brasserie T! and Taverne F, a Portuguese restaurant, operate in sleek steel-and-glass boxes set end to end. You can get a fixed-price lunch of two courses and a side dish at Taverne F for $21 or less than the price of an entree at Brasserie T!

My son loved the tender beef in his Flank Steak with Toque Butter and Fries ($26). On the other hand, my wife was unhappy with her Shrimp Roll ($20), which was smaller but more expensive than the one she would have at Restaurant Manitoba, and a mix-up over her getting fries instead of salad ended up in the waiter adjusting the check to compensate us.

All of us were delighted with a starter of Cheese Croquettes, made with parmesan ($8).

We also loved another starter, a salad of Potatoes and Smoked Surgeon ($7).

A glass of Portuguese wine at Brasserie T! was $10.

The restaurant has outdoor seating on the plaza where free concerts are staged during the International Jazz Festival. Web site: Brasserie T!